How to crop video on Xiaomi Redmi 5: Guide to built-in tools

Video processing on mobile devices has long ceased to be the prerogative of powerful flagships, and even the budget Xiaomi Redmi 5 is able to cope with basic editing. Users often wonder how to quickly remove unnecessary footage at the beginning or end of the video without installing heavy applications. Standard tools of the MIUI system offer enough functional tools to solve this task without the need to download third-party software.

In this article, we will take a closer look at how you edit video directly on your smartphone, and you will learn about the hidden capabilities of the built-in video player and gallery that allow you to prune accurately to frame, saving time and space in the device’s memory, eliminating the need to transfer files to your computer.

It's worth noting that the quality of the final file is directly dependent on the source material and the export settings you choose. Although Redmi 5 doesn't have the top-end Snapdragon 625 processor for 4K rendering, it handles the Full HD format quite confidently. Let's take a step-by-step algorithm that will allow you to quickly get your video in order.

Use of the built-in video editor MIUI

The easiest and fastest way to change the duration of the video is to use the native functionality of the system. The MIUI shell has a powerful video player pre-installed, which hides the editing mode. To start, you need to open the Gallery or Video application and select the desired file from the list.

When you open the record, you look at the bottom control panel or the three-point menu, and that's where the Change or Edit button is hidden, and you click on it, and you go to the interface where the timeline is available, and the sliders on the edges of this scale allow you to cut out unnecessary pieces from the beginning and end of the video.

It's important to understand that when you use a standard editor, the original file can be saved as a copy if you don't choose the rewrite option, which is a useful feature to save the original in case of errors. Once you set the trimming boundaries, the system will suggest saving the result by starting the recoding process.

The process of saving depends on the length of the original video and the resolution selected. On Xiaomi Redmi 5, processing a minute clip takes several seconds, whereas long video in high resolution can take longer.

Accurate setting of frame boundaries and duration

For those who care about every split second, the standard interface offers the possibility of frame-by-frame scrolling, so when you move the sliders of the crop to the right place, stop the movement and tap the screen to lock in the position, which avoids a situation where the important moment is cut by half.

Some versions of the firmware have an advanced mode where you can select the aspect ratio or even use basic image framing, but the main feature we're here for is Trim, which works linearly, and doesn't allow you to cut a piece from the middle of the video without losing continuity unless you use more sophisticated tools.

⚠️ Note: When cutting down low-resolution video (e.g, 480p) On a small Redmi 5 screen, it's hard to see the small details.

If you plan to upload videos to social networks like Instagram Stories or TikTok, you should immediately focus on the vertical format or square. Although Redmi 5 itself has an 18:9 screen, many platforms require standardization of content.

Remember to check the sound. Sometimes when you trim a video sequence, you can desynchronize the audio track, especially if the file has been corrupted or recoded before, and listen to the beginning and end of the resulting fragment before you save it.

Comparison of embedded tools and third-party applications

The mobile app market offers hundreds of editing solutions, but should they be installed on a device with limited RAM, like the Redmi 5? Let's compare the capabilities of standard software and popular analogues like InShot or KineMaster.

Embedded tools benefit in startup speed and no advertising. You don't have to wait for the interface to load or watch video inserts between actions. However, functionality is limited to basic cropping and perhaps the imposition of simple filters. Third-party applications provide more features, but consume more resources.

For the simple task of cutting off the extra heavy software is redundant. Optimizing workflow on a budget smartphone involves using lightweight tools. Only if you need transitions, text to video or complex color correction, does it make sense to turn to Google Play.

Working with memory and file formats

Video files take up a significant portion of the smartphone's internal memory. After pruning, it's important to understand what happens to the original. By default, the system may suggest saving a new file while leaving the old one, which will double the space occupied. Always check your save settings.

MP4 format is the de facto standard for Android and provides the best compatibility. When trimming on Xiaomi Redmi 5, it is better to save this container. Changing the format to AVI or MKV can cause the video to stop playing on some devices or social networks.

If your device’s memory is critically full, use the Save as a Copy function and then manually delete the original, which is safer than risking data loss in a direct overwriting, especially if you experience a power failure or system freeze in the process.

⚠️ Warning: Do not interrupt the process of saving clipped video. Interrupting the write to the disk can damage the file table and lose not only the new file, but also the original file.

Also worth mentioning is bitrate. The standard editor may not allow you to change the bitrate manually, automatically selecting it to resolution. For Redmi 5 with its screen, it makes no sense to save video with a bitrate above 10-12 Mbps, since the matrix will not display the difference, and space will be spent.

Advanced Opportunities: Turning and Changing Speed

Often, with cropping, you have to rotate the video if you've shot it in the wrong orientation, and the same editing menu where the timeline is usually located is usually a 90 degree turn button, which allows you to quickly adapt horizontal video to a vertical screen.

Another useful feature available in some versions of MIUI is to change the playback speed, you can speed up a prolonged moment or slow down an important episode, but it's worth remembering that artificial slow-mo on normal video looks twitchy, because the frame rate of the source remains low.

When you combine trimming and speed changes, the order of action is important, so you better cut the extra one first and then apply the speed effects to the remaining piece, which will reduce the load on the processor in the final rendering.

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Save originals of important videos in the cloud (Google Photos, Mi Cloud) before any editing, this will protect you from the accidental loss of unique frames.

Experiment with these settings on short rollers to understand the logic of how the editor works. Understanding how the smartphone algorithms process the image will help you avoid compression and blur artifacts.

Frequently encountered problems and their solution

Despite the ease of operation, users of Xiaomi Redmi 5 can face a number of difficulties, most often they are not related to the process of cropping, but to the format of the original file or lack of system resources.

If the Save button is inactive or the process is stalling, try closing the background applications. Freeing RAM often helps trigger the heavy process of encoding a video, and the problem can be a damaged file header.

• 📹 Format error: If the video is shot in a rare codec (e.g., a video, HEVC/H.265), The built-in editor may not support it. Convert the file or use a third-party player.
• 💾 Lack of space: Video processing requires free space roughly equal to the size of the original file.
• 🔋 Energy saving: In power saving mode, the processor operates at reduced frequencies, which can cause the rendering process to reset.

In rare cases, rebooting your smartphone before you start work helps, which cleans up the system buffers and ensures that the video codec gets all the necessary resources for stable operation.

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The stability of the Redmi 5 video editor depends on the availability of free memory space and the absence of background processes that consume RAM.

Questions and Answers (FAQ)