Master the Art of Video Editing A Step by Step Guide for Beginners

Video editing for beginners: the ultimate guide

Starting out in video editing can feel overwhelming, but our ultimate guide to video editing for beginners is here to help. Whether you're considering a career in the field or simply want to edit your own videos for social media or personal use, the pointers below will fill you in on what you need to know about software, hardware and common terminology before you get down to editing itself.

The art of video editing isnt only about cutting. Its also about adding transitions and visual effects, incorporating music, sound effects and captions, enhancing colours and lighting, and more.The YouTube stars with the biggest followings tend to know that and make great use of these techniques to create polished videos that help them to stand out from the crowd.

Our guide below offers some essential pointers on video editing for beginners whether youre making personal videos, social media videos, YouTube videos, business presentations, music videos, TV shows or movies. You might also want to see our guide on how to edit videos and our top video editing tips and tricks, as well as get your hands on one of the best laptops for video editing.

What software should I use as a video editing beginner?

Video editing is thankfully a very accessible process these days, and there's a huge range of tools available to do the job. Many cameras and smartphones now have internal software that will allow you to make at least basic edits to your footage on the device without having to use any other programs or apps. And even social media platforms and tools like TikTok and Instagram Reels have their own basic editing tools that you can use to tweak your content before you post it (see our how to edit videos for TikTok for a guide).

However, in both of these cases, were talking about very basic tweaks. If you want to do anything more advanced and to make your videos look better than average youre going to have to get your hands on the best video editing software.There are lots of free video editing tools available and some of them are quite capable. They usually have limitations in the form of added watermarks, limits on the length of your clips, but they can be a good way to get started with video editing.

However, professional video editors, or even serious enthusiasts, will normally use paid-for video editing software, which can be expensive (look out for Creative Cloud discounts to help. The industry-standard programs are Adobe's Premiere Pro,Final Cut Pro)(for Apple only) andDaVinci Resolve.

These programs offer the greatest creative possibilities but they're fairly complex. If you're not ready for that learning curve, you may prefer a simplified version like Adobe'sPremiere Elementsor iMovie. Filmora and Pinnacle Studio are also popular choices. Many options offer free trials, which means you can try the software out to check if you like how it works before you commit.

When youre first getting started with video editing or if youre just short of time video editing templates can be hugely useful. These typically allow you to add pre-designed titles, credits, captions, animations and visual effects to your footage, instantly giving it a professional look.Free and paid-for templates are available for a wide range of video editing programs and really can help make beginners' videos look a lot more slick.

What hardware should I use as a video editing beginner?

You can find apps that will allow you to edit video to an extent on your phone in fact, your phone probably has its own video editor too. However, the video editing programs available for phones are often quite limited and don't offer the range of features and creative possibilities that you get with desktop software, so you'll generally want to computer.

Pretty much any modern computer is capable of editing video to some extent. However, the larger the resolution youre shooting in, the longer your footage and the faster you need to work, the more powerful a computer youll need.

Ideally, youd want one of the best computers for video editing, but at the very least you'll want one of the newest processors, such as Intel Core i5 or Core i7 and at least 8GB of RAM if you don't want your computer freezing every time you try to make an edit. You'll also ideally want a decent graphics card, and you'll want plenty of storage for the files you'll be working with.

We'd recommend a laptop with at least a 256GB SSD, but if you're working with 4K video and above, you'll probably want significantly more than that. Of course, the best external hard drives and best cloud storage can also help here. To speed up data transfer speeds, youd preferably want your device to have USB 3.1, USB-C, and/or Thunderbolt ports, and a fast Wi-Fi connection.

Common video editing terminology

Whatever video editing tool you choose, most of the best software providers offer plenty of tutorials and how-to guides on their websites to get you started (you can take a look at our own selection of Premiere Pro tutorials). However, trying to find the tutorial you need can sometimes be a bit bewildering at first if you're not familiar with video editing jargon. To make things a little easier, here are some terms that all beginner video editors need to know.

The timeline

Most video editing tools are based on a timeline, which is a display that represents the whole of your video from start to finish. Its usually laid out from left to right, and it lets you scroll back and forth to make changes in an intuitive fashion, such as trimming, adjusting, and rearranging your clips, adding music, and so on.

Compositing

Compositing involves combining visual elements from separate sources into single frames to create the illusion that all those elements are parts of the same scene. The most common example is where actors perform in front of green screens, and then the backgrounds and visual effects are added in later.

Compression

Video files can be very large, especially when youre shooting in HD, 4K or 8K. Compression involves reducing the amount of data in a video file to save space on your hard drive, and to make it easier to move from one device to another, or to the cloud.

Resolution

Resolution refers to how many pixels appear on your screen. The more pixels, the more detailed your picture will be, and the higher the resolution. Typical resolutions for video footage are SD: 640480 pixels; 720p HD: 1280720; Full HD: 19201080, 4K: 3840 x 2160, and 8K: 7,680 by 4,320.

Aspect ratio

Have you ever noticed how when you watch some movies on TV, there are black bars at the top and bottom of the screen? That happens when the aspect ratio of the movie the width and height of the picture is different to that of the screen.

It's a compromise that audiences are usually willing to live with when viewing content that was originally released for the cinema. But for any other type of video they wont be so forgiving. So its vital to know what aspect ratio to edit your video in, especially when uploading to social media. For instance, the standard aspect ratio for YouTube is 16:9 while Instagram recommends an aspect ratio of 4:5 or 9:16 for Stories.

