Microsoft is giving its video editor Clipchamp an AI upgrade with two new features. Clipchamp users can now use AI to mute unwanted noise and remove and cleanly replace background images. The new tools are accessible to Microsoft 365 Insiders, but could be expanded to others as the tech giant looks to integrate AI into its media platforms.
For the average video editor, these are not unimportant features. Unwanted noise is common in video production and is often cited as a nuisance for editors, despite being necessary to ensure a video sounds good. Using AI, the noise reduction feature in Clipchamp can filter out background noise while keeping important audio in the foreground. The AI can distinguish between speech or music relevant to the video and block out all other noise. Users can simply turn the feature on from Clipchamp’s audio settings and the AI will work to 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 the way it sounds.
AI video vision
The other new Clipchamp feature is the Image Background Removal tool. Thanks to the AI tool, users can deal with cluttered or distracting backgrounds that could take focus away from the actual video. The AI is designed to seamlessly lift and remove a background without affecting the overall look of the scene. Clipchamp users can right-click on any frame in their video timeline and then click “Remove Background.” Once the background is gone, you can style it however you like and place a new image or even another video behind the subject.
By embedding AI directly into software like Clipchamp, Microsoft can make AI more accessible to users of many of its products. This includes video producers who may be hobbyist video producers without much technical training in editing tools. And as AI continues to expand its presence in video production, this will likely become more common. For example, Adobe’s Firefly AI for video can already do all sorts of video editing tricks and even create new footage if needed. There are also programs like Veed that can select your best shots for you. The same goes for more publicly accessible platforms like YouTube and its anticipated AI music generator and new brainstorming tool.
Microsoft isn’t stopping there with its AI video plans. The company is already working on more advanced features, including AI assistants for ongoing collaboration, automatic scene detection, and video summaries to accompany editing.
