5 Quick Video Editing Tips

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It's fairly easy to shoot a video, but if I get one complaint more than others, it's about the edit.

Editing video can be a long process. For example, Chips Video Editing TipsI recently spoke to a friend who spent over 30 hours editing her 20 minute documentary.

Most of the problem was the video compression (or reducing the file size to make the video small enough to upload to YouTube).

Great Content + Good Edits = Increased Views

Let's face it, we all want more views, and editing is just part of the solution.  In this blog post I am not covering the technical aspects of video editing, even though I do cover that in our Web Video Chefs Learning Center, but the theory behind editing that you can use with any editing software.


1. Less Effects the Better
We all have seen it before. You can tell someone who just learned how to use their video editing software by how many effects they use.

[tweet_box design=”box_04″]A video that brings attention to the edit takes away from the message.[/tweet_box]

2. Use cuts and dissolves and the occasional wipe
Transitions are an essential part of every video edit, but many people can go hog-wild with using them.  I suggest you use a simple cut, dissolve, and occasional wipe or fade to black to help move the story along. Video transitions are cool because they can grab the viewer's attention but overuse can be distracting and dilute your message.

3. Always try to color correct
The key word is try to color correct.  Usually the color looks good in your camera,  but with most video editing software there is always something that you can adjust to enhance the look of the video. You want to make the end-product look as natural as possible

4. Make sure your audio levels are good. Audio is additive.
You can watch a movie with a few bad video shots, but you can't stand to watch a video with bad audio. Audio is 50% of video and it is so important for your message.  I like to use background music with some videos, but even  my background music was annoying to some people, so choose it wisely. The more audio clips you add to a video the louder it becomes, that's why sound mixers are important in big-budget films.

5. Add some background music/graphics and flair, but don’t over do it.
One of my favorite movies Office Space has a classic scene that explains “over doing it” with flair. The same goes for video editing. Have you ever seen a video that has so many effects that it is distracting? Or found a video that has so many moving parts that you can't concentrate on the message? Less is more with video editing.

If these tips helped you, I encourage you to visit Web Video Chefs Learning Center to find out how to make videos. Be sure to check out my previous videos in this series here on Basic Blog Tips:

What challenges have you faced with editing videos? Share in the comments below. Click the red button to download a handy YouTube Checklist from Ms. Ileane!

YouTube Channel Pre Audit Checklist

38 thoughts on “5 Quick Video Editing Tips”

  1. Saqib Razzaq

    #5. Just hit me. I have seen so many videos where editor has just filled it up with ton of unusual and horrible music. Thanks for your post.

  3. Mohit

    Yes you right having a clear video is the most important.I have seen many videos uploaded with bad audio quality hence they did not get the exposure which they should be getting.

  5. Van Tran

    5 Quick Video Editing Tips is really very awesome. I really love this post. The information in this article is really unique and useful for me. After reading this article, I think I have some ideas for myself. I do follow your articles recently. Thanks for sharing this post. Hope to read more interesting information from you. Great job!

  6. Corina Ramos

    Hi there Chip,

    I really enjoyed your video. I’ve thought about incorporating video to my blog but I haven’t the faintest idea on where to get started. I’ve saved your post for future reference, these are important points to keep in mind.

    Thanks for sharing. Have a wonderful weekend.

  7. Darnell jackson

    Good post Chip,

    Question the screenshop above is it from Final Cut Pro X?

    Have you tried any of the YouTube editing plugin’s to save time?

    1. Chip Dizard

      Yes, it’s Final Cut Pro X. I haven’t used any YouTube editing or plugins yet, but I edit pretty quickly on FCPX because I am certified and I teach it.

  8. Samir

    Hello,

    Yet another great video editing tips, I was working hard to learn more about video editing tips and I guess this post will help me to gain and cover most of it.

    Thanks for sharing

  9. Harry Bhanot

    I just have video editing software on my computer. I prefer online video editors but they just don’t work that good. Your information is cool enough to imply.

  10. Veeramanchineni Lalitha

    Great tips especially for those starting out. About duplicating every sequence. A good practise is that each time you open your FCP project you save it with the new date or successive number. It doesn’t any extra disc space but is great in case you want to rework/re-incorporate anything edited out earlier. Also makes a good progress report if it is a fairly long project.

