What Is Lightworks? How to Use It for Teaching Videos

However, not everyone knows enough about technology to design an engaging video for themselves. Are you worried, unsure how to make a video that is easy to use? In this article, we introduce a useful piece of software that makes building lectures easier than ever: Lightworks. So what is Lightworks and how do you use it in teaching? Let's find out in this article!

What is Lightworks?

What is Lightworks?

Lightworks is one of the simplest and best pieces of software for editing video. It is built with a range of useful tools and features and a friendly, easy-to-use interface, so users can produce quality videos. Its users range from people trying video for the first time and non-professionals to seasoned professionals.

Because this is free software, it naturally has some limits in specialist and high-end technical features compared with paid software. But if you only need basic features and nothing too sophisticated, Lightworks still covers the essentials and lets you make good-quality videos on your own.

See also: Top 10 online teaching software best results

Notable features of Lightworks

• Cross-platform support: Windows (Vista, 7, 8, 10), Linux, Mac OS X,
• Fairly fast video processing, compatible with many video formats
• A friendly, minimal, easy-to-understand and easy-to-use interface
• Fully integrated with the most essential basic video editing features: cut, join, merge video and more, processed quickly and precisely.
• You can add distinctive effects to video, such as color changes and blurring the background or objects, along with hundreds of refined, striking filters.
• You can add background music effects to make the video livelier
• Supports making video in many formats, including Avi, Quicktime, DVCPRO HD, RED R3D, DPX and more. You can also export to other video formats.
• Automatically saves files and the edits used on a video, saving editing time on the next video if you want to reuse the same editing approach.
• The interface supports many languages, including English, Chinese, Thai, Japanese, Italian, Spanish and more.

Because it is simple, fairly easy to use, supports the basic editing features you need and, importantly, costs nothing, Lightworks is trusted by many teachers. It is a handy tool for editing videos used in teaching, in place of paid software.

How to download and install Lightworks

Before downloading Lightworks, make sure your computer meets these requirements:

• The computer runs Windows 10, Windows 7, Windows 8 / 8.1 or Windows Vista (64-bit Windows supported)
• The faster the processor the better, ideally Intel i5 or higher.
• At least 3GB of RAM. If you do not have enough, you can upgrade by replacing the memory or adding more.
• About 200MB of free disk space is needed.
• DirectX 9 or higher.

To download and install Lightworks, follow these steps:

• Download Lightworks from this link: https://cdn.lwks.com/releases/2021.1/lightworks_2021.1_r126716_64bit_setup.exe
• Double-click the downloaded file > Choose a language > Select OK.
• Then select Next > Select I accept the terms of the License Agreement > Select Next.
• Then select again Next > Select Install and wait for the installer to run automatically > Select Next > Finally, when it finishes, select Finish. You will then see the Lightworks icon on your Desktop.

How to use Lightworks to make lecture videos for teaching

Create a new project

Step 1: First, click “Create a new project” on the screen to start a new project

Step 2: A dialog box will appear where you enter the project details, such as the name, aspect ratio and notes. If you want the video to appear in mixed frame rates, choose “Mixed Rates”, or choose “Auto” for automatic playback. Finally, click “Create”.

Step 3: Your new project now appears, and you are in the Log tab

• The Viewer section is at the top right of the screen, with Metadata and Cue marks below it.
• In the Edit view above, you can see all the selected video and the timeline, zoom in and out as you like, and control the marked sections.
• The VFX View function is used to manage the Viewer size. It is also used to rearrange titles, caption illustrations and more.
• The Audio status view is used to adjust sound waveforms, control Pan settings and monitor the meter bar.

Importing media (Import)

Step 1: Click the Local Files tab

Step 2: Next, click the Places tab to browse the folders on your computer or any other files. If the frame rate is not suitable, the files cannot be imported, and the software immediately shows a red error message to let you know

Step 3: Import files by dragging and dropping them. You can choose Create Link, Transcode Options and Copy Local

Step 4: Click the video you want to import. To import several, hold Ctrl/Shift to select them

Once you have finished importing the videos you want to process, the content automatically moves to a Bin or Filter for storage.

Playing back in the Viewer

Step 1: Double-click the list, or drag it to the Viewer, and the video appears in the source viewer. The clip name is shown right above the Viewer

Step 2: Start playing media files with keyboard shortcuts.

Step 3: You can jump to the selected media file using the highlighted red frames

Adding video to the Timeline

In the Edit tab window, upload a video by simply dragging it onto the timeline. Click the plus button on the left of the screen if you want to zoom in on the content.

Editing a video clip

Step 1: Find the part you want to cut out of the video and drag the mouse there. A white bracket appears; click it with the left mouse button.

Step 2: The editing tool shows a marker near the cut, indicating that the video has been split.

Step 3: Change the Trimview mode and you will see the clip frames on both sides of the cut

Step 4: Preview in the Viewer to see both clips playing.

Step 5: Then click close to leave TrimView. You can trim clips freely, move them to cut, or slide them. You can also add video transitions to make the clips smoother and more professional. On top of that, you can create sound effects directly on the video.

Adding text and subtitles to the video

Open the Text menu, click Title and drag it onto the clip where you want to add text. You can edit the content of the Title and change its position, color or font as you like.

You can also add a Fade in/Fade out effect to the text in the Fade section. This makes the text more engaging, as it appears and disappears gradually over the time you set.

Set how long the text is displayed and press X to split the displayed text. After that, you can do the same to create new text.

Adjusting background music volume and clip speed

First, lock the video tracks, then hold Shift and double-click the background music you want to adjust. Play it back to check the result.

To change a clip's speed, do the opposite: unlock the video tracks. Click the section you want to speed up, choose Speed with a suitable value, then click Do it.

Exporting the video

Once you have finished editing, if you want to export the video to watch it or share it on an online learning site or a personal blog, follow these steps:

Step 1: Click the edited video, choose Sequence or Timeline, then click Export.

Step 2: Choose the format for the exported video. You can export videos as camera formats, media files, backups and more.

Step 3: Depending on the video format, different option dialogs will appear

Step 4: Finish the settings and click Start

That's it: you have edited a teaching video with Lightworks. Simple, right? It may feel unfamiliar the first time, but after 2-3 tries you will get the hang of it and get better and better. We hope this article helps you understand what Lightworks is and how to use this useful tool to produce quality lecture videos for teaching. Good luck!