No-one wants to see a 30-minute video of your cat being mildly amusing; and even that 60-second comedy classic Drunken Mate Falls Off Chair is too long.
But cut out the boring bits, drop in some transitions and add a soundtrack, and you’ve got social media gold. Possibly.
So, whether you’re a budding Hollywood director armed with a smartphone, or just someone who wants to make an Instagram clip look more Instagrammy, grab some of these editors and get cracking on your masterpiece. After all, you’ve only another 29-and-a-half minutes to chop out!
iMovie
Considered a benchmark iOS release, and impressively similar to the Mac desktop version, iMovie should be on every iOS device. The app makes it ridiculously easy to splice together shot footage, but there’s a lot more to it than that.
You can use it to add titles, music, voiceovers and photos to your work of art - and if you want to cheese it up, take your pick from a bunch of TV-style templates and movie trailer themes. With recent Apple hardware, it’ll even deftly deal with 4K.
Download iMovie for iOS (£free)
PowerDirector
Android often ends up second-best when it comes to creative fare, but that’s not the case with video. PowerDirector in many ways echoes iMovie, providing a user-friendly but powerful editor.
Clips can quickly be arranged and trimmed, titles can be added, and you get a decent set of transitions to experiment with. However, you’ll have to pay a monthly subscription (£4.79 – although as low as £2.79 if you pay for a year upfront) to rid your movies of watermarks and export at up to 4K. On iOS and feeling jealous? The app’s available there too – although subs are slightly pricier.
Download PowerDirector for Android (£free + IAP)
Download PowerDirector for iOS (free + IAP)
LumaFusion
While iMovie is great at what it does, it’s ultimately geared towards casual use. If you want to take things to the next level, try LumaFusion.
Designed for efficiency, and aimed at mobile journalists and filmmakers, the app includes multi-track editing with realtime preview, superb (and occasionally bonkers) animated transitions, a powerful titler, and excellent audio effects.
It’s the closest you’ll get to desktop-grade video-editing app on your iPad or iPhone.
Download LumaFusion for iOS (£28.99)
Just want the effects bits from LumaFusion? Then grab the bargtastic LumaFX (99p). It’s ideal for fixing single shots, whether you want to adjust contrast and shadows, flip a clip’s orientation, or transform a movie into a deranged 1970s Eastern European animation.
KineMaster
One of the most impressive things about this video editor on Android is that it’s so simple to use - even on quite a small smartphone. It uses screen space remarkably well, making it a cinch to arrange your clips, add additional layers (captions, images, and even ‘handwriting’), quickly import extra footage and play around with effects.
But like PowerDirector, it’s a pity the developer saddled the app with a restrictive subscription payment model rather than a one-off cost: the monthly subscription will set you back £3.19, or you can get a year for £18.99. Again, it’s on iOS as well (£3.49 per month/£18.49 annually), although you’d be better off investing in LumaFusion.
Download KineMaster for Android (£free + IAP)
Download KineMaster for iOS (£free + IAP)
FiLMiC Pro
OK, so this one’s not an editor – it’s a camera. But then if you want great footage, you should look further afield than your phone’s built-in camera app. This one powers up your thumbs with dials to control focus, exposure and zoom.
In fact, this one’s full-on tinkerer bliss. You can adjust frame rates, aspect ratio and white balance. Live analytics warn about clipping so you don’t ruin a once-in-a-lifetime shot. Found the perfect set-up? Save it as a custom preset for future work.
Still not enough? Then grab the IAP cinematographer kit – £10.49 on Android; £13.99 on iOS – which unlocks access to LOG gamma curves that’ll make your phone think it’s a piece of pro-grade videocamera kit.
Download FiLMiC Pro for Android (£11.49)
Download FiLMiC Pro for iOS (£14.99)
So it turns out the iPhone XR and up can record from multiple cameras. With DoubleTake by FiLMiC Pro (free), you can go split-screen or just record two videos simultaneously, thereby transforming a single iPhone into a multi-cam studio.
