How to Become a Video Editor
Are you aspiring to become a video editor? Video editing is one of the most satisfying jobs, especially in the creative industry. Video editors basically get tons of pieces of puzzles in the form of videos and they spend an awful lot of time piecing them together. Professional video editors can earn up to a salary of over $100,000, so if you are interested in becoming a video editor, all you need to know is in this article.
A successful video editor must excel in a number of ways and possess attributes that will help them cope with the profession. Every video editor, pro or amateur, must have these qualities.
Qualities of Video Editor
Creativity
First of all, video editors work in the creative industry; that says it all. Video editing requires a great deal of creativity, which is what will set you apart from the rest. Scenes captured on camera are only just pieces of puzzles scattered all around that need some putting together. It is the video editor’s job to give meaning to all that the rest of the production team has been working on in a creative way. After a typical video shoot, the images are raw and make little sense but after the editor waves their magic wand over them, they become a work of art. Creativity is all about having great imagination, putting a lot of skill and deft touches that are peculiar in making a work of art. Video editing is like a journey, every person that will be on the ride must enjoy every minute of it.
Ability to make tough decisions
Decision making is really important in video editing as there are tons of ways to achieve a goal. In an attempt to make available unlimited options to help video editors create really good edited videos, software and app developers make hundreds and thousands of effects which is great in every way. However, these unlimited options could become as some call it a “beautiful headache” when a video editor is not decisive. This is why you must cultivate the attitude of decisiveness as it will save you time.
Also, you will have to be brave enough to make the tough decisions like deleting or discarding some edited pieces at some point. When you consider how much time you spent working on those clips and how much effort you put into making them from scratch, it could be difficult for you to let them go. There will be times when some portions of the whole video would have to get cut out for good reason; you must learn how to “kill your darlings”.
Pros
No shortage of work
Video editors are in high demand now and that’s good news for you because it means that there won’t be a shortage of jobs for you. The evolution of social media has made it possible for users to not only enjoy better experience on social networks but to also make money doing so. Almost every top social network permits the upload of original video content which can be monetized. Gone are the days when people would upload an amateur video and get many viewers, these days there is so much competition and viewers want quality. In addition, the importance of SEO has made it almost impossible for amateur content to get the same amount of viewership and subscription a well packaged content would and that’s where you come in. Television companies, music groups and even individuals these days are uploading video content on a daily basis to their social networks and you will be hired by them.
Option of working remotely
There are professions that come with a significant level of “freedom” and they are mostly found in the entertainment industry where video editing ranks among the top ones. In most cases, video editors are only given a task and a deadline with little to no supervision whatsoever provided they do the job accordingly. Many video editors work remotely due to this. Even in a case where a big budget movie is being worked on, sometimes the video editor would not need to be present until after the rough cut. Some companies like to have a video editor who they can always call whenever they want to fix something or give a better touch to a video, but many video editors work remotely. Working remotely means that you work whenever, wherever, and however you want to; you are basically the boss of you.
Pays better with experience
The creative industry’s pay structure is improving steadily. More is being generated by content owners due to the fact that there are now multiple ways and sources of income generation in the business. The more the owners of the content you will be working on get paid, the better you chances are of getting a big pay check. Companies who have all the resources to create quality content make money through the primary source and on the internet as well. For instance, a TV show makes money as viewers watch on TV while they also make special cuts of bits from the whole episode to put online and generate income from there as well. The more experience you get, the more skills you acquire, and the more recognition your work receives, the bigger your paycheck will be.
Your work will get recognized
One of the most satisfying things that could ever happen to a professional is to see their work get some deserved recognition and this is happens often in the creative industry. From short music videos to long documentaries, television series to blockbuster movies, video editors are publicly acknowledged and it serves as a big boost in their careers. Awards and accolades go to the best video editors and that gets them a better chance of securing even bigger clients with bigger projects.
