The Lift, Gamma, and Gain color wheels are designed to help video creators perform professional-level color correction. Starting version 7.2, Lift, Gamma, and Gain have become available in VSDC Video Editor, so in this tutorial, we’ll talk about their purpose and show you how to use them, step by step.

What is Lift, Gamma, Gain?

Lift, Gamma, Gain is a set of color wheels designed for primary color correction. Unlike secondary color correction, which involves working with isolated colors, primary color correction helps you change the entire color tone composition of the video. This means fine-tuning dark tones (Lift), midtones (Gamma), bright tones (Gain), or the entire image altogether (Offset).

The tricky part is that by using either of these controls, you aren’t only correcting shadows, highlights, or midtones: the changes made with the Lift, Gamma, and Gain wheels affect the entire spectrum of tones. Feel free to watch this video explanation before continuing.

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How to access Lift, Gamma, Gain wheels in VSDC

When speaking about color correction, a picture is always worth a thousand words, so below, we’ll have a detailed visual walkthrough of the new tool.

First of all, switch to the Color grading panel in the bottom left corner to access the Lift, Gamma, Gain color wheels.

Each wheel controls a range of tones. Lift primarily adjusts dark tones; Gamma primarily adjusts midtones; Gain primarily adjusts bright tones, and Offset adjusts the entire image.

Changing color values for dark tones, bright tones, and midtones

To correct colors for a selected range of tones, use the control point in the center of the wheel. By dragging it towards a certain color range of the spectrum, you can change the temperature or overall aesthetics of the video.

For example, here is what happens when you make changes in the Lift color wheel: the lightest areas remain almost unchanged, while the dark areas change depending on where on the color spectrum you’re moving the control.

Notice that as you’re moving the control point of the selected wheel, the RGB color values under that wheel are automatically changing, too. If you’re more comfortable changing color values manually, feel free to do so by either typing them or using the Up and Down arrow keys on your keyboard.

Now, what’s the difference between applying changes to dark tones, bright tones, and midtones? To help you answer this question, we’ve prepared a visual comparison. Here’s what the blue color increase looks like for dark tones, midtones, bright tones, and the entire range of tones:

Although it’s the same color component, the results vary significantly because the changes apply to different ranges of tones. Again, you should notice that bright tones are barely affected when you’re working with Lift; dark tones are barely affected when you’re working with Gain, and both bright and dark tones are barely affected when you’re working with Gamma.

Pro tip: the little tumbler in the bottom left corner is called Maintain luma level, and it keeps the overall level of brightness, regardless of the changes you make. We recommend keeping this mode on because it makes color adjustments smoother and more gradual.

Dark tone pivot, bright tone pivot, and B/W threshold

In addition to color values, you can change the brightness and contrast values in the video using the following sliders:

• Dark tone
• Bright tone
• Black & white (B/W) threshold

Here is how they work. When you toggle the dark tone slider, all the dark tones below the selected value become darker. Naturally, when you push this control to the maximum, everything except for the brightest areas in the video becomes dark.

Similarly, the bright tone pivot dims all the color tones and reduces the number of bright tones in the video, until the image becomes completely dark.

Finally, the black & white threshold sliders decrease the level of contrast and saturation in the video. The slider on the left dims dark tones until the image becomes white, while the slider on the right decreases the contrast until the image becomes black.

Keep in mind that you can always undo changes by using the Reset buttons above each wheel.

Black point & White point

The next important part of the toolset is the Black point and White point. These controls can help you quickly fix overexposed and underexposed videos.

For example, if you have an overexposed image, it usually means that all colors are too bright, and there’s a lack of contrast. To fix that, select Black point from the panel and click on the object or area that’s supposed to be black. The program will apply black color to the selected area and recalculate the rest of the color tones accordingly:

Similarly, if your video is way too dark, select White point and click on the area that’s supposed to be white to rearrange all values.

Correcting isolated areas

If you need to perform color correction for an isolated area in the video or image, you can use the eyedropper tool in the bottom right corner of the Color ranges menu.

Click on the eyedropper icon and select the area you’d like to work on. To make sure the program has selected the right area, tick the Show corrected area box at the bottom.

