VSCO Video Editing Tool Puts Your Clips On Classic Film Stock
VSCO has added what could be a must-have video editing update to its mobile app, but there's a catch if you're not already a VSCO power user. The new video editing tool joins VSCO's existing – and well-esteemed – photo filtering, classic film recreations, and RAW capture talents. However, you'll need to be a VSCO X subscriber in order to actually access it.
Launched in December last year, VSCO X is the company's subscription service. For $19.99 per year, it unlocks a host of member-only tools and presets. For instance, if you want VSCO's Kodak Portra 160, 400, or Tri-X film stocks, or its Fuji Pro 800Z or Ilford HP5 Plus stocks, you'll need to be paying for VSCO X.
They're built on the company's so-called SENS technology, the real-time image processing it developed to give smartphone cameras the ability to think – and produce results – like their classic analog predecessors. VSCO also used the system for its GIF-making tool, DSCO, which was later integrated into the main app itself. It was used to build short video capture into VSCO, but the new video editing tool goes a whole lot further.
It'll support the full resolution and framerates of the iPhone camera, up to 4k at 30fps, or 1080p at 60fps. There'll be no limit on the length of files you can load into the tool from your camera roll, either.
As for what you can actually do, in effect you'll be able to add classic camera stock presets to your video too. While you might not have been able to actually record moving footage on an old still camera using traditional stock, the video editing tool will unlock all the standard VSCO filters and effects to make it look that way. That should offer an instant step up from just the regular Instagram or Snapchat filters, though with smartphone cameras increasingly being used in legitimate movies and TV shows, the potential is much broader.
Initially, the VSCO video editing tool will only be supported with the company's iOS version of the app. "Soon," however, there'll be an update for the Android app, the company says. There's also a 7 day free trial of VSCO X if you haven't already played with it, which also includes things like RAW image capture and editing, and controls for "warmth" and "character" that model the effect of exposure and scanning on analog film.
(Updated to clarify that the 30 day trial was a limited offer; currently, VSCO has a 7 day trial for new users)
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