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Why Lightroom’s New Video Editing Is Great for Photographers
Make videos look great without learning anything new
By Charlie Sorrel Charlie Sorrel Senior Tech Reporter Charlie Sorrel has been writing about technology, and its effects on society and the planet, for 13 years. lifewire's editorial guidelines Published on June 16, 2022 10:47AM EDT Fact checked by Jerri Ledford Fact checked by Jerri Ledford Western Kentucky University Gulf Coast Community College Jerri L. Ledford has been writing, editing, and fact-checking tech stories since 1994. Her work has appeared in Computerworld, PC Magazine, Information Today, and many others. lifewire's fact checking process Tweet Share Email Tweet Share Email Software & Apps Mobile Phones Internet & Security Computers & Tablets Smart Life Home Theater & Entertainment Software & Apps Social Media Streaming Gaming Lightroom users can now edit videos.Use Lightroom’s color-grading tools, effects, and batch-apply presets.Videos are supported in desktop and mobile versions. Pexels / Mockup Photos & Adobe Adobe Lightroom users can now edit videos without learning anything new. A movie is just a series of still pictures, and while movie editing is a whole different game, when it comes to color-grading or manipulating those moving images, it's all the same thing. Adobe's photo editing suite now lets photographers grade their videos using many of the same tools they already know and—presumably—love. "Not all of Lightroom's color controls are working for video, but it's enough to be useful," says movie FX professional Stu Maschwitz on his Prolost blog. "Not every video workflow requires a full […] edit with dedicated color tools, so I welcome these features." Moving Pictures
The new video feature is straightforward. You can lop the beginning and end of a clip off to remove extraneous footage, but that's it for the video-chopping part. If you want to edit your movie, you should move to Adobe Premiere Pro or Final Cut Pro. Adobe has also added a set of video-focused presets, including AI-powered presets that adapt to the image they're being used on. But the aspect that will have photographers most excited is the fact that you can use all your usual photo-editing tricks on video. That means you can adjust colors, contrast, and curves, apply presets, add effects like vignetting and grain, and use Lightroom's deep color tools. If those color tools seem almost purpose-made for video, that's because they are. In October 2020, Adobe added a new movie-style color-grading tool, replacing the old split-toning tool. Color grading is how movie makers give a specific, consistent look to their films, shifting the mood with tints, colored blacks, and so on. An extreme example might be sepia toning, that old faded, brownish-black and white look we know from old photographs. Another might be the teal-n-orange obsession of modern moviemakers. It seemed odd—but cool—that Adobe added these tools to their photo editing app, but now that we can also edit movies, it makes total sense. But what is this good for, exactly? Not That Kind of Pro
If your job is grading colors for the movies, you may be looking at this and thinking, "there's no way I'm using that when I already have Premier, Final Cut Pro, etc." But maybe you will be tempted by Lightroom's amazingly intuitive interface. Photographers who occasionally shoot video, on the other hand, might love this precisely because they don't have to learn a new way to do the same tasks. Take a wedding photographer, for example. It's likely that they also shoot video alongside photos as a part of the whole package. That's especially likely now that most stills cameras shoot pretty high-end video. With this new Lightroom update, those photographers (or their assistants) can take their existing long-earned skills and tricks and apply them to video. Then, once the clips are graded to match the still images, they can be exported into a more capable editor for arranging the clips, adding captions, music, etc. "I don't think Adobe intends this to be a fully-fledged video editor, but could be useful for people who produce a couple of short videos and shoot stills that need to apply a consistent look," said photography enthusiast Greg Edwards in a photo forum participated in by Lifewire. And this is even easier because Lightroom lets you copy and paste edits between clips and create your own presets, which can be bulk-applied with a few taps or clicks. Mobile Movies
Yes, taps or clicks. Another amazing feature of Lightroom is that it’s really the only pro-level photo-editing suite that can not only be used on all your devices but can sync your library and your presets between them. Based on Adobe’s cloud subscription service, Lightroom can run on iPads, iPhones, Macs, Windows PCs, and Android. That means you can offload those videos to the iPad in the field, and any edits you make are just part of the catalog, synced to all your other devices. Lightroom’s mobile version doesn’t have all the features of the desktop version, but it’s close, and the portability, Apple Pencil support, and sheer speed of the app on the iPad more than makes up for those shortcomings. And the iOS versions get all the video features from this update. This is a curious move from Adobe, but after a bit of thought, it makes total sense. If nothing else, it’s going to make your iPhone video selfies look a whole lot better. Was this page helpful? Thanks for letting us know! Get the Latest Tech News Delivered Every Day Subscribe Tell us why! Other Not enough details Hard to understand Submit More from Lifewire Final Cut Pro X 10.4.6 Review: Apple Refines Stalwart Video Editing Program with Color Grading The 7 Best Online Photography Classes of 2022 The 8 Best Video Editing Software for Macs in 2022 The Best Video Editing Software of 2022 How to Splice and Edit Video on the iPad 4 Best Free Video Editors for YouTube in 2022 Adobe Premiere Pro Review: Advanced Video Editor with Effects, Lumetri Color Grading, and More The 8 Best GoPro Editing Software of 2022 The 8 Best HD Video Editing Softwares of 2022 What Is a GIF? OnePlus 10: News, Price, Release Date Estimate, Features, and Rumors iMovie 10 Video-Editing Tools Editing Video Clips in Windows Movie Maker How to Save a Live Photo as a Video on iPhone iPadOS 16: Release Date, Features, News, and Price Movavi Video Editor Review: A Great Alternative to High Priced, More Complicated Programs Newsletter Sign Up Newsletter Sign Up Newsletter Sign Up Newsletter Sign Up Newsletter Sign Up By clicking “Accept All Cookies”, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device to enhance site navigation, analyze site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts. Cookies Settings Accept All Cookies