10 Best Video Editing Tips
04 januari 2012 

10 Best Video Editing Tips

Most people think that video editing is only about cutting out all the stuff that doesn’t look good, mistakes, shaky shots and the footage of you filming your feet because you forgot to turn off the camera 😉

Video editing sure is all that but certainly a lot more than that. It is the most important part of your video production, the part where emotions and drama is created.

Therefore, I will give you my best video editing tips.

Video editing is actually the process of adding stuff, not taking it away. It is not only about trimming the footage; it is about adding flow, emotions, illusions and creating an entertainment factor.

It is also about communicating with your audience, not only bringing pictures across, but bringing feelings across.

When editing a conversion- or squeeze video, read my article on the AIDA formula  for a proven well-converting structure.

Video editing: when art meets science

Video editing  requires your both brain halves to work together. One side for the technical part, the other for the creative. When those two are working right, video editing can be a wonderful thing.

On the other hand, when the technical part isn’t working properly, it can be very frustrating. Choose your video editing software carefully and take time to get to know it. Take a course or follow some tutorials. This avoids frustrations along the line.

Also, figure out what the message is you want to bring across in your movie. Some cool effects alone won’t make a great movie. Get the essence of a story or your message down on paper before you start filming and editing.

My 10 best video editing tips:

  1. Always shoot with the editing in mind, take different shots, close shots, wide shots, zooms and pans, hold the camera steady, film enough footage, you can always cut out later what you don’t need.
  2. Work organized, if you are making a longer movie, prepare a storyboard up first. Name your clips in your video editing software. Use the same names as you use in your storyboard. If you don’t name your clips you will end up with a heap of files and you will lose a lot of time trying to find the footage that you are looking for.
  3. Once you have your footage loaded into your editing software, start with creating a “rough edit” put the main footage you want to use in chronological order in the time line. You are building a frame for your edit.
  4. Now it’s time to cut out the crap, trim the beginning and endings of each clip and cut out all the unusable shots.
  5. Time to start telling your story. Where can you add close ups? What shots can you add to enhance the dramatic effect? Try out different things and notice the feeling, the emotions that the pictures are bringing across
  6. Don’t go crazy in cutting. Unless you are making a bad MTV music video, you want your shots to last longer than 1 sec. Static shots can last between 2 and 10 seconds. If there is a lot going on in the shot or somebody is talking, it can be longer. Try to switch between shot lengths, some longer shots and then some shorter ones. Don’t go for the stroboscope effect and don’t bore your audience with endless clips. In about 5 seconds, the human brain has seen most details of a picture.
  7. Adding some effects can bring your audience more into your movie and will make your movie more beautiful and cool. Play around with the transitions and try to “feel” what different effects do to your movie. Here I want to warn you again, don’t go crazy with flipping and twirling stuff unless it really adds something to your movie, Here and there a soft transition and some color enhancement will do for most videos. There is no golden rule. Just watch and use what is most appropriate for you.
  8. Create a nice intro or title and some titles at the end. They will make sure you have a proper beginning and ending in your movie. Going to black at the end of a movie will create a dramatic effect. When a title follows that black, the audience can breathe in again. Play around with stuff like that and try to notice how different effects will bring different emotions.
  9. A very important part of your video editing is adding music and sound effects. The same footage can bring a completely different message across if it is accompanied with some house beats, some slow rock or some dramatic epic underscores. Test different kind of music tracks for your video and “feel” the difference. A good choice of music will give your video that “wow” effect and will radiate those emotions you want to bring across.
  10. Last but not least: RAM memory is a video editor’s best friend. No matter what video editing software you are using. Minimum system requirements are MINIMUM system requirements for the software to get installed on your computer. It doesn’t say your editing will go smoothly. Invest in some extra RAM memory if you plan to edit videos regularly. It will prevent your software and videos from lagging and will keep your editing up to speed.

If you are looking for an extraordinary good video editor, I would suggest to you downloading Adobe Premiere Pro CC.

These tips should get you started easily and will help you with the most essential basics of video editing.

I love to hear you feedback so feel free to leave your comments below.

About the author
Rebekka Deforce is the owner of magicmediaforce.com. Working over 18 years in the audiovisual sector and developed a great passion for internet marketing, she now helps on- and offline businesses to get magnificent conversion results through video marketing and social media marketing. She also loves to help people with the technical aspect of the video production process.
Ahmed
By

Ahmed

on 26 Nov 2015

Thank you, this information is very wonderful, I have benefited a lot from them.

Anita
By

Anita

on 23 Dec 2015

Hi Rebekka, Thanks for the tips. They where usefull to me. Take care and warm regards, Anita

Robin
By

Robin

on 29 Dec 2015

Thanks for the tips, Rebekka. Found this on Pinterest, btw. These are excellent tips, which I will endeavour to include into my workflow - thanks again! :)

Rohit Tyagi
By

Rohit Tyagi

on 07 Jan 2016

Hi Rebekka, Thanks for the tips. They where usefull to me. Take care and warm regards, Rohit Tyagi

Amoah
By

Amoah

on 16 Jan 2016

thanks very much for such wonderful tips am really grateful

jones wamala
By

jones wamala

on 28 Jan 2016

these are very wonderful tips most especially starters like me.

@amiablestevo
By

@amiablestevo

on 14 Mar 2016

Great compilation Rebekka. I have learnt new editing tips from your post. Thanks!Warm regards!

Rebekka Deforce
By

Rebekka Deforce

on 09 Feb 2017

Thank you for your comment :)

Anupam Kumar
By

Anupam Kumar

on 27 Nov 2018

Hi, your blog is very wonderful.the way you describe of 10 tips really nice. and the top image (Scissors) which you use really creative.Thanks for the tips Warm Regards Anupam Kumar

rohit aggarwal
By

rohit aggarwal

on 27 Dec 2018

Thanks for the information

School of visual effects
By

School of visual effects

on 11 Jan 2019

Editing the video needs a perfection hand for that kind of perfection you need to know various tools and software but from my view there are still quick guide available in the internet which can teach you from the beginning and from that help you can become best video editor or I say vfx artist.

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Nice blog. Thanks for the information. Just Videos is the process of producing video content. It is the equivalent of filmmaking, but with images recorded digitally instead of on film stock. Visit the commercial and business video website and increase traffic -https://justvideos.co/

kazafi
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kazafi

on 21 Aug 2019

Thanks for sharing..

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By

motion graphics

on 20 Sep 2019

An amazing article. It’s nice to read a quality blog post 10 best video editing tips.I think you made some good points in this post.I want to thank you for this informative read;I really appreciate sharing this great post.Keep up your work.

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Sparksight - A Video Production Company in Austin, Texas

on 09 Oct 2019

thanks for the information

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on 15 Oct 2019

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on 15 Oct 2019

Nice article keep it up like this in your future.I hope you do best afford and make future bright.

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on 31 Oct 2019

Nice article,Thanks for sharing this to us. .

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I agree that much can be learned and adopted best video editing tips from this common.Really the blogging is spreading its wings rapidly.Thanks for this interesting blog!

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Vivek

on 09 Feb 2020

Thansk For Sharing

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on 18 Mar 2020

I Checked Your Blog & it is really one of the best Post I have ever seen... Thanks for Sharing... Keep doing it

Shaylee Packer
By

Shaylee Packer

on 09 Apr 2020

As you mentioned, it is important to shoot with editing in mind. Take the shot from different angels and close or wide shots. This will allow for enough content to allow for editing. My brother is going to be making a video soon, I will have to share these tips with him as the time gets closer.

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on 03 May 2020

This site certainly has all of the information I wanted about this subject and didn't know who to ask.

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