How to record and edit videos on your iPhone with Videon

Mobile journalists out in the field need to shoot, edit and publish their work as easily as possible, without the need to transfer files between multiple apps and tools, worrying about losing footage along the way and spending time on technical issues rather than telling the story.

There are many apps available to reporters that help them record professional-quality content using their phones, such as Filmic Pro and ProCam 4, and editing apps like iMovie and Kinemaster. But it can be difficult to find a good all-in-one solution.

That's where Videon (£4.99) comes in, a simple-to-use app for reporters looking to produce content on their iPhones, perfect for pushing edited content out to social media on a breaking news story.

Start by giving the app access to your phone's microphone and camera. You'll be immediately presented with the camera and a variety of icons. You'll notice the red record button on the edge, along with a zoom wheel and settings icon.

Tap the settings to select the video's resolution and frame rate. Note that it can be adjusted to your requirements, whereby users can set a fixed rate, but also rate limit, for example from 24 to 30fps.

On the home screen, simply drag to lock the exposure, focus and white balance before you press record.

Screenshot of Videon

Take note of the ability to take pictures as you record by tapping the camera icon, and the ability to switch the camera around to face you – perfect for presenter-led reports when you don't want to or can't set up a tripod. You can even pause and restart the video as you go.

Once you've stopped recording, your clip will go into the app's library in the bottom-left hand corner. Keep going until you've got all the shots you need, or begin editing what you've got by tapping the thumbnail in the corner.

The app's editor will open, and you will see the videos you've just taken listed in the order you shot them, from newest to oldest.

By tapping on the thumbnail of each clip, you can alter the video's settings. Click the hammer icon on the top toolbar to do this, and start by editing the colours with a filter or by adjusting the exposure, contrast, hue and saturation. You can even reverse, blur or sharpen your clip, and add effects such as film grain.

These settings also allow you to resize, rotate or flip the shot, and you'll get the chance to alter the frames per second.

Back on the main toolbar, the scissors icon lets you trim or split a clip, and then save the video as a new file, with the chance to discard or keep the old one.

Once you've edited your clips individually, select the merge icon, and order your clips in the way you'd like them in the final edit, by tapping on them in order. Select merge, and you'll have your edited video saved into the app's library.

You can make changes to the final edit if you like, by treating your merged news package just like one of your original clips.

Simply save the video to your camera roll and share to social media, or send it straight to your news organisation for branded lower-thirds and logos.

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