smartfilming

As I have pointed out in two of my previous blog posts (What’s the best free cross-platform mobile video editing app?, Best video editors / video editing apps for Android in 2021) VN is a free and very capable mobile video editor for Android and iPhone/iPad and the makers recently also launched a desktop version for macOS. Project file sharing takes advantage of that and makes it possible to start your editing work on one device and finish it on another. So for instance after having shot some footage on your iPhone, you can start editing right away using VN for iPhone but transfer the whole project to your iMac or MacbookPro later to have a bigger screen and mouse control. It’s also a great way to free up storage space on your phone since you can archive projects in the cloud, on an external drive or computer and delete them from your mobile device afterwards. Project sharing isn’t a one-way trick, it also works the other way around: You start a project using VN on your iMac or MacbookPro and then transfer it to your iPhone or iPad because you have to go somewhere and want to continue your project while commuting. And it’s not all about Apple products either, you can also share from or to VN on Android smartphones and tablets (so basically every smartphone or tablet that’s not made by Apple). What about Windows? Yes, this is also possible but you will need to install an Android emulator on your PC and I will not go into the details about the procedure in this article as I don’t own a PC to test. But you can check out a good tutorial on the VN site here.

Before you start sharing your VN projects, here’s some general info: To actively share a project file, you need to create a free account with VN. Right off the bat, you can share projects that don’t exceed 3 GB in size. There’s also a maximum limit of 100 project files per day but I suppose nobody will actually bump into that. To get rid of these limitations, VN will manually clear your account for unlimited sharing within a few days after filling out this short survey. For passive sharing, that is when someone sends you a project file, there are no limitations even when you are not logged in. As the sharing process is slightly different depending on which platforms/devices are involved I have decided to walk you through all nine combinations, starting with the one that will probably be the most common. 

Let me quickly explain two general things ahead which apply to all combinations so I don’t have to go into the details every time:

1) When creating a VN project file to share, you can do it as “Full” or “Simple”. “Full” will share the project file with all of its media (complete footage, music/sound fx, text), “Simple” will let you choose which video clips you actually want to include. Not including every video clip will result in a smaller project file that can be transferred faster.

2) You can also choose whether or not you want the project file to be “Readonly”. If you choose “Readonly”, saving or exporting will be denied – this can be helpful if you send it to someone else but don’t want this person to save changes or export the project.

iPhone/iPad to Mac

• Open VN on your iPhone/iPad.
• On the VN Studio page (house icon at the bottom), select the “Projects” tab.
• Tap the three dots on the right side of the project that you want to share.
• Select “Share Project”.
• Choose either “Full” or “Simple”.
• Choose whether or not you want the project file to be “Readonly”.
• Now choose “AirDrop” and select your Mac. Make sure that AirDrop is activated on both devices.
• Depending on your AirDrop settings you now have to accept the transfer on the receiving device or the transfer will start automatically. By default, the file will be saved in the “Downloads” folder of your Mac.
• Open VN on your Mac and drag and drop the VN project file into the app.
• Now select “Open project”.

iPhone/iPad to iPhone/iPad

• Open VN on your iPhone/iPad.
• On the VN Studio page (house icon in the bottom navigation bar), select the “Projects” tab.
• Tap the three dots on the right side of the project that you want to share.
• Select “Share Project”.
• Choose either “Full” or “Simple”.
• Choose whether or not you want the project file to be “Readonly”.
• Tap on “Share”, the project file will be generated.
• Now choose “AirDrop”. Make sure that AirDrop is activated on both devices.
• Select the iPhone/iPad you want to send it to. Depending on your AirDrop settings you now need to accept the transfer on the receiving device or the transfer will start automatically.
• The project file will be imported into VN automatically.
• Now select “Open project”

iPhone/iPad to Android

• Open VN on your iPhone/iPad.
• On the VN Studio page (house icon in the bottom navigation bar), select the “Projects” tab.
• Tap the three dots on the right side of the project that you want to share.
• Select “Share Project”.
• Choose either “Full” or “Simple”.
• Choose whether or not you want the project file to be “Readonly”.
• Tap on “Share”, the project file will be generated and the iOS/iPadOS share menu will pop up.
• Now you need to transfer the project file from the iPhone/iPad to the Android device. I have found that SendAnywhere is a very good tool for this, it’s free and available for both iPhone/iPad and Android.
• So choose SendAnywhere from the share menu. A 6-digit code is generated.
• Open SendAnywhere on your Android device, select the “Receive” tab and enter the code
• After the transfer is completed, tap on the transfer entry and then select the VN project file. 
• The Android “Open with” menu will open, locate and select “VN/Import to VN”, the project file will be imported into your VN app.
• Finally choose “Open Project”.