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Cons
Time consuming
In many cases, professional editors don’t leave the office or room when they are working for days. Whenever they need something, they place an order and then get back to work. This is mainly because a lot of cuts and have to be carefully arranged and edited; there can be plenty to work on at a time. For instance, a music video that lasts just 4 minutes usually takes an outrageous number of hours to edit. And if such a short video can take that long a time to get done, imagine the time video editors will spend editing blockbuster movies. It’s not just about cutting or editing shots you need, you will also spend a great deal of time trying to figure out which shot to delete and which ones to keep after you must have spent an awful lot of time editing.
Advanced courses can be expensive
Every professional must strive to attain greater heights and the typical video editor is no different. Knowledge and methods of video editing keeps evolving and developers continue to find and event better ways for video editors to have a better experience on the job by making new tools and software which will take some training to master. Getting to this stage will mean that you have access to the best projects and your masterpiece becomes seen and admired by a larger audience. The downside is that it can be expensive to get these trainings and technology to take you further.
Becoming a video editor
Start by editing images
If you really want to become a professional video editor and you either do not have the tools or you have no idea where to begin, start small- edit photos. Video editing is of course different from editing still images but they both share some common concepts and it is the closest thing to the other. By editing photos, you will develop a liking for editing and that will set you up nicely for life as a video editor. Also, photo editing allows you to understand some basic concepts, icons and terminologies in editing. Another really important thing to note is that some photo editing tools also have options for video editing.
Encourage people to shoot
You need all the practice you can get especially when you are just starting out and you don’t have the desired tools to work with or cannot afford the training just yet. A good way to keep learning and improving is to have more videos to practice with. Encourage friends and family members to record videos for you to edit. You could do this yourself but it would be better if others did it because they would probably record videos that won’t be well shot and this will make it harder for you to get the best out of the videos. It is a great way to push yourself because if you can make something out of a poorly recorded video, then chances are that editing well shot videos with the right tools will be much easier.
Offer free services to support a good cause
Literally leave your mark on as many places as you can possibly reach. You can do this by offering free services to support a good cause. Search for avenues to get involved in the production process of an event or a project and do it for free. At first, you could ask that you get recognition for your efforts then as time goes on, you could create your own “watermark” which will be your unique signature and stamp it on any job you will be doing especially if it is for free. This will give you exposure, get you familiar with the industry and know people.
Attend Video editing/film schools or classes
As long as you want to succeed and be the best you can ever be in the industry, you must strive for the best training and education necessary to get you there. As a way of eliminating candidates, some big companies who intend to hire video editors tend to look at the academic background of the prospective video editors to see which ones have a degree or certificates that are relevant to the position. No matter how creative you are, or how experienced you are, there will always be something more to learn that will give you an edge in your career.
Join a community
There is a plethora of communities- both online and offline- that is strictly for people in the creative department, especially video editors, which you can join. Most of the communities available to you will be online which is good because a lot of information can be passed across in real time. In addition, some editing applications have their own social network for creative editors to show off their impressive work. Connections can be made with these platforms, jobs could be advertised, and more tools and new software could be discussed along with other vital information.
Have a resume with a reel
Professional video editors and other professionals in the creative department have what they refer to as a reel; this is a collection of their previous work. This is how potential clients get to see what they expect to get from you. Your reel will contain samples of edited videos you did in detail. Without a reel, your resume is not complete. It is not enough to show prospective clients your work experience on paper; they will have to see it for themselves. As time goes on, and as you work on different projects, make sure you arrange your reel according to the different categories under which the job you did falls so that it will be easier to point out what your client wants.
Although not necessary, you could open your own YouTube channel just to put your work out there for the world to see. A lot of video editors have earned “celebrity status” because of their online presence not necessarily because they know how to edit videos better than anyone else. As you get better at video editing, your portfolio should include tutorials. Teach beginners how to edit videos and let them be aware of the mistakes you made when you started. All these will impress anyone who wishes to hire you and your value as a video editor will definitely rise.
