The greatest struggle in producing video content is the process of trying to make videos look professional. Dealing with video post-production can be a daunting task. Furthermore, it requires a wide range of skill sets and equipment to pull off efficiently.
With our services at The Outside Collective, we can help you produce quality content. From the brainstorming process up until video post-production, we’ve got your back.
But if you’re ready to create your own and make videos look professional by yourself, here are 6 beginner-friendly video editing life hacks. Follow them to make your first forays into video editing a much easier experience!
Go From Beginner to Professional With These Video Editing Tips and Techniques
- Find the right software for you
The software you choose should be able to do everything you need for a standard video edit. This means that you should not have to keep switching between different programs to get one simple task done.
Other important things to consider are user-friendliness and features. You should be able to understand and work intuitively with the software. It might be a steep learning curve at first, but after spending a few days practicing you should know your way around! If you’re still confused after a lot of time spent trying to learn a certain video editing software, maybe it’s time to reconsider. It would be a good idea to switch to something that’s more compatible with your specific use case.
Popular video editing software includes Adobe Premiere Pro, Adobe After Effects, Final Cut Pro, and DaVinci Resolve. You can definitely use free softwares such as iMovie or the free version of DaVinci Resolve as a budget alternative. However, you might find them a little less capable compared to their premium competitors.
- Invest in good hardware
The best computer brand or manufacturer is a discussion for another time, including the debate for PC vs Mac computers. You just need to have a reliable workhorse that can run all your video editing software requirements. All you need to make videos look professional is to have a good enough computer with most of the following specifications:
- 1 TB SSD or higher
- An HDD or external hard drive
- At least 8 GB of RAM
- A dedicated video card and GPU
It can also be incredibly helpful to invest in some good peripherals. A second (or even third) monitor will give you more real estate to work with your video post-production. This will allow you to make videos look professional with color-accurate screens.
- Optimize your workflow
You shouldn’t purely rely on powerful software and hardware to make videos look professional. An important aspect of video editing is the speed and efficiency that you’re working at. The bulk of the job is doing the same repetitive tasks over and over again. It’s a lot of cutting, trimming, rendering, or applying transitions/effects to clips. These can be very time-consuming, especially if done manually.
Utilizing keyboard shortcuts is one way to save time that can be better spent doing other tasks. It might take a while to get used to at first, but soon enough it will become second nature. Each video editing software will have different shortcuts and hotkeys, so make sure you learn the ones specific to the program you’re using!
Another important thing you need to remember as a video editor is to stay organized. Your workflow will become much faster if your assets are filed into properly labeled folders. Treat your digital workspace like you would a physical desk: keep it clean, tidy, and organized so that you know where everything is.
The 3-2-1 rule is a standard for anyone who works with large volumes of digital files. It’s pretty simple to follow. Keep at least three backups of all your project files, in two different locations, with one location physically separated from the others. This way you’ll never have to deal with lost or corrupted files, saving you a lot of time and energy. Multiple backups are always the way to go, with both physical and digital copies.
- Watch tutorials
In this day and age of free information, anyone can learn the art of video editing. Countless free tutorials are available on YouTube, Skillshare, and other similar platforms. Most of the tutorials hosted on these sites are accessible to anyone with internet.
By watching these tutorials, you can also learn important industry terms over time. Familiarizing yourself with these concepts can let you communicate better with your clients. Phrases such as match cut, jump cut, J or L cut, cutaways, cutting on action, and montage are important pieces of vocabulary for editing video post-production.
- Storyboarding and editing
Every great video or film tells a story. To make videos look professional, you have to go beyond the limitations of your video editing software. It has to follow a visually compelling and aesthetically beautiful storyline. In order to draw your audience into the message you’re trying to convey, you have to appeal to these aspects.
During the process of filming the video itself, you might already have a storyboard you can reference from. You don’t have to be restricted in this regard when you’re editing in post, though. It’s just useful to have a storyboard in advance so that you already have all the footage you need (and a little extra) to create a masterpiece.
A few simple ways to contribute to the story of a video are by color correcting, then pairing the clips with other visual and auditory elements. Choose suitable music for the mood of the video and add minimal text and graphics where needed. Tweaking these elements will make videos look professional without giving off the impression that you’re doing too much.
- Less is more
Video editing can demand a lot of creativity and innovation from you, but always remember the golden rule of less is more. When you’re telling a story, doing too much can take away from the message you’re trying to share with the audience. Try to cut down on the fancy effects or excessive transitions. Unless you’re editing something that calls for it (like a music video or high-energy short form reel), it’s not necessary at all. Sometimes you just need to sit back and let the footage speak for itself, helping it along with a couple of nudges and improvements.
The Outside Collective will always put your story first. Connect with us to find out how you can create compelling narratives for your business, event, or film.
