Drone Video Editing Software: Edit Your Footage Easily
Maybe you got a drone for Christmas or a birthday, or perhaps you finally splurged and picked up the one you’ve been eyeing: either way, you’ve got the hang of flying it, now you need to get the hang of editing the video you captured!
Drones are being used increasingly more often for industries like real estate, construction, tourism, art galleries, comic conventions, and portrait photography. Whatever it is you’re using your drone for, editing the footage you get can elevate your content and garner more attention, especially on social media.
Enter Animoto, a beginner-friendly video editing software that works in your browser, so you don’t need a fancy computer or advanced hardware specs to make great videos. Best of all, it’s free to use, and there are a ton of templates and tutorials to help you get started.
You can upload your footage, add some transitions, cut out the boring parts of the flight or speed the whole thing up to make the video social-media ready, and export it in less time than it takes to brew a cup of coffee. Let’s take a closer look at how Animoto’s drone video editing software can help you make the most of your footage.
Why edit your drone footage?
Even a decade ago, a tiny flying camera’s footage was something that felt reserved for Hollywood or the military. Now though, anybody can buy one for personal use. The reason to edit drone footage is that the cinematography of drone videos, as it stands, has evolved past the basics.
Viewers expect more now: things like transitions, changes in video speed, text-on-screen to provide context and music. And we’re here to help. Animoto has features to make editing your drone footage a breeze. You can create a cinematic drone video quickly and without a ton of work, so you can get back to flying faster.
How to use Animoto’s drone video editing software
Once you’ve made your account, here’s how to start editing drone footage with Animoto.
- First, film something. Once you have footage, upload it to Animoto by creating a new project and selecting the footage you want to use.
- Once you’ve drag-and-dropped your footage onto the workspace, you can trim it, clip it, change the background color, and add text. You can clip a long video into a short one, then upload it again in a new block, clipping to a different point of time in the footage. This gives a sense of change over time or quick transitions, or you can have the entire clip exist in one single block.
- Add music, change the colors, add text, and include an intro/outro. Each of these elements can spice up your video and make it more fun to watch. Plus, they’re very easy to add in Animoto!
- Finally, you can export the video and share it anywhere!
Video editing tips for engaging drone videos
Editing can do a lot to make the videos and time-lapses you have captured with your drone look professional and high-quality, but some of the best tips to help you make great content can be implemented while flying, too.
Don’t fear the cutting room floor
To make your video truly shine, you need to cut out the shaky parts of your video, the less exciting bits, and anything that might distract from the overall message or content you are trying to present.
Add music to your drone video
Some drones capture audio with their video footage, but the sound of the whirling blades often drowns out anything else. Your viewers don’t need to know that. Clean up the audio and use sound effects to emphasize important points and moments in your video, and have a background track running the rest of the time.
Animoto offers tons of licensed tracks that you can add to your drone video. Remember that video is not only a visual medium; it’s also aural or auditory. You can always mute your footage in Animoto to keep the focus on your track.
Use text to give context and provide information
From up high, one park looks very much like another. Don’t be afraid to spell out to your audience what is obvious to you: the location, why you are flying there, and so on. More information is usually better. Use these helpful tips to make your text as eye-catching and readable as possible.
Use transitions, effects, and cuts
Visually striking moments of your flight are a must, but between those points, you can use other tools like zooming in on a particularly beautiful bit of scenery or other noteworthy feature. You can also jump-cut straight to the next interesting thing instead of making the viewer “travel” with the drone as it flies to the next point. Animoto offers video styles that can add texture, movement, and creativity to your videos.
Beyond the basics: Inspiring drone video ideas to elevate your content
You’ve got the drone, and you know you can use cloud-based software like Animoto to edit the footage when you’re on the go, even from a phone, tablet, or laptop. But what kind of video should you shoot?
The classic flyover
This is the type of video most people probably think of when you say the phrase “drone footage.” It’s a view from up high, typically with a wide lens, and usually doesn’t have a lot of specific, close-up detail. This sort of video is great if your subject is really large, like a state park, a house for sale, a new piece of artwork, a building under construction, or a piece of natural beauty like a mountain or river.
The aerial tour
An aerial tour is often used in real estate and involves the drone zipping about inside a space, providing views that an ordinary person with a camera couldn’t get. It’s especially useful for displaying a floorplan or noting the features inside a space. Often, the drone flies at head-height, so the person watching gets the feeling they are standing in a room and looking around. Get a head start by using this virtual real estate tour template, and then elevate it with your drone footage.
The unexpected commercial
Drones can do things normal cameras cannot, and this visual interest can make an ordinary commercial or ad way more fun and interesting. For one thing, many drones are small and can get very close to the person or product in question, providing a view that could not normally be achieved without an expensive set of camera equipment or potential hazard to the actor.
Drones can also give ordinary people access to things that feel like they should only be available in Hollywood, like quick aerial shots, flyovers, and explosive zoom outs. Simply using a drone camera in place of a regular handheld one can spice an ad up and give a lot of freedom.
The time lapse
Another simple video idea, time-lapses can show the viewer something in a way they literally could not have seen before. For example, imagine a bridge lifting to allow a shipping boat to travel beneath it. A drone can show that entire process from a passing boat or high above the bridge itself: places a normal cameraperson could not get to safely. Keep your drone flying steady as it records the world moving around it to create a visually stunning time lapse.
The bird’s eye view
Take your drone to the maximum safe height it can fly at and provide your audience with a view only birds usually get. But don’t just stop with a wide shot. After establishing the high-up perspective, fly the drone all the way down close to something. Dip between the gently shifting boughs of a freshly trimmed tree, or bob through a tire swing as the sun sets.
How Animoto makes it easy to edit drone videos
Animoto offers a lot of features, templates, effects, and transitions a drone operator can use to enhance and maximize their footage.
Customizable video templates
The templates offered in Animoto are widely varied and cover a range of content, from narrative-focused templates to event-focused ones. You can also create your own template and reuse it over and over to keep your videos consistent and build brand recognition by customizing one video project and simply duplicating it each time.
Combine multiple video clips easily
Once a video is uploaded to Animoto, it’s easy to grab it and drag it onto the workspace, stitching together multiple clips to create a holistic, seamless video with just a few finger swipes or drag-and-clicks.
Create split screen and picture-in-picture videos easily
Picture-in-picture (PiP) videos are popular on social media sites like TikTok, and drone footage can offer valuable perspectives. This style often pairs well with different footage that a drone cannot capture well, like close-ups, steady shots, and even photographs. In Animoto, adding two videos to a single block is easy, and when paired with a stylish theme, it makes for a quality piece of content. Take a look at this template that includes multiple images in one block:
Stock library with millions of photos and videos
When you can’t get the perfect shot, or you need a transition or a still image to give the viewer’s eyes a place to rest, you can rely on Animoto’s stock library of pictures and videos. And if you upgrade your account, you get access to even more.
Music library loaded with licensed tracks
Browse Animoto’s library of licensed music by mood or by genre to find the song that best fits your drone video. And like the stock footage, you get even more when you decide to upgrade to a Professional account.
Cloud-based drone video editing software
Whether your drone is in need of a recharge, the weather has changed, or you just completed your flight, Animoto lets you take footage straight from your device and edit it on an iOS device or laptop and post it while still in the field. That kind of flexibility comes from the cloud, and the fact that Animoto handles all the video processing server-side, freeing up your device from the heavy lifting.
Ready to edit your drone footage in minutes?
Make stunning drone videos in minutes with our easy drag-and-drop video maker, no experience necessary. With a few clicks, you can create a free account and get started.