How I edit my videos - using Windows 10's Video Editor

A question I have been asked several times is, "How do you put together your videos?". I certainly don't regard myself as an expert videographer but, over the years, I have picked up a few tips and shortcuts which might be helpful if you are just beginning to feel your way.

 I have explained my approach as a series of ten steps:

1. Decide on a video editing package
2. Shoot some video clips and/or photos
3. Transfer the clips and/or photos to your computer
4. Import the clips and/or photos to the editing package
5. Drag the clips and/or photos to the Timeline/Storyboard
6. Trim each clip/photo to the best length
7. Add titles
• Adding a title card
• Putting titles on a video clip or photo
8. Add sound
• Background music
• Your own music track
• Voice-over narration
• Adjusting the volume levels
9. Render the video
10. Share the video with the world at large

Step 1 - Decide on a video editing package

The editing package I use is Corel VideoStudio. It's not cheap, but I've grown used to it over the years. When I first started, I used Windows MovieMaker which was installed free of charge with Windows. Most video editors work in more or less the same way and so I will use the default video editor which comes with Windows 10 (and 11). To my mind, it's not as good as MovieMaker but it does enable you to do some basic editing. It's part of the Photos package but the easiest way to get it up and running is to type Video Editor into the search pane on the bottom right of the TaskBar and then click on the link.

If you have an Apple computer then you will have the far more powerful iMovie package - you lucky thing!

Step 2 - Shoot some video footage

You can use your phone, stills camera or a video camera to record a few different shots of your railway and then transfer them to your computer. You can also incorporate still images into your video - or use the video editor to create a slide show.

I either use a compact still camera or my old and trusty video camera. I like to get shots which are at ground level to add to the realism and also to avoid getting too much unwanted clutter (wheelie bins, sheds, washing on the line) in the background. I use a Gorilla Pod tripod which has bendy legs enabling me to park the camera almost anywhere.

Step 3 - Transfer the video and/or photo files to your computer

Transferring the video and/or photo files can be done in various ways,

• by using cloud storage such as Google Photos;
• by wifi, if your camera supports wifi transfer;
• by connecting your camera to your computer via a cable link;
• by removing the memory card from your camera and inserting it into your computer's card reader.

I use a cheap USB card reader as my laptop doesn't have a built-in card reader. This enables me to transfer files from SD cards, micro SD cards and Olympus memory cards - all of which I use with my various cameras.

Step 4 - Open up your Video Editor and import the video and/or photo files you want to use

Assuming you have already opened your video editor, the first thing you need to do is create a new project or video and give it a name.

You can then upload the files you want in your video to the editor. With the Windows Video Editor, this is achieved by clicking on the +Add button in the Project Library section of the screen.

Step 5 - Drag the video files from the library to the timeline

Now we have gathered together a library of photos and/or video clips for the video we can start to put them together in the order we want them to appear. This is done by dragging each one, in turn, from the Library to the Timeline or the Storyboard as it is called in Windows Video Editor.

If you put a clip or photo in the wrong place, you can either click on it and press the delete key to remove it, or click on it and drag it to its right place in the Storyboard or Timeline.

I have placed a photo as my first clip and then three video clips - the first showing the train departing Beeston Market station, the second showing the train en route and the third showing the train arriving at Bickerton station.

Step 6 - Trim each clip to the best length

Most of my clips need to be topped and tailed - ie the start and ends of the clips need to be removed. Maybe the camera wobbled when I pressed the record button or it might be that I left the camera running too long before the train moved into or out of the shot.

I always shoot far more video clips than I need and also allow for an extra few seconds at the start and finish of a shot to allow the camera to settle down as I know I can edit these bits out later. You may have noticed from my videos that there is very rarely any time when nothing is happening.

Video editors vary slightly as to how a clip can be trimmed, but the principle is always the same. With Windows Video Editor, right-click on a clip and then select Trim, or ......

...... left-click on the clip and then select Trim from the menu just above the StoryBoard.

The grey handles can then be dragged to where you want that particular clip to start (left handle) and finish (right handle). Once you are happy, then click Done.

