If you want to create long videos that require a lot of editing, an app running on your computer is best, but for quick and simple video production FlexClip is a handy online editor.
FlexClip is a video editor that runs in a web browser and you can create videos online quickly and easily. In fact, speed and simplicity are its strongest points. It does not have a huge range of features and being an online editor, you need a reasonably quick internet connection.
You won’t want to upload videos that are hundreds of megabytes, so it is best when you want to combine several short videos, which could have been taken on a phone or digital camera, and photographs. They can be combined to produce a longer video which can then be downloaded and saved to disk.
Being browser based, it will work on a Windows PC or an Apple Mac, however, it does insist that you use Chrome as the browser. It does not work on phones or tablets, even with Chrome. This is for desktop computers only.
Create a storyboard
Clicking the plus in the bottom left corner enables you to add a background (plain colour), a video clip or photo uploaded from the computer. Each item appears as a thumbnail in the strip along the bottom. Thumbnails can be dragged and dropped to rearrange the playing order. The idea is that you build the story by arranging the thumbnails.
Photos are given a slow zoom effect to add interest and avoid static images within the video. It looks fine, although more options would be welcome.
Trim and split videos
The video editing features are limited to trimming them by adjusting the start and end points, or splitting them. There are many features you might wish for, such as adjusting the brightness, exposure, contrast and colour saturation. They may come later because this is currently a beta.
Trimming videos is easy and you just open the clip and drag the end points to the place you want them.
Splitting a video clip into two parts is equally simple. Once split, the thumbnails can be dragged around the storyboard to change the order, or other video clips or photos can be inserted in the middle.
Titles, logos and watermarks
Adding a background enables intro screens and end credits to be created using the text facility. Text can be added to videos and photos too and there are a variety of effects that enable it to pop, bounce, slide and so on, onto the video.
A logo can be added, which is basically a small image you upload that sits on top of a video or photo. Text can be added too. This appears on a single item in the storyboard – background, video clip or photo – and if you want something to appear across the whole video then a watermark can be added.
The watermark is an image that can be placed in any of the four corners of the video and the size and opacity can be adjusted. Here I used a photo of myself, but you could easily use a company logo.
Music can be uploaded from the computer and added to the video and there is an audio button that lets you record a voice-over for clips in the storyboard if your computer has a microphone. Laptops usually do.
Save and export video
Video editing projects can be saved online and loaded the next time you visit the website. There is no mention of a space limit and multiple projects can be created and saved.
Videos can be output at several resolutions and HD is supported. It takes time to export the finished project and the bigger it is, the longer it will take. It is available to download and save to disk when exporting is complete.
Summing up
FlexClip is a simple video editor and it is too simple for some tasks, but you don’t always need a big and complicated video editing program. Sometimes you just want to quickly produce a simple video and FlexClip is then a useful tool. The watermarking feature alone makes it worth considering.
The current version is a beta and there is no mention of pricing or how much space you might have for projects. At the moment it is free and perhaps a free version will remain, with paid accounts with extra features added later.
Try it the next time you need to combine a few short clips and photos, maybe with voiceover and titles too.
