Want to make square videos that work on any social platform? Looking for tools to help you?
In this article, you will get acquainted with six tools for cropping, marking and optimizing square videos to increase the effectiveness of video content on Facebook, Instagram and Vkontakte.
Why is Square video effective on social networks?
Brands and companies of all sizes have long been staring at video marketing. Just go to Facebook, Instagram or LinkedIn, and the transition to the video is obvious. But, as is the case with other forms of content marketing, if your video does not stand out, it can be lost on social networks.
So how do you get people to stop scrolling and watch videos? In the end, you spent a lot of time and energy shooting and editing.
Encouraging people to watch your video content is as easy as creating your video production with custom sizes, brand and subtitles. But here you don’t need to be professional or buy trendy software to improve your videos. If you simply “probe” a topic using video and don’t want to invest time and money in a reliable editing program, the following tools will help you make video editing.
Read more:
Video marketing has surpassed everyone
Video development brief. What is important to know?
# 1: Convert existing video from horizontal to square
The first step in creating branded videos that attract attention on social networks is to make them square rather than horizontal. For what? A square video takes up more space in the tape, so most likely your audience will only see your video on the screen, especially on mobile devices. Horizontal video, on the other hand, will share the screen space with other people's content, making it easier for users to be distracted by the surrounding content.
Here are some tools you can use to convert horizontal video to square.
Use Keynote to Create Square Videos
Keynote is presentation software that comes standard with Apple products, so if you're using a Mac or iPhone, you can simply add your horizontal or vertical videos to Keynote and make some changes. The instructions in this article are specifically for the mobile version.
After installing the application, click Create Presentation to get started.
First select the background of the slide. Most people use a plain black or white slide. Then click the plus sign and select the video you want.
After you have imported the video, click on the three dots in the upper right corner of the screen and go to “Document Setup”.
Then at the bottom of the screen, click “Slide Size” and resize the video to a square. Your video is now ready.
Click the + button at the top of the screen to add text, shapes, animations, and other elements provided by Keynote. You can also download images and graphics stored on your phone from other sources. Later in this article, you will learn how to use Canva to make your video design even more sophisticated and branded.
When you finish developing the video, tap three points again, go to “Export”> “Movie”, select the movie options, click “Export” and voila! You have created a branded video that is sure to stand out on social networks.
Use PowerPoint to create square videos
Like Keynote, PowerPoint lets you add your own videos to a presentation and resize slides. If you are not an Apple user, PowerPoint is available on most Windows PCs and it is likely that you have used this presentation software before. It can be purchased as part of the Office 365 suite, which costs $ 6.99 per month.
To use PowerPoint to create a square video, start with an empty slide that you can customize later. Click the Design tab in the ribbon menu and choose Slide Size> Custom Slide Size. Enter the same size in the height and width fields (for example, 12 x 12) to create a square slide. Just do not make it too small, otherwise your permission will suffer!
Now open the Insert tab and select Multimedia> Video. Browse to a video file to import it into PowerPoint.
Professional Tip: In both Keynote and PowerPoint, you can drag corner handles to expand your video beyond the slide. So if you want to crop a video for a better fit or aesthetics, this is a simple solution.
Finally, you can insert graphics, images, text, and animations provided by PowerPoint or from your hard drive.
With PowerPoint, you have to take another step to make sure your presentation is exported correctly. Click on the video embedded in the slide and go to the “Playback” tab in the ribbon menu. Click the Start pop-up menu and select Automatic. If you skip this step, you will not receive a complete clip of your video.
Finally, go to File> Export> Create Video and share your video with the world.
# 2: Create square videos using mobile video apps
Not surprisingly, developers have already begun creating video applications to meet the demand for square videos. Although there are several options available, none of them provide a level of customization like Keynote and PowerPoint. However, if you're looking for an easy way to get started, here are two video editing apps that are worth exploring.
Optimize square videos with Apple's Clips
Clips is a free iOS app specially designed to create square videos. Clips has many customization options for your video, including stickers, shortcuts, emoticons, and even music.
