Top 8 beginner video Editing tips
This post is about the eight best video editing tips for beginners: You must improve at editing YouTube movies.
It can be very rewarding to learn how to edit movies. Promoting a product or service, making material for social media, or starting your own YouTube page all require video editing software, which is more important than ever.
Since it affects a piece’s pace and feel just as much as the footage, video editing is crucial to making movies. As with any artistic work, some rules may be initially ignored, but it’s usually best to follow. There is no “right” or “wrong” way to edit video, but some general rules and useful tips will assist you learn faster and with less trial and error.
You need the best video editing software and one of the best video editing computers to get started. If you’re ready, read on for some important tips. These video editing tips for beginners should support you get started with everything you need to make a beautiful video, no matter what kind of video you want: a documentary, an ad, a comedy reel, or an interview for YouTube.
Check out our choices for the best video editing app, headphones for video editing, and laptop for video editing. You may also be interested in our post on TikTok video editing if you’re making it specifically for social media.
Best 8 video editing tips
1. Follow the 321 rule
We’ve all made the mistake of forgetting to hit “save” and missing a lot of work on the same topic. These are the best complimentary video editing software tips. It’s important to save your project often and make copies of it so you can fix many editing mistakes. But what if your hard drive crashes and you can’t get your raw footage back?
That could lead to a lot worse things happening. The 321 rule says that you should have three copies of your project in at least two places, one off-site. But as long as your raw footage is on at least two actual discs and you regularly send your project to your backup location, you’ll be fine. Given the size of most movies, an online service like Google Drive is a good choice for an online backup, but you’ll need to pay a little more than usual.
2. Simplicity is your ally
Do you find effects and changes fun?
I guess. Before you get all the stars to wipe happy, think about who you’re making the movie for and what kind of movie you want to make. A simple cut is often enough when moving from one clip to the next. No transition, not even a clean split, is needed. But, as we’ve already said, you should still play around with the tools your software gives you. It’s an important part of learning how to edit. But save the effects for when they’re needed.
A fade to black (or even white) is an effective way to end a scene as long as it is not overdone, but a wipe may indicate the passing of time or a change in place. Keep the same idea in mind when adding text to your video: make it clear and simple.
3. Do not be afraid to attempt it.
Orson Welles said, “The idea of directing a picture is something critics made up. The whole eloquence of cinema is made in the editing room.” Even though this is true, editing today is different from combining and cutting film.
It’s now non-destructive, meaning your original footage stays whole no matter how crazy you edit it. Anything can be put into editing software; you don’t have to lose anything when you change the cuts. If the transition between pictures doesn’t feel right, try a few different ones until you find one that does.
Lighten up a clip that is too open until the pace of your video picks up. There are artists and no universally accepted method for making a good video, so skilled producers are in high demand. It’s about how you feel.
4. Consider color.
Computerized color grading and editing display
Some people think that the best editing isn’t even noticeable; it’s only seen when there are clear differences in the color from the camera. There must be perfect color, order, and pace for the editor. That means putting in more work—color fixing each clip for accuracy and then color grading the finished footage to make it look better. You don’t have to add a grade (even if it’s just a main LUT for a filmic wash) to everything, but it can make a big difference in the result and make a simple edit look much more professional.
5. Cut it short
What You Need: A computer with brightly colored keys
Professional editors will likely use avid laptops or well-used Macbooks with bright stickers. These only exist because keyboard tools are an important part of editing. If you’re unsure what to press and click the mouse, your edit will take much longer than if you know what to press to do important things. You don’t have to change your gear as an editor, but learning the basics and getting a game mouse with extra buttons that can be set to quick actions will make your job much easier.
6. Make use of the B-roll
Depending on what you’re trying to make, b-roll footage could be very important. You’ve likely seen on-camera conversations where the camera suddenly moves from the subject to the reporter, who nods carefully. This footage is often taken after the fact and then carefully edited to eliminate speech stutters or gaps that don’t appear in the video.
Moving to a second camera may help you turn short, bad footage into a useful clip. Still, we’re not suggesting you follow the highly eager method used by many modern editors: cutting every two seconds or so.
7. Establish reasonable expectations
If you want to start recording, consider what tools you can use and what you want to achieve.
If you don’t have the computer to match your ambition, visit the best prices on our computers for video editing if you need to upgrade. Shooting in 4K, for example, can produce excellent quality footage but at the cost of frame rate and resolution, putting a lot of stress on your editing equipment.
However, if this is for work, many buyers will be happier with a 1080p result, and you should stay away from blowing up lower-quality footage. Before you record a single frame, you should look at how well your hardware and software work and list exactly what you need from the result.
8. Maintain organization
The computer screen for managing files for a video editing project.
This is more of a mental health tip than editing advice: if you’re putting together a video that was made up of many separate parts, going through a single bucket full of files with random names will drive you crazy.
Before editing, review the footage and give each file a name that accurately describes the scene and take. Then, organize the files in groups that are separated by topic so that they are easy to find when you need them. Making folders for your sounds, music, and images is another good idea. Then, place your project file at the top of the main folder that contains everything. Many artistic people may want to do something other than this, but you should keep everything. Free video editing software: You never know when that wrong take may come in handy.
Check out our list of the best mouse and keyboards to see what’s available.
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