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YouTube is home to over 2 billion monthly active users! This means that there are plenty of opportunities for creators to share and distribute content.
To stand out, you’ll want to ensure you’ve edited your video into a smooth and polished final piece. Understanding how to trim and clip YouTube videos is one of the fundamental tools you’ll need when editing your content. You can cut out irrelevant parts and create seamless transitions for smooth YouTube video narrative.
So how can you get started with YouTube video editing, including trimming and clipping? Follow this Riverside guide!
Can you trim or cut videos on Youtube?
With the right tools and applications to help you, it is possible to trim and cut YouTube videos! This makes it easy to create content that represents your vision well.
You can trim and cut videos directly in YouTube studio. In many cases, trimming and clipping YouTube videos occurs before videos are uploaded for viewers to see. However, the YouTube platform also allows these features for live videos without requiring users to remove content or risk deleting video performance stats.
If you want to create YouTube Clips from an existing video, Youtube also has its own clipping tool. This tool allows you to select and share a small portion of a long-form video or livestream as a short-form clip. Note that this isn’t the same as cutting your video in YouTube studio. In this case, you’ll cut out a snippet without affecting the published video.
How to trim YouTube videos natively in YouTube studio
The native YouTube studio is a great place to start with basic video editing functions, like trimming and clipping. Follow these simple steps to begin.
Step 1: Launch the studio
Log in to the YouTube Studio, and select ‘Content’ from the left-side menu. Click on the video you want to edit. Then choose ‘Editor’ from the menu on the left panel of your screen.
Step 2: Trim your video
To trim your video, select 'Trim & cut', which should appear as the first option in the editor menu.
Next, scroll to the video navigation bar at the bottom right of your screen. Click and drag the sides of the blue box to contain only the section of video you want to keep. When you’re happy with your selection, click 'Save' at the top right of your screen.
Step 3: Remove video sections
If you want to remove a section from your video, go to the Editor menu, and choose ‘Trim & cut’. Here, select ‘New cut’, which will cause a red box to appear across the video navigation bar.
Click and drag the sides of the red box until it contains only the portion of the video that you want to remove. Then click ‘Cut’ or the checkmark icon to confirm the deletion. Press Save to finalize your edits.
How to clip YouTube videos that aren’t yours
You can’t edit a video that isn’t yours directly in YouTube studio. If you’d like to trim someone else’s video you’ll need to download it and then edit it on an external editor. We’d suggest making sure you have permission to use their content first.
If you wish to simply create a short clip from someone else's existing video, then you can use YouTube’s Clips tool. This will create a separate clip that links to the original video. You can then share this with others as you wish. Follow these steps to create a YouTube clip of someone else’s video:
Step 1: First, sign in to YouTube, and find a video that you want to clip.
Step 2: Check that the video is eligible for clips by looking for the Clip button underneath it.
Step 3: If this icon is present, click it to prompt a Create clip box.
Step 4: Select the section of the video you want to clip or trim by dragging the slider.
Step 5: Title your clip, using a maximum of 140 characters.
Step 6: Click Share clip, and choose whether to copy the link, embed the clip, share via email, or share across social media.
How to trim YouTube videos on your Android or iPhone device
You can’t directly trim a YouTube video from the Android or iPhone app. You’ll need to download the video and edit it using an external trimmer app. The video editing process will differ depending on the editing tool you use.
If you’d like to create a clip from an existing video, you can open your Youtube app, find the video you’d like to clip then do the following:
Step 1: Click on the Clips button in the meny bar at the bottom. (You may need to scroll right to see it.)
Step 2: Use the timeline to trim and clip the section you like.
Step 3: Add a title and then when you are ready select ‘Share Clip’
Trimming videos effortlessly with Riverside
To streamline your workflow, start clipping your YouTube videos straight after recording.
With Riverside, you can seamlessly record top-quality 4K videos for YouTube, only to clip them as easily as reading through a text doc. The text-based editor works with Ai transcriptions so that you can trim content effortlessly. It’s as easy as deleting text from this transcript and the matching video and audio cut out from your recording.
