Steps for Prefect Video Editing
Organize your footage:
“You have to be organized,” says Tiff Bauer, former video producer at Descript. “Starting off by organizing your stuff straight out of the camera is great.”
Keeping your video clips and audio files in order will allow you to quickly find the pieces you need when you need them. Decide on a management strategy and file structure, and keep it consistent. Create folders for your project on your device and make subfolders for your raw clips depending on their type, or where they belong in your edit.
Make a plan:
It doesn’t have to be overly elaborate, but you should have a good idea about what your project will look and sound like. Create an outline of your vision, or better yet, make a shot list detailing the visual and the audio components of every scene.
If you want to include voiceover or narration, write a script by outlining the points you want to make, then writing them out to sound natural. Read it out, make adjustments, and repeat until it sounds right. Keep your writing concise, and make sure that whoever is reading the script practices in advance.
Choose clips that show important action:
Trim clips to include only the parts you need. Ask yourself: What does my story need? “You don’t have to keep everything,” says Tiffani. “If it’s not working in the edit, feel free to drop it.” It’s normal to be precious about your footage, especially if it took a lot of work to record, but a good editor can make tough choices for the sake of the overall project.
Use establishing shots:
Viewers like to feel situated. While close-up and medium shots show action up close, they often leave out the characters’ (or subjects’) environment. An establishing shot shows a scene’s wider context, allowing your viewers to understand where everything fits, helping immerse them in the setting.
Use match cuts:
One way to make your edits less apparent and create continuity is to use what the pros call a match cut. “A match cut is when you cut from one clip to another by matching the visual interests of the frame,” says Tiffani. “You can use similar framing, similar shapes, or similar motions to cut two clips together.”
For example, you might use a hand movement in your first clip to transition to the next clip with the same hand movement, or if your character or subject is centered in the frame, you could cut to another clip with the same or similar framing. Although the two clips are different, they share elements that allow you to make a visual match between them. Viewers focus on this element and not the edit, creating the illusion that the action in both clips is taking place at the same time.
Use the right transitions — or none at all:
If you’re transitioning from one clip to the next within the same scene, you probably don’t need to apply transitions. To cut from one clip to the next, just stick them together. If your video includes more than one scene, you might want to add graphic transitions between them.
These transitions not only join scenes but can help shape the pace of your video. Stick to crossfades or dissolves. “A lot of people use crazy transitions when they don’t really need to,” says Tiff. Elaborate transitions generally don’t add much to the story and can overpower your montage.
Pay attention to pacing:
Pacing describes the rhythm of a scene which is determined by varying the length of your clips. Some scenes, like action sequences, for example, use fast pacing to suggest intensity; others, like interviews or dialogue scenes, feel slower, more relaxed, and thoughtful.
Fast-paced scenes are usually made up of shorter clips, while slow-paced scenes use much longer takes, sometimes only a single continuous clip. It can be jarring for your viewers if the pacing of your video changes too abruptly or too often. Try to maintain a level of continuity within your scenes.
Choose a color scheme:
If you need to, use color correction tools to give your footage a natural look. Many editing tools also let you color grade your footage, i.e. manipulate the color and contrast of your images for creative rather than corrective purposes.
Color grading isn’t necessary, but it can denote mood and character, and help you set the tone for your story. Slight adjustments go a long way, so don’t overdo it.
Don’t neglect sound:
A high-quality video includes high-quality audio. “People will watch something with poor video quality if the audio quality is good, but they won’t watch something with good video quality if the audio quality and sound effects are poor,” says Tiff.
Balance the levels between your audio tracks so that dialogue stands out, and to avoid sudden changes in volume. Split edits — like J-cuts, where the sound changes before the image — are great for bridging audio between two separate clips or scenes.
Invest in a good external audio recorder like a ZOOM H1n to improve audio quality.
Add music:
Your soundtrack enhances the feeling of immersion more than any other aspect of your video: design it carefully. Don’t let music overpower your soundtrack, and make sure the songs you use are royalty-free or that you cleared the copyright if you plan to publish your video publically.
Silence can add suspense by drawing your viewers’ attention to the screen, but it can also create noticeable (and sometimes awkward) gaps. Unless the silence is intentional, use room tone to fill in the silence.
Export to the right format:
“Before you start editing, make sure you’re starting in the right project format,” says Tiffani, including choosing the right aspect ratio. Once you’re happy with your edit, export your video. Different editing platforms offer different exporting settings, including video format, and other presets, like bitrate, which determines the quality level.
The video format determines how your video file stores audio and video data as well as how that data is used for playback. Popular video formats include .webm, .mp4, .flv, .wmv, and .mov, most of which are supported by the main online platforms, like YouTube and Vimeo. Be sure the platform you’re uploading to supports your export format.
And that’s how you can edit a prefect video.