Creating Better Web Videos: Editing

As a member of several video web sites, I receive updates of new web videos made by fellow subscribers. I watch the videos whenever I get the chance, and there is one thing most of them have in common. The creators have a good understanding of what video editing is about. All you need is video and audio clips that are easy to work with. We will assume you have made an effort to ensure that you have easy-to-work-with clips, because the idea of editing is not fixing them.

Editing is the final stage of your web video. Everything has been recorded to the best of your ability. By now you should have most everything you need digitized in the computer. Now the fun begins. Those in the industry prefer to call editing post-production, because it is more than just assembling clips together. Your job is to create a total package.

Web videos that do make editing mistakes are often by those new to editing, and their age makes no difference. These mistakes are made for several reasons: like not recording needed or useable video footage, software quality or unfamiliarity with editing in general. By that I mean that they do not understand the small details or fine-tuning involved, and just slap clips together. Some may even be slightly overwhelmed by the whole process.

The mistakes are easy to correct. All you have to do is keep track of what you are doing, and how what you are doing affects the overall project. In a sense, editing is multimedia in nature. You are working with clips, but each clip has its own individual attributes. This affects how they interact with other clips.

Here are some common editing mistakes.

SLOW EDITS: taking too long to cut to the next scene. The simple remedy is to tighten up your edits between each clip. This will help but if your actors were slow to say their lines, it still affects edit timing. This can be fixed to a certain extent. Use different cutaway shots, if you wrote them in. No? Well if not then it will require a little creativity to fix. You can cut out the pauses in dialog, but this will cause visual 'jumps'. This may or may not work for you. Sometimes this is used to simulate time passing by. Normally shot without dialog, as in a montage.

What if you have to cut out sections of silent pauses, you have no cutaways shots and jump cuts won't work for you? One remedy is to use short half-second dissolves in between each clip. This will soften the jump. Be aware that if there is background noise, it will cause audio 'jumps' in your clips too. You could fade the audio in and out on each clip. While this works, the bad side is that it will take time, and be very obvious in the end. Other than re-shooting you have no other choice here.

UNMIXED AUDIO: music and sound effects are louder than speaking parts. Yes they do it in films. Isn't it irritating? The reason why is that films use a boom mic and actors are at a distance from it. The same problem you have with a consumer camera, only the mic is not as good.

In general music should not overpower speaking parts. Learn how to use the audio functions of your editor. Any editing software can adjust audio volumes. Remember that music files are louder, and usually have to be lowered. You may also have stereo music tracks and mono video tracks. This is important. When you upload your finished video it may be converted to mono audio. What you hear in editing may not be what you hear on the web. Do yourself a favor and edit in mono. This way you will hear how the speaking parts match in volume with music and/or sound effects.

MUSIC TRACKS: no music during scenes. Music helps to create emotion and holds slow scenes together. Sound effects help to create realism. Music is a difficult problem because you usually have to purchase production music. Your video will probably be deleted if you use any music without permission. Personally I purchase the rights to my music. You can find affordable production music if you try an Internet or ebay search. But spending money is not always an option for home video-makers.

One way to get free music is by using a piano keyboard if you have one lying around. Some of the better sounding ones feature songs already built-in. It may even have a headphone jack so you can digitize the music directly to your computer. Songs on these musical keyboards can be used in your videos without any copyright worries. You can even try a drum machine and use simple beats. It's better than silence

Another way of finding free music is by doing an Internet search. I found a great web site that has free downloadable public domain film footage, audio clips and music. It's called the Internet Archive (see below for link). They have an audio section that is a great resource for free music. You don't have to join, but it is a good idea anyway. Not all files on this site can be used freely. So read what kind of license it has. Choose songs that are labeled Public Domain'. Sometimes a Creative Commons file can be used as well. Just be sure to carefully read any usage conditions.

These are a few common mistakes new video-makers make during production and post-production. The point of all this is simple. If you tighten up the shooting and editing process you will always have a better video in the end. The more effort you put in, the better it is. It's not like you have to change the way the way you create videos. Just small adjustments and some fine-tuning, things often overlooked during the commotion of creating your comedy masterpiece.

Why, because all that planning usually pays off. A video that will hold the viewer's attention, and one you can be proud of. However, they are not mistakes that can be corrected overnight. It takes practice. It means spending more time making videos. The thing you love to do in the first place.