5 Tips and Tricks to Enhance Your Video-Editing Work

Video editing plays a huge role in helping your videos get a lot of engagement. 

We know that sometimes video editing can be a task for many, but not anymore. 

In this article, we have provided the best 5 tips and tricks from professional video editors, step-by-step & simplified to make you edit outstanding videos from scratch on your own. 

If you are looking for a guide to assist you in improving your video editing game? 

Then here are five tips and tricks that can enhance your video-editing work. Follow these professional tips to create engaging videos using a video editor. 

Best Tips and Tricks For Editing Your Videos Using Video Editor:

1. Plan the video

The primary purpose of any video is to convey a message to the viewers. Therefore, you have to strategize your videos to make a connection in the initial few seconds only. After all, you only have 2.7 seconds to catch the attention of the infinitely scrolling audience. 

The best way to plan your video is to analyze and sync what the audience expects from you, your idea for making the video, and other relevant questions to consider while planning the video. This preparation can also include different perspectives like:

• Storyline
• Characters building
• Identifying the core reason for making video
• Color contrast planning
• Background music etc.

However, this planning of the initial few seconds depends upon the video’s intention. For example, if your product solves any potential customers’ problem, you have to plan how to connect instantly and inform the target customer base about the product. However, if you are making a testimonial video, the purpose is to build credibility and trust. So, the strategies for these videos will vary accordingly. 

2. Optimal use of effects

Transition effects help you to highlight a particular moment or thing. But when the video editor offers you a variety of options to explore, it is natural to want to put many stimulating effects and transitions. However, adding too many transitions to your video could do more harm than good. 

Though there is no defined standard to measure optimal use of effects, it is entirely subjective and depends upon the purpose of the video. For example, adding transition effects will confuse the audience of the plot of your story. So, the number of effects should be less so that your audience can follow the plot. However, in a product video, the transitions effects will help you highlight the product’s unique features. In that case, you can add multiple effects. 

3. Sound effects

Visuals are important, but music and sound effects play an equally significant role in enhancing your video. Believe it or not, music helps trigger emotions, so you must add complementing music that gives reality to the on-screen visuals. 

The right music gives depth and layers to the video, enhancing engagement chances. Therefore, the piece depends upon the theme, the scene’s intensity, and on-screen visuals. For example, if you are showing car racing in your video. It’s an exciting scene. So, the background music should be arranged in a tempo that matches the speed of cars racing on screen. The audience should feel the screeching tires and collisions.

4. Use keyboard shortcuts

One of the most underrated tips to level up your video editing work is using shortcut keys. Time management is a crucial aspect of video editing. Therefore, using keyboard shortcuts for a video editor is the fastest and most efficient way to manage his time and enhance the workflow. Moreover, during the process, you have to deal with a lot of footage that requires you to repeat specific actions like trimming, color correcting, joining videos, etc., again and again. That’s where the keyboard shortcuts act like a blessing in disguise. Learning shortcuts help you cut down the long video editing process and save up a lot of time. 

Some of the keyboard shortcuts that you should learn includes:

• Undo: Ctrl./Command + Z
• Redo: Ctrl./Command + Y
• Duplicate: Ctrl./Command + Shift + A
• Mark In: I
• Mark Out: O
• Clear: Delete
• Keyboard shortcuts: Ctrl./Command + Alt + K

5. Learn to use colors

Colors are an essential element that can enhance the overall video quality. With the proper planning of how to use colors, you can:

• Highlight particular objects
• Evoking specific emotions
• Set the atmosphere of your scene
• Convey visual tone and mood

Therefore, the two essential steps of coloring which you cannot afford to miss are: 

1. Color correction: It involves adjusting and editing aspects like brightness, saturation, contrast, and ensuring the natural color of everything. It provides uniformity of shades across all scenes. When a scene is shot from different angles and lighting placement, they look drastically different. That is where you need to adjust brightness, contrast, and balance to provide uniformity.

2. Color Grading involves creating a specific mood for your story apart from using filters and effects. The color grading gives each footage a different touch and separates specific scenes from one another. 

Both correction and grading are significant in enhancing your video editing work and giving your video a natural and realistic look. 

Now that you know how to enhance your video editing work, here are some professional tricks for you to consider:

• Learn technical lingos of video editing. 
• Analyze the social mentality of the audience before finalizing the theme.
• Make sure you add the personality and tone of your brand in the video. 
• Use only good-quality pictures and videos. For videos, use 480p or any higher quality resolution and for images, use either the .jpg or a .png file. 
• Trim unwanted frames to highlight the more critical elements.
• Choose the right tool for smooth video editing. 
• Use a storytelling approach with your edits. Do not join two random shots as it will confuse your audience. 
• Try switching your shots to various angles to keep the content exciting and engaging.
• Make your previous clips long to adjust transition time.
• Edit your video first, and then choose music that fits.
• Use tutorials to know more about the technical aspects of video editing and keep practicing.
• Do stabilize your footage as unstable videos can turn off the audience. Moreover, it gives a very unprofessional look. 
• Optimize your video as per the platform. 
• Always use Call-to-Action to increase your customer base.
• Always use professional editing tools for making videos.

Conclusion

Whether a beginner or a professional, video editing has no end. It’s an art. Now that you know the tips and tricks to enhance your video editing work, it’s time for you to use them!