Subair Sheriff Oladipo

Video Editing For Beginners In Windows PC [H1] Without a doubt, video editing is one of the most daunting parts of a video creation process. It can be complicated, especially if you're just starting with it. But it doesn't have to be that way. By learning the key fundamentals of editing and some necessary tweaks, you can significantly reduce the time it takes to edit your video with any video editing software. And increase your video's quality as well. The good news: In this post, we're going to give you the necessary knowledge and tweaks that will help you get started with video editing on your Windows PC. We'll go through a step-by-step process – with you – that you can easily follow when you're editing on your own. At the end of this article, you'll also have access to our free downloadable guide for editing videos. It is called the ​Primal Video Method​, and it'll help make sure that you don't forget anything when it comes to video editing. So, are you ready? How To Edit Videos On Windows PC [H2] The same steps that we will outline in this tutorial can be applied to any video editing software. So, if you already have one that you're comfortable with, that's awesome! But if you haven't picked a video editing software yet, we recommend that you try ​Shotcut​ . We are going to use Shotcut​​to walk you through each step of a full video editing process. It is a terrific video editor for beginners right through to intermediate and advanced levels, and you'll find it easy to use. How To Use Shotcut For Editing Your Video [H3] If you have decided to use Shotcut to edit your video, then follow along. The following steps will walk you through the entire editing journey, from setting up your video project to exporting it. Step 1: Setting up Your Project [H4] Before you jump into editing your video with Shotcut – or any other video editor, there are a few things that you should ideally put in place. Setting up your project right will ensure that you build a good foundation for your editing process to stand on. So, what are these things you need to do before you start editing? You need to: ● Create and configure your new project ● Import your media files. Creating A New Project [H5] When you first open Shotcut, the first interface you'll see is your project window. This is where you can either find existing projects or create new ones. Creating a new project is really simple. Just select where you want your new project to be located, name the project, and choose your video mode. Your video mode is the resolution and frame rate you'll like your video to have, and you have numerous options to choose from. Alternatively, you can leave this on automatic, and your project will be set automatically to the best resolution and frame rate based on the first video you import. Click on ​start​after doing all these, and you'll be directed to a new interface. This is the workspace where all your editing work – on the new project you've just created – will happen. Before you start importing your footage into this workspace, you must understand its layout. Your workspace has different sections. ● At the center, you have your playback area where you can preview each video. ● At the bottom, you have your timeline where you'll perform most of the editing work. ● You'll find a window that shows you your playlists, video effects, and properties on the left. ● You have your 'volume level' bar and a window that shows your recent video files on the right. According to what's convenient for you, the size of each section can be adjusted by dragging their edges with the cursor. Import Your Media Files [H5] Now you're ready to bring in the files that you're going to be working on. If you plan on working on just a single clip 1. 2. 3. 4. clicking on ​open file ​at the top left-hand corner of your screen. Navigate through your file manager until you find your video clip. Click on ​open​, and your video will now be visible in your playback area. You can now drag it from there onto your timeline in preparation for editing. However, you might want to work on multiple files. If that's the case, click on ​playlist​and drag the required folders from your file manager into the window on your left. Tip: ​you can have multiple clips on the same timeline track. Drag the preferred clip down to the timeline, and the new clip will overwrite the previous one. But if you're looking to insert the new clip without overwriting the previous one, click on ​ripple trim and drop​before you drop your clip into the timeline. Step 2: Editing Down Your Video [H4] One rule you should know when it comes to editing videos is that there are usually multiple methods available to perform a particular action. You just have to decide if it makes sense to use one method or the other. Or probably even a combination of both. When editing down your video, the first thing to do is to cut out the bad takes or areas of silence from your video clip. Zoom in on the clip to have a better view of the audio wave. The flat areas in the audio waves indicate areas where you were silent, and these are the parts of your clips that you should cut out. There are two ways to do this. Here's the first method 1. Drag the playback head to the point where you want the video clip to begin. 