Well, I’ve made over 30 videos so far, and if you go through the comment section of any of these videos, one word that you see the most—5 to 8 times—is editing. Some say that they have never seen this type of editing before, some say that they have been tired of praising my editing, while very few say that I overdo it. But keeping the general opinion aside, let me answer the most asked question on this channel.
So, this is not a tutorial on how to edit videos. Instead, this is my way of editing videos—the things that I consider, the checklist that I follow, a few sources from where I learned, and a few resources that I use while editing videos. First things first, I edit on Premiere Pro. It’s been five months since I started using Premiere Pro, and before that, I was using a completely free software called Shotcut. I’ve also used apps like KineMaster, Vita, and InShot in the beginning when I was not on YouTube. With my personal experience, I can confidently say that no matter what software you use, the concepts and techniques of video editing remain the same. But what makes the difference is the ability to do things faster, better, and in a more advanced way. So, if any of you is just getting started with video editing, it’s better to get started with a more advanced software like Premiere Pro instead of learning a low-end software first and then iterating towards a better software. It obviously takes more time in the beginning to learn, but it will save you a hell lot of time in the long run.
Coming back to editing videos, my editing workflow starts even before I open Premiere Pro. This is the most important part of making a video. Unless and until it is a vlog like the previous video, I shoot to edit—which means I pre-plan each and every shot while I script the video. Look at this: this is where I have my voiceover and the A-roll, and this is where I have what my B-roll and tutorial video should look like, and this is where I have what type of editing should I be doing. So, the motive of having the shot list and the editing techniques listed is to get a sense of direction while I shoot or edit the video. Either if I fail to achieve the perfect lighting while shooting the video, or if I can get more creative while editing the video, I can obviously add those changes in the final video. As I’ve already mentioned, most of the times I shoot to edit. Planning the camera movements beforehand allows me to get smooth transitions in the B-rolls. We’ll discuss how to shoot a cinematic sequence in a video for some other day, but for now, just remember that the camera movements influence the edits a lot more than what you assume. And now, let’s get to the most important part that you have been waiting for.
But wait! Finally, I can proudly say that this video is sponsored by Skillshare. Damn, I never thought this would have been so early, but thank you so much everyone. I’ve never seen any YouTuber under 50k subscribers getting sponsored by Skillshare. But anyways, if you don’t know what Skillshare is, Skillshare is an online learning community with thousands of inspiring classes for creators. Whether it’s editing, filmmaking, photography, animating, drawing, or cooking, you can learn everything on Skillshare. Even recently, when I bought a camera, I took this class: “Learn Camera Basics for Videos: A Beginner’s Guide” by Ali Abdaal to learn how to use a camera. Then I took the class on “How to Shoot Dope Low Budget Films” by Julian Melanson to get that cinematic vibe in my recent videos. And you know what? There are no ads, so you can stay focused and start learning without any distractions. And bro, if you’re starting a YouTube channel, don’t skip this class by MKBHD because damn, I’ve learned a lot from that class.
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There are a lot of types of videos: regular talking-head videos, interview videos, epic cinematic B-rolls, montage videos, stop-motion animations, 2D animations, and the list goes on. Editing each of these videos is entirely different from each other. I’ll try to generalize a few things which remain constant no matter what type of video you’ll be making. Let’s go!
I know that I don’t need to talk about visuals much, but I thought it would be helpful to mention a few sources where you can get stock videos to enhance the videos that you have already shot. I use websites like Pexels, Pixabay, and Videvo to get stock footage, and I use them in almost all my videos. Now I got a subscription for Storyblocks, so I use that one mostly. But if you want to get started with zero budget, just go for these free websites.
Instead of explaining how important the background music is, let me just show you. Watch this video with Music 1. Now watch the same video with Music 2. You got the difference, right? And there’s nothing like “correct background music” or “wrong background music.” It’s all about personal preference and how you want your audience to feel while they’re watching your video. Talking about the resources, I use free NCS available on YouTube, SoundCloud, and some paid websites like Storyblocks. I recently started using Epidemic Sound based on a recommendation from one of my friends. I still need to explore it a lot, and I’ll let you know how it goes. Also, NCS has their own website where you can search for songs based on moods and types, and it is completely free to use, so check it out.
This is my favorite part of video editing. Although dialogue and music are also a part of sound design, I split these parts up so that it’ll be easier to explain. I love sound design so much, and some people in the comments always be like, “You overdo it.” But it’s fine; at the end of the day, it’s just a personal preference. From atmospheric sounds, camera movement whooshes, swooshes, cinematic risers, to cinematic hits—sounds that are in no way related to the scene—you can get as creative as you want while you sound design. I’ll link the folder of my basic sound design pack, and if you want, you’re free to download it. Also, you can download sound effects from websites like… I’ll link them in the description, check them out. And nowadays, I use Storyblocks even to get sound effects because I already got the subscription, you know.
What separates an amateur video from a professional video? Well, I think it’s color grading. Even I’m really bad at it, but I’m trying my best to improve it. There’s a YouTuber called… who I think is the god of color grading, so check him out.
Well, there are a lot of things that I could be talking about in this video, but putting everything that I’ve learned over the past one and a half years into one single video feels impossible. There are a lot of things that you could be doing once you open Premiere Pro. You can make hyperlapses like Tyler Journeaux, you can make awesome B-rolls like Daniel Schiffer, you can make stop-motion animations like Ross Ching, or you can even make great transition videos like Cole. But remember, if the story that you are telling sucks, the entire video sucks no matter how good your video editing is.
After spending hundreds of hours editing videos, now I can confidently say that editing is just one of several factors which contribute to making a great video. You can definitely make a good video with minimal editing skills. Then why do you edit like a pro, you ask? Well guys, why settle for good when you can go for the best? Think about it: when you watch your own video at 3 AM in the morning, sitting alone in your room, wouldn’t you want to feel proud? And like most things in life, the more you edit videos, the more you learn and the better you’ll get at it. So for anyone who wants to get started with editing, stop overthinking, just get started, and go wherever your creativity takes you. And thanks a lot for watching! I’ll see you very soon. Bye-bye!
