Cute CUT Review

By Cameron Gallucci

Description

An app that is both iOS and Android compatible, Cute CUT is an on-the-run video editor that lets users add fun little graphics to their video footage. This app allows you to draw directly onto the frames and still shots.

The user interface supports both portrait and landscape SD and landscape HD modes. Though tool skill is needed for producing higher quality video edits, drag and drop and WYSIWYG are the bare bones basics to this editing system.

So, if you don’t want to bother with Premiere’s fat files and the tutorials for mastering After Effects, this is an overall user-friendly editing alternative. 

Access

The basic app can be downloaded for free from the iTunes Store. The drawback to the free version is the 90-second time limit (4:3 SD and 16:9 HD) and the souvenir watermark stamped onto your movies. A pretty cheap $5 dollar monthly charge removes both of these elements.  

Sample Usage

This app gives you a choice between landscape and portrait formats. I chose the landscape setting to film my elegant cousins celebrating their annual tea party. Unfortunately, I  hadn't gotten the gist of how everything worked, so the princess crown placed upon my cousin's head was not rendered in the final transfer. Don't ask me why. This clip does contain music copyright.  

Tips, tricks, and tutorials

Keep your patience. This app can be a little difficult to read at first, even for the experienced editors. Final Cut and Premiere share enough similarities that familiar users can quickly readjust between the competing platforms. Cute CUT has its own setup. You’ll get the hang of it. If you don’t feel like “googling” your tutorials my best recommendation to finding your answers, or even mastering your expertise, is Lynda.com.

What the Tool Does Well

Cute CUT has the high end ability of combining audio, music, text, video, and illustrated graphics into smooth, custom transitions that are very user-friendly.  It is the simplest way of exporting edited projects to YouTube, Facebook, or back to your camera.

Rendering time is also pretty quick. The process time is almost equal to project length, so it generally takes 20 minutes to render the results to a 20-minute video, unlike Lightworks, Premiere, or FinalCut, which take all night.  

It's tracks and channels are laid out similarly to the aforementioned. This helps simplify fade ins, overlaps, and time alterations. All of these worked to my advantage when making the final edits. It was especially helpful when I needed to better match the audio rhythm against the visual motion, which is noticeable in some of the video's slower motion frames.

What it Does Poorly

Upon first use Cute CUT’s menu system is somewhat of a confusing navigation. The app can be a little tricky for newcomers, especially those who aren’t familiar with other systems, mainly because a chunk of its commands and editing features are hidden beneath the surface.

Some of its icons aren’t self-explanatory, but it does redeem itself with automated popup windows to help you get started; though this feature gets a little old for the more experienced user. Some Net reviewers have complained about stability issues, though I, myself, have yet to experience a crash or bug on this app. 

What happens when you...

In cases where you want to keep your video visuals as they are, but want to add a backdrop soundtrack, voiceover, or any other audio, this is an easy avenue. It’s also an easy way to alter the basic settings (frame dimensions, cutoff, levels, etc.) of a finalized roll before publishing it to any major platform (the app takes the publishing headache for you).

Additional Resources

Additional information, including walk-through’s, can be found at http://dottech.org/93481/iphone-review-cute-cut/  and http://www.apppicker.com/reviews/6518/Cute-CUT-for-iPad-app-review

A similarly versatile app is the Andromedia Video Editor. Its drawback can be detected in the name, as it’s only available on Android Smartphones. You can download it for free on Google Play.

Magisto is another app with transitional features and editing abilities similar to Cute CUT, but it’s debatable if the final product compares in quality. It also differentiates in terms of user control. Like Cute CUT, it is both iOS and Android compatible.