Start by creating a new project. From here you can record a new video directly in the application on the “Camera” tab or select an already shot video on the “Library” tab. If you are importing a horizontal video, you can pinch the video with two fingers on the screen to resize it to fit your desired view. Please note that the length of the clips is a maximum of 60 minutes.
By clicking on a rainbow colored star, an additional menu will open with all the bells and whistles to decorate your video.
Exporting videos from clips is easy. Just click on the arrow in the lower right corner of the screen and save the video in the right place. Great news! Unlike most free apps, there are no watermarks in this video.
Optimize Square Videos with Squaready
Squaready's mobile app will not add a watermark to your video, even if you use the free version, which is why it is a favorite among users. The fact that the app is available on iOS and Android is another big plus. Upgrading to the Pro version ($ 3.99) gives you access to additional features.
The downside is that Squaready's visual branding features for Video are missing. But if you are looking for a quick way to turn your rectangular video files into square videos, this application will help you.
Creating a square video is a snap. Just click the Squaready icon in the center of the application’s main screen and find your video file to import it.
Navigation is also pretty intuitive. Click on the paint palette at the bottom of the screen to change the background color and video borders. When you're done choosing settings, click on the video to exit the color menu.
To save the video, click on the checkmark at the bottom of the phone screen, select a format and click “Save”.
While Squaready has some fun features for videos and clips, none of them allow you to use as much corporate identity and design as tools like Keynote and PowerPoint. And of the two applications, Clips boasts a lot more features than Squaready for Video.
# 3: Customize your square video with text and graphics
By making your videos square, you get more visibility and views, but individual branding will make them even more attractive and memorable. Simple videos without any branding begin to look the same after a while. Now that everyone is creating a video, another selfie-style video shot at your desk or in the car is no longer enough to get attention.
Why should people spend time watching your video? If they don’t read your signature, they won’t know what to expect, and if you don’t have a strong speaker in your video, people will miss it. Alternatively, you can use branding to create a trap or promise that viewers will benefit from viewing. A cover art is what you need!
Keynote and PowerPoint provide many options for customizing your video, including various fonts, color schemes, form elements, and more. However, you can enhance your design even further by creating elements in Canva and pasting them into Keynote or PowerPoint videos.
Want to create a logo or emblem specifically for your video series or campaign? Canva has such design capabilities. Alternatively, simply include a headline or call to action using a specific font and color. Canva is intuitive to use and the basic version is free.
# 4: Optimize square video for silent video viewing
Now that you have several options for changing the size and visual design of the video according to your brand, it's time to think about the importance of subtitles. Since many people use social media with a muted volume, subtitles are critical to watching your videos.
Imagine that your potential viewer is at work, at school or in public transport, and he cannot turn on the sound in the video. Without subtitles, they will simply continue to scroll through the videos without watching them. However, if they see that your video contains subtitles, they are more likely to use your content.
Use any available subtitle app!
Use any subtitle app
One of the best caption tools currently available is Quicc, a cloud service (free and paid rates starting at $ 12 per month). When you register an account, you get 10 free minutes for the first month. After that, the free plan provides only 2 minutes of subtitles per month, so you probably want to switch to a paid plan. Quicc offers a wide range of packages for different budgets.
You can use Quicc to add subtitles to any video file. Thus, regardless of whether used
Output
As the video continues to gain popularity on social networks, more applications and platforms will undoubtedly appear to create original branded videos. At the same time, the methods described in this article will help you create your own videos that stand out and get more views using tools that you already have, or that you can get for free or for a few dollars a month.
And now, a little life hack from Futureinapps. To collect a video or photo into one video file, we use Inshot, which has watermarks, but if you select the vertical location of the video and then crop it to a square using, for example, Crop and Trim Video, you get the right square video for social networks. In addition, you can do without cropping if you upload the video to the Instagram Feed, because there you can choose the display area - a rectangle or a square. Choose a square!
Futureinapps company is engaged not only in promotion on social networks, but also in video production. As soon as you understand that video content is what works for your company - contact us to develop a serious and widescreen video for any niche.