  11. Ashley Faulkes

    Hey Chip
    Love the less is more philosophy. I was just talking about the same thing today regarding powerpoint presentations and the temptation to have everything flying around the screen!
    Just because it can be done, does not mean it should.
    Thanks for sharing your expertise, I am only just starting out on video and looking forward to learning a lot more
    ashley

  12. Sara

    I didn’t know that the more audio you add the video the louder it becomes. What is the reason a video sounds super low on YouTube but fine on my computer?

  13. Kushal Biswas

    Thanks Chip for the awesome article. I was recently thinking about making a YouTube video series on various seo tips. This guide will certainly help me to make an attractive video. I am concerned about audio only. You know YouTube is very sensitive about copyrighted music. Do you know any source to get free music which will not be blocked by YouTube ?

  15. maxwell Ivey

    Hello; Thanks for that post. I got a chuckle out of the fact that you mentioned mor than once the pitfalls of going overboard with editing. This happened because I am a blind computer user and I went very simple in my own video because i don’t really know how to use all the features in quick time or iMovie. For music I used an intro of myself singing. Oddly enough people are liking the singing and a couple viewers even told me to keep using that in future videos. I do want my videos to be as professional and or watchable as possible because the goal is to help people sell their amusement equipment so i can earn more commissions and eventually receive ad revenue on the site or youtube channel. I’ll appreciate any help you can give me. Ileane has already been invaluable to me. I tell you I have so much to learn. It is getting my juices flowing and it seems like so many of my daily activities and conversations are now sparking ideas for new videos. would love it if you could check out my first show and let me know what you think. thanks again for the fine post and take care, Max http://midwaymarketplace.com/caliope-corner-episode-1-featuring-a-chance-park-model-carousel/

  16. Kaloyan Banev

    Yeah, everything should be done perfect and everything need to look at some kind of professional level. In the past many videos didn’t even fit properly in YouTube player resolution, but nowadays more and more individuals are producing high quality videos.

  17. Robert

    Thanks for the tips Chip, but what kind of video editors are good (maybe free) for some beginners? My favorite is Bandicam.

  18. Stephen

    You’re right, too much flair is definitely a bad thing. Still working on being comfortable in front of the camera but your overcoming fear post helped nudge me in the right direction.

  20. Anchit Shethia

    I wanted some tips to use Final Cut Pro made by Apple to edit videos and add audios to the video for some of my product reviews.
    Some basic tips provided here are helpful too 🙂

  21. Sally

    Thanks for sharing these tips with us. No doubt if we follow all these our video will get more share and more exposure. Can you please tell you make video ranks higher in Youtube? I am recently started posting videos on Youtube and sadly not getting much views.

    1. Chip

      Sally,
      That is a great question. There are so many things that you can do, I always look for a problem to solve that many people may have and try to make a video about it. Then, once they watch that video, I ask them to subscribe at the end of my video for more. There are hundreds, or better yet thousands of videos on every topic. The key is getting yours to stand out and be different.

  22. Maria

    Now day trend of video marketing is very high and it is very useful to get good traffic and to market any business, product or services so in this scenario your shared tips regarding video editing are very helpful to make videos perfect and professional. I personally think that videos marketing is not an easy job because if you can’t make a high quality video you can’t impress your viewers. Therefore perfect and professional videos marketing is the key of success in business.

  23. David Morris

    Hello Chip,
    I also focused on the visitor that they do not take interest on the promotional videos that have 10 minutes or longer timings. Minority of the visitors visualize the full video while the majority only spend their 2 to 3 minutes to see it. So, according to my knowledge and experience the video must be 4 to 5 minutes long to get the interest of the viewer.

  25. Korah Morrison

    Excellent post Chip, these tips are really helpful especially to a newbie like me. I am just using a windows movie maker and I wanted to try other software that might more effective in editing videos. Any recommendation is truly appreciated, thank you in advance! 🙂

    1. Chip Dizard

      Korah,

      Try the YouTube video editor as well, believe it or not it has some really good features for a free video editor. Movie maker is fine for just starting out too! Best wishes.

  26. Debarpan

    Editing is indeed a great part to make good video become great.I do use Camtasia Studio studio to edit my videos,as it’s really use to use and one can easily customize their video by it.You made an excellent post here,thanks for these basic tips to make an excellent video.

  27. Christinna Jordan

    Hi Chip,
    First of all i would like to thank you for this brilliant and informative stuff, i saw this while searching for video editing tutorials and now i am feeling myself a professional after reading all this, once again thanks 🙂

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