Video editing has grown as one of the most famous career options amongst the youth in the past months.
With the current pandemic, most skilled young individuals have switched to freelancing as video editors during the lockdown period. Likewise, big companies wanting to leverage their online presence to gain traction and generate leads are hiring experienced video editors to make attractive videos for them.
Video editing is a creative art form that derives value from moving pictures. The best video editing usually blends into the backdrop, boosting storytelling without popping out or diverting from the action. A good editor is not someone who edits the video well but portrays the story in the best way possible.
Many newcomers make the same mistake: they cut between characters and dialogue too quickly or use too many wide views. However, video editing is not that challenging. You can explore and master video editing with the help of various free online video editors and some beginner tips.
Video Editing Tips for Beginners
One should always focus on what they want to convey with the video they edit. There are now numerous free online video editors that help you edit videos very easily.
All these tools provide quality templates and animations, but one should always spend time looking for the best. Kizoa is one such online video editor that helps you by providing an uncomplicated user interface.
That said, here are nine beginner-friendly pro recommendations that can make your video editing journey seamless.
Consider pacing.
Pacing, or the rhythm, is the core of a captivating video. Your video can have a flawless flow by ensuring cuts appear at a specific tempo and are not too sluggish or quick.
When you first start editing a video, it is easy to underestimate the effect your cut selection has on the entire vibe of your video. Contemplate the intensity or energy you want in your video, whether fast and exciting or slow and calculated. Then, balance the transitions or cuts to the vibe.
Experiment with tight cuts.
Tight cuts are vital for creating vibrant, fast-paced videos. Any video production with a lot of dialogue will undoubtedly include gaps in conversation — natural pauses that, in the video, tend to slow down the action.
To create a more compelling video, use a decent online video editor that can help you chop out these pauses and gaps.
Limit usage of wide shots.
Wide shots offer context to the audience at the opening of a scene. You can utilize them to shift smoothly between the events in your video. However, too much of this shot acts as a filler.
Also, while offering helpful information about the background of a scene, these shots may slow down the action and detach your viewers from the characters they are seeing.
Pay attention to your character’s body language.
A good video editor will use everything at their disposal to convey a tale, from wide shots to filler footage to close-ups of their characters. Viewers will automatically start picking up on your character’s body language, which can frequently give depth to storytelling in ways that dialogue cannot.
Match your video edits to your character’s body language. It is always ideal for snipping away the slight lulls in characters’ behavior to establish an intuitive flow for your video.
Chop out the mistakes.
Even though correcting technical and speaking problems is an essential element of the editing process, you will be recognized and appreciated in the post-production industry if you can do it with grace.
Cutting on action is a common way of editing out mistakes. This process includes cutting from one shot to a second from a different angle and take, eliminating the flaw.
Cutting on action gives the viewer the perception of continuous-time when viewing the edited video, even if you had shot the material for the sequence in the final version hours or days earlier.
The three-b-roll rule
The rule of three comes naturally to viewers while adding b-roll footage to your editing. When adding secondary video, anything more than 2 seconds will begin to disrupt the action — b-roll should be in-and-out, or audiences will start to give it unnecessary attention.
One or two shots together are frequently unpleasant; however, three shots together, lasting four to six seconds, provide a natural pause from the pace.
Make use of split edits for a professional appearance.
When video editors start out, they frequently synchronize their audio and video cuts. For newcomers, it appears natural that when the camera moves, so does the audio.
Yet, split cuts (also called J-cuts or L-cuts) in which the audio carries through video cuts might improve your editing flow.
Prioritize the storyline over the video.
When editing your video, it is tempting to get carried away by your favorite shots, even if they don’t add anything to the story. If gorgeous footage doesn’t offer anything to the storyline, you must cut it.
For example, suppose you make a film where characters and their relationships drive the plot. In that case, you may have to sacrifice wide shots and give preference to close-ups that provide insight into the characters’ personalities.
Take a break.
Professional video editors understand that getting too close to a project might make it difficult to see the forest for the trees. To comprehend how your project is evolving, you may need to take a break from focusing on the details. If you are having trouble, take a day off from editing your video — you will come back with fresh eyes.
Also, editors can grow desensitized to the content after spending a long period focusing on the same project. By taking breaks and returning refreshed, you can help preserve your viewer’s perspective. It will help you make the best editing selections.
Conclusion
Irrefutably, mastering the skill of video editing takes the time, effort, and assistance of an excellent online video editor. It does not happen overnight. At first, video editing may appear to be a challenging endeavor, but if you follow video editing tips and techniques as you go, you will soon be editing like an expert.
So, roll up your sleeves and get a jump start with these expert recommendations to be a professional video editing expert.
Good Luck! It is time to get started!
