YouTube has more than 2.3 billion users that access the platform in a month. Ever since the launch of YouTube in 2005, the platform has been rapidly growing. Presently, the user base is so enormous that it attracts many budding content creators who want to be rich and famous. Making videos for a living is a very satisfying job, but recording the footage is only half the work. Editing plays a vital part in the process of video production as an unedited cluster of clips does not look appealing to the audience, regardless of how good the content is or how much thought went behind it.
In the olden days, post-production was an expensive process that required professional editors and costly equipment, along with plenty of time. These days, however, the process has been simplified with the help of modern technology. Still, there are situations where you’ll really want to make use of a professional editor. To find out if that’s you, check out this article called How to Edit a Video for YouTube Using Professional Editors. These are the steps that we recommend you follow for editing videos efficiently and giving your videos the shine that they require:
Pick A Suitable Editor
YouTube offers a basic built-in video editor called “YouTube Studio,” which can be used for basic editing actions such as trimming and blurring. Still, if you wish to produce high-quality content which shows the audience that you care about your videos, you should use a professional-level video editor. If you search for a video editor without any knowledge or setting any criteria, you will get lost amongst the thousands of available editors.
It is of utmost importance to know all the things you need from an editor to achieve your imagined results. Suppose internet connectivity is not a problem for you. In that case, you should consider an online video editor because the wide range of templates on offer will make your work considerably easy as they are beginner-friendly. The abundance of features in the free version also allows you to achieve a premium look in your videos.
Choose A Capable Computer
Having a computer that can handle the software you use for video editing is very important. Video editing is a high-intensity task for computers. Most modern computers are capable of some form of basic editing. If you need to do more than just basic edits, you will need a device that renders videos quickly. Prioritize computers with Solid State Drives (SSD) and high RAM storage to be able to smoothly edit your videos without having to fear deadly crashes that could mean losing hours of work in one unfortunate moment.
Editing YouTube videos can be a rewarding endeavor, but collaborating with professionals can take your content to the next level. If you’re looking to enhance the overall quality of your videos, consider seeking
services from experts like those at Moffett. Their experienced team can help you create polished and engaging videos that will make your YouTube channel stand out, ensuring a captivating viewing experience for your audience.
Create A Project And Import The Footage
The steps for editing are similar for most modern video editors. Firstly, you need to create a new project in the software from the file menu and select the video’s aspect ratio. Next, you need to import your footage from your editor’s “Import Media Files” option. Make sure that your editor supports the format of your footage.
Organize Your Files To Save Time
Organizing is an often-disregarded part of video editing because people think it takes a lot of time and effort. That, however, does not mean that you should not organize your files. If your files are not neatly organized and understandably, you will end up wasting much more time than the time that you would have spent organizing them in the first place.
Taking some time to sort your footage during your editing will allow you to conveniently find them at any point in the future. Create separate folders for separate projects that you are working on. Make more folders that separate the clips based on the dates or locations of the recording. Keep edited and unedited videos in a separate folder to avoid confusion in the future.
Take The Excess Off
Cutting and arranging clips is straightforward in most video editors. All you must do is place them in the desired order in the editor’s timeline and drag the files on the timeline to adjust the parameters. In this step, you can decide the chronology in which you want to show your clips and remove redundant parts that you do not want to be part of the final video.
Uploading uncut clips of your shoots will make your content-packed, interesting video start looking like a documentary or reality show. During the filming phase, ensure ample footage to work with during the editing. After all, you do not want to be in a situation where you have to include unsatisfactory clips in the video because you ran out of good ones.
Apply Effects
The video will look very jarring in the parts where two different clips meet. You can make the transitions smoother by using effects such as fade that make changes look pleasing to the eye. You can also add logos, opening titles, and subtitles and make your video more engaging for viewers.
Avoid using jump cuts in your videos as much as possible as they draw the viewer’s attention to things that should go unnoticed in a well-edited video. Instead, use a fade effect or your B-Roll in-between the two clips to make the transition smooth and less suspicious.
Perform Color Correction On Your Video
Using different cameras and angles with varying lighting conditions can lead to differing color hues on your clips. Thus, making the video look unappealing and unrefined. To fix this, most video editors offer tools that can use constant warmth, vibrance, brightness, and sharpness throughout the video. You can also select filters for your video and add a level of depth to videos that camerawork or scriptwriting alone cannot achieve.
Export The Video
Once you are satisfied with all the work you put into the video, you can export it to save it or upload it. You also get the option to select the video’s format and resolution in this phase. We suggest MP4 for high-quality YouTube videos as it is the universal video format because all sorts of devices support it.
Mp4 allows file sizes to be small even when the resolution of the videos is high. By using online video editors, you are in luck as they give you the option to export the video to YouTube directly. This saves storage space and time as the rendering and uploading of the video take place simultaneously.
Conclusion
The recent pandemic has made everyone stay home most of the time, making humans increasingly dependent on technology to get their daily doses of dopamine. YouTube has been that daily dose of dopamine for many people as the number of active users is higher than ever. Being a content creator on such a competitive platform means providing high-quality content for your viewers. We hope this article has helped you edit videos for your YouTube channel.
