Lesson Plans

Home / Community /

Editing a Video in Camtasia Studio

This lesson can be used as a continuation of Introduction to Screen Recording: Creating a Whiteboard Movie. Or, if your students have other videos that they have created with Camtasia Studio, those can be used with this lesson as well.

To begin the discussion of video editing, ask students how their videos could be improved:

• What do they think could be better about their video?
• What do they wish they had done differently?
• What do they hope Camtasia Studio will be able to help them change about their videos? Discuss possibilities.

Tell them that today you're going to show them how to edit their movies, so that they can see how editing can help them make improvements without requiring them to rerecord the entire video.

Objectives

In this lesson, students will:

• Gain a more sophisticated understanding of screen recording
• Learn how videos can be edited in Camtasia Studio
• Produce an edited video

Grade Level

Any

Materials

Computer

Previously recorded, unedited video

Software Used

Camtasia Studio

Instructions

1. Instruct students to open the video they have created.

Explain that editing allows them to trim out the pieces of the video that they don't want. It also allows them to split videos into two or more pieces, making it easy to insert Transitions or graphics between scenes.

2. Have students read and follow these printed directions:

    Step 1: Placing Your Video on the Timeline

• The first thing that you will need to do is drag your video and drop it on the Timeline. Editing can only be done to clips that are on the Timeline.
  
• Once the clip is on the Timeline, you will see that the video displays within the Preview Area of the screen.

    Step 2: Removing Unwanted Sections of the Video

• Click the Zoom In button to get "closer in" to your video. This lets you make more precise edits.
• Next you will be using the Cut option to remove unwanted portions of your video.
• Using the scrubber control found in the Preview Area's controls, move to the general place within the video that you would like to remove:
  
• Use the Play button and/or other Playback Controls to move to the beginning of the exact place where you would like to make your cut. If necessary, zoom in on the Timeline to get a closer view.
• When you come to the right spot, click on the Pause button.
• Click and drag the seek bar on the Timeline to make a selection for cutting.
  
• Once the selection has been made, click on the Cut Selection button.
  
  The selection will be deleted.
• Continue making as many cuts as desired.

    Step 3: Splitting your Video

    You will use the Split option to divide your video clip into two pieces:

• Place the seek bar in the location where the split is to occur.
• Click on the Split button.
• The movie is split into two pieces. At this time, both pieces are placed on the Timeline.
  

    Step 4: Add a Transition

• Transitions allow you to set special entry effects that will smoothly transition one clip to another in your produced video.
• Within the Task List, click on Transitions. You will be taken to the Storyboard view.
• The available Transitions are shown. Double-click on a transition effect to see how the transition will work.
• Drag the Transition onto the Storyboard to the area between the two video clips.
  
• When you are done adding Transitions, choose Finished to return to the main screen.

    Step 5: Save your Project

    At this time, it would be a good idea to save your project. Saving the project allows you to come back to this video and continue working on it at a later time.

• Click on the Save Project button on the toolbar.
  
• Browse and select the folder where you would like to store this project.
• In the File Name field, give this project a name.
• Choose Save.

    Step 6: Produce the Final Video

• Click the Produce Video As link in the Task List. The Production Wizard appears.
• Within the wizard, accept all of the defaults for the production options. So, choose Next through five screens.
• In the Where would you like to save your video file(s)? screen, enter a title (Production name) and select the folder where you would like to store this video. Choose Next.
• Choose Finish. The Rendering Storyboard status dialog box displays showing you the progress of the production. Once the production is complete, your video will playback for your review.

3. Select a few videos to show to the entire class. Talk about the editing practices the student has employed.

Additional Resources

Consult the Camtasia Studio Learning Center for Camtasia Studio tutorials.

Educator Resources