Video editing has long been a bridge too far for most home users. There are of course free editors where you can perform a certain edit with the click of a button without knowing the underlying technique. BeeCut succeeds in bringing very advanced video editing to the home user, so that he can make professional-looking edits.
Before you start: you can pre-install the software Windows and macOS on trial, but then a watermark will appear over the result. A lifetime license costs EUR 59.95 at the time of writing. If you prefer to pay per year, it will cost 39.59 euros. Of course there are open source editors that don’t cost a penny, but this product shows that the developer has gone out of their way to make complex video editing possible for a wide audience. Of course we should not compare apples with pears. You can put BeeCut next to Premiere Elements (89.95 euros) or Corel VideoStudio Pro 2020 (48.99 euros).
There are also online BeeCut editors that are free and all perform one particular operation. They extract audio, convert video to gif, crop the image to another format, change the video speed and so on… It’s just a matter of uploading video, selecting the correct setting and downloading the result. We’re not talking about those online tools here, but the desktop version that performs all operations locally, but to load certain filters and transitions you do need to have a Internet connection dispose.
Media
When you start, the program will ask for the desired aspect ratio of the project. The main ratios available are 16: 9 (wide screen), 4: 3 (traditional), 1: 1 (Instagram), 3: 4 (Taobao) and 9:16 (portrait). Then you import the videos via the tab Media and the button Import. You can also just drag the media files into this box. You can remove redundant files later by clicking on them with the right mouse button and the command remove to choose. When you double-click such a thumbnail image in the library, BeeCut will play it in real time in the preview window. The tab Media consists of four tabs that contain material that you can use in your project. In the tab Opening you will find a series of clips that can serve as an intro, Background contains a collection of wallpapers and Scene has a library of pre-recorded clips for you to experiment with. All this material is online. So you first have to click on the download button before you can actually use the clip.
Timeline
The timeline is at the bottom. The top two layers serve to place clips in the correct order. But you can expand those layers. Below that is a layer to add text, then there is a layer to place music and the bottom track you use to record spoken text. In this example, we have a countdown from the tab Opening dragged the first clip onto the timeline and then added three clips that are on the hard drive. The track button indicates the moment in the timeline that you will see in the preview window.
Trimming
Above the timeline on the right is a slider that controls how wide those clips are displayed. If you zoom in a lot, you can trim more accurately. First click on the clip you want to trim in the timeline. Then drag the track button to the place where you want to give the cut. Use the scissors to split the clip. Then you can select and remove the unnecessary part by clicking on the trash can. You can also use the Deletebutton to delete a clip or part of it.
Color and audio adjustments
When a clip is on the timeline, you can change the colors and brightness. First click on the clip to select it and then use the button edit, that’s the pencil icon. In a new panel you can adjust the speed of the movement, the colors, the brightness and the sound. To add a bit of drama, increase the contrast. It may also help to amplify the shadows. In the tab Audio the sound volume of the clip can be adjusted, so that you can add a background tune underneath it.
Release sound
Image and sound are normally together in the video clip. Instead of suppressing the original sound via the button edit, you can also just detach it from the clip. To do this, right-click on the clip in the timeline and choose the command Audio detachment. The detached sound will then appear as an mp4 file on the audio track. There you can select and delete this sound. Another trick is to let the sound of clip A run under clip B. Suppose you are talking to someone in the first clip. Then you can first release this sound. Then you shorten the image of this clip. Then you extract the sound of the next clip in the same way and then remove the sound of this one. Finally, place the image of the second clip against the first so that the sound from the first continues under the second clip. This screenshot makes this clearer.
Filters and elements
BeeCut has a set of filters that you can load and then apply. The 48 filters are grouped in the categories Movie, Basic, Distortion and Jitter. Of course you can always view the result on the preview screen, but it is not possible to adjust the parameters of such a filter. At the bottom is the tab Elements. Actually, there are 69 animations that apply snowflakes, fireworks, swirling leaves and decorative borders to the selected clip. The filters and elements you add appear on a separate layer in the timeline.
Transitions and overlaps
The terms transitions and overlaps seem synonymous, but that is not the case here. The tab Transitions is a collection of transitions with a lot of exuberant effects, we feel that draw the attention away from the content. In a good edit, transitions are rarely added and if you do use them, keep it sober. The tab Overlaps actually consists of cinematic covers or overlays. For example, you can use a camera viewfinder as an overlay, light rays, spots and splashes. Enough choice! No, there is actually too much choice.
Different background
With a little practice you can apply a green screen effect yourself. This makes it possible to remove the background of a subject and to add a fictional background. The hardest part is taking a picture against a smooth green background. You can find such a screen in stores or online. Once such a shot has been made, you can filter out the green background. Place the green clip on the timeline below the clip to serve as the background. Then right-click on the green clip and choose the command Green Screen Cut Out. In this example the background is set to green, but in principle you can also select a red or blue background with the eyedropper, as long as the color does not exist in the object you want to keep. Then you move the three sliders Upper Boundary, Lower Boundary and Edge Feathering until the background disappears. Click OK and admire the effect.
Zoom in
We find the zoom effect very strong. You can use the program to zoom in and out on a zone in the clip. For this, there is the Zoom button above the timeline. It looks like a square with a plus sign inside. Again you first have to select a clip in the timeline and then click on the zoom button. In the settings window, a yellow rectangle marks the area you want to zoom in on. Make the option Keep aspect ratio is checked, that way you do not disturb the aspect ratio. You can drag, resize and resize this yellow rectangle. In the timeline you will also see a yellow rectangle, which indicates how long BeeCut will zoom in on this part. This rectangle can be made as long and as short as you want.
Music
BeeCut has a large library of own film music and here too the principle applies: download first and then place it on the timeline. To make it a little easier, the music is divided into categories: Festival, Fashion, Brisk and Relaxing. You drag the music clip to the point where the song should start. There you can lock the audio and mute the entire music layer to continue working in silence. It is of course possible to use your own audio file that is on the hard drive. You first import that file into your media library. There is also a library of 207 sound effects. These are short fragments such as applause, people laughing or a room going crazy. And it is possible to make one track spill over into another by dragging the two audio tracks to different channels and overlapping them. We looked for the way to make music fade in and out. You do this by first selecting the music track and then with the right mouse button edit to choose. Then you use the sliders To show up and To disappear, a somewhat clumsy translation of fade in and fade out.
Export
As long as you are working on the project, save the file as a .ve file. The result can be exported in mp4, avi, wmv, mkv, mov and gif format. It is even possible to save the audio file separately. By clicking on the gear, the resolution, frame rate and bitrate can be adjusted manually. From time to time the program refers to the VIP subscription in which you can save at a higher quality. By this BeeCut means the paid subscription instead of the trial version.
