Basic Video Editing

David Rotan: Hello, I am David Rotan, Video Production Manager with monkeysee.

com and I am showing you how to make the perfect user generated video to submit to our website. Now that we have captured all of our video from our camcorder into our editing program, let's actually start editing and cutting our video together. Now I am going to drag this whole video clip down here, I reach up here to the original clip list and drag it down here and this is called the Timeline. Now all of a sudden there is a blue bar that just popped up.

Video programs, all have their different points about them but they are all generally the same, almost all, virtually all editing programs consist of a bin window where it will show all of your raw footage that you have captured from your camera. It has a Preview window that shows you the particular clip that you are working on or editing and cutting and then it has a Timeline down here at the bottom we see a big bar where it's spread out with little pointers and a counter where we can scroll through using our mouse, if we move it like this it goes very fast and we can find particular portions of that clip that we want to use. So, again I am using iMovie HD but your program might be a little different. You will just want to read the manual or the help instructions but it's all going to be generally the same. So what we are wanting to do when editing is set in and out points which means the in-point just that, it's where we want to cut into that particular clip. It's where we are going to start watching the video. The out-point is going to be where we ended, where we stop and we don't watch anymore of the clip after that portion. So, the easiest way on this program I have decided, I want to start my clip at around 2 minutes and 49 seconds in as we see on the Timeline, that's where I gave my best delivery in my video here on this particular clip. So I find right before I am starting the talk and I am using my mouse to drag all the way down to that mark that I have made 2:49 and there we go. I let go and it automatically cuts out all of the footage that I don't want to before that particular moment in time 2:49 mark and so now it immediately starts right there, we have just set an In point. [Video Playing]So there we go, our in point is set, that's where our video begins, we don't have all of that wasted bad take before. Now we have got, we have to find an out point. So what I'll do is scroll to where I want to cut this, I believe I want to cut right before I start talking about ingredients and I am going to cut into a different clip completely, I am going cut into the closeup shot, so we can really see the ingredients needed for our video. So I would say in there.

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[Video Playing]And that's what I want to cut. I say, "I am going to show you how to make the perfect PB and J".

I can also use my arrows keys on my keyboard to go frame by frame if you have noticed here in the Preview window back to before my head tilts down, I want to look for little things like that. It's all about the detail, the devil is in the detail, same thing with editing. I want to cut as soon as say, "The perfect PB and J," boom, I want the cut to a closeup of the ingredients that we are going to need. So that's where I want to make my out point, I am going to do the same thing that I did in for the in point. I am going to come to the end of the clip down here in my Timeline and I am going to drag it to my mark where I had it, right there and there we have it. So now we want to add in another shot. I want to edit in a closeup. Now first of all I should drag this down to my Timeline and there it is, it's highlighted in blue and I am going to drag it to where we want to start with our in point and then again I am just dragging the blue bar to set my In-point. [Video Playing]Okay, I'll cut right there just for time sake and then we want to drag it back to the mark to set an out point just like we did with the first clip and there we have it and you will see down here on your Timeline that the two separate clips are now put together just the portions between the in and out point. So we watched it and we clicked our mouse down here on our Timeline, it would cut together seamlessly.

[Video Playing]And that's the basics of editing your video. You have put together various clips just the portions of the clips that you want setting in an out points, putting them together on your Timeline and again almost all video editing programs are the same. They all feature the same elements.

Some common mistakes are making cuts within the same shot like a wide shot to a wide shot. It's just looks weird, it's a jump cut, it's what we call it because it just jumps. It's always best to have make sure when you are cutting to a different shot it's a different, completely different angle like from a wide shot where you can see all of me standing here at the table, to a very closeup of the ingredients, the peanut butter and the jelly, that's just a natural cut. Now if I went from a wide shot to a wide shot it would just look choppy. So those are some basic editing tips. Again get familiar with the particular editing program that you are using at home and learn as much as you can about it, just by getting out there and shooting videos and playing around with it. So next we will talk about how to output your project and upload it to a website.