Nexus Review: Google Vids for Your Class

Google Vids is a recent addition to the Google Workspace suite, offering a video creation tool. The Vids app has a very similar user interface to others in the Workspace suite (like Docs or Slides) and features many of the same editing and collaboration tools. Vids can be used to create videos for any genre and has excellent potential for classroom use. There is no limit to the number of Vids that can be saved online, though the maximum length of a Vid is 10 minutes. All NYU SPS faculty and students have access to Google Workspace apps through the university, so let’s dive in!

Getting Started

Make sure you are logged into Google using your NYU credentials. The Vids app can be opened a few ways:

• Directly: Go to vids.google.com or type vids.new into your browser's address bar for an instant new project.

• From Google Drive: Click the + New button on the left sidebar, and then select Google Vids from the dropdown menu.

• From the app launcher: Click the nine-dot grid icon in the top right corner of your Google homepage or any Google app (like Gmail or Drive), scroll down, and select the Vids icon.

Opening Vids from the app launcher

Once launched, the welcome screen prompts you to choose how you want to begin, with the following options: 

• Record and share: Use the built-in recording studio to capture a live video of yourself, your screen, or both. You can also record audio only.

• Start with a template: Templates include a preset storyboard, design and placeholder content (including music) to get you started. Vids offers a wide variety of templates SPS students and faculty could find useful, ranging from project updates, to meeting updates, to employee training videos. 

• Upload and create: Start by uploading your own video clips, images, and audio files from your computer or Google Drive.

• Import slides: Importing an existing Google Slides presentation turns your presentation into a video, with each slide as a separate scene in your timeline editable for duration, transitions, voiceover or more. 

• Blank Vid: Select "Blank Vid" to begin with a completely empty timeline and build your video from the ground up.

Creating and Editing Your Video 

The editing interface has three main components: 

• Scene: Located in the center, this where your currently selected scene is displayed, much like a slide in Google Slides. Add and edit media, arrange text and edit designs here. 

• Timeline: Located the bottom, this shows all your scenes sequentially plus transitions joining them. Select, add, delete or rearrange scenes and transitions and edit the length of each scene by dragging its edge. Audio, like music or voiceover, appears as a blue bar in the timeline below the scenes. Adjust the level of zoom using the slidebar on the top right of the timeline. 

• Toolkit: Located to the right of the scene and above and to the right of the timeline, you can find your primary editing tools here. Browse and select text and slide designs, stock photos and videos or media from your drive or computer, and record yourself, your screen or voiceover. 

Vids editing and creation interface

Google Vids for Teaching and Learning 

Vids has myriad applications for teaching and learning. The limitation of Vids is the maximum possible length of 10 minutes. However, this can be a positive as well, as it pushes users to think about breaking longer form content into smaller chapters or chunks. For teachers, it’s a great choice for welcome videos, class announcements, explainers or mini-lectures, or video feedback. For student use, it’s excellent for collaborative group projects and presentations. The two biggest advantages of Vids are its ease of use and its classic Google sharing and collaboration features.

Ease of Use

Vids is especially great for those who are already comfortable using other Google Workspace apps. If you are familiar with Google Workspace and want to start making videos, this is a great tool with a low barrier to entry:

• Title designs, inserting tables, adding images and other tools all function very similarly to Google Slides and Docs.

• The built-in tools for screen recording and self-recording produce a professional and high quality look.

• For more complex videos, Vids has more than enough tools and options for building and editing a video from scratch.

• A large library of copyright-free stock images, videos and audio provides lots of options for polished and professional looking videos. 

Collaboration

The Google suite of collaboration tools sets Vids apart from other NYU video options. Easy sharing and collaboration make Vids a potential game-changer for student-to-student collaboration:

• Anyone with an @nyu.edu email address can be added as a viewer, commenter or editor and videos can be shared via links or email. 

• Data and content is protected and only available to @nyu.edu email addresses.

• Vids is browser-based and doesn’t require you to download and send video files back and forth. 

• Users can comment directly on scenes and elements of the video, making the tool great for giving feedback. 

• Multiple users can edit a video, both in real time or asynchronously. 

  
  

Here is a short explainer Vid I made:

The process was straightforward. I have some background in video production and it took me about five hours total to put the video together. A simpler video would be much quicker.

Creating and editing the video with the Google Vids toolset was very intuitive. The most time consuming part was formatting the title slides and animations for some more complex parts. Adapting from an existing deck would have sped up the process significantly. Recording voice over was a bit of a challenge because it was so unfamiliar hearing my voice in this context.

Overall, these challenges took some adaptations but did not hinder the creation process. The video is shared via NYU Stream. If you share via Google, others can open the video as a project as well and comment or edit depending on the permissions given.  

Vids also has a suite of AI features that are currently unavailable to NYU. These features include things like generated voiceover, generated video and images and a “Help me create” option that creates an editable video from a prompt. While these features are not currently available, this may change in the future. Look for an update here!