How to Edit Videos on TikTok: Quick and Easy Tips

TikTok may be among the newest social media platforms on the block, but it's one of the fastest growing. When done right, the views from TikTok users can significantly expand your brand's reach and exposure. So if you're thinking about hopping on board the TikTok train, here are some quick and easy tips on how to edit your videos on TikTok.

Basic Editing Tips for TikTok videos

TikTok has various video editing gizmos and gadgets to inject pizzazz into your micro videos. To get started, open your TikTok app. You'll see five icons at the bottom of the screen: Home, Discover, Create, Inbox, and Profile. Click "Create" or the plus sign icon ("+") to start editing your videos.

Give yourself buffer time with the countdown timer

Recording yourself within the TikTok app? It's always helpful to have a little buffer room to get yourself situated in front of the camera. An easy way to do this is to use the countdown timer.

1. After opening TikTok, click the "+" or "Create" button
2. Tap the stopwatch icon (the third icon from the bottom along the righthand side of the screen)
3. Choose if you want a 3-second or 10-second countdown
4. Set your video recording limit by dragging the timed bar (the countdown timer only allows you to record a maximum of 15-second videos at a time)
5. Click the red "Start Countdown" button and work your magic

Enhance with beauty mode

Filming yourself can be intimidating and may have you feeling a smidge vulnerable. While adding a little oomph to your face is 1000% unnecessary, if applying a little bit of digital TLC to your skin makes you feel more confident when filming, do what makes you feel best. By using Enhance, you essentially turn on a light beauty mode. Enhance doesn't overly filter your face or make you look like a different person but adds a small amount of blur to soften the skin's texture and lighten the dark circles under your eyes. To use this:

1. After opening TikTok, click the "+" or "Create" button
2. In the vertical column of icons on the righthand side, click the third icon from the top that looks like a magic wand and says Enhance
3. You can easily toggle Enhance on or off by simply clicking on the magic wand

Use dramatic and fun effects

TikTok users heavily apply dramatic and fun effects to elevate the creativity of their videos. To use effects:

1. Open TikTok and click the "+" or "Create" button
2. Tap the Effects button on the bottom left corner
3. Browse through Trending effects, New effects, Appearance effects (add freckles or makeup, change your eye color), and more to complement your creative ideas

You can also use more simple, camera-focused effects like glitches or split screens. To do this:

1. Open TikTok and click the "+" or "Create" button
2. Upload or record your content and tap the red checkmark
3. Click the Effects icon on the bar at the bottom of the screen
4. Utilize different visuals (smog, rain, bling, film), motions (add wings or doodles), transitions (tv glitches, scrolling, circle swirls), split screens, and time effects (reverse, slow-mo) to amp up your video

Make your videos accessible by adding captions

If there is dialogue in the video, adding captions to your TikTok videos makes them more inclusive and accessible. Having captions or subtitles also allows users to watch with the sound off and still follow along with what's happening in the video. To do this:

1. Open TikTok and click the "+" or "Create" button
2. Upload or record your content and tap the red checkmark
3. Click on the Captions icon (third icon from the bottom) and TikTok will automatically listen to the dialogue in the video and generate the captions for you
4. Review the captions to make sure the translated words are correct
5. If you notice any inconsistencies, click the pencil icon to edit your captions

Enhance your video with sound

Adding sound is a key ingredient when editing videos for TikTok. Music and sound effects can enhance a video and make it more comical, serene, or any other feeling you want your viewers to experience. To add and edit sound in TikTok:

1. Open the app and click the "+" or "Create" button
2. Upload or record your content and tap the red checkmark
3. Click the Sounds icon at the bottom of the screen
4. Browse Recommended songs or songs that you've already identified as your Favorites
5. To explore more options, click the magnifying glass icon that says "More" and browse different genres like hip hop or electronic, TikTok Viral songs, emerging artists, and more
6. Once you pick a song, click on the Scissors icon if you want to select a particular section of the song by dragging and moving the waveforms to fit the particular part of the song you want

Some users believe that using trending TikTok songs may increase your exposure chances. If you can do this, great! But if not, don't stress about it. Instead, find a song that best matches your video's vibe and overall aesthetic.

Get Started with TikTok Video Editing

These are just some of the most basic and easy tips for editing videos on TikTok. While strategizing and making your own content is a fun journey, it also takes consistency and hard work. If you need a TikTok tutor or content creator, you can find talented creators and video editors through Fiverr that can help strategize and dream up creative content for your brand.

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