Editing Video

HOW TO EDIT VIDEO ON YOUR COMPUTER

The great thing about using a computer to edit video is that the video is a file, and just like a word processor or audio editor, you can cut, copy and paste any portion of a video clip, string a bunch of clips together, add transitions, a soundtrack, a title page and credits "on the fly". It's called 'non-linear' editing. In the old days of 'linear' editing you had to add each clip, in order, one at a time. If you wanted to change the first clip, you had to start over.

In addition to the above, computer video editing software records, or "captures" the video, allows you to trim segments, configure clips, even adjust the color and brightness, and save the final product. Two other higher end capabilities of editing software are PiP (Picture-in-Picture) and Pan & Zoom.

PiP allows you to place a smaller video or image within your main movie. Pan and Zoom allows you to take a large still picture, create a smaller frame that is the size of the final video, and move that frame around the image or photo creating the impression of motion.

Pan is sometimes known as the Ken Burns Effect since he used it frequently during his documentary on the Civil War that aired on PBS several years ago.

High end video editors go for around $500, but Apple's iMovie and Microsoft's Windows Movie Maker are free. Windows Movie Maker should be automatically installed on your Windows XP SP2 and later  (Start/All Programs/Accessories/Windows Movie Maker).

The only drawback to Windows Movie Maker is that you can only save files in .wmv format and from what I've found it can't edit video from DVD or Mini-DVD camcorders.  

How to Edit Video Using Windows Movie Maker

For more information and tutorials on Windows Movie Maker click here.
 

In between are decent editing programs like Adobe Premier Elements and Sony Vegas Studio for $100 or less.

Here are a few things to keep in mind while shooting and editing video:

Keep it simple.  You're not trying to win Best Picture at the Cannes Film Festival. You are trying to convey a message or information. Adding a bunch of glitzy transitions and special effects distracts from your message.

Keep it moving. I have a really bad habit in our video tutorials of droning on and on with little or no movement in the video. It's like watching two hours of someone's family vacation and it's a problem I have been working diligently to overcome. The whole idea of a movie  is for things to move.

Fill the screen. Because of bandwidth limitations on the web, streamed full motion video is pretty small, usually 320 X 240 pixels or about 10% of a normal computer screen. Small details are going to be lost to most viewers, so try to use large objects that fill most of the screen for easier viewing.

Write out a script. Not necessarily all of the dialog, although that will help, but create an outline of the message you want to convey. Start with a preview, lay out the content and end with a summary or call to action.

SAVING VIDEO FILES

As mentioned previously, web formats are usually either Flash or .mp4 (H.264 video codec, AAC audio)

First, save your file as a fairly high-quality AVI or MPEG2 file as a master file from which you can convert to any desired web format you wish.

Then, if your editor can save it as an flv or mp4 file go back and save the file again in that format. If not, we use the free Any Video Converter to convert our files for the web.