Gone are the days when shooting and editing visual content meant hunting for a professional and paying a huge sum of money. With the abundance of opportunities in the field of video creation (thanks to social media networks like Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok!), technology has also jazzed up to suit the needs of video creators, and the result is professionally edited; videos from the comfort of your couch!
Informing you about the plethora of video-making software is no food for thought because almost everyone knows about them. The catch-22 of this situation is the gamut of features in those apps, which in all honesty, can be quite overwhelming and tedious for someone new to video editing. If you are also intimated just by looking at the fancy video editor you just downloaded, then learn about these editing tips and shortcuts to reduce your editing time and improve the finesse.
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Editing is storytelling
The ultimate goal of editing is to tell a story out of the raw footage dispersed all over the system. Editing filters the unnecessary and irrelevant parts of the videos when the entire video turns into one beautiful story that can be interpreted easily by the audience. A story always has an introduction, a climax, and an end.
Time your raw footage
Try to sort your shots with respect to their relevance and arrange them in that order. An important fact that must be remembered is that never shoot for the exact duration of the video. If you are planning to make a video of 5 minutes, shoot for content worth 60 minutes or more. This will increase your chances of editing the most profound shots with fine storytelling.
The app in use
The app which is used to edit the video plays an extremely crucial role in the quality of the final edit. An app that has an abundance of features with special attention to the details ensures that you are able to evolve until you reach the pinnacle of finesse. Similarly, even when it comes to subscriptions, it is important to check that the app runs on a freemium model and not an all-paid one. Wave video is one of the apps that is recommended by ace video editors for its amazing stock videos, audio clips, and images. What more? There are customizable templates and a gamut of interesting fonts to choose from for a perfectly edited and professional-looking video.
Sound check please!
A complete turn-off in any video is the lack of adequate sound or out-of-sync audio-video content. How many times have we shut down a video just because the sound editing was terrible! If you are editing a video that uses only background music, what matters is the quality of music and whether it goes along with the theme of the video. However, if you are using original sounds which involve interviews or voiceovers, it is always important to use a secondary source to record the sound. This is to say that you must never depend on the same device for recording audio and video as it may lead to faulty edits.
Trim extras
Face the fact- no raw footage is perfect, and it is the sole reason why you are editing it in the first place. Whether it is a short film, an Instagram reel, or recording an interview, there will always be unwanted ‘hmm’ or ‘umm’ in the video, and trust us, no one wants to involve themselves that candidly in your video! Make sure to watch the final arranged shots and watch them carefully to check for extras.
Smooth transitions
Transitions are what drive a video forward and maintain the ease in storytelling. Rough transitions make your work look like a poorly made PowerPoint presentation. Similarly, loading your video with one too many effects may make it look like a magic show! It is important to strike a balance between the number and type of transitions used in the video while at the same time ensuring that they drive the story forward without making it seem abrupt. Especially if there are shots with time lapses or slow motions, keep fancy transitions at bay so as to not make it seem uncanny.
Remember, video editing is about communicating a thought, few emotions, and most importantly, a story. There is no one common technique for editing all sorts of videos. It all comes down to your creative instincts.
