This is an era of content marketing where businesses, big and small, deal in different types of content to entice their prospects. Content is available right at the fingertips of the users online, and thus there is huge competition too.
The days of long, rambling articles that needed effort and time to extract required information are gone. Today, videos have taken center stage. But videos of all types are not working for brands.
Properly edited, crisp, and short videos are what the consumers like. Therefore, it has become important for brands to go through a lot of video editing so they can catch viewer attention.
Beginner in this field? No need to get intimidated. There are tips that can help you with professional quality video editing. Just have your hands on these video editing tips for beginners and get going with your projects:
1. Storytelling: Learn this Art
One of the best ways of conveying desired information to the audience is by narrating a story. Not just narrating a story but bringing forward content that resonates with the audience is very important.
Be it documentaries, movies, Instagram story highlights, or TikTok videos, the audiences these days are hardwired to instantly respond to top-quality stories. As a video editing professional, your job is telling an extraordinary tale.
Offer your audience something intriguing and then lead them to something else. The most important thing here is to respect the time and the effort that your audience offers you.
2. Have Your Hands on the Right Video Editing Tool
This is a major step in the video editing procedure. As a beginner in this field, you must have good skills in finding the perfect video editing tool. It is always good to go for an online video editor because these tools come with different in-built features that will simplify the process.
But the question is, how do you choose the right video editor online? This will completely depend on what you want the editor to do. Consider both the basic and the advanced features of the editor and its interface, timeline, and navigation. Also, consider ease of use and shortcuts.
Make sure the video editor you are going for features a library of sounds, effects, and transitions along with export and preview options. You must also be aware of the compatibility of its software and hardware.
You need not worry about the price if you are going for an online video editing tool because most of these tools are available for free. Make sure to go for something user-friendly and simple.
This is important considering that you are a beginner at video editing. Getting started with an online video editing tool will work for you since they have the most basic features needed for creating professional videos.
3. Work on a Flowchart
Even before getting down with editing your video, ensure you have the perfect storyline. Working on a flowchart is very important if you want the result to be as desired. Have a basic idea of the critical things you are looking to convey in the visual and a rough concept of implementing the same.
Also, have more clips than you require. Remember, only a very small part of your footage will align with the storyline. Also, divide the video into small segments. Try varied footage as long as you do not get a logical flow for the story you are looking to narrate.
4. Do Not Forget to Back Up Your Work
This might sound a bit trite but backing up your work is something you must always keep in your mind for all the video editing assignments you take up. After all, there is nothing more frustrating than waiting for an hour or so to render a video only to find that you have lost all your edits.
If you are working with a video editing tool, you will not have to worry about backups. This is because most of these tools backup edited work automatically in local storage. However, you need to keep the edited files secure by training yourself on the use of cloud backup solutions and hard drives.
5. Having an Idea of Complementary Materials is Important
Of course, you will not want your meditation video to have rock music in the background. At least this much sense is there for every video editing professional, right? The example was just for your understanding of complementary material.
Complementary material is everything you use to enrich your video. It is background music, stock footage, video transitions, and animations. It works to have an idea of the trends. That’s because when you follow the latest trends while making videos, your content stays relevant to the audience and thus garners massive reach.
6. Have an Idea of Copyrights
As a beginner, you create content for Instagram, YouTube, and Facebook. It might be quite tempting to enrich the videos with hit music from popular audio streaming platforms.
No doubt, this will boost the viral value of your project, but what about copyrights? If you visit the different audio streaming platforms, you will find that they are getting strict about videos that use their music.
So, if you do not own the rights to certain tunes you utilize in your videos, you might land in great trouble. And yes, your video will also disappear from the online scene. Time to get a bit creative, people!
Create your track using different tools. Or you even have the option of getting tunes from sites that offer royalty-free music.
The Bottom Line
So, these are the basic tips for video editing essential for all beginners. The video editing procedure is easy, provided you follow the right steps. Easier said than done. There are certain steps that need professional skills. As a beginner, you might not possess those skills, but it is absolutely perfect.
Initially, you will face some problems, but gradually, as you gain experience, things will get easier for you.
About the Author
Sanket Shah is the founder of InVideo. InVideo serves millions of users from ~190 countries and has raised $20M+ from the likes of Sequoia Capital and Tiger Global. He believes the future of video creation is in the browser, across devices, and collaborative.
He studied at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor and post that he spent some time in Silicon Valley before moving back to India.
Leave a Reply