Tips To Improve Video Editing Workflow For Beginners
Video editing is an art that requires both technical skills and creativity. As a beginner, video editing can seem overwhelming, but with a few tips and techniques, you can improve your video editing workflow and create impressive videos that capture your audience's attention. In this blog, we will discuss some tips to improve your video editing workflow, useful editing techniques to follow, and common mistakes to avoid.
Tips to Improve Video Editing Workflow for Beginners
1. Organize Your Footage
Give first place to the organization of footage in your video editing workflow. Before you start editing, make sure all your clips are in the right order and labeled correctly. Organization of the footage is one of the most recommended practices while working with any video editing application. This will always keep you up to mark in productivity and speed.
2. Use a Good Video Editing Software
Going with a right video editing tool is what you need next. You can opt for free apps like iMovie before jumping into any premium advanced software like Apple FCPX or Adobe Premiere Pro. This way, you can make a strong understanding on the basics of the editing and this will also help you in getting the advanced settings of premium in a better way. Choose a software that meets your needs and is easy to use.
3. Understand Video Formats and Resolutions
When it comes to video editing, understanding video formats and resolutions is essential. Make sure you know the difference between 720p, 1080p, and 4K resolutions and how they will affect your final product. Also, know the video formats that are compatible with your editing software and the platforms you'll be sharing your videos on. You can always go through the video editing basics to read about the video formats and resolutions in detail.
4. Create a Rough Cut
Before you start fine-tuning your video, create a rough cut. This means going through your footage and selecting the clips you want to use. Picking up the clips and setting them in the right order under this practice will help you in getting a clear idea about the story you want to present in front of viewers. It’s simply like basic level of planning in editing before start working on the final designing of the file.
5. Add Transitions and Effects Sparingly
While transitions and effects can add interest to your video, it's important not to overuse them. Keep a limit over them as too many effects can distract your audience from the main content and will leave the message unnoticed. Don’t let the extra transitions and effects make your video look amateurish. Use them smartly, it’s better to add only when there is need.
Useful Techniques of Editing that Beginner Should Follow
1. Cut on Action
Cutting on action is a technique that involves cutting from one shot to another in the middle of an action. This technique can help create a seamless transition between shots and keep your audience engaged. Cut on action technique is very commonly used in the movies and songs albums nowadays.
2. Follow the Rule of Thirds
If you are struggling in setting up visually appealing story then take help from rule of thirds. By using this composition technique you can create balanced and visually interesting shots.
This is how rule of thirds look like
We divide into thirds in both orientations: horizontal and vertical.
3. Focus on Audio to Enhance Your Storytelling
Adding transitions, effects and useful content doesn’t make the video complete and ready to serve for audience. It is narration, sound effects, and background music that improve the quality of the story and make the video engaging for viewers. Always remember to give equal important to audio as it is no doubt as important as your other elements in storytelling.
4. Master Keyboard Shortcuts
Every video editing application comes with a bundle of keyboard shortcuts because of a very obvious reason that is to save time of the software user and increase productivity in work. So, stick with the keyboard shortcuts from today and improve your overall video editing workflow. Spend at least half an hour to learn the new shortcut and practice existing one daily with the projects.
Common Mistakes of Editing to Avoid
1. Using Too Many Jump Cuts
Jump cuts are cuts that remove a portion of footage and create a jump in time. While jump cuts can be an effective technique when used sparingly, using too many can be distracting and make your video look choppy.
2. Not Paying Attention to Audio Levels
Audio levels are crucial to the quality of your video. Make sure your audio levels are consistent and that your music and sound effects don't overpower your narration or dialogue.
3. Ignoring the Importance of Color Correction
Mostly beginners make mistakes of not touching up colors of the videos and this is what make their work look dull and less attractive. Don’t forget to include color correction in the overall editing workflow. From Premiere Pro to Apple FCPX, we find the color corrections options in the form of a separate workspace. Ignoring this step can make your video look amateurish and unappealing.
4. Going Off-Beat with Music
If you're using music in your video, make sure your editing is synced to the beat of the music in the project you are working on. Use marker options in editing apps to fix the off-beat bug in the editing.
Conclusion
Improving video editing workflow includes lots of efforts and responsiveness. As a video editor you should always focus on quality of the content and the discussed points are helpful in this regard. You can attend professional level of video editing training in Delhi from the experts at Post Production Institute and can learn all the discussed techniques practically.
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