Cropping videos allows you to shift the video’s focus after filming or remove unwanted footage pieces altogether. Some social media sites recommend only particular sizes, meaning you might have to crop a video to share it online.
There are a variety of ways you can go about cropping your videos on Windows and online, using a video cropper tool. This article explains a few of these methods so that you can edit your videos with confidence.
Using Video Editing Software
There is countless video editing software available for Windows these days. Some are a little expensive with steep monthly payments; you’ll need to subscribe to continue using the product. Others are entirely free or only require payment for the premium version.
Before downloading a video editing program, it’s always worth checking out the publisher’s website and reading reviews. That way, you can find out what kinds of tools the software has available and what kind of skill level it is aimed at. If you are new to video editing, perhaps you would benefit from a simpler program with a streamlined UI; if you already have experience in the field, you might want to try something for more advanced editors. You should also make sure before downloading that the software is compatible with your system and that your computer will be able to run it.
Most free video editing programs will be suitable for cropping videos. However, you may find that premium software is better suited for more advanced editing.
Using Windows’ Built-in Cropping Features
Windows 10 comes with two programs that can be used for cropping videos: Windows Movie Maker and VLC media player. This section will describe how to use both of these to crop your videos.
Windows Movie Maker
Windows Movie Maker is a simple, user-friendly program perfect for making simple edits to videos. You can easily crop your videos with this software in a few easy steps:
- First, import your video to Windows Movie Maker. You can either click and drag the file onto the main timeline or press “Import images and videos” to do so. If you add multiple videos to the timeline, press “Sort” and “Add to Timeline” to arrange them all.
- Next, clip the video you want to edit. A yellow frame should appear around it. Either right-click or navigate to the crop icon at the top of the screen to enter crop mode.
- From there, either click and drag the square to indicate which parts of the video you want to crop out or enter the length and width you want your video to be in the input boxes below. Alternatively, you can press “Ratio” and choose several preset dimensions.
- Finally, press “Return” to apply the changes.
VLC Media Player
VLC media player is another popular app for Windows 10 that can crop videos. This process is a little more involved than using Windows Movie Maker, but should still be easy enough if you follow these steps:
- Firstly, open VLC and open the file you want to edit. Navigate to “Media” in the upper left corner of the screen, click on “Open File,” and select the appropriate video.
- Next, click on “Tools,” then “Effects and Filters.” A window should pop up titled “Adjustments and Effects.” There are multiple tabs here, but the one we want is “Video Effects.” Once you have navigated to this tab, click on “Crop.”
- To crop your video, you will have to trim away the parts you do not want. Enter how many pixels you want to crop from the video in the appropriate fields. You may need to make a few adjustments to the pixel values before your video is cropped in the way you would like. Before closing this window, note down the final values you entered; you will need these later in the process.
- Close the cropping window and next go to “Tools” and “Preferences.” A window should pop up entitled “Simple Preferences.” Look in the bottom left-hand corner for the “Show settings” section and select “All.”
- Next, go to “Video,” then “Filter,” and select “Croppadd” from the dropdown menu. The values you entered into the “Crop” tab earlier need to be entered here in the “Crop” section.
- Click on “Filters” once more, but this time check the “Video scaling filter” box in the right-hand pane. Press the “Save” button in the bottom right-hand corner of the window, then finally save the file in your desired location.
Using Online Web Apps
As well as using video editing software or built-in cropping features, you can also use online video cropping tools. Such web apps are rather helpful as you do not need to download or install anything to use them. You simply upload the clip to the online tool, and the online server handles it.
This also means that you can use these apps from a lower-end computer or even your smartphone and do not need a device with particularly high processing power.
Conclusion
This article has explained how to crop videos on Windows using video editing software, in-built cropping features, and online web apps. Whether you want to clip your footage to post it on social media, cut out an error in filming, or shift the focus of your video, one of these methods is bound to work for you.
