Summer vacation is an incredibly special time of the year – you can spend it with your friends or family, at your grandma’s in the village or in the nature with a backpack and maps. Whatever you prefer, we believe every summer holiday is a unique story with you as a main character.

Today we offer you to shoot your own short blockbuster. Got no film director skills? Just read about 5 ideas to use effects in AVS Video Editor and see that everyone can easily make a stunning summertime video story. Off we go!

Video effects for a masterpiece video

Before we play with effects, let us decide on the genre of our future masterpiece. Which one do you prefer?

Classical Hollywood cinema

Have you attended some jazz festival or banquet with dances where the folks were dressed to the nines? Or perhaps you are watching pictures and videos from your honeymoon? Dancing with your love in your arms…What a Hollywood love story it is!

Choose the Grayscale effect to travel back to the 50’s. You can also use it in combination with Film to make your footage look like a video tape. Your film may be even more vintage if you apply Old Movie, but this one doesn’t suit to videos with a lot of light. Besides, you can add Countdown at the beginning.

To combine multiple effects just right click the line for video effects and choose Add line.

Don’t forget to make a spectacular poster and add some nice music to your masterpiece!

Western

“A video effect is a tool, Marian; no better or no worse than any other tool”. If you’ve travelled to rural places, where there are lots of farms and mills, ridden a horse in the village or even been to Texas, grab your Colt and hat – we’re going to make a new Western hit!

Apply the Sepia effect to the whole footage and combine it with Noise – now it looks authentic. If you want to change the venue or make a slideshow with pictures, use multiple movie transitions. You may also like the Film effect here – don’t forget about the soundtrack!

Timelapse

The current trend to shoot landscapes changing throughout a day or the rhythm of the city was brought in by professionals with high definition cameras and drones. We don’t insist on videos from a bird’s perspective, but if you love filming nature or urban life – a morning forest, road traffic, seascape with the sun rising and setting – we can enliven your shots!

First, set the proper speed for your clip by right clicking the main video and choosing Speed. If you have a POV GoPro footage of you running or surfing, for instance, Wide Angle Zoom will be a good idea. The viewers’ attention will be focused on the action. You may also want to use Wind for rapid relocations.

Biography

All of us have some story to tell – about summer holidays, university parties, best travelling memories. Add TV Simulation at the first 2-3 seconds to have a creative start. Remember this blurring effect on the corners of a video that lets viewers know that the actor recalls past events? You can easily do it with the Tilt-shift effect and show contrast between the past and the present.

Anaglyph 3D

Take your family to the cinema…at home! With the Anaglyph 3D effect you can make your footage from the amusement park look like a new name on the movie posters! Put the glasses on and turn on HQ-sound to dive into the authentic atmosphere. TV Simulation at the beginning and in the end will also be a good idea here.

Useful tips for applying effects

We don’t want to stuff you with professional filming theory, but just a couple of tips for selecting a proper effect can’t hurt.

• Make sure you choose a suitable effect for the video content.
• Maintain correct balance of light – if you need to change brightness, temperature or other color parameters, choose the Color option on the toolbar. Auto color correction is also possible.
• Prepare your footage for editing – it may be shaky, but the Stabilization option is here to help.
• The music in your video should correspond to the idea of the effect.
• Use all editing tools to the extent your footage needs it, since too much editing can make a video look unnatural and clumsy.

Try the updated AVS Video Editor and bring your brightest ideas into life with more than 300 effects and transitions!

Share your favourite effects and inspiration in the comments below. Your feedback is always welcome!