It is a known fact that visual representation of things has more impact than audio. Today, people are most inclined towards watching videos rather than reading or listening, which is quite apparent by the popularity of video-sharing platforms like Instagram reels, YouTube, TikTok. A well-made video garners more attention and appreciation from viewers. Here are the ten tips and techniques that professionals use while editing their videos to help you make your videos better.
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Invest in the right tool and devices
The first step in professional video editing is investing in the right tools and devices for editing purposes. Every professional online video editor first researches their requirements regarding how they will use the editing tools, their budget, and what features they want and what they do not want. They make their purchase; the video editor also pays attention to the computer and the other hardware they are using and looks into whether the editing tools or software are compatible with it. These things might seem not crucial, but they play an important role in giving out a good quality edited video.
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Learn shortcuts and terminology
It is essential to learn shortcuts and video editing languages to accelerate the editing process; these will help you in mastering the video editing process. A professional online video editor uses keyboard shortcuts, as it helps pace the editing work. In addition, learning the video editing lingo enables the editors to interact with their peers and clients better.
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Organise video clips, music, footage
Before starting the actual editing work, one should properly organise all footage and video clips. Organised video clips facilitate the video editor to work faster and more efficiently. Also, make it a point to maintain separate folders for videos, images, music, exports, and other related content to streamline your editing process. A disorganised way of managing the editing process affects the quality of the result immensely.
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High resolution footage
While editing like a professional, make sure to start the video with high-quality or high frame rate footage. Professional video editors start their videos with high-resolution footage to give good results. Use those videos shot from the camera’s highest quality setting and transfer them to the computer you are using for editing. Keep the editing as realistic as possible and minimise merging and splitting the clip unless it is of utmost necessity. Also, while using an online video editor, you should be attentive to the tool settings. While editing, edit the video at a low frame rate and low resolution to avoid lag while playing. Hence, remember to change the software settings to the highest frame and resolution.
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Colour correction and colour grading
Colour Correction and colour grading are essential components in professional video editing. Colour correction is the first step wherein the video editor adjusts the brightness, saturation, and video contrast to get uniformity throughout the video. While in colour grading, additional colour effects are used that help enhance and create a specific mood to the story of the video.
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Audio
Music plays an integral role while editing a video professionally. Excellent and appropriate music and sound effects will add layer and depth to the video. Ensure that the soundtrack you have selected is not copyrighted, and choose the sound effects and music that will seamlessly blend with the video you are editing. Amateur video editors bungle editing by first not selecting a fitting soundtrack and secondly by not cutting the song’s beat at the appropriate time.
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Silence the noise
One of the first things that must be taken care of while editing a video is to edit out all the unnecessary noise in the raw footage. Sounds like background noises, fillers, the ‘erms’ or ‘hmms’ while speaking make the video amateurish. So, an experienced online video editor makes sure to cover these awkward rambles and disturbances out of the video’s final version with good editing.
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Pay attention to the narration
Editors are known to be the best storytellers, and it is through their fine editing skills, the pieces of some random video footage, clips, and talks are put together aesthetically, and it gives meaning to the whole thing. Thereby, every video editor needs to properly attend to the narration, i.e., the beginning, the middle, and the end of the video they are editing. A professional editor provides the video with an excellent and meaningful structure through their story narration skills.
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Retain work back-ups
It is hard to predict when a machine might crash while working with technology. So, to avoid these unfortunate situations, it is advisable to create a back-up of work on your PC, cloud, or external hard drive. Save the entire editing work in a second external drive once the project is over, and delete the editing work from the computer used for editing. This will help free your computer space for your next editing project.
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Review work
It is imperative to review your work while editing, as there may be chances that the colour is not appropriately corrected or the audio and the visual mismatch. After editing a section, review the video until the part you have edited and keep moving forward using the same process. After the whole video gets edited, experienced editors take a break or, as they say, give breathing space and review their entire work again to see if they haven’t missed out on anything. Checking a job after a break provides a fresh perspective that you can implement in the video and gives you better results.
Therefore, it is essential to the know-hows for uploading quality videos and incorporating them into the video you are editing.
