10 Video Editing Tips for Beginners to Easily Improve (2024)

Video editing lets you fix, change, and add your creative touch to your work.

To give your viewers the best experience, it’s important to edit your videos. Editing helps you tell a story and can greatly improve the quality of your content.

If you’re new to editing, we have 10 tips to help you get started. Improving your editing skills will help you create the narrative you want.

Why is video editing important?

An unedited video is like a book without a cover – it lacks the finishing touch that brings everything together. Unedited videos can seem less professional and lower quality. With about 3.7 million videos uploaded to YouTube each day, well-edited content helps you stand out.

Recording footage is the first step to telling a story or sharing a message. Editing makes that content enjoyable for viewers. Every editing choice, from cuts to background music, can enhance the viewing experience, helping you retain your audience and gain followers.

10 Video Editing Tips You Need to Master

1. Watch All the Footage Before Editing

Before you start editing, watch all your footage. Even watch the parts you think you won't use, as you might find something useful. This also helps you understand all your footage better before you begin editing.

Note the time codes of the clips you like. You can write these on a sticky note or type them into a document, and add a note about how you plan to use them, like for B-roll, A-roll, or a montage. This will make it easier to find and select the clips when you start editing.

2. Make a Plan

You don't need an overly elaborate plan, but you should have a clear idea of what your project will look and sound like. Create an outline of your vision or, better yet, make a shot list detailing the visual and audio components of every scene.

If you plan to include voiceover or narration, write a script by outlining the points you want to cover, then drafting them to sound natural. Read it out loud, make adjustments, and repeat until it sounds right. Keep your writing concise, and ensure that whoever is reading the script practices in advance.

3. Choose Clips That Show Important Action

Trim your clips to include only the parts you need. Ask yourself: What does my story need? You don’t have to keep everything. If a clip isn't working in the edit, feel free to drop it. It's normal to be attached to your footage, especially if it took a lot of effort to record, but a good editor can make tough choices for the overall project's sake.

When selecting clips, focus on those that show important actions and contribute to the story. This will help maintain the viewer's interest and keep the narrative clear and engaging. Remember, quality over quantity is key in creating a compelling video.

4. Pace the Video Well

Pace is about the speed and flow of your video. A common issue for video makers is finding the right balance. While it's normal for a video to be faster in some parts and slower in others, constantly changing the pace can be jarring.

You can create a sense of pace with cuts. Slower scenes will usually be longer with fewer cuts, while faster scenes have more cuts that are closer together.

When editing, think about the rhythm and atmosphere of your video. Aim to move viewers smoothly from one scene to the next. Match the speed of each scene to its tone, such as using a fast clip for an urgent message.

Also read: Video Editing Agency: Everything You Need to Know (2024 Guide)

5. Balance Audio Levels

Audio is as important as visuals in video editing. Unbalanced or distorted audio can make a video unwatchable.

Try to capture high-quality audio when recording. This will make it easier to balance the audio in postproduction. Balanced audio means the levels don’t spike or dip sharply, which can be uncomfortable for listeners.

To balance your audio, focus on the sound of people talking. Make sure speech levels are consistent throughout the video. Check for imbalances between different speakers, as some audio tracks may be louder or clearer than others. Aim to make these as consistent as possible in postproduction.

Once voice levels are balanced, adjust music and sound effects to create a smooth, clear listening experience.

6. Use Cutaways

Cutaways are when one shot switches to another to show a different person or location. Editors often use cutaways to change the pace of a scene, highlight something, or keep the viewer's attention. They are an essential part of your editing toolkit!

For example, use a cutaway during a conversation to show who is speaking or reacting. Cutaways create a sense of dynamic movement in a scene.

7. Trim Your Clips

Long clips can cause viewers to lose interest. A scene that drags on or has extended silence between people talking creates dead space in your video.

To keep viewers engaged, trim your clips. Focus on the beginning and end of a scene, conversation, or atmospheric shot. Remove anything that isn’t needed. Keep only the footage that is essential to your video's pace, story, or atmosphere. Trim away anything extra!

8. Add Captions

There are several good reasons to add captions to your video. Captions make your content more accessible to people who speak other languages or are hard of hearing. They also clarify speech if the speakers have strong accents or are in noisy locations. Additionally, captions can help boost your video’s rankings in search results and make your message more memorable.

So, how can you add captions?

Aside from manually entering them, some software can automatically generate captions for you. Alternatively, you can create your own captions from transcripts, which are text files of all the spoken words in a video.

9. Color Correction

If you've never heard of color correction before, don't worry. You might have done some color correcting when editing photos. It simply involves adjusting the contrast or brightness in your video to make the colors look more natural.

Why is color correction important? Color correction makes your footage resemble the natural colors of the world. This makes your video more visually pleasing and watchable. Proper color correction can enhance the overall look of your video, making it more engaging for viewers. So, take some time to learn about color correction techniques and apply them to your videos to improve their quality.

Also read: Outsource Video Editing Service 2024

10. Use a Variety of Shots

Using different shots is a great way to keep your viewers engaged. Switching angles, like moving from a close-up to a wide shot, makes your video more visually interesting. When recording your video, try to film each scene from at least two angles. This will give you plenty of options to switch between shots during editing.

However, be cautious with this tip. Changing shots too often can create an uncomfortable, dizzying effect. To keep your video smooth and exciting, use a variety of shots sparingly and thoughtfully. This will help maintain a good balance and ensure your viewers stay interested without feeling overwhelmed.

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