Although it may appear easy from the surface, there are many tricks and techniques to navigate through to achieve a successful video. While the preferred techniques depend on the type of video story and the tone, there are basic tricks every video editor should know. Before you determine that you have learned all there is to know about successful video editing, ask yourself these questions.
Do you know all of the keyboard, timeline, tool, project management, and marking shortcuts?
Sure, you may already know that the Space key starts and stop playback; and that the left and right arrow keys are utilized to move backward and forward of one frame, respectively. Nevertheless, you may not have known that the “A” key selects can rearrange the video’s timeline. Did you know that the “S” key enables the snap feature? How do you ripple delete?
Okay, so this was several questions packaged in one question; don’t be alarmed if you don’t know all of the shortcuts. The shortcuts list will be the list that never stops growing.
Are you adding the right music and sound effects?
Does your music and/or sound effects match the video content? This ties into the overall theme of the video. It’s important that your video viewers don’t become confused or disgruntled because the video advertised as peaceful mediation was loaded with loud rock music.
Do you know when and how to ramp, cover, or space?
Ramping is used to speed up or emphasize slow motion particular scenes. We’ve got the how to on ramping for Premiere and Final Cut X; just in case you didn’t know! Covering is best utilized for interview editing by adding b-roll or a+b roll. Space assists in covering cuts while maintaining authenticity of your video.
Can you stabilize your shake?
Shaky footage happens to everyone. It’s difficult to maintain balanced footage in extreme conditions! Luckily, there are stabilizer tools and plug-ins to manage it. Some of our favorites include ReelSteady, Emulsio, and SmoothCam.
When is the right time to push/pull or re-frame?
As camera shooting resolutions keep getting higher as time and technology progress, the ability to re-frame and push or pull footage creates various effects.
This effect works best during tense scenes, or when you need to reposition your subject because their eye-line was off.
Don’t be hard on yourself if your answers to these questions are not what you expected them to be. There are a growing number of techniques to learn to successful video editing. Luckily, we are here to help you!