Learn Cinematography
This may come as a surprise to you but you read that right; learn cinematography. Learning cinematography does not necessarily man that you have to get a degree or certificate in that line; just know a lot about how it works. In fact you should be a part-time cinematographer if you must. The reason is this, your work starts after the cinematographer is done capturing images and the quality of images captured will go a long way in defining what your work will look like. Understand the FPS camera settings, the white balancing and other little twitches that will determine how much you should add to or reduce from the raw footage you will be editing.
Another reason why you should know about cinematography is that it will make you to be able to advice the cinematographer on certain ways he or she should capture images that would work better when editing. Video editors who are also cinematographers tend to have their work cut in half because they are already conscious of the editing process which makes them make better recordings than the average cinematographer.
Get tools/software
Software is a video editor’s greatest tool. It is basically 90% of what video editors work with. The job involves cutting video files, making adjustments and then arranging them which are done on a computer that has all the necessary functions installed on it. There are many software for different effects. Some software are unnecessary when editing short videos to be uploaded on the internet, while others are made for the big screen. As a starter in this field, you will need to worry less about the fancy and expensive software for bigger projects and just focus on the ones that can do the basic adjustments to video files and a lot of them are free.
Top Video Editor Software
Let’s look at some of the best video editing tools for you to get you started.
- Apple iMovie/ Windows Movie Maker
The best way to start a new program is having what you need at your fingertips. There are benefits to owning either a Mac PC or a Windows powered computer including their video editing features. With either device, you can learn the basics of editing videos and more. How to add an image to a video, image to an image and video clip to another video clip will not be new to you after using them. The Apple iMovie for example, has some nice features like the green screen (chroma-key) which you can use to create virtual locations for objects in videos. It also has other great filters you can use to get an even better looking video. The best part is that both video software are free.
- Video sharing apps
What’s better than learning and having fun if not making money on the side? There is no reason why you shouldn’t try to use fun social video apps. Social networks like TikTok and Vskit are fun applications people use to make simple videos for fun. They have basic video editing features and you could learn a thing or two about what makes a great video through them. You could get noticed, make connections, learn more, earn money and have fun all at once.
- VSDC Free Video Editor
VSDC is also a good video software is as it gives you all the basic features including cropping videos, cutting clips, and adding words like subtitles for instance, to videos.
- InShot
InShot is a very handy and easy-to-use video editing application you can use on your phone. YouTube channels use InShot to edit their videos. You can cut videos, trim videos, add features to videos and insert background music to go with it. It is handy and can also be used to edit photos.
- Viva Video
As you get familiar with the basics of video editing, start looking at affordable editing software that are a step higher and Viva Video is one of the best as you approach the intermediate level. It works well for creating short videos you can use for social networks, it has more than 200 filters and effects to choose from, and it also has the fast forward and slow motion features. You will need to pay for an upgrade to help you remove watermarks at some point.
- Pro Editing Software
Once you get past the beginner stage, you should start looking at learning other video editing software other experts use. Most of the best ones (if not all) are not free, so you must be ready for that. Software like Adobe Premium Pro, Final Cut Pro and Sony Vegas are among the most popular and the best that you should consider. For Adobe Premium Pro, it is advisable to start by getting used to Adobe Premium Elements as it will prepare you for what’s to come when you finally switch to Pro. Also, online academy, Udemy, provides free Premium Pro 101 course which you should take advantage of.
DaVinci Resolve is another software that is hugely admired by video editors for different reasons. Apart from being a free editing software, it is also great for both beginners and experts. It has all the necessary features you will need to edit professionally. It is regarded by many as the best free video editing software there is.
- YouTube
The number one place in recent times to get information as well as some really good tutorials on how to do different things is YouTube. The video streaming website is the world’s leading website when it comes to gaining access to unlimited video content- both professional and amateur. Many people are taking advantage of YouTube and so should you. You can both learn a great deal about video editing, the best tools to use and also upload your finished work for all to see. All the feedback and comments that you need will be there after your video gets viewed and some of those comments will not be very nice but they will only help you to see where you need to improve.
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Get to work
Video editing is a dream job for many and it is clear to see. You will almost never find a video editor who hates it. Check the price and how easy the software is to use before getting it- practice every day.