Most modern phones are able to shoot HD footage that is perfect for practicing your editing skills. If you don’t have a camera handy, or just want to get started on editing, you can download video clips online to practice on.
If you can’t find an import button some software will allow you to drag in the file from your computer into the software.
The timeline is where the majority of the work will be done. Here, you can order, rearrange, and manipulate the footage in a variety of ways. [2] X Research source
The clips you place together can affect each other. The viewer of a video will always be thinking about the following clip in the context of the previous one. [3] X Research source When you’re watching a movie, TV show or video clip, the cut can become completely invisible if performed correctly.
Although transitions are fun, always be thinking about who you’re making the video for. Too many exaggerated transitions can detract from the quality of a video.
Sometimes exporting can be intimidating due to the sheer amount of options available to you in the software. If in doubt, always export at 24 frames per second (fps) and at 1080p. This means that you’ll be able to play the final video in the media player of your choice. The quality will usually look better after the video is exported.
Click the tool and your cursor should change to a picture of a razor blade. Align your cursor with where you want to slice the clip in two and left click. You’ll now be able to drag the clip apart. [4] X Research source This technique derives from the days when editors had to literally slice a piece of film with a razor that they’d keep behind their ear.
To add your own music, import a music file just like you would a video file into a bin. Alternatively, you can simply drag a music file onto the timeline. If you want the video’s audio to be silent so that your selected music can be heard you will need to separate the video clip from the audio clip. This is a different process for each piece of software, but usually if you right click a video clip an option should appear allowing you to separate them. Then, simply click the unwanted audio and press ‘delete’ on your keyboard.
Some software like Final Cut Pro or Adobe Premiere will have dedicated sound mixing tabs at the top of the screen giving you in depth controls on audio volume.
Most editing software will have a dedicated color correction tab where you can adjust the individual colors of an entire video clip to your liking.
There’s no need to advance to more specialised programs to learn the basics, especially as they will cost money whereas iMovie may come free with your computer.
Premiere comes in at a cheaper price than its competitors, so if you have both a Windows and an Apple device available to you and are wondering which to go for, Premiere is the more cost effective choice.
Corel Videostudio also boasts impressive up-to-date features such as editing of 360 VR video, a feature many editing programs lack.
If you want to cut your teeth on basic editing techniques there’s nothing wrong with downloading one of these free programs first to get a feel for the process.
