6 Video Editing Tips For Beginners [Actionable Guide]

Check out the 6 video editing tips for beginners. You can implement these tips into your video editing toolkit for YouTube, sales, and marketing videos.

There are different techniques used by video editors in their quest to create meaningful content. If you give the same raw footage to two separate editors, they will deliver two different videos. However, a good editor should always be in tune with the perceptions of the targeted audience.

When it comes to making compelling stories, this knowledge has to be used with care. The editor’s chosen style may reflect the type of project they are working on; specific approaches yield desirable results in a given scenario while editing video online.

Check Out the 6 Excellent Tips that You Can Incorporate into Your Video Editing Toolkit:

1. Making Tight Cuts

It is vital to master the art of making tight cuts, particularly for videos that involve many tight cuts. When you cut scenes, it means that you are taking out unwanted pauses and making use of timely cutaways for closing gaps between dialogue and even losing lines of dialogue altogether. There could be projects where one has to keep an estimate of the running time while making cuts such that it will squeeze time without the need to go back and rework scenes if you find that the edit is running long.

2. Choosing the Best Angles and Takes for Telling the Story

When it comes to using shots in the final video, let the camera work and performance have the final say. Depending on the type of project you are working on, you have to prioritize each of these. When you are working on a scripted feature or a documentary, the character’s relation to the overall story is paramount. A YouTube video editor who has experience working on these kinds of projects is well aware that there arises a need where editors have to leave entire scenes and beautiful shots in the cutting room, as they do not add anything to the overall story. 

On the other hand, if you are given the task of editing video online for an interview or news story, then your emphasis will be on balancing the speaker’s intended message with the audience’s expectations. If you have to handpick footage for these kinds of projects, you must keep in mind the type of content you want to see or look at while you listen to the audio. If you can use this method, choose clips and camera angles, it will complement speakers when they tell their story.