Step 7 - Add titles

Using a title card

The easiest way to add a title in Windows 10 Video Editor is to left-click the clip adjacent to where the title will be inserted and then left-click the Add title card button. 

I've decideed to put a title card at the finish of my video - you'll see why later. So, I clicked the final video clip and then the Add title card button.

By default, the Title card is added before the selected clip, .....

... so I clicked on it and dragged it to the end of the Storyboard.

The next job is to add the text to the Title card. Making sure the Title card is selected (by clicking on it), I clicked the Text button/

We can now type in the required text in the text pane and then click the Done button.

I have used the default "Simple" animated text style, you could click on any of the others to find the one which best suits your needs. Similarly, I have positioned the text in the centre of the screen - I could have positioned it to the top, bottom or sides of the screen using the buttons just above the 'Done' button.

Adding a title to a background video clip or photo

Instead of using a plain background for the opening title, I decided to use the photo which I had inserted first in my storyboard as the background. Firstly I clicked on the photo at the start of the Storyboard to select it and then I clicked on the Text button.

As previously, I typed in my title but this time selected the Cartoon style of animation.

With the titles added, I now previewed my video to check all was well by dragging the 'Seek' blob to the left below the preview screen and then pressing the Play button.

I was now ready to add the soundtrack

8 - Adding sound

Adding background music to the whole video

The simplest way to add sound is to click on the 'Background Music' button ....

..... and selecting a tune from the list (the tunes can be previewed by clicking on the triangular Play button beside each title).

However, this simply plays the same tune through the whole video and doesn't give an opportunity for you to add voiceover narration. 

Adding your own music track

You can exert more control over when music or voiceover narration appears by clicking on the Custom audio button.

Firstly, I wanted to add a short music clip to play behind the title at the start of the video. To do this I clicked on the +Add the audio file button and then navigated through to the folder where I had stored some Royalty Free music (downloaded from incompetech.com).

NOTE: You must be very careful about using music without the copyright holder's permission. At best you will get a warning when you upload the video to YouTube - at worst you could be fined for copyright infringement. I always use Royalty Free music and make certain I give the required credit to the composer.

Once the audio file has been loaded, it appears below the +Add audio file button and also on the slider beneath the video preview screen. The grey handles can now be moved to where you want this music file to play in the video.

Adding voiceover narration

Before adding your voiceover narration, you must first record the file. The simplest way to do this is to use the Voice Recorder app which comes with Windows 10.

Type Voice into the search pane on the left of the taskbar and Voice Recorder should be shown. Click on Voice Recorder to open it.

Provided the microphone has been properly set-up, all we need to do is click on the microphone icon in the centre of the Voice Recorder window and record our narration. I usually jot down a couple of appropriate sentences on a sheet of paper to guide what I want to say. 

Pressing the icon again will stop the recording. You can then listen to your recording and delete it if you are not happy, or change its name to something more memorable.

Clicking the three dots in the bottom right corner of the window gives you the additional option of finding out where the sound file has been saved. I usually drag it from there to another folder so I can find it more easily.

The recording(s) can now be added to the video in the same way we added the music file - by clicking on the +Add the audio file button in the Custom audio section. As with the music file, the voiceover files can be placed on the storyboard by dragging the grey sections into the desired places. Click Done when you have finished.

Adjusting the volume levels

You will probably find that the soundtrack on the video clips drowns out the sound of any added music or voiceover files. It's easy to adjust the volume on any of the video clips. Click on the little loudspeaker icon in the bottom right corner of any video clip on the Storyboard and adjust the slider to the required volume level.

9 Rendering the Video

Once everything has been done and we've watched our video in the editor a couple of times to make sure all the sound levels are correct, it's time to export the video and have it rendered into movie file.

Click on the Finish video button ......

.... and select the format the video will be rendered into. This will depend on the quality of the video clips imported into the video. It's best to use the format recommended by the program.

We will then be asked where we want the video to be saved and, after a few minutes, if all is well, we are given the opportunity to check that the video is what we were expecting to see and, if so, we can close down the video editor.

10. Sharing the video with the world at large

I tend to share all my videos on YouTube where I have signed-up for an account. You could use Vimeo or Facebook or whichever online platform is your preference.