The Google Photos for Chromebooks video editor and movie maker are coming soon

This year, Google Photos will get a major upgrade, which will be the first to come to Chromebooks. According to a Google blog post, Chrome OS users can expect an update this fall that adds a new movie editor and video editing capabilities to Google Photos. It appears that it'll allow consumers to create videos comparable to the app's present-day highlight clips. You'll be able to pick a theme and people or pets you wish to feature in it, after which Google Photos will combine a film using video clips and pictures from your collection. It'll be clever enough to scan for extended videos and extract certain moments to include in these fresh productions as well.

While it's no surprise that Google is providing an automated solution, the ability to start from scratch, adding video clips and photographs at will, is a nice touch. The program will allow you to change brightness and contrast levels, cut videos as needed, add title cards and music, and apply Google's Real Tone effects, which work best with non-white hairstyles and darker skin.

Google hasn't announced whether these video editing capabilities will be made available on mobile apps for iOS and Android, but Google Photos has always had feature parity across platforms, so it wouldn't be a surprise to see these tools expand beyond Chromebooks soon. In fact, the video editor will be built into an optimized version of the Android Google Photos app that's specifically designed for bigger displays. The program functions with other Google products, including Files and the Gallery Chrome OS applications, so you can instantly move a video from the Gallery app to Google Photos for editing or use in a new work.

There are a lot of more useful upgrades in the pipeline for Google Chrome OS. Another new Google Photos capability will allow Chromebooks to access your library and utilize those photos as background wallpaper, just like other Chrome OS wallpaper settings may be selected from. The Google Photos app will get PDF editing capabilities, so you can fill out paperwork and sign it using a Chromebook with a stylus. That capability will be added next week. There's also a new Cursive app for taking handwritten notes, which can then be copied and pasted into other programs or exported to PDFs as needed.

A dark mode is also coming to Chrome OS, which has been anticipated for a long time. You'll be able to select one style or have it switch automatically depending on the time of day, as you can on most other devices. There will also be light and dark versions of some new wallpapers that change modes depending on the theme you're using.

Finally, Google is adding some productivity features to Chrome OS. The date on the Chromebook shelf will display a monthly calendar view; you may select a date to see your Google Calendar events without having to open the app or website. Chrome OS also allows you to save virtual desk configurations, so you can call up and close your favorite tabs and applications as needed.

Most of these improvements should be available in August, although Google clarified that the virtual desk update will not be released until late September. And it's unclear when the video editing capabilities from Google Photos will arrive; they're scheduled to debut "in the fall."

Source: www.engadget.com