ReelDirector video editing app for iPhone.

I finally got a chance to try out the ReelDirector video editing app for iPhone. I shot this quick video while I was making coffee at the office this morning, and cut it together, on my iPhone, while I was eating lunch.

Original video on Vimeo.

ReelDirector was pretty easy and intuitive to use. It lets you add clips to the timeline by going into your camera roll, selecting the clip you want, trimming it (as you would with the iPhone's default video app), and tapping "Choose" to pop it in. Once your clips are in the timeline, you can rearrange them (similar to the old school iMovie's clip viewer) and add transitions. You can add opening and closing titles in a variety of styles, and when you're finished editing, the video saves back to your camera roll. [gallery link="file" columns="4" orderby="ID"] That said, ReelDirector lacked some of the features I assumed it would have (and I don't think I had really lofty expectations). For starters, you can't access the camera from within the app, and therefore, have to do all your shooting before you launch it. Not a big thing, but surprising. There is no way to edit audio. Even something as simple as being able to select a song from your music library is a feature I'm surprised to find absent. Also, while you can add titles to the beginning and end of the video, the app doesn't let you place titles anywhere else in the video. There is one major bug with ReelDirector: it does not intelligently rotate your clips. The app assume that all your clips were shot with the iPhone tilted on its left side. Any clips shot the opposite way will result in the clip being upside down in the timeline, and there is no option to rotate it yourself. Bizarre, yes, but true ("coffee time" actually had a whole section that I had to turn right side up after downloading it from my phone). In the end, you have to ask if the app is worth the price. ReelDirector costs $7.99, but seeing as though it's currently the only video editing application for iPhone, I'm surprised it doesn't cost more. If you're looking for something to stitch video clips together, it works (save for the clip orientation bug mentioned above). If you're looking for an iMovie Lite, however, you won't find it here.