Launch your video editing software of choice.
Import video into your video editor. In Windows Movie Maker, for example, click "Import Video" and select from your hard drive the video recording you wish to edit. To select multiple video recordings to edit and splice together, hold down "Ctrl" and click all the video files you want to include in the final product. You can always add or remove more video recordings during the editing process.
Drag video recordings from your video editor's library into the timeline or storyboard. You can drag these clips around to appear in the order you desire.
Use your computer's mouse to select an individual video recording, or "clip," in the timeline or storyboard. You can edit one video clip at a time.
Add special effects to the selected video clip if desired. In Windows Movie Maker, you can access effects via "Tools" in the top menu bar or by right-clicking the clip in the timeline for a context menu. Available effects include Fade In, Greyscale and Speed Up. Depending on your video editor, dozens or even hundreds of effects are available. Experiment by applying different effects and previewing the results in the "Preview" window.
Add text to the selected video clip if desired. Access text via "Tools" or by right-clicking the video clip and selecting "Add Titles and Text" from the context menu. Enter whatever words you would like to appear during the clip as well as your desired font and appearance. (You may also add stand-alone text video between video clips.) Again, experiment with text, previewing the results until you get a feeling for adding text to your video recordings.
Split your video clips into smaller clips if desired. Select a clip, preview it in the "Preview" window, pause the clip where you would like to split it and click the "Split" button. Now you have two video clips, side by side, so that you can work with them individually.
Trim sections out of your video clips if desired. To do this, simply follow Step 4 and delete one of the two resulting clips. Either the video editor will automatically close the resulting gap by moving all of the following video clips closer to the beginning of the timeline, or you can do this manually by selecting and dragging all of the following clips to the trim point.
Adjust the volume on your video clips if desired. In Windows Movie Maker, click the small plus (+) sign next to "Video" in the timeline to view the audio tracks for all clips. Click the audio clip you wish to adjust, and select "Mute" or "Volume."
Create transitions between clips if desired. For example, you may wish to seamlessly fade from one clip to the next. To do this in Windows Movie Maker, view your timeline in storyboard format and select "Video Transitions" in the Collections drop-down menu. Drag the desired style of transition to the small box between two clips.
Add a second soundtrack or music to your video recording timeline if desired. To do this in Windows Movie Maker, click "Import Audio or Music" from the left-hand menu and select the audio file you wish to include in your movie. Drag the clip into the audio track in your timeline. You can split and trim these second-level audio clips in the same way you would trim a video clip (see Section 2, Steps 4 and 5). You can also adjust volume settings on these audio clips in the same way you would adjust the audio settings for video clips as described in Section 2, Step 6.
Save the final product to your computer. In Windows Movie Maker, select "Save to My Computer" under "Finish Movie" in the left-hand menu. Choose the format you wish to save the movie in and click "Save." The video editing software will render the movie to the selected format. Your edited video is now ready to view and share.