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It’s safe to say that when we thinks of video streaming, the most reliable website we all flock to first is YouTube. While its streaming services are great however, up until now, third-party programs were required to edit videos before uploading. Today, YouTube is attempting to eliminate the middleman with their release of the YouTube Video Editor. Over at TestTube—YouTube’s “idea incubator” (coined by the development team)—the new Video Editor is now available for immediate use for all files uploaded by the massive video streaming community. With the ability to cut, paste, and even mix and match with your older files, YouTube’s Video Editor seems to be Google’s way of making YouTube the one and only stop for all videos—online or otherwise—and easier overall for the average user.
As of right now, the options are still relatively limited. YouTube’s Video Editor is more or less just a way of cropping or trimming unwanted sections from your video and making montages out of previously uploaded videos. After those initial adjustments, YouTube offers a rather large Audioswap library so that users can add a song as a soundtrack to their video. However, as the developer points out in the promotional video, this will completely replace your original audio, and you can only use one song at a time. This is very inconvenient and only further proves that this new editor will not be the newest or most innovative sensation in video editing. It stands to reason, though, that providing a free browser-based editing program for those that may not have access to one may create interesting possibilities for the future.
As I stated previously , this new video editor seems like an effort way to eliminate a need for a third party video editing software. But in particular, I would argue that in addition to this YouTube’s Video Editor is also another way for Google to combat Apple’s universal appeal as the necessary media machine. Apple computers come preinstalled with a program called iMovie, which provides a way to edit video right out of the box. Not only is this program free with the purchase of an Apple computer, but it’s also quite exceptional in terms of user interface, quality, and editing capabilities. It is arguably one the easiest video editing software available to users. However, most PC users are unable to use iMovie and are stuck with third party programs of varying quality.
Today, though, Google has essentially changed the game by giving anyone access to a video editing program free of charge. Since the service is free and also backed by Google, the development team will take a more open approach to the expansion of the program. For example, making the new Video Editor available on TestTube is a clear indicator that the program is still in its beginning stages, and the development team would like participation from the massive YouTube’s community to make it even better.
As of right now, I wouldn’t recommend using the program instead of iMovie, Sony Vegas Movie Studio, or any of the other editing devices out there unless you just want to do only the most rudimentary editing functions such as trimming, cutting, or pasting. However, I do believe that this video editor will start to take shape and will have some very interesting features in the coming months.
Links: TestTube | YouTube Editor
