Microsoft is giving its Clipchamp video editor an AI upgrade with two new features. Clipchamp users can now use AI to mute unwanted sounds and remove and neatly replace background images. The new tools are available to Microsoft 365 Insiders, but could be extended to others as the tech giant looks to integrate AI into its media platforms.
These are not insignificant features for the average video editor. Unwanted noise is endemic in video production and is often cited as a headache for editors, even though it is necessary to ensure that a video sounds good. With the help of AI, the noise reduction feature in Clipchamp can filter out background noise while retaining important foreground audio. The AI can distinguish speech or music that is relevant to the video and cut away everything else. Users can simply enable the feature in Clipchamp’s audio settings and the AI will remove the problematic audio in real-time. So even if you don’t have access to professional recording studios or equipment, your video can sound like it does.
The video vision of AI
The other new Clipchamp feature is the Background Image Removal tool. The AI tool allows users to deal with cluttered or distracting backgrounds that can take away from the point of the video. The AI is designed to seamlessly lift and remove a background without disrupting the overall look of the scene. Clipchamp users can right-click on an image in their video timeline and then click ‘Remove Background’. Once it’s gone, you can make the background whatever you want by placing a new image or even another video behind the subject.
By integrating AI directly into software like Clipchamp, Microsoft can make AI more accessible to users of many of its products, including hobbyist videographers without much technical training in editing tools. And as AI continues to expand its presence in video creation, it’s likely to become more commonplace. Adobe and its Firefly AI for Video, for example, can already perform all sorts of video editing tricks and even create new footage when appropriate. There are also programs like Veed that can pick the best takes for you. The same goes for more public platforms like YouTube and its upcoming AI music generator and new brainstorming tool.
Microsoft isn’t stopping there with its AI video plans. It’s already working on more advanced features, including AI assistants for continuous collaboration, automatic scene detection, and video summarization to guide editing.