For the Creator’s Creator

Video templates are amazing resources for KineMaster editors short on time. They're also great ways to explore tools and features you've never sued. Want to see how a video on Mix was made? Hit the Mix button and the whole project is at your fingertips!

For the editors who make video templates, the process can be tough: balancing simplicity with the urge to go all in on every effect and tool to turn the awesome dial up to 11 isn't easy.

Clean, clear timelines with media that's easy to Replace to turns anyone's recent photos and videos into an Instagram-worthy post are challenging to create.

For everyone making video templates, here's a quick list of some best practices that you can use to grab eyeballs and downloads on your next Mix upload!

1. Keep a Swipe File

Social media is a great place to find cool new ideas. So are websites, magazines, and everyday places with vibes you appreciate. Keep everything that inspires you close by saving it all to a place that's easy to curate and browse.

• Build a Mood Board with Notion
Notion is a great app to organize your thoughts, and you can use it to great effect when you want to keep your inspo in one spot.

Get started with Notion by trying a mood board template:
https://www.notion.com/templates/category/mood-board

• Pinterest

Use your Pins to keep your online discoveries in one place. You can build up Pinterest boards with images and videos that you can refer to later.

• Instagram Saves

Don't forget to tap the Save button when you see something cool. IG feeds move fast and you're probably never going to see that thing again (or even remember who made it) if you don't add it to your Saves.

• The Cloud (Drive, OneDrive, pCloud, DropBox, Proton Drive)
AFK touching grass? Organize your pics and vids into a folder on your preferred cloud storage for easy access later.

2. Extend Short Clips

If you've got a short video clip (or worse, a Live Photo) that you want to extend, there are some editing hacks that you ought to try:

• The punch-in Split your video clip and use Pan & Zoom or Transform tool to increase the size of the second clip.

When you're working with very short clips, instead of splitting, duplicate the clip. Playing the same clip back-to-back with a different zoom can give it a very different feel. You can go further by applying color filters to one clip or the other or by tossing a short effect to cover the hard cut between clips.

Learn more with The Basic Filmmaker!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oN30JcV16ak

• The mirror Duplicate your short video clip and then hit the Transform tool on one of the clips. Scroll down to the bottom and choose one of the mirroring options.

This easy trick makes the same footage feel fresh and can be added to produce back-and-forth narratives with yourself.

• The split screen
Give your video some retro vibes and create framed split screen videos. You can use the same short video clip, in different positions, zoom them in and out, or try the mirror technique to create some really fun visual results.

Learn more about the history of split screen techniques with Mike Malloy here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=anlCVH6UmM4

3. Loop It!

Mix Video Templates loop at the end. You can use some simple techniques to make the video seem like it goes on and on and on by making the last frame and the first frame of your video flow together.

• Start and end on the same frame
The key to a successful loop is to make the last frame and the first frame very similar. An easy way to do that is to fade to a background color.

• Cut your video clip in half
Another technique is to select the first video clip in your project and split it in half. Take the first half and move it to the end of your project. Scoot the second half back to the very start of your video.

You can use this same technique with songs, although getting the start and end of your audio to blend can be a little time consuming. It's easier to hide the audio split with a sound effect.

If you haven't checked out KineMaster's sound effects library on the Asset Store, you're missing out. You can find short musical interludes, sci-fi and fantasy audio effects, and high quality on-location ambient noises.

If that wasn't enough, Pixabay has a huge library of sound effects, too. You'll need to hit the Pixabay site with your web browser to access them, but it's definitely worth a look!

4. Get More Media

KineMaster has built-in access to Pexels and Pixabay, which are great resources for free "use anywhere for any reason" videos and pictures. But there are some other sites that you should keep in your back pocket:

https://www.splitshire.com
https://unsplash.com
https://gratisography.com
https://nostalgia.media

5. You're Your Own Best Model

Not finding the right videos on stock video sites? Try shooting the video using yourself.

Life of Riza has an incredible video that will get you fired up to try it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mob4RkUFIAE

6. Try AI

Creating content with AI is still new and fraught with concerns about training data, but if you need a quick image of a realistic half-cat half-shrimp, there's nothing faster.

There are already tons of AI content generation tools available for Android and iOS to explore, and a lot of them offer a few images as a free trial before a subscription kicks in.

If you've got a PC that's less than 4 or 5 years old, you can also try installing a local AI tool like Automatic1111. You can get it up and running very quickly with Lykos AI's excellent Stability Matrix (for Windows and Apple Silicon).

Creating video templates can be as much about practicing with video editing tools and techniques as it is about creating something amazing to share on Mix. No matter how or what you're making, the most important part is to have fun and learn something new. With KineMaster and Mix, that's never been easier to do!