How do you tube? On Android?

June 5, 2015 7:39 PM

I want to make some simple videos for YouTube, but I can't find the right app(s) to edit them in the way I would like to.

So yeah, I'm currently computerless, I know
ould be the ideal device to do this on, but I won't be in that ideal situation for the next few months. Libraries here don't have computers that I could use, so I have to do with what I have, an Android Tablet. No, at least it's not the piece of crap I asked about previously, I managed to replace it with a Samsung Galaxy S Tab.

The videos I want to make are mostly "talking head" videos, where I'll be talking about a certain subject and explaining some concepts. To aid me in the explanation I'd like to use a few images, simple vector drawings gotten from CC libraries or drawn by myself. They would be "floating" next to me at times (not fancy augmented reality stuff, just a still image overlayed on a certain part of the screen, sitting still until it gets replaced by another one or just disappears.

That's what none of the free video editing apps I've found so far lets me do. I've found some that will let me apply stickers from their library, but not my own. I don't mind having to use separate apps for "regular" editing and for doing that effect.

Is there an app that I'm not finding, or do you know of a workaround to achieve the same thing even if it takes longer to do?

I'm also having a hard time finding a drawing/image editing app that can give an image a transparent background.

Alternatively the video could just cut to a full screen animation (more like a PowerPoint presentation that like a cartoon, since I can't draw my way out of a wet paper bag), so recommendations for apps to achieve this are also welcome (I prefer the other style, though).

PS: I'm not a complete stranger to video editing, I did some back when VHS was still a thing, and then I trimmed a handful of videos on digital a couple of years ago, but animation is something I've never done.

PPS: I'm not shooting on the tablet, I'm using a Fuji X100s. IQ is great, audio is good enough for this for the time being.

posted by Promethea to Computers & Internet (2 answers total)

Good news: It sounds like all you're really looking for is the ability to add in an overlay graphic, which is so simple that even iMovie and Windows Movie Maker can do it.
Bad News: I'm afraid that's beyond the capabilities of any sort of Free Android Editing App. Even the Youtube app itself only allows for a simple Trim-Job at the ends of the video, so I very much doubt you can do anything like what you want without having to pay for something.

Oddly, this might be easier if you were using an iPad, since it should at least have iMovie on it.
posted by WeX Majors at 8:03 PM on June 5, 2015

Response by poster: Yeah, I know about iMovie and WMM.

But I have to say Bingo(ish)! I just found this app called Videoshow, that may have a terrible interface, but it does allow for importing of "stickers" as it calls them. Very basic, not letting me apply any effect on the graphic, animate it, transition from one to another, but it will do for now.

I'm still stuck with solid graphics, though. Do you know of any app to make their background transparent?
posted by Promethea at 3:35 PM on June 6, 2015