Top Professional Video Editing Tips for Video Editors – Part 2
Following our previous blog post, we present to you the part 2 of our top professional video editing tips for video editors series. In this blog post, we will go in depth with the technical side of and enhance your skills and ability to become the best video editor in the video editing industry.
- Learning the Lingo
If you thought video editing is just a mere hobby or profession, that’s where you’re totally wrong. Video editing is an industry itself, and as a member of the industry, you must learn how to communicate better with your colleague and clients. There are tons of lingo and technical terms used in the industry and familiarizing yourself with these terms is a life-saver. Here are some of the terms and concept you need to know:
Jump Cut
This is a type of cut that allows the video editor to cut out portions of time while preserving the audience’s visual interest. Jump cut gives the effect of jumping time forwards without missing the important parts of a particular scene. An example of Jump Cut is shown below:
J and L-Cut
J and L cut are often intermixed with each other, and most video editors are confused about the difference between the two. Both cuts are an important tool in overlapping and trying two scenes in a video. The difference between the two cuts are the following:
A J cut is a type of video cut where you get to hear the audio first before seeing the visual cut. An example for this is you hear a train’s horn first and cut the scene to display the video of a train.Aside from that, J cut is determined because of its shape in your editing timeline (see image below).
An L cut, on the other hand, is the total opposite of J cut. L cut enables you to see the video first before hearing the audio clip. Here is the visual shape of L cut in your editing timeline:
Here is a sample video for J and L cut. Can you identify the which is which?
Montage
Montage is a technique of selecting and editing separate clips or scenes of a film to form a whole sequence. This is a powerful tool to progress the development of your story. A notable example of Montage application is shown below:
Cutting on Action
Let’s all face it, we all love action-packed scenes. It made the whole story a lot more interesting. But sometimes watching an action scene for a long period of time and waiting for it to be completed can be overwhelming and boring. To prevent your scene from getting dull, this is where cutting on action came in. From the name itself, it lets you cut an action scene without appearing less jarring and overkill.
6. Choosing the Right Music
This is where most video editors are committing a huge mistake. Most video editors focus first on the visual effects, film sequence, transitions, etc and they tend to take music for granted. The music lets you establish an emotional connection with your audience. So it’s important to allot some time to pick the right music for your video. You can download free royalty music that are available online so you won’t need to spend more money.
Here are the recommended leveling settings for your audio track:
- Overall Mix Level: -10db to -14db
- Dialogue: -12db to -15db
- Music: -18db to -22db
- Sound Effects: -10db to -20db with occasional spikes up to -8db.
7. Color Correction
Color correction is the process of altering the color of an image, video, or motion picture to give your video a unified color look. Otherwise, your video scene will have a mix of various colors. There are two ways to do color correction: color grading by preset and by hand.
Color Grading by Preset
This is done by configuring your color grading preset in the NLE of your choice. The most popular color grading preset is Magic Bullet. But if you are in a tight budget, you can opt to download free color grading presets for Premiere Pro, FCPX, or NLE of your choice. Color Grading by preset is recommended when you need some quick color inspiration.
Color Grading by Hand
If the quality of your video is the top priority, then you need color grading by hand. It takes a great time and skill to master it, but the output will always be worth it. The most popular software for a color grade is DaVinci Resolve.
