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How to trim, extend, and loop a video in Powtoon Studio

Amanda James
How to trim, extend, and loop a video in Powtoon Studio

After adding a video to your Powtoon, you can adjust how it plays using four editing options in Powtoon Studio. This article covers each one.

In this article:

Trim a video object from the beginning

Use this method when your video is placed on the stage as an object (not set as a background).

To trim frames from the start of a video object:

  1. Locate the video object on the timeline.
  2. Drag the left edge of the object's duration bar to the right until it reaches the point where you want playback to begin.

In the example below, the original video runs from 0:00 to 9:00. After dragging the left edge to the 4-second mark, the video plays from 4:00 to 9:00. All frames before 4:00 are trimmed out.

Trim a video object from the end

Use this method when your video is placed on the stage as an object (not set as a background).

To trim frames from the end of a video object:

  1. Locate the video object on the timeline.
  2. Drag the right edge of the object's duration bar to the left until it reaches the point where you want playback to stop.

In the example below, the original video runs from 0:00 to 9:00. After dragging the right edge to the 4-second mark, the video plays from 0:00 to 4:00. All frames after 4:00 are trimmed out.

Trim a background video from the beginning

Background videos have their own controls, separate from the timeline object approach above. The video indicator in the lower-left corner of the stage shows the start time, end time, and total length of the background video on the current slide — for example, 00:00 – 00:10 / 00:15 means the video starts at 0 seconds, plays for 10 seconds, and has a total length of 15 seconds.

Note: Background videos always begin playing at the first second of the slide, regardless of the start time you set. Setting a start time determines which frame of the video appears first — not when on the slide the video begins.

To set a new start point for a background video:

  1. Navigate to the slide that contains the background video you want to trim.
  2. Identify the second in the video where you want playback to begin.
  3. In the lower-left corner of the stage, click the video indicator to open the video controls.
  4. Click the camera icon in the bottom-left corner of the screen.
  5. Click Start Time.
  6. Enter or select the second at which the video should begin playing.

In the example below, the start time is set to 5 seconds, so the video begins playing from the 5th second of the source file when the slide starts.

Continue a background video to the next slide

The Extend option creates a new slide and carries the background video forward from where it left off, so playback continues seamlessly across slides.

Note: This option is available for background videos only.

  1. Navigate to the slide whose background video you want to extend.
  2. In the slide panel on the left side of Powtoon Studio, click the three-dot menu on the slide thumbnail.
  3. Select Extend.

A new slide is created. The background video on the new slide picks up from the point where it ended on the previous slide.

Loop a background video

Powtoon Studio does not have a dedicated loop toggle for background videos. You can create a looping effect by duplicating the slide — the duplicate uses the same portion of the background video, so the two slides play the same segment back to back.

Note: This option is available for background videos only.

  1. Navigate to the slide whose background video you want to loop.
  2. In the slide panel on the left side of Powtoon Studio, click the three-dot menu on the slide thumbnail.
  3. Select Duplicate.

An exact copy of the slide is created, including the same background video segment. When the Powtoon plays, the two slides run consecutively, producing a looping effect.

Video Tutorials

Video Tutorial

Show Video Transcript

[00:00] For a video uploaded as an object, you can trim a section of it, either from the beginning

[00:13] or at the end.

[00:15] Drag the left edge of the object's duration to the desired beginning time.

[00:20] In this example, we have an 18-second duration video, and we will edit it to begin at the

[00:24] 3-second mark.

[00:26] All the frames before this point will be trimmed out.

[00:29] To trim the video from the end, drag the right edge of the object's duration to the desired

[00:34] end time.

[00:35] We have edited the video to end at the 16-second mark.

[00:39] All the frames after this point will be trimmed out.

[00:43] You may also continue the video onto the next slide.

[00:46] On the slide thumbnail on the left of the studio, click the 3 dots button.

[00:51] Select Extend.

[00:52] A new slide will be created, and the background video will continue where it ended on the previous

[00:57] slide.

[00:58] This is a very useful feature if you are planning to divide a certain video into smaller

[01:02] scenes for easier navigation and editing.

[01:06] You may also loop an uploaded video background.

[01:09] On the slide thumbnail on the left of the studio, click the 3 dots button.

[01:14] Select Duplicate.

[01:16] This will create an exact copy of the previous slide, including the same portion of background

[01:21] video that was previously playing, creating a looping effect.

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