Phil Castle, The Business Times

With just a few swipes of a fingertip across the screen of his iPad, Bill Baird edits videos of his daughter competing in a swim meet and a thunderstorm raging over the Grand Valley.

A slow-motion effect turns a quick flip turn in the pool into a detailed analysis of the maneuver. Another feature adds dramatic music to images of lightning flashing across a night sky.

“Pretty cool, right?” Baird asks after the demonstration.

The question is rhetorical for the Grand Junction entrepreneur who has developed video editing software that offers all the tools of a high-tech studio not only on desktop and laptop computers, but now on such mobile devices as iPads and iPhones.  “I’m putting a studio in people’s hands,” he said.

Recognizing the growing number of mobile devices equipped with video cameras and increasing popularity of viewing videos on tablets and smart phones, Baird has high hopes for his venture. “Video is the future. It’s not going away.”

Baird is chief executive officer and founder of Loopster. The technology startup company offers free online software that enables users to upload and edit video footage and then post that footage on Facebook, YouTube and other social media sites.

Loopster recently made the software available to download as an application for iPads, iPhones and iPods. Baird said he hopes to soon offer an application for Android devices as well.

Tapping his education and experience in computer information systems management, Baird has worked three years to develop and improve his software. He launched a website at www.Loopster.com about a year ago and released his newest technology for iPads, iPhones and iPods just weeks ago.

The video editing software offered on Loopster.com and available as apps offers advantages over other software, Baird said — starting with the fact it’s free to use.

The online software on the website doesn’t have to be downloaded, meaning users can access their accounts and use the software from computers anywhere in the world. The software also offers the ability to export videos onto Facebook, YouTube and other sites with a single click of a mouse.

One of the biggest advantages, though, is the software offers more features than other software, yet remains easier to use, Baird said.

“We just blow them out of the water in terms of being feature-rich.”

Both the online software and applications offer a four-track editor for videos and images, transitions, sounds and text. The software makes it easy to trim and combine clips; add music, sound effects or narration; and create speech bubbles or other text effects.

Baird said he has a patent pending on what he describes as a “seamless”

slow-motion feature that can be applied to any portion or portions of a video clip.

The ultimate goal, Baird said, is to offer powerful editing tools that create professional looking videos, but also make the process simple and fun.

Now that the software is available for mobile devices, people can use the devices to shoot videos and then quickly edit and share their videos, he said.

In addition to shooting video of families and friends, Baird envisions a far wider range of uses for his software. Real estate professionals, for example, can make videos of their listings to show to prospective buyers. Given the increasing use of iPads in schools, Baird also foresees the use of his video editing software to create classroom presentations as well as homework projects.

Baird has yet to develop revenue streams for his company, but has considered the possibility of eventually charging for downloads or premium features. The potential market, he said, is huge.

Meanwhile, visits to the Loopster website and application downloads have been steadily increasing even without any investment in customer acquisition, he said. “I put a good product out there. How do I know that? People are using it.”

And that, he added, is pretty cool.