Videos play an important role in social media marketing. Professional and high-quality content can captivate and engage your target audience. If you want to learn how to edit videos like a pro, this article is right for you.
With the popularization of YouTube and other platforms (TikTok, Instagram), video content has reached a new level. If it all started with funny videos and vlogs, today, almost everything is posted in video format – from step-by-step recipes, tutorials, and how-tos, to hours of videos of various flora and fauna representatives’ lives.
In just a few years, video has grown into a powerful marketing tool that could influence people’s emotions. A huge number of free video editing software has been developed. It has become as easy as possible to make music videos on your iPhones and PC. However, many of us have the feeling that writing a text (article or post) is still easier than shooting and editing a video. To some extent, this is true if there are no skills in working with the required video editing tools.
In this article, there will be no theory about video formats, codecs, and other technical things such as how to blur a video or how to use this or that video editing software. In this article, we are going to show you how to edit videos like a pro. You will learn the basics and get some video editing tips.
Have you already chosen a video editing application? If you are a beginner and are going to edit video on your phone, then any free video editing software (such as PowerDirector or something like that) is a good choice. If you are going to learn how to edit videos like a pro, then it is better to use a video editing service for PC.
Once you have decided on the application, you need to upload all the footage to the program. Don’t forget to add the audio files you plan to use in your project.
The next step is to structure the resulting material. Compose similar episodes and name them. Do it in order to not get confused in the future. You should know where to insert this or that fragment.
Just imagine: to make a two-hour film, the staff works for several months, filming hundreds of hours of video and doing thousands of takes. Then all these magically turn into the final movie – interesting, logical, with a complete idea and a clear plot. Therefore, during shooting, don’t hesitate to do several takes. In the process of joining these pieces together, it will turn out to create a full-fledged video file.
However, in the process of video editing, feel free to delete bad and unnecessary bits. Even seasoned bloggers cut out the parts they don’t like. Everything is clear here: it is better to have less material, but really cool and easy to perceive.
This point from our video editing tips follows from the previous one. One of the most important rules of the video editing process sounds like this: don’t insert long and tedious frames in your video. The average duration of one frame is 5 seconds. That’s it. It is considered comfortable to listen to, won’t bore your viewers, and will help you gain more views on your YouTube videos.
Furthermore, try to insert reaction shots. They enhance the emotions from viewing, telling the audience what they should feel at a certain moment – laugh, be surprised, afraid, etc.
There are lots of video editing tips, tricks, and techniques to make a consistent project. One of the easiest and most convenient ways is to change orientation using video transitions. It concerns changing angles. Don’t forget about it. Some videos are boring because the viewers see what is happening from only one location. If you have several shots from different angles, use them. But don’t overdo it, the change of angles should be natural and unobtrusive.
It is a laborious part of the video editing process that requires concentration and perseverance. All fragments must be joined into a single whole. There are several ways of joining video fragments:
➢ Hard Cut – the most famous and simplest way, in which one frame is immediately replaced by another. It is much less common because the frequent use of abrupt transitions in video annoys the viewer.
➢ Jump Cut – a technique when a single shot is broken with a cut that makes the subject appear to jump instantly forward in time. In this case, the sequence of actions is preserved. It is often used when shooting interviews, all kinds of reviews, and music videos.
➢ Cutaways – the interruption of a scene with the insertion of another scene, generally unrelated or only peripherally related to the original scene. It is used to show the viewer what is happening around, emphasize details or increase tension.
➢ Cross-Cut – a video editing technique most often used to establish action occurring at the same time and usually in the same place.
When working with video, you can use different types of techniques. Scenes are frequently combined with additional effects such as captions, animation, and other video design elements.
The video will be dynamic, understandable, and exciting if it contains three basic parts:
● A cover photo / Thumbnails. This is a pic or freeze-frame showing what the video is about or attracting the audience’s attention. How exactly to make this cover is decided individually. Sometimes it is appropriate to insert the title of the video, sometimes – a bright freeze-frame from the video with a short description.
● Intro. This is your video summary. It should be no more than 5 seconds, in the channel or vlog style; convey the main idea of the video, and it must contain your logo.
● Conclusion. Calls to action. Gratitude. Anything you want to add in the end.
Visual effects are designed to make the video easier to perceive. Ditch the old video effects that looked great in the late 90s. Now such effects seem old-fashioned and unprofessional unless you are shooting retro videos.
➔ With the help of top slow motion software, you can focus the audience’s attention and demonstrate an interesting action in more detail.
➔ PiP (Picture-in-picture) is used to emphasize the parallelism of events occurring in different places at the same time.
➔ The use of a chroma key can help you make the video more interesting and bright. The background is changed in the video editing software.
➔ Color correction is used to add contrast and brightness to the video or make its colors softer.
We have listed just some of the video editing tips. If you are at the beginning of your path and are learning how to edit videos like a pro, we recommend using free video editing software. There is no need to purchase and install Adobe Premiere Rush right away.
Remember! Before uploading a finished file to any platform or hosting, review it several times. And one time – in mute mode. Ask yourself the question: is everything happening on the screen clear? Share the video with coworkers or friends so that they can point out any nuances you may not have noticed. If everything is fine, upload the video to the social network or send it where necessary. We wish you all the best in making your video masterpieces!
