Top 6 Proven Tips For Quick Video Content Editing
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One of the biggest time consuming parts of creating video content can be the editing.
When I first started making videos I would spend hours editing my videos. I loved the editing process but lets be honest, we have a thousand and one other things to do so I want to share what my editing process looks like. It now takes me about 30 minutes to edit one of my videos, from uploading to footage to uploading the final file to YouTube.
These tips are to make your editing process smooth and quick so you can continue to offer quality video content to your readers and viewers!
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Tip 1: Get to know your editing software
I use iMovie, it came for free on my computer so it was the obvious choice. If you don’t have a Mac but you have an iPhone or an iPad you can buy the iMovie app for $4.99 and edit videos on your phone and iPad. This option is especially nice if you are planning to film on these too!
To make my editing process go quicker in iMovie, I invested in some time to figure out how to use it. I just went to YouTube and searched “How To Edit YouTube Videos” and watched quite a few videos. I took some notes then practice, practice, practiced. Its going to take a few videos before you hit your groove and know what your doing. So be patient and keep with it, it does get easier!
One of the best YouTuber for iMovie tutorials is Gabrielle Marie and I will link her channel right here.
Tip 2: Be prepared before filming
This tip can honestly cut your editing time in half! If you prepare a script in advance you will already know what you need to talk about. Not only will your editing time be cut in half but so will your filming time!
Since you wrote a script and you had a game plan, when you upload your video to edit you won’t have an hours worth of footage to go through to edit out all the rambling!
Check out this post I did on writing a script. It is seriously the best thing you can do to minimize your editing process!
Tip 3: Jump Cuts
Jump cuts are just an abrupt transition from one clip to the next. This is what I prefer in all my videos. I don’t incorporate fancy transitions from clip to clip because it takes too much time. Jump cuts are nice for cutting out mistakes during filming and all those long pauses where you might have stopped to gather your thoughts.
I also think jump cuts just look more professional. When you start to add transitions things can start to look a bit elementary and you want your video to look as professional as possible.
Tip 4: Color Correction
iMovie does have the option to color correct your video. You can brighten it, add or lessen saturation and add blue or yellow tones. Don’t fall down this rabbit hole! You can spend hours tweaking and re-tweaking your color correction in iMovie!
Here’s what I do. First I make sure my lighting is good when I’m filming. I use natural light and daylight balanced light bulbs to avoid yellowish tones in my video. If you want a more in depth process on how to light your videos with no or minimum cost check out this blog post I did!
Since I’m starting with the best lighting I can get, there isn’t much color correction I have to do. I will bump up the brightness of the video just a little bit. You want to make sure you don’t over do the brightness. You won’t be able to magically fix a dark video by upping the brightness.
Next I add just a little bit of saturation to make the colors pop a bit more. And finally I give the video a bluish tint because that’s what works with my branding. My branding is all about crisp cool colors, so I like to keep my video colors inline with my branding.
This entire process might take 2 minutes tops!
Tip 5: Music
I do think music is a key part to a video. When someone is just talking on a video it can get kind of boring so its nice to have some background music to add to the experience.
Its important to remember you can’t use any song you want. YouTube is very serious about using copy right music so don’t just pull you favorite song by Fleetwood Mac to play in the background because YouTube will not like this!
YouTube offers an entire library of free music to add in your videos. Some of the songs you have to add a by line crediting the musician and some you don’t even have to do that!
What I suggest doing is going to that free library and just start listening. Find about 3 or 4 songs you like and write them down! Just keep using these songs over and over. Music is another rabbit hole you do not want to fall down. You can literally lose hours deciding on music. Have 3-4 go to songs really helps your editing process go much quicker!
Tip 6: Don’t keep watching and re-watching!
Once you have the video put together, watch it in its entirety two or three times. Don’t keep watching it! Honestly it will drive you nuts! If you completed all the other tips I talked about, your video should be in tip top shape to upload to YouTube.
Also remember, there will be a learning curve to editing. Yes, the first couple times may take you a little longer than you expected. But didn’t editing and posting your Instagram posts take you a while in the beginning too? Now you probably have your Instagram formula memorized! You know when you edit a picture for Instagram you use filter S2, bump up the exposure, contrast and sharpen, and bring down the temperature and tint! You will have an editing formula just like that after you’ve done it a few times!
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Lets talk in the comments below what scares you most about editing? Or what’s one thing about editing you don’t understand! Lets all support each other and provide tips on how to edit our video content master pieces!
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