2. Click on ​split alt playback​on top of the timeline, or just press ​S ​on your keyboard. This will split your video clip into two parts. 3. Click on the unwanted part and press delete. This will leave a space on your timeline that you can take care of by dragging back the other part of your clip so that your video now starts at that point. Or, after step 2 above, select the unwanted part and ripple delete (shift + delete). This will delete the clip and close up space in a single stroke. And the other way to edit down your video clip is this: 1. Hover your cursor around the beginning of your video clip until it goes green and an arrow shows up. 2. Swipe that arrow right, and you'll find out that the timeline will start moving along. 3. All you have to do now is keep it moving until you get to the point where you want your video clip to start. These methods will come in handy when you want to do away with bad takes at the beginning of your clip. To take care of errors in the middle of your clip, add a split at the beginning of the bad take and another one at the end. Select that section and ripple delete, and that error will be gone. Once you've cut down your primary footage, the next step is to do the same for your B-roll. 1. Click on the three little lines at the top of your timeline. 2. Select a​dd a new video track, ​and a new video track for your B-roll will be created above that of your primary video track. 3. Now, drag your B-roll footage from the top into your timeline. You want your B-roll to overwrite parts of your main footage so make sure that ​ripple trim and drop ​isn't selected. 4. On the timeline, you can edit down your B-roll the same way you edit your primary footage. You can also edit your B-roll this way: 1. Double click on your preferred B-roll clip so that it starts to play on the playback monitor. 2. Select your In Point (by pressing ​I​) and Out Point (by pressing ​O​), which indicates where you want your B-roll to start and end. 3. Then drag the clip onto your timeline. You can check out the list of keyboard shortcuts for Shotcut at the end of this article if you want to speed up your editing process. Step 3: Adding Titles [H4] After you've built up the story of your video, it's time to add texts and titles to it. Here's how you do so: 1. Select the clip you want the title to show on. 2. Move your playback head to where you want the title to start and press ​S ​(split). Also, move it to where you want the title to end and press ​S​again. Select that section of the clip. 3. Now move your cursor to the row of icons at the top of your screen and select ​filters. Click on ​+​to add a new filter. 4. In the search bar that shows up, type text and double click on ​simple text​. From this point, it is just a matter of customizing your text. You can choose a particular font and font size; add outline and background color; adjust your title's size and position. Step 4: Adding Effects And Transitions [H4] Once that's done, the next thing is to add transitions and effects to your video. If you have multiple B-rolls, adding transitions between them is a good idea. To do that, just 1. Click and drag a B-roll until it overlaps with another one. This will create a simple fade between both clips. 2. If you'd like to use another transition effect, select the transition area (the area of overlap between both clips with a cross in it) and click on ​properties ​at the top of your timeline. 3. Then click on the drop-down menu to choose which of the transition effects you want to use for your video clips. There are numerous options to choose from. These transition effects will work well with your B-rolls, but we don't recommend using them for your primary footage clips as these might look similar. What we recommend instead is that you reframe one of the shots so that it looks just a little bit different from the other one. You can do that by following these steps: 1. Select the clip you want to resize. 2. Click on ​filter​at the top of your timeline, scroll down the menu, and double click on ​size​. 3. Resize the clip by keying each position in manually or by using the markers on the playback monitor. Tip​: you can copy these effects from one clip to another clip by clicking on ​copy filter​. Then select the clip you want to copy to and clicking ​paste​. Step 5: Adding Audio [H4] Now it's time to import music into your project. The first thing to do is to create a new track for your audio. 1. Again click on those three little lines at the top of the timeline. 2. Select a​dd audio track​, and a new audio track will be added below your primary footage. To add music, select ​playlist​and 'click and drag' the audio file into your timeline. As with your video clips, you can also perform different tricks with your audio clip. You can move it around, pick it up, adjust and even split it. Before you start to adjust your audio levels, you want to make sure that your primary footage is in sync with your audio clip. 1. First, make sure that your audio clip ends at the same time as your primary footage. 