Editing and Captioning Your Videos

Please Note: Students may request closed captioning and transcript to be added to any ulploaded video through SAS to make videos accessible.  Adding closed captioning can be easily achieved using Microsoft Stream. To learn more about accessibility at the University of Guelph visit the Web Accessibility site.

Using Built-In Video Editors

Many devices come pre-loaded with some form of video editor. These editors offer basic options such as combining multiple video and audio tracks, trimming, and narration features. 

If you are working off of a Windows computer, the Windows 10 Video Editor should already be installed on your device. Windows 10 offers basic editing features such as trimming clips and combining multiple video and audio tracks and is a great option if you are looking to do simple and quick video edits. To get started with Windows 10 watch this quick video tutorial. 
If you are a Mac user, iMovie offers many of the same video editing options as more powerful video editors and should already be installed on your device. If your Mac does not have iMovie, visit the App store and download it for free. To get started using iMovie watch this quick video tutorial.

More Powerful Video Editors

Video editing softwares offer more options to create engaging video content. This includes screen, audio and video recording capabilities, captioning options, and some added video effects. 

Camtasia is a powerful video editing software that can help to create engaging lecture content. It also provides screen, video and audio recording options that allows for picture in a picture videos. The following video tutorials go over some basic video editing skills to get started.
The School of Engineering has 10 Camtasia license which may be used to record and/or edit course content. To obtain a Camtasia licence please contact soeithelp@uoguelph.ca with a request. 
ACDSee is another video editing software that offers some of the same video editing options as Camtasia and has a very similar user interface. This is a great option if small edits or video layering is needed, and also provides screen recording and audio recording options.

To get started with ACDSee watch this quick introduction video. To obtain a license for ACDSee please contact soeithelp@uoguelph.ca with a request.

Comparison of Video Editors

Review the table below to see the different features each video editor has if you are unsure which will be best for developing your course content. 

Features
Windows 10
iMovie
Camtasia
ACDSee
Basic Editing Features
Trim Video
⚫
⚫
⚫
⚫
Combine Multiple Video and Audio
⚫
⚫
⚫
⚫
Animations and Transitions
⚫
⚫
⚫
⚫
Clip Speed
⚫
⚫
⚫
⚫
Pre-Built Video Templates
⚫
⚫
⚫
⚪
Advanced Editing Features
Audio Editing
⚪
⚫
⚫
⚪
Pre-Built Title Options
⚫
⚫
⚪
⚪
Callouts, Annotations and Shapes
⚪
⚪
⚫
⚪
Video and Cursor Effects
⚫
⚪
⚫
⚪
Captioning
⚪
⚪
⚫
⚫
Webcam & Microphone Recording
⚪
⚪
⚫
⚫
Screen Recording 
⚪
⚪
⚫
⚫

⚫ = yes ⚪ = no

Adding Closed Captions to Videos

Students may request through SAS that closed captions be added to any uploaded video. There are a few options to achieve this, with Microsoft Stream being the recommended option. For more information on web accessibility at the University of Guelph click here. 

We are recommending Microsoft Stream, which has an auto-generate caption feature that allows for easy editing and sharing. Follow this link to learn how to add captions using Microsoft Stream.

Once captions are generated using Stream, you can choose to either download the video and caption file and upload it to CourseLink, or embed the Stream video in CourseLink. To learn more about sharing video content with students, visit the Sharing Videos with Students page.
While Microsoft Stream is the recommended way to caption videos, you may choose to use a video editor to achieve the same results. Both Camtasia and ACDSee Video Studio offer the ability to manually add captions throughout the video. This can be a tedious and time-consuming task, especially with longer videos.

Camtasia offers the ability to insert a script for the video and sync the audio to the captions. This feature is only available for Windows users. To achieve this, visit the How to Add Captions or Subtitles to a Video page.

Youtube can also be used to add captions and generate a caption file. To learn more about captioning using Youtube click here.