Kaltura Editor – Video Editor

The Kaltura video editor is a simple yet powerful tool for editing any video uploaded to Kaltura, making it especially useful for refining recordings of presentations, lectures, or Kaltura Capture recordings. In this guide, you’ll learn how to use the editor to easily trim, clip, chop and splice your videos.

Before getting started please open the Kaltura Video Editor for your entry (see Kaltura Editor – Kaltura Editor Tool).

About the Video Editor

The editor has three main areas:

• Left pane – Displays your media details. You can minimize it by clicking the open / close button (1).
• Right pane – Includes the following:
  • player (2) to preview your timeline changes (the player is defined in the Editor module by your administrator)
  • real-time input field (3)
  • play, pause, skip to start and skip to end buttons (4)
• Bottom pane – Contains the timeline and its tools and functions, including:
  • total video duration (5)
  • trash icon (6) for deleting segments
  • fade in / out icon (7) for setting fade cue points on your selected segment
  • real-time marker (8) for tracking your video on the timeline. When you hover on the marker, arrows display and you can drag it forwards and backwards. The marker has tools for splitting and setting in / out as follows:
    • Split (scissors icon): allows you to cut the video at the point where the real-time marker is placed.
    • Set In/Set Out: lets you crop your video from the start or end, for example, wherever the marker is placed, clicking Set In will set that as the new starting point.
  • handlebars (9) which you can drag to create a specific range
  • reset icon (10) for reverting to the last saved state. The first time you click it, a message displays: Continuing will discard all your changes. This message will not display again.
  • redo / undo icons (11)
  • show / hide audio (12) to show or hide the audio track on the timeline (audio displays by default). If there are multiple audio tracks, you can display them either individually or overlaid.
    • Audio levels provide a visual guide for where to trim or clip the entry, such as during silent moments or pauses between sentences.
    • The video editor does not support replacing or editing audio tracks.
  • zoom function (13) for adjusting your view of the timeline. Once you zoom in, a scroll bar is introduced underneath which you can use to scroll through your video, as shown in the image below:

Keyboard shortcuts

For precise adjustments on the timeline, use these keyboard shortcuts:

• Right arrow: 1 second forward
• Left arrow: 1 second backward
• Alt + Right arrow: 10 seconds forward
• Alt + Left arrow: 10 seconds backward

Trim

Trimming edits the original video’s start or end and saves the change permanently.

1. Set the start and end times using any of the methods listed below:
2. Use the zoom function to enhance display granularity. Adjust the segment’s length with the handlebars to set the exact points you want.
3. Click on the timeline to activate the handlebars, then drag the handlebars to the start and / or end point with your mouse.
   
4. Enter a start or end time in the real-time input field, and then press The real-time marker will position itself on the timeline at that time. You can then click the set in / set out icon.
   
5. Move the real-time marker to the desired position. Drag the handlebars to snap to the real-time marker.
   
6. Play the recording and pause at the desired time. The real-time marker will automatically position itself at that time. Either drag the handlebars to snap to the real-time marker or click the set in / set out icons to select the beginning and end of the range.
   
7. Once you’re happy with the start and end times, preview your edits by clicking the play button below the video.
8. Click Save (don’t forget, this will alter the original media permanently and any deleted segments are gone for good.).
9. A confirmation message displays: You are about to permanently change this media entry. This action cannot be undone. This Process may take a while. Are you sure you want to continue?
10. Click Save to continue.
11. Saving may take some time, especially for longer videos. You can leave the browser window or tab open and check back later. Your edited video will be saved in My Media.

Clipping (Copying)

Clipping a video creates a new copy of the video. This copy can have a different start or end or can be an unedited copy of the original entry. In either case the original entry will remain unaffected.

1. Set the range using any of the methods listed in the previous section.
2. Once you’re happy with the clip, preview your edits by clicking the play button below the video.
3. Click Save a Copy to create the clip (the original media is unchanged).
4. A window displays. You can either use the suggested title (indicating that this video is a clip) or enter a new title for your clip.
   
5. Click Create.
6. A success message displays: Your media, [title of media], has been saved in My Media. Go to Media Page / Go to My Media
7. Click OK.
8. You can go to My Media to confirm the clip has been created.

Chop and Splice

Chopping cuts and removes a section in the middle of a video. Splicing joins the remaining sections together, and Kaltura does this automatically, so you don’t need to move the cut segments yourself.

1. Click the timeline and drag the real-time marker to where you want to cut the video.
2. Click the scissors icon to split the video.
3. Drag the real-time marker to where you want your cut section to end and click the scissors icon again.
4. Click on the section you want to remove (it will have a yellow border around it. If it doesn’t, click on it). Click either the trash icon or press the delete key to remove it.
5. The section disappears. Kaltura automatically splices the remaining segments, so you don’t need to drag them together on the timeline.
   

Fade effects

1. Click on the segment that you want to apply a fade effect to.
2. Click the fade in / out icon and enter the seconds you want to fade in or out of the segment.
   
3. Click anywhere outside the window or press enter to confirm your changes and close the fade in / out window.
   
4. Fade markers are indicated on the point of the segments to show where the fade out and fade in points begin.

Clip and trim media with multiple streams

When the editor displays content with multiple streams (for example, both screen and video capture), the timeline is loaded with the primary stream.  You can adjust how the content is displayed on the player using the screen icons that appear when you hover (see image below). Changing the display won’t affect the timeline.

1. Click the Content Selector icon under the play button and choose the stream you want to edit from the pop-up menu.
   
2. The timeline will display the stream you selected and allow you to view where you will clip or trim the media simultaneously for each stream.
3. Set the range using any of the methods listed in previous section above.
4. When satisfied with your edits, click Save or Save a Copy.

Exit the editor

When you have finished editing, click the exit arrow in the bottom left corner to close the editor.