You can start applying changes right away or use additional tools to expand or contract tone selection, in case the original selection was slightly incorrect.

Notice that by default, the eyedropper selects a range of tones, not an exact color (the long white extension tails on the Hue graph visualize exactly that). If you want to do the opposite and select a specific color with no range, press and hold the Ctrl key while using the eyedropper. In that case, the Hue graph will have no white extensions:

You can increase, decrease, or shift the selected range of colors by manually typing the desired values or using the handles as illustrated above.

Time to practice color correction

If you want to master the art of color correction, it’s crucial to have the right tools to practice. With the Lift, Gamma, Gain color wheels being added to VSDC, you now have everything you might need to perform both primary and secondary color correction. But most importantly, this toolset is available in the free version of VSDC and it works even on computers with limited processing power. Our team remains determined to make video editing available and affordable to anyone.

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Subtitles are an easy way to make your videos more accessible – especially if you’re publishing content for a wide audience on social media. VSDC Video Editor allows you to add subtitles to your footage for free, or even manually create them right in the program if you don’t have the transcript.

In the tutorial below, we’ll walk you through the process of adding subtitles to the video, explain how to use markers for synchronizing subtitles with narration, and show you how to adjust the look of the subtitles using a basic text formatting menu.

Feel free to watch the video tutorial first, and then jump to the text version.

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Step 1. Add or create subtitles

First things first, add your footage and subtitles to the scene. To add the footage, use the Import content button on the start screen. To add the subtitles, you can use two options, depending on whether you have a premade subtitle file or not.

If you have an .srt file with subtitles

Importing a transcript file to VSDC is the easiest way to create subtitles. However, for the program to recognize the file, it has to be in .srt format.

You can create .srt files using the Notepad text editor or dedicated freeware, such as Open Subtitle Editor or Jubler. If you’re downloading subtitles from YouTube, the text file will be already in the .srt format.

So, if you have the file ready, hit the CC button on the left-hand side and proceed to upload the subtitles.

In the pop-up Object position settings window, click OK and then select the place for the subtitles on the scene. Once you do that, the file will instantly appear on the timeline, and the subtitles will start displaying.

If you don’t have an .srt file with subtitles

If you don’t have the file ready, you can create subtitles right in the program. Just hit the CC button on the left, select Cancel when the program suggests uploading a file, and hit OK in the Object position settings window. Then manually select the place for subtitles on the scene and hit Edit subtitles.

From there, you’ll need to manually add subtitles, phrase by phrase, using the following format:

The first line indicates the subtitle order number. The second line contains the exact moments when the subtitle appears on the screen and disappears from it. The third line contains the actual text of the subtitle. Keep in mind that if you decide to prepare a transcript file in advance, you’ll have to follow the same format.

Step 2. Add subtitle markup and adjust it, if needed

To make working with subtitles easier, VSDC brings the subtitle markup feature. This feature adds markers to the subtitles file on the timeline to indicate the beginning of each subtitle. The markup comes in handy when you need to synchronize a video, sound, or effect with the narration.

To activate the markup feature, select the subtitles on the timeline and go to the Properties window on the right. Then hit Add markers. This is what the result will look like:

Adjust markers’ position

If you’ve noticed that the subtitles in the video are displayed with the wrong timing, or the text is off, head over to the Edit subtitles menu on the right.

To change the text, select the incorrect piece and start typing over. To change the timing, find the moments it should appear and disappear (use the top left corner of the timeline for that) and adjust the time stamps in the editor accordingly.

Make sure you always stick to the default timing format when adjusting the timestamps: XX:XX:XX,XXX → XX:XX:XX,XXX. Otherwise, the subtitles won’t be displayed.

Once finished, click OK and hit the Add markers button once again – to reflect the latest adjustments.

Set up the appearance of individual markers

In addition to changing the position of the markers on the timeline, you can also change their colors and add tooltips to selected markers. To get started, double-click on the layers with subtitles; then double-click the marker you’d like to work with to open its settings.

