How to Edit a Simple Project with Digital Video-Editing Software: Part 1

I have a love/hate relationship with tutorials. Tutorials that come with digital video-editing software packages are useful, but oftentimes are feature-happy and unrelated to what you are trying to create. They are so concerned with telling you about every function, and variation of how to implement it, in every step, that it takes away from what you are trying to do in the first place. Add to that, an apparent lack of understanding just how we approach an edit session in the real world.

For example, one tutorial I read had me first digitize a few clips, create a project, drop the clips into my work screen, THEN showed me how to organize my project and clip files. I was learning this on a multi-user machine, and wound up putting my things in another user's project. The problem lies in that most people who write editing tutorials seem to be computer programmers, media specialists, or freelance manual writers. I apologize for going on about this, but it is the reason why I wrote these next segments about digital editing. Hopefully, they will get you through an actual edit session. Instead of taking you on a software-feature guided tour, and it doesn't matter what editing software you plan on using.

How many edits are there, let me count the ways. How I approach an edit session depends on what kind of project I am working on. I keep saying this, and it may sound redundant, but this is really true. I have also irritatingly said that editing is mostly just cuts and dissolves. Keep in mind that getting to the point that you are actually editing is something different. How the project is conceptualized, planned, scripted, recorded and graphically visualized will determine in some way, how you go about editing it, even if it is only cuts and dissolves. There are many types of projects, with many different ways of producing them. What I am about to cover are only a few ways to approach your edit session.

The simplest form of editing is creating a montage, a music track with videos, images and titles playing over it. Just digitize the audio song, videos and image clips, and away you go. Preciseness is not a factor when editing a montage, although timing the clips with the beat and lyrics does provide opportunities for accuracy and creativity. You will not need very much help, other than basic editing mechanics for this. We will feature these same functions by editing something a little more complicated. If you are editing something like a wedding, home video, or skit that have video clips with audio, it will add more elements into the mix, but this is not the kind of edit we are after here. What we are after is something like a movie, TV-magazine segment, documentary, interview, dramatization, safety or informational video. These projects require video clips with and without audio, titles, full graphic pages, music tracks, sound effects, and of course cuts and dissolves.

First of all, get everything digitized that you will need. In most cases you want everything at your immediate disposal when you edit. You want to focus all of your attention on what you are doing. You do not want to stop because you need something else you did not think of before. The editing process starts to slow down if you have to go back and re-digitize, or even re-shoot what you need. Sometimes this cannot be avoided, but it is better to be prepared in the beginning of an edit session. Often you are working with a script, or you have hopefully previewed and logged (written notes of what was said, time notations, etc.) the footage, so you will know what you will need when digitizing. Welcome to how professionals edit.

We will keep this simple and just create a short segment in a news magazine interview. So you have everything organized and in the proper bins, right? If not, then you will first need seven video clips. Two video clips with someone speaking (15-20 seconds each), and five clips with no audio (b-roll) about 10-seconds each. The speaking clips should be split from one complete 40-second section into two separate parts. Remember to leave enough room on each side when you digitize, even if you don't intend on using the dialogue in certain parts. Your software should have some video you can use that is long enough. If not, just put the camera in front of you. Slowly recite the pledge of allegiance in two parts and digitize that. It will give you digitizing experience if you need it. Then use whatever b-roll is on the software, it does not matter if they do not match with what is being said.

Create three title pages. Two pages will be used to place over the video clips (a key). The other is a full-page text graphic with color background. These pages are not really video clips. Whether the title is a key or a full screen page, your editor's title tool, or program is actually creating graphic images, like a BMP or JPEG, only in its own format. Title tools come with a variety of options and features, so you may have to refer to your manual for the following procedures. Animating titles becomes something else, so let's keep this simple.

Open your title window (icon or pull-down), and leave the background blank, or choose video background to make this page a key. Never mind about length of page or transitions, you can change that later. The first key will be the title page. Call your video what you want, but the text should be in the middle of the screen. Make these large fonts, and when you are done save the page. Place it in the proper project bin if required. Make it easy on yourself and call it title_001.

The next key page will be for the on-screen name. Remember to leave the background blank, or change it to video background. Use smaller fonts and place the name, maybe with a job title underneath, on the lower third of the screen. If you want, select the 'safe' title guide option. This puts a square box line on the screen. Don't worry, it will not display on your actual clip. Using the guide, you can place the name so it will display safely without being cut off. Take note that this safety title guide will not apply after next year, because HDTV does not cut-off the image like regular TVs do. Just so you know, regular televisions cut off the image because the picture tube is curved along the edges, which is why you need this guide in the first place. Anyway, when you are done with the name key page, save it as title_002.

The last page will also have text, but choose a solid color background for it. Use any color you want, or just choose black. If you like, make the background multicolored so you can play with that feature if you have it. This page is for your credits so make the fonts smaller, and put in more words so that they fill most of the screen. Make it funny it you want; Toenail Productions, Directed by Belly Jelly, Starring Big Ham, etc.

If you feel more comfortable with a paint program, power point, or favorite image processor, you can create a full graphic text page with any of these. Then all you have to do is import the image into your project bins. A good idea if you need practice with creating and importing files. Your editing software will probably accept JPEGs or BMPs. The images should be at least 800x600, or whatever your project settings are. If you really feel adventurous, use your editor title tool, and experiment with a credit roll. Just use your function buttons (or pull-downs) in the title window. Refer to your manual if you want to try this. If not, just keep the credits a simple static page and save it as title_003. Close your title tool.

Almost ready, you just need a few more things, like some audio clips. You will need two of them. One will be a music clip and the other audio clip will be a sound effect, both of your choice. It does not matter what song you use, but make sure it only has music, and there are no voices on it. Use what is provided on your software, import what you need, or make it yourself, it is up to you. The music should be at least a minute long, but no longer than a minute and a half. Save it as music_001. Your editing program may not have a sound effect. If not, break out your camera again and record one. It does not have to be very long at all, just record some sound. When you are digitizing it, select the option in your digitizing window, and make it into an audio clip only. Put about three-seconds on each side of the sound. Save it as sndfx_001.

That's it. You are now ready to edit a short video. As you can see, this planning process takes a while. For a thirty-minute or one-hour video, it may take a week or more before you even get started editing. This is why tape is still used in the industry for short subject editing, like news stories and local television. It is quicker to edit with tape. Tape is real time, on-the-fly editing that I still get paid to do today. Nevertheless, the plain fact of the matter is that tape offers less in options compared with what you can do digitally.

I know I have said that digital editing is simple. This is still true, as you will next see. The point of this so far, is to show you that a lot of planning and preparation must be done, in order to get to the point of where you are actually editing. What you are about to edit next is a very simple exercise, but it is what you will find yourself doing the most, working in this industry, or even just editing a comedy skit. Imagine if this tutorial were to include video layering, clip processing, animated titles, or other special effects. Things we usually use for short openings and closings. Now, getting down to the bones of this. Let's assemble what we have prepared, and edit!