Friday, March 29

I’ve been editing videos for 15 years and these are the tips I always give to beginners


The world of photography is difficult, but if we get into the world of video, it is at least 24 times more complicated than photography. You have to be aware of so many technical aspects that you can easily get lost. Let’s see what we have learned, over the years, so that you can start from a more advanced point to edit our videos.


If you come from photography and want to make video, everything multiplies. The demands of the camera, of the computer. Everything will seem insufficient. When you have everything perfectly square, the satisfactions will come, but along the way you will have spent more money than you thought and you will have aged a few years.

We are going to try make things easier for you so that your first video is not your last and that you start a hobby or career that gives you a lot of satisfaction. From the beginning, the inspiration, to the end, the presentation of your creation.

Training is essential

It’s not as easy as pressing a button and that’s it, I already have the video done. It is necessary to be very clear, apart from the technique (which we will see in another point), the inspiration and know what we have to tell. It is best to learn in a school, but if it is just a hobby, the key is to watch movies and music videos of the style you like.

It is not the same to shoot an action film than a rehearsal film. At first, they have nothing to do with each other. It all depends on your creativity. And never think you know everything, you always have to look for references, from Rosalía’s videos to Andrei Tarkovsky’s films.

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You will discover that the rhythm is different, that there are fixed shots or that the camera is always moving, that the action is slow or that you do not have time to pay attention… All these things will influence your style and it is important that you take them into account to start editing your own video. Never try to start without having this point clear.

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Record everything you need and more

To edit a video well, you must be clear about what you want to do, that is, make a written script and a storyboard, better known as story board. And to be able to fulfill your initial idea, and assume that you can change on the fly, you have to record a lot of material.

Record a video

A simple camera to record

Never ever run out of plans. If at the moment you think it is not necessary, mentalize yourself and do it. Then you will always have time to erase. When you have experience you will be able to be more selective and you will know the right path. But record like there’s no tomorrow.

Format to record

These are tips to start with, so we are not going to go through excessive technical complications when choosing how to record from our camera. Today we have so many options that it is easy to get lost. So there is no choice but to read the manual of our camera and decide the best option.

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I’m going to be pretty conservative. And I beg you to take into account the computer you have. Working with a simple computer is not the same as working with a state-of-the-art computer. You will never have enough RAM, hard drive space, or a powerful graphics card.

Graphic card

We will always record with the maximum resolution that the camera allows us. If we can, we will reach 4K, but if the computer is pedaling we will have to settle for a FullHD. Of course, we will miss many possibilities, such as cutting, straightening, moving.

Today we will record 24-30fps to have that cinematographic aspect that we like so much. If we want we can upload the frames, but moving those files requires a powerful computer.

And as file format we will choose the XAVC S (if we work with Sony) which is nothing more than an MP4 with the MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 codec, which allows us to record up to 100Mbpsmore than enough if we are not going to do a complicated job.

If we have another brand, we only have to look for the same file characteristics, that is, an MP4 with the H.264 or H.265 codec.

Order, order and order

In photography it is essential, and that is why we recommend the Adobe Lightroom catalog. In video, if we don’t have order, we can’t directly do anything in a logical time. When downloading the files it is important to save them with all kinds of information.

Lightroom Library Module

The located videos

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Since my video files are compatible with Adobe Lightroom, I always use keywords that describe exactly what each file contains. It is a good way to have them ready to be able to work with them in the editing program when importing them.

The best program to edit our videos

I have always moved in the Adobe environment, but since I was recommended to work with DaVinci Resolve I stopped paying the Premiere fee. It is a free program that allows you to do everything a videographer needs without having to change programs.

Davinci REsolve

You have 7 modules to go from start to finish in editing your work. Of all of them I highlight Edition, Color and Delivery. With the first you find an interface very similar to that of Adobe Premiere; Color is wonderful, I have no other way to describe it, because it allows you to adjust the color and brightness of the video clips in a direct way.

It is not easy to use professionally, but it allows you to get perfect results in just a few steps; and Delivery gives you all the options to send your creation to any platform.

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If you don’t want so many complications and just want to cut and paste, you can choose other simpler programs, such as Lightroom itself, Photoshop itself or the reduced version of Premiere, Premiere Rush. Nor can we forget, if you come from the Mac environment, iMovie, an application that allows you to easily edit all your recordings.

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