Using the Marker settings window, you can do the following:

• Name the marker
• Add a comment to the marker
• Change the color of the marker
• Change the marker type
• Change the marker visibility

The first three options allow you to make markers more informative. For example, the name of the marker and the comments will be visible if you hover over it on the timeline (to make the name visible at all times, check the box saying Show name in timeline). If you change the color of the marker, it will be visible on all timeline layers, at all times.

The next option in the menu, called Marker type, allows you to use selected markers for splitting the video into parts. For instance, if you switch from Comment marker to Segmentation marker and proceed to export your video, you can select the “Split by markers” checkbox and the project will be saved into multiple videos, based on the number of segmentation markers you’ve created.

Finally, the marker editing menu allows you to set Visibility area. Visibility area defines the levels on the timeline where the marker (along with its name and comments) will be visible.

There are three visibility levels you can choose from:

• Visible on all scopes – the marker will be visible on all timeline levels
• Visible in self scope and child object – the marker will be visible on the current level and all levels below
• Visible only in self scope – the marker will only be visible on the current level

For example, if you make the marker visible above the timeline on all scopes, you can go back to the main timeline tab and view it there.

Meanwhile, with the other two options, the markup will only be visible on the subtitle layer.

Step 3. Format the subtitles

Now that you know how to create subtitles for your videos and how to work with the markup, let’s see how you can adjust subtitle text formatting. For example, you can adapt the size of subtitles to the width of the video, change text color, font, alignment, and other parameters. You can also add a background to the text and select its color!

Feel free to play around to achieve the desired look of the subtitles.

It’s time to start adding subtitles to all your videos

We can’t stress this enough, but having good-quality subtitles is essential. Subtitles make your videos accessible to hearing-impaired viewers, help you deliver your message to those watching videos without sound, and overall show that you care about your audience. If you create content for social media or for a wide offline audience, subtitles should be an integral part of your videos. And the best part? With VSDC, you can add them to your videos for free.

Have any questions? Feel free to email us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or DM us on Facebook.

We’ve talked about the advantages of using non-linear video editors a lot in our guides. One of their biggest benefits for creators is the ability to place several pieces of footage in the same scene and edit them simultaneously. The video grid effect is an excellent example of that.

Since VSDC’s timeline provides an unlimited number of video tracks, you can easily make a video grid that consists of 4, 9, 16 – or any other number of sections. In this tutorial, we’ll show you exactly how to make a video grid for your project, step by step. This effect is also commonly known as a video wall or a video collage. Feel free to watch the video tutorial first and then jump to the text version.

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Step 1. Create a project of the required size

Launch VSDC Video Editor on your PC and use the Blank project option to create a new project. For a 2x2 or a 3x3 video grid, we recommend using the following project settings: Full HD 1080p or UHD 4K resolution and 16:9 aspect ratio.

The footage you’ll import at the following step will automatically stretch to the aspect ratio you’ve just set up, although, ideally, you want to have videos recorded with the same settings. If most of your footage is of different aspect ratios – for example, if you have vertical videos – and you want to maintain it, feel free to use different settings for the project. Just keep in mind that your grid size calculations will differ from our example.

Step 2. Place all your footage on the timeline

The next step is to import all the footage – ideally, 4 or 9 files – to the editor. You can add it to the Resources window first or just drag everything directly to the timeline. Once ready, place video files on different tracks, one after another, and align them to the left side.

Step 3. Adjust video duration (optional)

To set the same duration for all videos in the grid, select them all on the timeline and either manually type the desired duration in the Properties window, or place the playhead at the right moment, make a cut using the razor tool at the top, and delete the unwanted parts.

Quick tip: Another bulk adjustment you can make use of is color filters. For example, if you want all the videos in the grid to be black-and-white, select them on the timeline, make a right mouse-click, and select Quick styles >> Grayscale.

Step 4. Apply the required size to videos

It’s time to start forming the grid.

Select all the videos on the timeline and head to the Properties window. Find Coordinates → Width. For a 2x2 video grid, type 960; for a 3x3 video grid, type 640. Then make a right mouse-click on the video stack right on the timeline and select Set Size → Set height in accordance with the image’s aspect ratio. Finally, drag each video to its position on the scene using mouse or arrow keyboard keys.

