Now that you have recorded your video footage, it’s time to pull the clips together to make the video you’ve always wanted. But, where do you start? Video editing can seem overwhelming to newcomers. So, let’s explore the essential steps you need to cover to make an excellent video that matches your intended vision.
- Choosing a software
One general question you’ll hear when editing videos is, “What program did you use?”. There are indeed dozens of recommended video edit app out there, but they all essentially achieve the same results.
However, each has its advantages and disadvantages.
- Transferring footage and organizing projects
In video editing, the first step is to transfer all of your footage to your computer from your camera. You will need to copy your footage off the SD card of your device if your footage is from a video camera or a DSLR. Next, create a folder for each project that you work on. For example, make a sub-folder for all the raw transferred video footage and divide any other media, like music or images, into separate sub-folders in your 4k video editor.
Create a new project in your project folder using the video maker app of your choice. Select your footage folder from the project folder and drag it into the project tab. It would help if you didn’t move or delete the original files until editing. The original files will be referenced in your video editing software, so leave them up until the end.
- Find and assemble the best takes
Check the clips and see which is the best take for each one; you may think this is the most excellent reading of your script or the most visually impressive shot. For this, double-click on each file and scrub through all the clips to assess the quality of each.
To ensure the best quality for your final product, you must complete this step. Make sure to pay attention to details like delivery and pacing, as well as your subject’s facial expressions.
For your ideal take, consider the following:
- For spoken dialogue shots, make sure the speaker has a high energy level and the dialogue delivery pacing is natural.
- For landscape or scenery shots, find a shot with some movement that highlights the focus of your shot in the best light.
- Go with your gut: you’ll know the best shot for your video with your sixth sense.
Add the take you prefer to your project’s sequence timeline. You can use lumafusion for the same. Then, apply this same process for every shot, laying everything out in linear order. This is called “assembling the edit.”
- Trim
The arrangement of your video is now complete, and you can begin making fine adjustments to the pace and flow. It will be an issue of trimming the beginning and end of each clip you arranged on the timeline. You must pay attention to this step. You can get a more human feel by fine-tuning your edit so that the video looks more human than a robot monologue.
You are looking to decrease the amount of “dead space” in your footage, which includes:
- Everything, including the preparation of the shot.
- In-between dialogue pauses that are unnatural.
- Off-camera question from an interviewer.
If you need to begin or end your clip correctly, you can either use a cutting tool or drag the beginning or end.