B-Roll

B-Roll is secondary footage thats shot separately from the main (A-roll) footage during a video shoot. It's usually used to transition from one scene to another. For example, on a TV show when the action switches from London to New York, youll usually see a flyover of somewhere like the Empire State Building to set the scene. You could use this technique in your holiday videos, for instance, interspersing footage of you sunbathing or partying with a sweeping panoramic shot of waves breaking against the shore.

Why is video editing worth pursuing?

The guide above is just a brief introduction to the most basic things you need to know to get started in video editing as a beginner. Our biggest advice is to get started and practice. Like a lot of things in life, video editing is a lot easier to do than it is to explain. So once you get up and running with some video editing software, things will slowly start to make sense.

Video editing is a skill thats increasingly in demand, even in jobs that no longer required any knowledge of it, so it's worth pursuing.The explosion in streaming services means therell be more and more jobs in video editing itself. And in other jobs, the ability to edit video for a business presentation or a social media post can now set you apart. Social media platforms as dedicating more and more space to video, as demonstrated in the latest Instagram Reels update. And of course, there's plenty of fun to be had by editing and sharing personal videos online you might even be able to earn some extra income, by becoming a success on YouTube, TikTok, or whatever platform comes along next.

For more tips, see our guide to how to edit video. We also have roundups of the best video editing apps for working on the go, the best online video editing courses and the best ring lights for YouTube, Zoom, live streaming and more.

Creative Bloq created this content as part of a paid partnership with InVideo. The contents of this article are entirely independent and solely reflect the editorial opinion of Creative Bloq.

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How to learn video editing: 5 easy steps to mastering a video editor

Whether youre working on a home movie or a big-budget project, editing is the most vital stage of video production. Its that crucial step where you create a captivating narrative by bringing together your shots, music, and effects.

But before you break out the VFX software, your first steps into the field of video editing can be daunting, especially aseven with the best footagea poor edit can turn a brilliant video into an unwatchable mess. Fortunately, thanks to the internet, smartphones, and the best free video editing software, its now easier than ever to get to grips with video editing from the comfort of your own home.

In this tutorial on how to learn video editing, weve assembled a step-by-step guide that will show you how to develop necessary skills and improve the quality of your movies using the best video editor for you.

How to learn video editing: Preparation

Before you can start editing, youre going to need to get hold of the best video editing computer or laptop for video editing in your budget. Running a video editor app is resource-intensive, so you'll need a device that can keep up.

Next, you'll need to choose your software. Adobe Premiere Pro and DaVinci Resolve are two of the best professional editors on the market, but both can be tricky for newcomers to learn.

If you're new to the art, see our guide to the best video editing software for beginners.

Step 1: Snap some test shoots

Kick off your editing journey by filming some practice material. You can capture your video on whatever device you have to hand, whether thats a smartphone, GoPro, or old digital camera.

Be sure to take multiple shots from different angles during your shoot so you can practice combining them during your later edits. Its good to have an idea of what sequence you want to end up with before you start filming, as this will help you get a feel for how to manage future video projects.

Step 2: Import & rearrange the shot order

Once youre happy with the footage youve collected, boot up your new video editing software and open a new project. Next, connect your camera to your computer and import your footage. Typically, you can do this by dragging video files into the project resources pane of the editor or through a file import wizard.

Each piece of video editing software uses a unique interface layout. Howeverif you are using a mainstream packageyour freshly imported videos should appear on the left of your screen. You can then drag them one-by-one to your timeline. Adjust the shot sequence by moving a video in front of or behind the clips adjacent to it.

Step 3: Experiment with trimming, cutting, & copying

Once your footage is in approximately the order youd like it to be, its time to work out how to use three essential tools to add or eliminate sections of each clip.

First up is the trimming tool, which can cut down the length of a clip by removing pieces of footage from its beginning or end. In most video editors, you can activate the trimming function by simply putting your cursor at the end of a piece of footage and dragging.

The cutting tool, on the other hand, divides the footage exactly at the position of your cursor, creating two separate consecutive video files. Once you have divided a clip, you may wish to move one part of the split video to another section of your project. Moving the section of the clip can be done through copy-paste commands.

At this point, you should try using keyboard shortcuts to edit your video for the first time. Again, these will be specific to the video editing software that youre using. In Premiere Pro, Shift + T will activate trimming mode while CTRL + K will open the Razor cutting tool.

Step 4: Add transitions and music

Transitions are the perfect tools to help you smooth out the change from one scene to another or to add some style to your video project. Most editing tools have extensive transition libraries, and you can usually add a transition by simply dragging over the adjoining ends of two clips in your timeline.

Music and sound effects libraries are an essential part of any film project. You can generally import music and other sound files in the same way you added your sample video footage. The only difference is that you will need to drag them to your timelines audio track, which should be below the main video sequence. For best results, you may want to crack open your best audio editor (or even a free audio editor) to refine the track before adding to your project.

Step 5: Find support specific to your video editor

To become a real video editing pro, other skills youll need include color grading, keying, and video stabilization. If you can get your head around these techniques, youll be able to remove unwanted motion from your movie, communicate specific moods, and swap out your backgrounds.

Most video editing software developers, including Adobe, feature comprehensive FAQs, text and video guides. And you'll find plenty of community support online and on YouTube - particularly for the likes of DaVinci Resolve and CyberLink PowerDirector.

Summary

Video editing might feel like an uphill struggle at first. Still, once you understand how to access the most critical functions of your editing software, youll be able to take a movie concept and quickly turn it into reality.

Start learning how to edit videos by first deciding which video editing tool is right for you. Then take some unimportant footage and use it to memorize shortcuts for simple modifications such as clip trimming and cutting. Once you understand how to add simple effects such as transitions, take things to the next level by following advanced tutorials on color grading and stabilization.