How to Improve Your Video Editing Skills

The popularity of videos is increasing each passing day, making video editing an essential skill to master. Whether you are making videos for personal branding or other purposes, videos have a higher success rate than others. Plus, videography is a rewarding profession that you can use for official and personal purposes. 

While most people still believe that movies and television is the most prevalent profession for video editors, that’s certainly not the case! Video editors now have equal demands for marketing presentations, in-house video editor roles for brands, and more because videos are the ultimate way to convey a message to the audience in a short time. Videos are more informative, captivating, and visually appealing to audiences. 

So, if you are new to the world of video making and want to polish your skills, this is the right time to start. What does it take to master the art of video making and become a proficient video editor? By the end of this article, you will come to know about the top tips to make amazing videos to impress your audience.

Tips to Improve Your Video Editing Skills

Social media videos, personal videos, documentaries, promotional videos – regardless of the type of video you shoot, video editing is a very important part that can take your videos to the next level. Here are some tips to enhance your video editing skills and find out what mistakes you must avoid.

Set Clear Goals

The first step towards better video editing skills is to have clear and realistic goals. If you are a beginner, it’s better to work with skills you already have rather than pulling edits that take so much time and experience. Once you are confident about what you know and can pull off effortlessly, think about your audience and what kind of videos they would like to watch. Determine the flow and direction of your video before you start editing and plan out all the things and edit accordingly. 

Proper and realistic planning will save you much time and energy. Remember, whether you are editing a personal video or a video with a target audience in mind changes the entire game. No matter what you do, try to align your video edits towards the campaign’s end goal. You will be able to make focused and targeted videos if you think this beforehand.

Tell a Story

Have you ever noticed that the videos you remember the most are the ones that tell a story? To stand out from the crowd and make a place in the audience’s hearts, you must do things other creators don’t. Your audiences would adore a video with a story, and they will remember it for a long time because dramatically compelling videos have a longer-lasting effect than narrative ones. 

So, when you edit the footage, remember that you are not just cutting off the extra portions while editing a video; you are compiling a series of footage together and turning them into a gripping story. Once you portray a story using your videos, you’re on your way to leaving a deep imprint in your audience’s minds.

Pick the Right Device

Just like you choose the best camera equipment on your budget to get the best shot, you must choose your computer wisely as well. Investing in a fast computer is going to make your job so much easier and more enjoyable. But that doesn’t mean that you have to spend a fortune to get a fast computer.

Yes, fast computers will provide you with the comfort of storing large files. But if you are still in the beginning stage and on a strict budget, go for computers with a fast processor and higher RAM. Plus, there are so many brilliant video makers available in the market, and some of them are designed for all sorts of computers. All you have to do is master the video maker with time and patience, and you are good to go. So, do your research before investing in editing equipment.

Stabilize the Footage

No one would want shaky, poor-quality footage after hours of hard work and dedication. That’s why it’s crucial to stabilize your video footage. Having poor-quality audio and unstable footage can ruin a perfectly planned video.

So, to make your task easier, there are multiple plug-ins, tools, and editing effects available in your video maker. Once you master that, it’ll be very easy for you to align your video.

Choose the Right Music and SFX

It’s no doubt that an exceptional video will amaze your audience. But at the same time, the music used in your video is something that will trigger the right emotion of your audience. So, this step must not be overlooked. Picking a song that fits your video correctly is an art, and this addition brings life to your video. The right music will add depth and layers to your video, just make sure to use royalty-free music only. 

Apart from picking the right music, another thing you must keep in mind is the sound effects. Take your time to master sound mixing for your videos because that’s one of the things that will make your videos look more appealing. These things are subtle but change a lot about a video when done properly. If you edit this part properly, your audience will experience something magical.

Learn the Keyboard Shortcuts

If you have been thinking that using a mouse is the fastest way to edit, think again. Video editing is a very time-consuming process. Mouse seems like a device that can help you stay in control, but the truth is, the keyboard is your best friend when it comes to editing faster. Faster editing certainly doesn’t make you a better editor, but it saves you so much time. 

By learning keyboard shortcuts, you will save time and use so many more tools effectively. Keyboard shortcuts can be a bit hard to memorize when you are just a beginner. For that, you can print out the keyboard shortcuts cheat sheet and refer to that while editing. This might feel new, but once you are used to the keyboard, you wouldn’t want to switch to a mouse ever again.

Conclusion

All the aforementioned tips will only work if you practice hard enough to make yourself perfect. With time and experience, you will come up with your very own tips to make good quality videos with ease.