How to Edit a Simple Project with Digital Video-Editing Software: Part 2

The point of this editing exercise is to give you a small glimpse of how larger projects are actually put together. Hopefully this can get you started with smaller ones, or help with whatever editing project you have in mind. Things may look different, but it does not matter what digital-editing software you are using, even the simplest one should be able to accommodate what you are about to do. Please note that I will not refer to any keyboard-equivalent shortcuts for functions, because there are just too many variables.

As always, if something sounds unfamiliar it is probably because of different terminologies and procedures, so refer to your manual for their interpretation. If you have read the last segment and made preparations, you should have (7) video clips, (3) title pages, and (2) audio clips, all digitized how you need them, filed and organized in your project bins. If not, go back and read the first part to see what you will need for this editing exercise. Okay, everything is ready, so let's begin.

If you haven't done it yet save your project. Call it what you want, but make it short so you can easily read it on the timeline tab. Next, you want an opening for this video, so select one of the b-roll clips in your bin and drop it into your timeline. You should be able to either; click hold and drag the clip, select the clip and use a bin user button or pull-down menu. If you use the button or menu, and nothing happens, it might be that the clip will not appear on the timeline until you hold the mouse over it. Either way put the clip in Video 1 track, starting it at the two-second mark. You may have to use the zoom tool to place it exactly at two-seconds.

There are two things to note here. First, you probably have the option in your editing preferences, to change how the video clip bar (column) appears on the timeline. You may have the option of making it look like a long storyboard with image frames, a bar with a single image on the front and back, or just a solid bar. If you own a slower computer, you probably want the plain bar to save on processing speed, which is what this exercise will use. Besides, it is more difficult on they eyes looking at a multitude of storyboard images.

Also note that the reason why you start the clip at two-seconds on the timeline is because you want enough room to dissolve from black at the beginning of the clip. This is an important concept about digital editing to remember before we continue, and is the reason why you should digitize a few seconds on both ends of what you will actually use. This is not as critical with audio clips, but the reason you digitize extra room on video clips is because you will need the time for transitions like a simple dissolve, which is what we will be using.

A normal dissolve lasts from one to two seconds, sometimes lasting three. Dissolves can occasionally even be four or five seconds long, in dramatic sequences. When using special effect transitions, some of these may last up to five seconds or more, even if they are played at fast speed. The speed of a transition like a dissolve can usually be modified in programs, which will also affect how much space the transition takes up in the timeline. If it is faster it will take up less space (time), and making it longer will take up more. Either way, a dissolve or transition needs time to function, and will require using part of both clips on each side. This means that a portion of these clips will not be seen clearly, or at all. At the very minimum, a clip will lose 15 frames (half a second) for a 1 second dissolve, and more frames if the dissolve is longer.

This is why you need to digitize space on each clip beforehand, to allow for this transition to occur. If the clip is two seconds long, you will only see one second of the clip by using a one-second dissolve on each side. There is a chance that the clip may not even play. If you use a two-second dissolve, making it one second on each side, forget about it! The clip definitely will not play, and you'll get an error message. If you digitize only what you need, and use a long dissolve between clips, the part that is cut-off may be what you really wanted to see. You will either have to shorten the dissolve, or re-digitize the clip to make it longer. It is something to chew on while you are digitizing.

Okay, the first clip should be in the timeline now. By the way, did you notice that we did not double-click and adjust the clip in the source screen before dropping it in, like your manual tutorial probably says? Unless it is a long clip, lasting for a few minutes, just dropping it in is quicker. The source window comes in handy when you have more complicated projects, with numerous elements already in the timeline. With the short clips we are using, is not really necessary to pre-mark them in the source window unless you need the experience and practice.

Now we want to begin our first clip by dissolving it up from black. In most cases, playing a timeline without any video will only show black, which is fine when you are using cut edits. A transition like a dissolve requires a clip on both sides for it to work, so to dissolve up from black you need a black still-frame clip. Place the indicator bar at the beginning of the timeline. You can either create a black frame by using a pull-down menu, user button, or even create one in your title tool. Either way you do it, make the frame last one and a half-seconds long. When you click 'OK,' the black frame either will appear in the timeline at the point of the indicator bar, or you may have to place it yourself.

Next click and move the vertical indicator bar on the timeline, and slide it between the two clips. You can place it exactly where you want it by using the preview screen's frame-step buttons. Both screens should be showing you where the indicator bar is. The source screen will probably show you two screens when you get in between the clips. Now, with either a user button or pull-down menu, select dissolve, and a smaller frame will appear in the timeline between the clips, probably at a default setting of one second. This is fine, but will require some adjusting for what we need. What we want is a full second dissolve of video. Using the indicator bar method will only give you 15 frames on each clip. There is another more preferred method, which will give us what we need.

You may have to select a user button or pull-down menu, but some programs will let you use the mouse to slide and overlap one clip over another, automatically creating a dissolve. This is the easiest method. A little time display will probably pop up to adjust the length of the dissolve. Just click and hold the black frame, and slide it right until the time reads one-second. However way you insert it, you have now created a basic video transition. Preview it if you like, and save your project.

Now we will determine how long the video clip should be. Your first title text has large fonts, and should be easy to read quickly, so the video does not have to be shown for very long. The video clip (b-roll) you are using should be at least ten seconds long, so let's cut it down to eight-seconds, allowing room for a dissolve on each end. In reality, the clip will only be fully visible for six-seconds. For this next step you will be using your left mouse button.

Some programs require you to select a user button or pull-down menu before starting, and some will let you trim the clip just by grabbing the end of it with the mouse pointer, when the proper icon pops up. You can use usually trim either side of the clip, but for now click and hold the right end of the clip and drag it to the left. This is good for a rough estimate. A more precise way of doing this is by double-clicking and adjusting the clip in the source or preview screen, using the frame-step and 'mark-out' buttons. The screen should also show the clip's actual time length. Now save your project.

What you have so far are two clips, a one and a half-second black frame clip, and an eight-second video clip, with a one-second dissolve in between. In our next segment, we will put your first title page over the video clip in the timeline and continue editing the project.