DIY Video Editor Blog

How to Find the Story in Anything I wanted to kick off this week's Friday Roundup with the video below because it covers an absolutely vital subject to making videos. Many people start off making videos of various events, gatherings or whatever and then after a while begin to wonder why those videos aren't really that good. They shoot everything possible and then in editing … [Read more...] about The Friday Roundup – The Story, Camera Tricks and Compositing

How to Rack Focus Your Camera Lens - 4 Methods Showing the Basics OK so on this one let's start with a little theory! There are two terms used when referring to changing the focal length of the camera during a shot and subsequently what is or is not in focus. The first is "Rack Focus" and the second is "Pull Focus." These two terms tend to get used interchangeably around … [Read more...] about The Friday Roundup – Rack Focusing, Webcam Videos and Art Direction

How To Build Your Own Video Editing PC One of the most common causes of problems with any video editing regardless of the software being used is a lack of computer resources being available.In probably 90% of the cases where readers have contacted me with editing problems the culprit turns out to be the computer and not the software.Editing with the H.264 codec (which … [Read more...] about The Friday Roundup – Computer Resources, Choosing a Camera and Masks

8 CAMERA SHOWDOWN - Can You Tell The Difference? I never really get too much into the wacky world of comparing cameras for video or trying to keep up with the latest and greatest in the subject. I just don't have the time or resources to do that and when you combine that with my natural laziness... well you know. Anyway one thing I really get tired of are those circular … [Read more...] about The Friday Roundup – Travel Video Cliches, Camera Shootouts and Ken Burns

Using Smash Cuts for Dramatic or Comedic Moments Rather than just endlessly use pre-packaged vanilla transitions or simple straight cuts why not branch out a little! In previous posts I have covered using audio along with straight cuts to create bespoke transitions but there are many, many other things you can do. One of those is the smash cut. On the surface this is a simple … [Read more...] about The Friday Roundup – Smash Cuts, Sequences and Isolated Vocals