Table of Contents
Key Takeaways
- The iPhone 6S and 6S Plus models come with powerful video editing capabilities built right into the Photos app
- You can trim, crop, add filters, adjust color and brightness, and even edit slow-motion sections of your videos
- Third-party apps like iMovie, LumaFusion, and Filmmaker Pro offer more advanced editing features for iPhone videography
The iPhone 6S and 6S Plus, released in 2015, were groundbreaking devices that brought 4K video recording to the mobile world. However, capturing great footage is only half the battle – editing your clips is crucial to creating polished, share-worthy videos. Luckily, Apple has made it incredibly easy to perform basic video editing tasks right on your iPhone.
Editing Videos in the Photos App
The built-in Photos app on your iPhone 6S or 6S Plus has a surprisingly robust set of video editing tools. To access them, simply open the Photos app, locate the video you want to edit, and tap on it to enter full-screen mode.
Trimming Videos
One of the most common editing tasks is trimming unwanted sections from the beginning or end of a video clip. Here’s how to do it:
- With the video open, tap the “Edit” button in the top-right corner.
- You’ll see a timeline representation of your video. Drag the sliders at either end of the timeline to set new start and stop points.
- Tap the play button to preview your trimmed clip.
- When you’re satisfied, tap “Done” and choose “Save Video” or “Save Video as New Clip.”
The “Save Video” option will overwrite your original clip with the trimmed version, while “Save Video as New Clip” will create a new, trimmed copy, leaving the original intact.
Cropping and Rotating
In addition to trimming, you can also crop and rotate your videos directly in the Photos app. After tapping “Edit,” tap the crop icon (it looks like two overlapping square brackets). From here, you can:
- Manually Crop: Drag the corners of the crop box to select the area you want to keep.
- Apply a Preset Crop: Tap one of the preset aspect ratio options like Square, 16:9, etc.
- Rotate: Tap the rotate button to spin your video 90 degrees clockwise.
- Flip: Tap the flip button to create a horizontal mirror image of your video.
Adjusting Color, Brightness, and More
Apple has included a powerful set of adjustment tools in the Photos app’s video editor. After tapping “Edit,” you’ll see a set of icons at the bottom of the screen. Tap the “dial” icon to access controls for:
- Exposure: Increase or decrease the overall brightness of your video.
- Brilliance: Adjust highlights for a more vivid or subdued look.
- Highlights: Recover blown-out highlight details.
- Shadows: Boost or cut shadows and dark areas.
- Contrast: Make your video punchier or more flat.
- Brightness: A simple brightness adjustment slider.
- Black Point: Deepen or reduce blacks for a richer look.
You can also tap the three interlocking circles at the bottom to apply built-in filter effects like Vivid, Dramatic, Silvertone, and more.
Editing Slo-Mo Videos
If you’ve shot video in iOS’s Slo-Mo mode, you can actually edit which sections play back in deliciously smooth slow motion after the fact. Just tap “Edit” on your Slo-Mo clip, and you’ll see a timeline with two vertical bars.
Drag these bars to set the start and stop points for your slow-motion effect. Everything outside of this range will play back at regular speed.
Muting Audio
Sometimes you may want to remove the audio from a video clip entirely. With your video open in the editor, simply tap the speaker icon to mute or unmute the audio track.
Taking Video Editing Further with Third-Party Apps
While the built-in Photos app is great for quick trims and basic adjustments, serious videographers and content creators will likely want more advanced tools. Here are some of the most popular third-party video editing apps for iPhone:
iMovie
Apple’s iMovie app (free, with optional paid features) has been a staple for basic video editing on iOS for years. It offers a full multi-track timeline, tons of filters and transition effects, and even green screen functionality.
iMovie is a great step up from the Photos app’s editor, though power users may find it lacking compared to desktop video editing suites.
LumaFusion
LumaFusion ($29.99) is widely regarded as the most powerful video editor available on mobile. It offers up to 12 video/audio tracks, chroma keying, advanced color correction, and a huge library of effects and graphics.
For YouTubers, vloggers, and mobile filmmakers, LumaFusion is simply unmatched on the iPhone. Its depth of features and intuitive interface make it well worth the premium price tag.
Filmmaker Pro
Filmmaker Pro (free, with in-app purchases) strikes a nice balance between power and simplicity. It offers manual camera controls, multi-track editing, speed ramping, green screen editing, and more.
While not quite as fully-featured as LumaFusion, Filmmaker Pro is a great option for those who want more creative control than iMovie without spending $30 upfront.
Adobe Premiere Rush
Part of Adobe’s Creative Cloud suite, Premiere Rush (subscription required) brings professional-grade video editing to the iPhone. It integrates seamlessly with other Adobe apps and offers features like motion graphics templates and auto-transcription.
For those already invested in Adobe’s ecosystem, Premiere Rush is a no-brainer. But its subscription model may be a turnoff for casual users.
No matter which app you choose, the iPhone 6S and 6S Plus are more than capable of handling complex video editing tasks. With a little practice, you’ll be creating stunning videos that look like they were edited on a high-end desktop system – all from the palm of your hand.
