How to make a TikTok video and navigate the app's editing tools

• You can make a TikTok video using the plus sign at the bottom center of the TikTok app.
• TikTok videos can be as short as one second or as long as three minutes.
• There's a wealth of filters, effects, sounds, and editing tools at your disposal to edit your video.

Even if you once knew TikTok as only a social media platform for lip-syncing teenagers, it's hard to disagree that it's gone mainstream in a major way, and these days it seems everyone has a favorite genre of video on the service, whether it's about food, dogs, dance, or comedy.

And there's no reason to stay exclusively in the audience; making your own TikTok videos is so easy that you can effortlessly become a creator. Here's what you need to know to get started with making your own TikTok video.

How to make a TikTok video

If you're a longtime TikTok user but you've never made your own video, it's time to explore that big plus sign.

1. Tap the plus sign in the middle of the buttons at the bottom of the screen. The first time you do this, you'll need to give the app permission to use your camera and microphone. The permissions look a little different on Android and iOS, but the important thing is to grant permission.

2. TikTok allows you to make videos from one to 15 seconds and up to three minutes in length. Depending upon the maximum length of video you want, tap 15s, 60s, or 3m.

3. Tap and hold the red button to record. Hold the button as long as you need to record your clip, but you can release the button and record additional clips.

4. You can stitch together multiple clips up to the max length you set for your video. Every time you press the red button, you'll record more, and you can track the length of the total video in the gauge at the top of the screen.

5. If you want to discard the last clip you recorded, tap the Backspace icon to the right of the red button.

6. To add effects to your video, use the buttons on-screen.

• Effects: This button at the lower left is a library of many common effects, such as green screen-style backgrounds and effects that change your appearance.
• Flip: At the top right of the screen, this swaps the front and rear cameras.
• Speed: You can use this to record in slow motion or faster than normal.
• Beauty: This adds a soft focus filter to soften your features.
• Filters: Choose from among a large library of filters that tweak the color and saturation.
• Timer: Use the self-timer to start a 3- or 10-second countdown, and set the length of time you want to record. This allows you to record completely hands-off.

7. When you're ready to move on, tap the Check at the bottom right.

8. On this preview page, you can watch the video you recorded. If you want to go back to recording, such as to remove a clip and re-record it, use the back arrow at the top left.

9. On the preview page, you can also add sound, music and other effects. Here are some of the most important options:

• Sounds: At the bottom left, the Sounds button lets you add music and sound effects to the background of your video.
• Effects: There are many special effects like smoke, powder, and camera shake you can add to the video. To do this, tap and drag the desired effect into the video and hold it there for the time period that you want the effect to occur.
• Text: You can type text that appears as an overlay throughout the video.
• Stickers: Tap a sticker to add it to the video. If you need to add text to it, do this next. After the text is entered, you can drag the sticker around and position it where you like on the screen.
• Adjust clips: This page works like a traditional video editor. You can drag to rearrange the clips and trim the start and end of the video.
• Voiceover: Tap and hold the Record button to add new audio. You have the option to keep or discard any audio from the original recording.
• Caption: TikTok can analyze your recorded audio and add captions to the video.

10. When your video is complete, tap Next. Complete the posting page by adding a short description of the video, choosing who can watch it, and setting options like whether comments and duets are allowed. When you're done, tap Post.

Quick tip: Duet videos, also called reaction videos, are popular. This is when a video appears next to another video so a TikToker can comment on it or react to it. To make a duet or reaction video, find the video to react to and tap Share. If the video's creator allows duets, you'll see a Duet button. Tap Duet and make your video the usual way.