Things You Need to Do before You Start Editing Your Video

Recording a video is only the beginning of the work of recording. Even if you have the best camera and manage to capture phenomenal shots, the final reception of the video largely depends on the editing. This is the case with both large-scale, cinematic productions and amateur recordings of family celebrations, sports games or a vacation trip. Well, exactly, do we need video editing for anything at all if we only record amateur videos? It depends on the specific situation, but knowing the basics of editing certainly won’t hurt us. Imagine that we are preparing a longer video of an event, which will go only to our friends. Even then, the video will be much better viewed if we cut out unnecessary fragments, add interesting effects, music, subtitles – specific actions already depend on the type of recording. The resulting effect will almost certainly be better than the raw recording.

Do We Require Specialized Equipment to Edit Videos? What Computer, Monitor and Program Should We Choose?

If we are complete novices in the subject of video editing, we do not need specialized equipment to master the basics. As our interest in the subject grows, we can invest in more equipment. The more powerful the computer, the more efficient our work will be. Better components also mean faster rendering times. Significant to the comfort of our work is the monitor. A larger, high-resolution screen means more working space. Currently, Full HD resolution and 16×9 aspect ratio are considered the minimum required for comfortable editing. If we have an old monitor with archaic proportions and lower resolution, we will still be able to edit videos. But, of course, it will be less comfortable and tiring in the long run. When analyzing the specifications of the monitor, it is worth paying attention to the matrix type (IPS will be suitable) and color depth (it is good for the monitor to be at least 8-bit).

What about video editing software? The choice is really quite large, and we need to find something that suits the components of our computer, our requirements in terms of features, and at the same time is not too complicated. A popular, but paid tool is Adobe Premiere Pro. As for free suggestions, Open Shot Video Editor or DaVinci Resolve are worth mentioning. It’s best to check the operation and interface of each program on the Internet and choose something that appeals to you. For those who have never dealt with video editing, however, I would recommend the Movie Maker tool. It’s a program that comes pre-installed on some editions of Windows, while others can be easily downloaded from Microsoft’s website. Of course, its capabilities are limited, but for that the program is extremely easy to use. You can learn from it how the basic tools work and how this type of software works. Once you know what video editing is all about, you can move on to more advanced tools.

Basic Functions to Try When Editing

Now that we have a video editing program, it’s worth trying out some basic functions. Further steps will already depend on our creativity and needs. On the Internet, we can also find detailed tutorials dedicated to particular issues in specific editing programs.

Basic functions of video editing programs:

• Combining individual frames into a single whole. This is the absolute basis of video editing, which is used in virtually every video. We can edit a single video from individual footage. Even if all the footage is from a single location, we can mix shots from different cameras for variety. Thus, the possibilities are quite numerous.
• Adding sound/music. This is a useful option for both professional and amateur material. In the case of TV interviews, for example, the sound collected from the microphones can be fed into the video, and the sound recorded by the camera together with the image can be muted. The quality will be much better. In the case of at least amateur vacation videos, meanwhile, you can, for example, add background music. The volume of the sound, its fade-in and amplification, matching with the visual content – all this can be easily adjusted.
• Adding effects, transitions, subtitles, additional attributes. If our video lacks something in terms of content, we can add subtitles with an appropriate annotation. Another option is to use various types of animations, which will be transitions between frames. There are more possibilities of this type.

Once we have edited our first video, we should export it to MP4 format, for example. We choose the resolution and where to save the video. The computer will start the rendering process.

Video Editing – Summary

Video editing can be a lot of fun, which in addition will make our film souvenirs of various events more interesting. As we gain experience and learn more features of editing programs, our competence will grow. Perhaps in a while some of you will be editing videos professionally.