You can also try Riverside’s Magi Clips tool , which turns your long-form recording highlights into short, shareable videos for social mediaThis is great for promoting your long-form content with Youtube Shorts.
Since we offer multi-track sync, it doesn’t matter how many edits you make. Everything stays aligned, and you can trim away without worrying about messing up your audio or video. You can instead experience a smooth, user-friendly editing experience no matter your skill level.
Learn more about Riverside here, or start clipping YouTube videos seamlessly today.
How to trim YouTube videos online with Riverside
Want to get started using Riverside to edit your YouTube videos? Follow these steps!
Step 1: Log in to the Riverside dashboard, and choose ‘+Create new’.
Step 2: Name your studio. Choose a recording type. Then select ‘Enter studio’.
Step 3: Check your input streams, and select whether or not you are using headphones. Then ‘Join Studio’.
Step 4: In your studio, use the Record button to capture your video content.
Step 5: When your recording is complete, select ‘View recordings’ from the right side of your screen.
Step 6: In the recordings dashboard, you can trim your video in two ways:
- Magic Clips: Go to the Magic Clips button and select ‘Generate Clips’ to create multiple short-form videos from your long recording. Magic Clips uses AI to identify key moments and turns them into short, shareable clips. To adjust these, hover over one of them and select ‘Edit’, then follow the next set of steps.
- Text-Based Editor: To edit and trim your recordings the traditional way, or through using your text transcript select ‘Go to Editor’ and follow the next set of steps.
Step 8: In the Editor you can edit your video using a text transcript of your recording. Simply highlight text and click ‘Remove’. Any text you delete automatically removes the corresponding video and audio in your recordings.
You can also use the split tools in the recording timeline to trim and clip your videos. Simply place the timeline cursor at the beginning and end points of the sections you’d like to remove and click ‘Split’ each time. Then click on this section and select ‘Remove’.
Step 9: Polish off your video with the editing toolbar. You cna customize your layout, add video captions and more.
Step 10: When editing is complete, save your work, and export. Download to Cloud or your device, and then prepare to publish your finalized video on the YouTube platform.
FAQs on how to trim YouTube videos
Still unsure about cutting and trimming YouTube videos? Here are our answers to a few frequently asked questions.
Can you trim someone else's YouTube video?
Generally speaking, it’s easiest to trim a YouTube video that is associated with your own account, especially if the video has already been uploaded and published.
In some cases, it may be possible to trim a video that is not your own by downloading it and uploading to an external editing platform. Alternatively, if you just want to share a snippet of someone’s video you can use Youtube’s Clipping tool. This allows you to create a clip from an existing video to share as you wish.
If you are planning to trim a YouTube video that is not your own, make sure you have permission from the video owner/publisher before you begin.
How do you trim a YouTube video without the clip option?
If you’d like to trim a video without using the clipping tool, you can do so directly in Youtube Studio. Note that these are different though. YouTube’s clipping tool doesnt affect the original video, and rather makes a copy of it. Editing your video in the studio will change the actual video you publish.
If you specifically want to create clips without affecting the original video, but want more freedom to customize these clips then we suggest using an alternative editing platform like Riverside. You can create shareable YouTube clips in one quick click with our Magic Clips tool. This uses AI to identify key moments in your recordings and turns them into short-form videos. You can then add captions, change your layout or background, and more.
When working within the YouTube platform on your own video, you should have access to built-in trimming tools. These will allow you to cut content and trim video data easily. If you do not have access to the clipping tool, you can clip and trim videos via the YouTube studio or using another software system, like Riverside.
Why can't I trim a YouTube video?
There are several reasons why you might not be able to trim a YouTube video. You may have followed the wrong steps to access suitable editing tools, or you might be attempting to trim a video that is not your own. If you encounter challenges while trying to trim content, revisit this guide. If that doesn’t work, you might consider using a different recording and editing tool, like Riverside.
Are you searching for an easy way to create better-quality content for YouTube? Don’t wait to get started. Try Riverside’s innovative solutions today!
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