Most videos you watch on YouTube are all edited in some ways. Editing can add more info on the video and make it more interesting to watch. Editing also ensures that your audience only sees what you want them to see so that the message gets straight across to them with no distraction. The following are 6 basic techniques to edit a video.
Trim Unwanted Parts in Video
The easiest way to edit a video is to trim the unwanted part such as pauses in speech and mistake in filming the footage. In the video editor, you can access the invisible marker in a timeline which you can move and select the part that you want to delete. In this way, you can delete as many unwanted parts as you want in the video. Get more details here.
Fixing Jump Cuts with Relevant Footage or Still Image
The video clip may appear to jump after trimming. However, not to worry on this because you can fix the jump cuts in several ways. For example, if the speaker is talking about the hurricane, you can add footage of the damage caused by the hurricane so that the audience can see how bad it is. If you have no actual footage, you can find it in the royalty-free footage library. If you don’t have access to footage, you can use a relevant still image.
Add Meaningful Text to Video
You can add text to your video to make it more meaningful. The text can be added in the beginning to create an intro part. It can also be added as a relevant quote to stir up some emotion in the audience. When you add text, make sure it does not occupy all of the space and block the audience from watching the video.
You must also take into consideration your mobile audience and make the text big enough for viewing on the phone. Before you upload a new video, you can play it on your mobile phone first. The color and style of your font must match with your brand.
Play Music in the Video Background
In your video, you can play some music in the background. Music can relax the mind of the audience and make them more likely to watch the video until the end. There are lots of free background music sites like Free Music Archive and Internet Archives Net Labels which you can use to find free soundtracks.
You should choose music that supports the video message. If you are presenting technical info, you can use a supportive underscore. On the other hand, you can use music that invokes emotion if you are conveying broad concepts in the video. You can consider adding intro and outro music or use it as a way of marking your video with chapters.
Add Transitions to Video
Transitions can add professionalism to your video. The cut is the most common transition to incorporate in a video. If it is incorporated properly, it will be unnoticeable in the video. The cutaway transition is best for covering up boring parts in action footage. The dissolve transition will slowly fade into the next scene. The wipe is another transition that wipes away like a car wiper to the next scene.
Change Video Format
The video format should be customized depending on which social media you want to share the video. There are 3 video formats, including square (1:1), vertical (9:16), and landscape (16:9). You can change your video to square with no border if you want to share it on Instagram, Twitter and Reddit. Vertical video with no border is best for YouTube mobile, Snapchat and Instagram. If the video is uploaded to YouTube, you should choose the landscape format. You can use the crop tool in the video editor to crop the video to the appropriate aspect ratio to change the format.