You might be wondering how we calculated the width of the videos for the grid. It’s simple! All you need to do is divide the scene width into the number of videos you’ll have lined up horizontally. For example, if you have 4 videos, that’ll be 2; if you have 9 videos, that’ll be 3; if you have 16 videos, that’ll be 4, and so on.

Our scene width is 1920 pixels, so 1920/2 = 960 pixels. If you have a different scene width, you’ll need to recalculate accordingly.

Quick tip. Even if some of your videos have a different resolution or aspect ratio originally, they’ll stretch to the default size of the scene when you add them to the timeline. However, if you notice that some videos have black lines on the sides, make a right mouse-click on those files and select Crop tools → Auto cropping to fix that.

Step 5. Add the outline effect (optional)

To make videos within the grid pop, consider adding a contrasting border outline. To create borders, click on any video, then open the Video effects menu, and proceed to Transparency → Borders. Next, go to the Properties window and select the following settings:

• Mode → Solid
• Position →All rect
• Border size → 3px (you can choose a smaller or a higher value, depending on how thick you want the outline to be)
• Color → White

If you’re happy with how the outline looks, copy the Border effect’s layer, double-click on the next video in the grid, and paste the effect. Repeat these steps for all the videos in the grid.

Step 6. Export your project

When you’re done editing, go to the Export project tab. If the video is intended to be watched on PCs, select PC and the desired format; if you’re planning to publish it online, select Web and the social media platform.

If you need to change the codec, resolution, framerate, or any other parameters, use the Edit profile menu under the preview window. Otherwise, leave the settings unchanged and hit Export project.

Wrapping up

Video grid is a popular effect used in music videos, TV shows, commercials, and vlogs. With a bit of imagination, you can make it look even more interesting by applying color filters, distortion effects, or by delaying the appearance or disappearance of some of the videos.

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If you’re a fan of the Matrix trilogy, like us, you’ll be thrilled to hear that the falling code effect is now available in the premium version of VSDC Video Editor. Unlike ready-made overlays, the effect is easily customizable, so you can adjust the look to your needs. For example, you can switch from letters to runes, change the color of the code, the size and speed of falling symbols, and even the depth at which they’re falling.

In this tutorial, we’ll show you how to add the Matrix effect to your video within minutes — no need for video editing or coding experience. Feel free to check the video tutorial first and jump to the text version below for a more detailed settings description.

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Step 1. Import your footage to the scene

If you’re new to VSDC, the best way to import your footage to the scene is by using the Import content button on the start screen and following the pop-up helping prompts.

This way, the editor will create a project with the same size, aspect ratio, and fps rate as in your video. Once you import the file, the video will automatically appear on the timeline, so you can start editing right away.

Step 2. Add the falling code effect to your video

To add the Matrix effect to your video, go to the Template window and type “Matrix”. Although the effect comes with several presets, for the purpose of this tutorial, we’ll use the default configuration and show you how to switch between presets later.

Drag the Matrix effect to the scene and preview the result. This is the default version of the falling code effect, and if it works for you, feel free to leave it as-is and proceed to export. Note that you can apply the same effect to a video, an image, a shape, or a piece of text.

In the following sections, we’ll show you the falling code presets and customization options.

Step 3. Customize the effect

To open the effect settings menu, double-click the footage on the timeline; then select the layer with the effect (it’s called “Matrix”) and proceed to the Properties window on the right side.

If you can’t find the Properties window, make a right-mouse-click on the effect layer and select Properties from the context menu. From there, you’ll have plenty of tools to experiment with. Some of the parameters allow you to change the overall look of the effect; others allow you to customize the look of the symbols. We’ll start with the former group of settings.

Try different presets

Effect presets come in handy if you want to quickly try different styles. For example, you may want the falling code to be black-and-white or paint it rainbow colors. Presets are available under a dropdown menu in the Properties window. Feel free to just switch between them to see how they look.

Regardless of the preset you decide to go with, you’ll be able to customize the size of the symbols, their falling and changing speed, color and brightness. We’ll have a look at each parameter in a few moments.