2. Enable the ​ripple tool​and make edits so that your footage matches the music. Remember to lock the music track so that your changes do not affect your audio clip. 3. Unlock the music track and go back to make sure that your music finishes at the same time as your video. Now it's time to adjust the audio levels of your project. We usually start with that of our primary footage before dealing with the audio clip. There are two main ways to adjust the volume levels. You can do it on a clip by clip basis or do it on the entire video track. If you shot your video using the same camera at the same time, then you'll most likely have a fairly constant audio level. This means that it'll be easier for you to adjust your video clip's audio level in the entire track. To do so: 1. First, mute your music track. Then select your video track. 2. Select f​ilters​and click on ​+​to add a new filter. 3. Search for volume and double click on ​gain and volume​. 4. This will bring up a volume bar that is set to default at 0 decibels. Drag it forward to take your audio levels higher and backward to take your audio levels lower. 5. When you hit play, you should monitor the bar that shows you your audio levels. You want it to remain in the 'green-yellow' zone. When it starts to enter the red zone, it means that your audio is too loud. You can also perform this set of actions on your music clip. However, there really isn't a right or wrong way regarding its volume level. The optimum level is one that doesn't interfere with your viewers' listening experience. Step 6: Making Color Correction [H4] The next step after adjusting your audio levels is to make color corrections to your video. As usual, we are going to start with our primary footage. There are 3 basic filters we use when editing our videos. These filters are brightness, white balance, and color grading. To add these filters to your video, ● Select your primary footage. ● Click on ​filters ​and then ​+ ​to add new filters. ● Type brightness in the search box that shows up, and double click on the result to add it. ● Repeat the previous step for white balance and color grading, respectively. Here's what each filter does for you. Brightness [H5] With the brightness filter, you can make your shots brighter or darker. Move the slider to adjust the brightness level. White Balance [H5] The white balance filter adjusts the color temperature of your shots. You can also use the slider to switch between warm tones (yellow) and cool tones (blue). Color Grading [H5] The color grading filter is the most sophisticated filter of all three, but we're only going through the basics. The first wheel is for adjusting the shadows or dark areas of your shots. The second is for adjusting your midrange colors while you can alter your highlights or bright colors using the third wheel. You can make any color change by moving the slider beside each wheel or the marker at the center of each wheel. Another filter that we recommend that you try out is saturation. Saturation helps you boost the color of your shots. Tip​: you can copy these filters from one clip to another clip by clicking on ​copy filter​. Then select the clip you want to copy to and click ​paste​. Step 7: Exporting Your Video At this point, your video is complete, and it is time to export it. To do that, click on export at the top of your screen. You will find out that there are numerous video format presets for you to choose from. But if you're looking for something unique, click on advanced ​ and input your specific parameters. However, the default preset, which creates an mp4 file, is suitable for most people and most purposes. So you can choose this since you're just starting out with video editing. Click on ​export file​, choose where you want your video to be saved, and save. Your video will begin exporting. You can track its progress on a customizable bar on the right side of your screen. Once you're done exporting, check your video for errors that you might have missed. If you discover any, fix it and re-export the video. Another useful tip to take advantage of is to play your video on multiple devices. This will help you gauge your video's quality on the devices where your viewers will be consuming your content. Conclusion [H2] Now you have the complete guide to video editing on Windows PC. While we might have used ​Shotcut ​for this tutorial, the steps outlined in this article can be applied to any video editing software once you get familiar with our editing process. But if you use Shotcut, the following Shotcut keyboard shortcuts will speed up your editing. Play = L Pause = K Rewind = J Split = S Ripple Edit Left = Shift + I Ripple Edit Right = Shift + O Ripple delete = Shift + Delete (or Backspace) Select In Point = I Select Out Point = O As promised earlier, here's the ​Free Primal Video Method​. You can print it out or follow it on your screen the next time you edit a video. It'll help you master our video editing process.