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.