How to use Apple Clips to shoot quick videos for your business

Apple Clips is a simple but effective app for shooting brief videos.

If you’re looking to shoot quick business videos via your iPhone or iPad, one app worth trying is Apple Clips. With the free Clips app, you can capture brief video clips and combine them into a single project. You can then add photos and posters to your project, spice up the video with music and share your video with other people. Here’s how.

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Apple Clips should already be installed on your iPhone or iPad, but you can always download it from Apple’s App Store. Position the scene that you want to shoot, then tap the Rotate button to change the view between the front and rear camera and tap the flash icon if you’re trying to capture a dark scene.

Press down on the red button to start the recording. Either keep your finger on the button to continue recording or swipe the button up or left on the screen to lock it into place and record without having to hold the button. When you’re done recording, release your finger or tap the button to stop. You can now reposition the scene or set up a new scene and resume shooting. Follow this process to record as many clips as you need for the project (Figure A).

Figure A

Beyond shooting live videos, you can add other items to your project. Tap the Photos icon. Select Photos to choose and insert a photo from your phone into your project. Tap the Photos icon and select Posters to shoot and add a poster to your project (Figure B).

Figure B

Tap the emoji icon on the right. At the next screen, pick the type of emoji you wish to add to your project. You can add a memoji to record yourself as a specific animated character that mimics your facial movements. You can also add augmented reality effects, filters, live tiles, text and stickers. However, some of these effects are available only with certain model iPhones. and remember that just a few of these flourishes go a long way, so you don’t want to overdo them (Figure C).

Figure C

After you’ve shot the clips and added the effects you want for your project, tap the Play button at the bottom to play the entire video. You can also tap a specific clip and play just that one. If you’re unhappy with any clip, select it and tap the Delete icon (Figure D).

Figure D

To add music to the video, tap the music icon at the upper right and select Soundtracks to find music offered by the app. You’ll have to download any music you wish to use here. Alternatively, select My Music to access the music stored on your iPhone. Play and select a song that interests you and then return to the previous screen. Tap Done to apply it.

If you plan to share the video publicly or commercially, note that the music included under Soundtracks is provided by Apple on a royalty-free basis. Be careful if you add any music from your own library, as it’s likely to be copyrighted (Figure E).

Figure E

Now it’s time to edit your video project. To move a clip in the timeline, simply press down on it and drag it to its new and preferred spot. Keep moving the clips this way until you’ve changed their order the way you want (Figure F).

Figure F

To trim a clip at the beginning or end, tap the Trim button and move the left or right marker to a specific point. Tap Trim again. You can also split a single clip into two clips: Select the clip and tap the Split button. Further, you can duplicate a clip to repeat it in the video and save a clip to your library to reuse it in the future (Figure G).

Figure G 

After you’ve completed your video project, you’ll likely want to share it. Tap the Share button. From the Share screen, select the specific person, app or service you want to use to share the video (Figure H).

Figure H