How video editing is done
So you’re creating plenty of your own content and you’re ready to start editing that footage into something a bit more polished, but where do you begin?
Editing is a process and once you’ve done several of your own projects you’ll soon work out a great flow. Upping your editing skills doesn’t happen overnight, however there are some basics that with a bit of practise will help you leap ahead in terms of the quality of your edited processes and output:
Remind yourself of who, what, where and why you’re creating this video. All that information can and will determine most of your editing decisions so before you begin doing anything keep those details fresh in your mind.
If you’re using a music track then go and find that first. Your music track will set the tone and pace of your edit, deciding on that before you cut any content will help streamline your whole process and avoid duplicating work later down the line.
Work on your content first of all, time it out out to the music and/or voice over. Remember to include pauses where appropriate - a bit of breathing space goes a long way in drawing out the emotion and allowing viewers to digest the information you’re sharing.
Then you can start to fill in the gaps and cover edit points with b-roll or cutaway footage, remembering point one at this stage again.
If you’re adding in titles, graphics or animation then this is best saved until all your footage has been laid out since you want to ensure everything is timed out perfectly. Take your time with the animations, carefully considering quantity, positioning and timing with both existing footage and music track (if using).
If you have the capacity to colour correct your footage then again keep this until the end of the process in order to avoid unnecessary lengthily render times.
And finally remember to check through your audio. You want to make sure your levels are all bouncing appropriately, any jarring cuts are smoothed out with a short dissolve, narrative is faded where appropriate and of course any necessary sound effects are added too.
It takes time to get to the finished video, don’t expect it to happen on the first cut
I go through many iterations of even the simplest videos until I get to a point where I’m happy with it. Make a first cut, duplicate your sequence and then go at it again. Each iteration will be better than the last, but by duplicating your sequences you’re safe in the knowledge that you can always ‘rewind’ and go back to a previous version if you (or your client) wants to.
What video editing software should I use?
This is a really tricky one to answer. Personally I work with the full Adobe Creative Cloud suite, using Premiere Pro for my editing and After Effects for animation. However this is a paid for plan and is only really worth investing in if you’re going to get a return for your video work. If you’re using a Mac you could try iMovie for free (although this is not a favourite of mine). A slightly less costly alternative to Premiere is another Adobe app called Adobe Rush which does work across a number of different devices, particularly great if you want to film and edit on the go with your phone or tablet.
However there are so many editing apps out there I’d recommend you try a few different ones out and see which interface you prefer. If you need any support in getting to grips with your editing app then head over to YouTube where I’m sure you’ll find a tutorial for pretty much any question or issue you might have.