10 Video Editing Mistakes To Avoid

motion elements by Germaine

Video editing is an essential process of any digital video project and can be an overwhelming project to take on. This is not about cutting out footage that you do not like, but it is where you craft the video by including text, graphics and music to tie the whole video together. As a result, new video editors are prone to making some common mistakes, and here are 10 of them you should avoid.

1) No Planning

Before you start editing your video footage, spend a few minutes to think about what you want your end product to look like. Who is your audience? What is the point of the video? Will you use text, animations or graphics? Whether you’re storyboarding or just re-watching your footage, it’s crucial to develop a vision for the project, or at the very least, decide the beginning, middle and end. Write that down and try your best to stick to it.

2) Poor Organization

After importing all of your raw media elements into your video editing software, the next thing you should do is to organize your elements into folders and sub-folders and rename them according to titles, audio, video clips, pictures, sound effects etc. This organization will then allow you to easily locate your various elements when you start editing your footage.

3) Poor Audio Mix

Audio components play an important role in video productions. Voices communicate information and help tell the story. Music sets the mood and drives the pace of your video. For videotaped interviews, edit out distracting “ums”, “hmms” and “uhs”, including awkward pauses. This helps the interviewee appear to be a better communicator and will also improve your video. Also, if you’re using background music to accompany the interviews, bear in mind to not let the music overpower the vocals. Set your music levels slightly lower than you think you should when accompanying vocals, and bump them up in between dialogue. read more...