Saving to / opening from cloud storage (iPhone/iPad)

If you don’t want to share directly from device to device you can also save the VN project file in the cloud to access it later.

• Open VN on your iPhone/iPad.
• On the VN Studio page (house icon in the bottom navigation bar), select the “Projects” tab.
• Tap the three dots on the right side of the project that you want to share.
• Select “Share Project”.
• Choose either “Full” or “Simple”.
• Choose whether or not you want the project file to be “Readonly”.
• Tap on “Share”, the project file will be generated. Afterwards, the iPhone/iPad share sheet menu will pop up.
• Select the cloud storage service/app you want to use and save to, eg Google Drive, Microsoft OneDrive, Dropbox etc. – please forgive me for not including Apple’s iCloud, I’m not a fan at all.

To open/import a VN project file from the cloud, do the following:

• Locate the VN project file in your cloud service app.
• In the case of Google Drive, tap on the three dots next to the file, choose “Open In”, “VN” and then “Open Project”.
• If you are using Microsoft OneDrive, tap the three dots next to the VN project file, select “Open in another app”, “VN” and finally “Open Project”.
• If you are using Dropbox, tap the three dots next to the VN project file, choose “Share”, “Export file”, “VN” and finally “Open Project”.

Mac to iPhone/iPad

• Open VN on your Mac.
• In the left side bar, click on “Projects”.
• Click on the three dots below the thumbnail of the project you want to share.
• Select “Share VN Project”.
• Choose either “Full” or “Simple”.
• Choose whether or not you want the project file to be “Readonly”.
• Tap on “Share”, the project file will be generated.
• Now you have to select a save location for the VN project file.
• Locate the exported project file on your Mac and right-click the file, hover over “Share” and then select. “AirDrop”. Make sure that AirDrop is activated on both devices.
• Now select your iPhone or iPad. Depending on your AirDrop settings you now need to accept the transfer on the receiving device or the transfer will start automatically.
• The project file will be imported into VN automatically.
• Now choose “Open Project”.

Mac to Mac

• Open VN on your Mac.
• In the left side bar, click on “Projects”.
• Click on the three dots below the thumbnail of the project you want to share.
• Select “Share VN Project”.
• Choose either “Full” or “Simple”.
• Choose whether or not you want the project file to be “Readonly”.
• Tap on “Share”, the project file will be generated.
• Now you have to select a save location for the VN project file.
• Locate the exported project file on your Mac and right-click the file, hover over “Share” and then select “AirDrop”. Make sure that AirDrop is activated on both devices.
• Now select the Mac you want to send it to. Depending on your AirDrop settings you now need to accept the transfer on the receiving device or the transfer will start automatically.
• By default the VN project file will be saved in the “Downloads” folder of the receiving Mac.
• Open VN on your Mac and drag and drop the VN project file into the app, then tap “Open Project”.
• Now select “Open project”.

Mac to Android

• Open VN on your Mac.
• In the left side bar, click on “Projects”.
• Click on the three dots below the thumbnail of the project you want to share.
• Select “Share VN Project”.
• Choose either “Full” or “Simple”.
• Choose whether or not you want the project file to be “Readonly”.
• Tap on “Share”, the project file will be generated.
• Now you have to select a save location for the VN project file.
• Locate the exported project file on your Mac and choose a way to send it to your Android device. I have found that SendAnywhere is a very good tool for this, it’s free and available for both macOS and Android.
• So using SendAnywhere on your Mac, drag the VN project file into the app. You will see a 6-digit code. Open SendAnywhere on your Android, choose the “Receive” tab and enter the code.
• After the transfer is completed, tap on the transfer entry and then on the project file.
• The Android “Open with” menu will pop up, locate and select “VN/Import to VN”, the project file will be imported into your VN app.
• Choose “Open Project”.

Saving to / opening from cloud storage (Mac)

If you don’t want to share directly from device to device you can also save the VN project file in the cloud to access it later.

• Open VN on your Mac.
• In the left side bar, click on “Projects”.
• Click on the three dots below the thumbnail of the project you want to share.
• Select “Share Project”.
• Choose either “Full” or “Simple”.
• Choose whether or not you want the project file to be “Readonly”.
• Tap on “Share”, the project file will be generated.
• Now you have to select a save location for the VN project file.
• Sign into your favorite cloud service (eg Google Drive, Microsoft OneDrive, Dropbox etc.) and upload the VN project file.

To open/import a VN project file from the cloud, do the following:

• Sign into your favorite cloud service and download the VN project file to your Mac. Unless you have specified another folder, it will go into the “Downloads” folder of your Mac.
• Open VN on your Mac.
• Locate the VN project file and drag and drop it into the VN app, then select “Open project”.

