If you are taking videos on your iPhone, there are a few nice editors to choose from. Of course iMovie comes free with new iOS devices, and you can but it from Apple for 5 bucks if you don’t have it. Also, the Camera+ people have just offered a video editing app called Vee for Video which we reviewed earlier this month.
Cameo Video Editor (free) has a bit of a history. Vimeo bought the app in 2014, and completely rebuilt it from the ground up. The app is simpler to use, offers some simple titling, and a choice of music.
Free is always good, and the app is designed to get people to contribute to Vimeo’s growing video network.
To really use the app for sharing, you need a Vimeo or a Facebook log in. There is also an option to skip the login. After that you can record video from your iPhone, or import from your camera roll.
What Cameo does
Clips can be trimmed and joined with some swiping on the screen, and there are also several pre-done templates for video and audio to help you along. When you’re done you can save your work to your camera roll, or upload to Vimeo, Facebook, Tumblr and Twitter. Videos can also be stored in the cloud and edited later.
Some negatives
I found using the app somewhat less than a joyful experience. After creating a user account, I imported some clips form my camera roll. They downloaded and I was ready too trim them. But the editing process is opaque. Once I select the editing icon, what then? I can adjust in and out points, but how to I accept them? There is nothing on screen to tell me. The built-in FAQs weren’t detailed either. I did find a demo video on the Cameo website, but it referred to the older version.
Titling is automatic, but you don’t get a lot of choices, other than title positions. Music selections are quite nice, but you have to use the music provided. Nothing from your own library is allowed. You can’t mix the provided music with natural sound to your taste. You either turn the live sound off or on. No level controls are available.
Conclusions
Having gone over the negatives, i will say that once you figure out some of the not obvious things the app is easy to use. Clips can be re-ordered by dragging, and the video quality is high, something that Vimeo feels strongly about. So do we.
The app is very focused on assembling nice looking videos quickly, and I think that is accomplished, but a how-to video would be most welcome. Making an app simple also involves not hiding features or not making them obvious.
If you use your iPhone for video, Cameo is worth a download, but you may have to continue your search for more features. Vee for Video is a good bet, has a wealth of features, and it’s cheaper than iMovie.
Cameo is designed to run on the latest iPhone hardware, and I saw no issues running it under iOS 8 or beta 2 of iOS 9. It’s not a universal app, so while it will run on an iPad the experience is not optimal.
Download Cameo Video Editor
App Store link: Cameo Video Editor – Vimeo
Cameo Video Editor 2.0.1
Effects Quality/Toolbox
Resolution and Image Quality
User Interface
Price/Value
If you use your iPhone for video, Cameo is worth a download, but you may have to continue your search for more features.