Adjust effect opacity

Apart from the preset menu, Adjustment settings include an important parameter called Transparency. This parameter helps you change the visibility of the effect. By default, it is set to 100% which is the maximum visibility. When you decrease the value, the lines of falling code become less opaque – as simple as that.

The cool thing about VSDC is that you can set a constant Transparency value or make it gradually change over time by using the Initial value and Final value options. For example, if we set the Initial value at 0% and leave the Final value at 100%, the effect will gradually go from being completely transparent to visible:

Keep in mind that many other effect parameters in VSDC allow you to set the initial and final values. The way they work will be the same every time: the former defines the parameter value at the beginning of the effect, and the latter defines the parameter value at the end of the effect.

Switch between Mix modes

The last parameter that changes the overall look of the effect is called Mix mode, and it’s located directly in the Matrix effect group of settings. Mix modes define how the falling code will be blended with the video or image. For example, by default, the falling code effect works as an overlay. However, if you switch to Source in, the symbols will work as a mask shaping the original image as they fall.

To preview all modes, open the dropdown menu and select them one by one:

Now, before we start talking about ways to modify symbols directly, let’s talk about the way they are layered in this effect.

Understanding layers

You may not have noticed it yet, but some lines of code are falling in the foreground (layer 1), middle ground (layer 2), and background (layer 3) of the scene. You can dissect these layers and customize the falling symbols on the layer of your choice – or even remove them from any of the layers entirely.

For example, this is what the effect looks like if we gradually remove the falling code from the background and middle ground:

Layers can help you achieve depth – especially if you’re willing to go the extra mile and adjust symbols differently on each layer.

For the purpose of this tutorial, we’ll only be working with layer 1, but keep in mind that the parameters for all three layers are identical.

Cell height and width

When you expand the Use layer 1 menu, the first two parameters are called Cell width and Cell height. Essentially, the values of these parameters define the number of symbol cells placed horizontally (width) and vertically (height). The higher the value is, the more cells there will be – and the smaller the symbols will appear.

Here is an example of what the effect looks like when you increase or decrease cell width and height values.

The smallest value you can put for these parameters is 1; the biggest value is 1024.

Symbol type

The following parameter is called symbol type, and it allows you to switch between alphabet letters and runes. In the illustrations above, we’ve used both options, so you probably got the idea by now.

Delay the effect

This option is set to True by default, and that means that the falling code effect will start appearing gradually from the top – as in the original movie intro. If you switch this option to False, code lines will be visible right away.

Max. symbol highlighting

This parameter defines how many pieces of falling code are simultaneously highlighted. The minimum value here is 0, and the maximum value is 1024. Obviously, when you choose the value for this parameter, you should keep the number of symbols(defined by cell width and height), in mind.

Here is what the effect looks like if we gradually increase the number of highlighted symbols, starting from zero:

Notice that without highlighting (if you put 0 as the value), the symbols are invisible. You can also gradually increase or decrease highlighting over time by using the initial and final values.

Falling speed

If you want to slow down or speed up the lines of code, simply tweak this parameter, as it’s pretty self-explanatory. The default value here is 100%, but you can put any value from 10% to 10000%.

Symbol change rate

Symbol change rate defines how fast symbols change within a cell. This parameter defaults to 100%, and you can use the initial and final values to make the effect more dynamic.

Brightness

Use the Brightness parameter to make code symbols brighter or darker. Values for this parameter range from -1000 to 1000, and you can make them change dynamically during the playback.

Color and opacity

Finally, it’s possible to change the color of the falling code for the selected layer and adjust the opacity of symbols as well. Just choose the desired color from the palette or use the eyedropper tool to select a color from the video.

If you’re happy with the result, head over to the Export tab and proceed to Export project. From there, you can select the social media platform your video is intended for, and adjust the quality settings if needed.

Get creative with the Matrix effect in your videos

If you’re using VSDC version 7.1 or later, the Matrix effect is already available in your video effects menu. Go ahead and try it for yourself. Remember that you can apply the falling code to the entire scene or a separate object, such as an image, a title, or even a mask. Use it for creating unique cinemagraphs, spectacular transitions, and creative overlays.

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