Android to Mac

• Open VN on your Android device.
• On the VN Studio page (house icon in the bottom navigation bar), select the “Projects” tab.
• Tap the three dots on the right side of the project that you want to share.
• Select “Share Project”.
• Choose either “Full” or “Simple”.
• Choose whether or not you want the project file to be “Readonly”.
• Tap on “Share”, the project file will be generated and the Android share sheet will pop up.
• Now you need to transfer the project file from your Android device to your Mac. I have found that SendAnywhere is a very good tool for this, it’s free and available for both Android and macOS.
• So choose SendAnywhere from the share menu. A 6-digit code is generated.
• Unless you have created a custom download folder for your preferred file transfer app, the VN project file will be saved to the “Downloads” folder on your Mac or is available in your cloud storage.
• Open VN on your Mac and drag and drop the VN project file into the app.
• Now select “Open project”.

Android to Android

• Open VN on your Android device.
• On the VN Studio page (house icon in the bottom navigation bar), select the “Projects” tab.
• Tap the three dots on the right side of the project that you want to share.
• Select “Share Project”.
• Choose either “Full” or “Simple”.
• Choose whether or not you want the project file to be “Readonly”.
• Tap on “Share”, the project file will be generated.
• From the Android share sheet, choose Android’s integrated wifi sharing option Nearby Share (check this video on how to use Nearby Share if you are not familiar with it) and select the device you want to send it to. Make sure Nearby Share is activated on both devices.
• After accepting the file on the second device, the transfer will start.
• Once it is finished, choose “VN/Import to VN” from the pop up menu. Importing into VN will start. 
• Finally choose “Open Project”.

Android to iPhone/iPad

• Open VN on your Android device.
• On the VN Studio page (house icon in the bottom navigation bar), select the “Projects” tab.
• Tap the three dots on the right side of the project that you want to share.
• Select “Share Project”.
• Choose either “Full” or “Simple”.
• Choose whether or not you want the project file to be “Readonly”.
• Tap on “Share”, the project file will be generated. Afterwards, the Android share sheet menu will pop up.
• Now you need to transfer the project file from the Android device to the iPhone/iPad. I have found that SendAnywhere is a very good tool for this, it’s free and available for both Android and iPhone/iPad.
• So choose SendAnywhere from the Share Sheet. A 6-digit code is generated.
• Open SendAnywhere on your iPhone/iPad, select the “Receive” tab and enter the code.
• After the transfer is completed, tap on the transfer entry and then select the VN project file. Now tap on the share icon in the top right corner and choose VN from the list. The project file will be imported into VN.
• Finally choose “Open Project”.

Saving to / opening from cloud storage (Android)

If you don’t want to share directly from device to device you can also save the VN project file in the cloud to access it later.

• Open VN on your Android device.
• On the VN Studio page (house icon in the bottom navigation bar), select the “Projects” tab.
• Tap the three dots on the right side of the project that you want to share.
• Select “Share Project”.
• Choose either “Full” or “Simple”.
• Choose whether or not you want the project file to be “Readonly”.
• Tap on “Share”, the project file will be generated. Afterwards, the Android share sheet menu will pop up.
• Select the cloud storage service/app you want to use (eg Google Drive, Microsoft OneDrive, Dropbox etc.) and save to.

To open/import a VN project file from the cloud, do the following:

• Locate the VN project file in your cloud service app.
• In the case of Google Drive, tap on the three dots next to the file and choose “Download”. (skip the next two bullet points)
• If you are using Microsoft OneDrive, just tap on the VN project file, select “Open with VN – Video Editor”, “Always” and finally “Open Project”.
• If you are using Dropbox, choose “Open with…”, then “Import to VN” and “Open Project”.
• Google Drive pick-up: The file will be saved to the download folder of your Android device which you can then find using your device’s file explorer app.
• While some phone makers have their own file explorer app, Google Files now comes pre-installed on many Android devices and would be my recommendation to use.
• Once you located the file on your internal storage, tap the three dots next to it and choose “Share” and then “Edit with VN”.
• The file will be imported into VN and you can then choose “Open project”. (Note: I’ve noticed that with some phones the import process doesn’t work the first time but you have to do it again and it will work)

As always, if you have questions or comments, drop them here or hit me up on the Twitter @smartfilming. If you like this article, also consider subscribing to my free Telegram channel (t.me/smartfilming) to get notified about new blog posts and receive the monthly Ten Telegram Takeaways newsletter featuring a personal selection of interesting things that happened in the world of mobile video in the last four weeks.

For an overview of all my blog posts click here.

DISCLOSURE NOTE: This particular post was sponsored by VN. It was however researched and written all by myself.