Video Editing Tips for Beginners

Video editing tip for beginners no.1: “Start by Organizing”

Before diving into any editing software, start putting your content in place. Create a specific folder on your computer for each project. Label the date and title of the project for easy reference. Inside this folder, create subfolders of that kind of footage—generally called A-roll (your main shot) and B-roll (your extra footage).

Tip: If storage is an issue, invest in an external Solid State Drive (SSD) for fast additional storage. This will not only save your internal storage from getting cluttered but will also save your workflow from clunky, jarring transitions.

Choose User-Friendly Software: For starters, the balance of features and user-friendliness in software is something that beginners should opt for. Since both serve as a screen recorder and video editor, Camtasia would probably be one of the first places one would look. Available on both PC and Mac, the interface is pretty easy to understand for novices who are trying to venture into video editing.

You can learn more about video editing software here.

After organizing your footage, import it into the editing software you have chosen to work with. Keep in mind that the project file is recommended to be saved right into the same folder where your footage resides. This makes for an efficient consolidation in management and backup of your work.

A game of choice in editing is selecting the best parts of your footage. Get to know the program that you are using; maybe it’s a splice or split tool. Trim away all those unnecessary parts, including errors and pauses, for an engaging piece of content.

Once you become more familiar with your video editing program, you can start to play with more advance editing techniques.

A fun technique would be to reverse-edit your footage, starting at the end. This becomes helpful, especially considering that very often, the best takes are usually the last ones; you are therefore ensured of not missing your best footage.

The B-roll adds depth to your story and offers visual variety and underlying backing support for your A-roll. For those unable to shoot their own B-roll, stock footage is a valuable resource. You can find some free footage in Canva, check how here.

For the A-roll, consider searching on stock video websites for the appropriate clips.

This is the area where text overlays and graphics can help a video get a visual breather and even create some emphasis. Almost all of the modern editing software has templates and presents that you can use on your text. It becomes extremely easy to maintain the consistency of the video.

Finally, once you are done with everything, review it before you actually export the file. Look for mistakes, from editing errors to text typos. Before exporting, make sure your video is polished for a very professional result.

You have to configure your export settings accordingly with what your original quality footage has. If you are to export the video in 4k resolution, then export it in 4k resolution. Consistency in frame rate and resolution will only ensure the quality of the final product. You can even find some of editing software, such as Camtasia, allowing video exportation directly into your YouTube account without an intermediary export to your desktop and later upload from there.

Here you can find an article with the best export setting for high-quality videos in Premiere Pro.