Sometimes you see something and in that moment you realise the game has changed. That is what happened to me at the Mojocon conference in Dublin recently. Besides all the excellent speakers, there was a room full of exhibitors showing the latest apps and accessories.  A whole industry has sprung up aimed at people who create content using smartphones and tablets.  Among them were two tables showing video editing apps, one for iOS devices and the other for Android.

First I went to the Luma Touch stand. Here I found out that their video editing app Pinnacle Studio Pro will soon get a major update. It will be able to do some really high-end video editing using at least 3 video layers. It will also integrate with Luma Touch’s ability to manipulate your footage to do some grading of the colours, exposure and so on.  In short, you will soon have the ability to do so much on your iPhone or iPad, it may not be necessary to download onto a computer to do a complicated edit.  Up until now it was possible to edit on your phone or iPad, but it was pretty simple compared to what something like Final Cut Pro can do.  That is now changing and with the arrival of the iPad Pro, editing video on mobile is becoming a really attractive workflow option.  Check out this video to see what I mean:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you use an Android device you might be feeling left out.  Seeing as there are so many Android devices, the fragmentation of the market has caused problems for app developers. Worry not. Kinemaster has really stepped up to create a fantastic editing app.  You will need a decent Android phone(see their specifications when you download it), but you can do two video tracks, plenty of adjustments to picture and sound…..and now you can even key your greenscreen within the app.  This is great for content creators who want to shoot a video on their phone against a small greenscreen and change out the background.  In the past, this would be seen as high-end editing requiring a PC.  Check out this demo of the chroma key function:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So in summary, editing on phones and tablets is getting really advanced. That means you can shoot HD or 4k quality video on your phone and edit it on the same device. Editing on a mobile device is no longer seen as something for amateurs or emergency situations.  The future of video editing in is swiping and hand gestures, not clicks of mouses.  I have been editing on phones for a number of years now, but what I saw at Mojocon has shown me that it is now becoming a real competitor to editing on my laptop. That is great news for anyone who wants to make video quickly and simply.

Tweet me at @markeganvideo to agree, disagree, insult or connect with me. 😉