By Lisa Curtis
As a VA who mainly works in implementing clients’ marketing plans, editing videos is a big part of the job. I’m often asked to suggest tools and software that can perform certain tasks with the best functionality at the best possible value. In this article I’m going to share some of the great benefits of the video editing and subtitling tool, Kapwing.
What is Kapwing good for?
Essentially, Kapwing is a collaborative platform where you can easily create images, videos and GIFs. If you’re looking for a fast and effective way to get visual content in a sharable format then this will be a great tool for you. The tools across the platform have everything you need. It’s extensive! Use the video maker to combine videos or create slideshows or montages; the Meme Generator is an easy and super-quick way to add captions to clips or an image with handy ready-to-use templates. Add audio or music to a video and make timing adjustments so everything syncs perfectly; trim and resize video so it’s ready to share on any platform. You can even remove the background from single images to make it a transparent PNG. No photoshop required!
In my experience, using Kapwing to resize pre-recorded videos and add subtitles for sharing on social media has been my most-used function of this tool.
Easy to get started
The dashboard interface for editing videos is clean and uncluttered, inviting you to simply drag and drop your video to upload and get started. From there you can trim your video using time stamps to get it the desired length. You can adjust the aesthetics of your video, add elements, text and audio all from one simple window. Resizing a videos aspect ratio can be done in one click meaning your clips can be repurposed wherever you like.
Adding Subtitles
Subtitles are a great way to add an extra level of usability to your clips and most videos have them, but have you ever wondered how they get there? Kapwing makes it really easy to do this and it’s not technical! Simply type the subtitle into the window for the specific time frame and use the time stamps to fine-tune the timings. Or, if you want to make it easy on yourself, get an SRT file made up of your transcription, upload it and wait for Kapwing to do its magic! There’s also a third option for subtitles – the ‘auto-generate’ button. This will add subtitles automatically using AI wizardry, but beware, this feature is still in BETA so it’s not 100% accurate. You’ll need to go in and manually edit the subtitles to make sure it’s all as you’d like it. It’s clever stuff 😊
Kapwing screenshot
The pricing plan
Pricing wise, there are two levels to choose from. Keep it free to use if your videos are under 7 minutes long and you’re publishing under three hours of video per month, or go Pro for just $20 per month and enjoy a huge 2GB file upload limit and a host of other premium features.
Learn more
There’s an abundance of great free tutorials under the Resource tab, covering design, social media, YouTube and more. Have a browse through the articles and you’ll soon find videos and blogs covering subjects and techniques you didn’t even know you wanted to try!
Kapwing is great if you’re just starting out with editing videos and you don’t want to be overwhelmed. Sign up for a free account, have a play and see where it takes you!
