How to make a highlight reel

A highlight reel is a brief summary of the main takeaways of some event or a "full-size" recording. For example, it may represent the most outstanding moments of a wedding, a collage of holiday memories, highlights of a sports event, and so on. Technically, movie previews are also examples of highlight videos. Video CVs, video abstracts of scientific articles, or even TED talks — highlight ideas never cease.

This format implies some peculiarities, though. First of all, it should include the brightest moments, so that the viewers long for the full version. Sports highlight video, for example, works as a teaser and a spoiler at the same time: it can reveal all the goals or show the best football passes, for example.

The easiest way to create a highlight video is to stitch several snippets carved out of the whole footage. Another option is to shoot only the best moments, which is quite challenging as athletes don’t tend to warn when they are going to set a record or shoot a goal.

Our highlight video maker, also known as an ultimate video editor, is a perfect match for both purposes.

Upload raw footage to the tool

Open Online Video Editor in any browser, as the tool works right in your browser and doesn’t depend on your device type or operating system. Hit the "Get started" button to open the editing pane.

Here, you can upload footage from your camera roll or cloud storage account.
Cut out the best moments

Specify the canvas size you need for your highlight video, and customize the background color if there is any.

Use the white playhead and the "Split" option to cut out the moments you want to use as highlights and delete the rest. Don't be afraid to cut too much or not enough. Just drag the yellow handles of the clip in the timeline to fine-tune the duration.

Edit the video as you wish: rotate and enlarge certain clips, change its speed or color settings, add elements from our free stock libraries, combine the footage with audio or captions, etc. The tool continues to evolve, so by the moment you are reading this article, new functionalities may have come. The best way is to try out every single button or tab you see in the navigation bar to the left. Don’t worry, you can always undo the last action by clicking the left-faced arrow above the canvas.
Save the project

When you are done, hit the "Export" button at the top right and choose the output resolution, and let the tool do the rest.

As soon as the project is processed, you can save it to the chosen location.