[Note: this review is technically a preview, since Video Edit’s June 1 release has been delayed. I initially reported that the release would be any day now, but it could be even longer, since Apple hasn’t made any promises. I’ll update the post when the app goes live.]
Video Edit is a slick little video editing utility that ‘s so quick and easy to use it might as well be part of the iPhone OS. Using trimming and editing controls that 3GS users already use in the Photos app, Video Edit allows you to stitch multiple clips together and export them as one video to your camera roll. This process, all told, usually takes less than a minute.
Loading Video Edit only takes about two seconds on my 3GS on iPhone 4.0 beta 4. The controls in video edit are sparse, but they ‘re just enough to get the job done. Unlike ReelDirector, this is not an app to make elaborate short films or insert cool effects on-the-go ” Video Edit is all about quickly and easily mashing files together so you can share them with friends. Cuts between clips happens abruptly, and you ‘ll find no extra blur or special effects to ease the transition between bits of footage.
Editing
Once you enter the editing screen you can label your video by tapping the top of the screen (optional), and then tap on the giant ‘+ ‘ button in the bottom-right corner to add clips. As of version 1.0, you can only choose videos from your iPhone Camera Roll. This means that the Video Edit is iPhone 3GS+ only, since videos synced from iPhoto to the iPhone will not show up.
I think this is a definite limitation, although I ‘m actually not sure how other video apps handle this. I reached out to the developers for comment on the Camera Roll only limitation, but received an (understandably) vague ‘we ‘ll keep improving the app ‘ in response.
Once you ‘ve chosen a video from the camera roll, you can trim it using controls straight out of the Photos app, and then tap Choose to add the trimmed (or whole) clip to your video. There ‘s nothing stopping you from adding different portions of the same camera roll video to Video Edit ” you ‘ll just have to trim each section as a separate clip.
The sample videos I ‘ve made with the app haven ‘t exactly been complex, but I know you can add at least six separate clips to Video Edit. You can scroll inserted clips by swiping along the bottom, and you can re-order clips by tapping, holding, and then moving them. If you’re unhappy with a previously trimmed portion of a clip, you can also double-tap it to re-edit it.
Finally, you can preview your entire video before exporting it, but this feature doesn’t work on my 3GS, due to incompatibility with the iPhone 4.0 beta. However, the developers have assured me that the feature does work on firmware 3.1.2 and 3.1.3 (current at time of this review).
Saving
One of the biggest selling points of Video Edit, aside from the K.I.S.S controls, is the speed of the app. Trimming and compressing a 30-second portion usually takes less than 10 seconds, and exporting a one-minute video to the Camera Roll takes about six or seven seconds. It ‘s blazingly fast.
The only extra bit I ‘d like here is some extra information about the video I ‘m exporting. I ‘m not talking about EXIF ” but a simple number indicating clip length in minutes or seconds, or a size estimate for sharing purposes. 3G may be pretty speedy, but uploading clips over anything except wi-fi can still be pretty sluggish, so knowing the size of an exported video would help a lot.
Incidentally, it should be mentioned that while Video Edit can save clips to your camera roll, it can’t actually upload anything. You’ll have to upload your files through another app (like Facebook).
Conclusion
I think this is great little app that does exactly what it sets out to do: quickly trim and save video clips so that you can easily share them. Sure, there are bigger and more powerful apps out there (ReelDirector, $7.99), but none of the names I know of can boast the same speed and ease-of-use as Video Edit.
That said, I do think that certain users (myself included) may take a little issue with the current proposed price of $4.99. Video Edit certainly isn ‘t a pricey app, but when an extra three dollars will buy you a miniature version of iMovie, and the default Photos app can trim single video clips and then share them, the $5 asking price becomes a bit harder to swallow.
The work that went into making Video Edit this fast may well have cost so much that the $4.99 price really is justified, but in the App Store land of feature bullet points, paying a lot for an app that does one thing simply and quickly seems like a tough sell. I ‘m no pricing expert, but based on the apps that I ‘ve bought, I know I ‘d gladly pay $2.99 to play with the release version of Video Edit.
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I’ll make sure to update this post when the app is released, but it should cost $4.99 when it comes out.
A pre-release version of the app was provided by DHI Inc. for review on Just Another iPhone Blog. For further information regarding our site’s review policies, please see the “About” page.
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