Wired Head

Online Video Gets Real

Not all video is good video—that's why editors were created. But a good video-editing package can cost hundreds of dollars and take weeks to master. Fortunately, there's a new generation of video-sharing sites that include free video-editing tools.

Here are a few:

Eyespot beta (www.eyespot.com)
Not only does Eyespot let you upload and edit your video online, it also encourages the use of free public-domain and open-license material. To edit a video, you simply drag and drop clips into a timeline. To trim a sequence, Eyespot indicates start points with a bright-green arrow and end points with a red arrow, a method so simple it puts every other video editor to shame.

Grouper (www.grouper.com)
Notable primarily because it was purchased by Sony last summer, Grouper takes a unique approach to helping users edit their efforts. Rather than having them perform edits online through a browser application, Grouper offers a free editing program for download. Unfortunately, the Windows program leaves a lot to be desired.

Jumpcut (www.jumpcut.com)
Recently acquired by Yahoo!, Jumpcut was clearly designed with bloggers in mind. Its lucid online video-editing program is useful and trouble-free, and the site offers lots of options for getting your message online.

Motionbox (www.motionbox.com)
Taking a no-muss, no-fuss approach to editing videos, Motionbox emphasizes sharing "the good stuff." In other words, it lets people cut out the dead, dull, and dopey parts of their videos quickly online so that the audience doesn't get bored.