I wanted to add a big of a longer blurb here for the video this week from Tim Runia.
That’s not because I wanted to dive into the complexities of creating videos but because there is a key message here that holds true regardless of what you are shooting or editing.
You can see how he takes a set of shots involving some rather mundane action and turns it all into something else entirely.
He walks through the decisions behind the transformation, from arranging foreground and background elements to create depth, to using contrasting clothing colors and controlling the light to help the subject stand out.
The real starting point here is deciding what the audience should feel, which gives each later technical choice a clear purpose.
The tutorial then connects those visual choices to filming and editing.
Tips such as a wide shot establishing the setting with medium shots and close-ups bringing attention to actions and expressions.
He demonstrates how holding a shot a little longer can create curiosity, how a subtle move toward the subject can build anticipation, and how room ambiance, footsteps, a zipper, and carefully chosen music make the scene feel complete.
For beginners, this offers a manageable exercise to try at home: take one ordinary activity and experiment with framing, light, shot selection, and sound.
Intermediate creators can use it to examine why technically competent footage sometimes lacks atmosphere or emotional impact.
Its value lies in showing how these skills work together, giving you a practical way to make your next sequence feel more deliberate and tell a clearer story.
This is Part Two of a series with Gabriel VIP tackling a familiar obstacle for all video creators: getting everything ready before you can press record.
As part of his 60 Second Studio series, this week he takes a look at how remote controls, lights that share the same control app, and saved lighting presets can speed up the process.
He shows how these changes reduce his lighting setup time from 70 seconds to just 17, including restoring the colors and brightness settings he changes when filming other footage.
These are all improvements that cost nothing, such as keeping the background tidy and preparing memory cards after footage has been safely backed up.
For any beginner and intermediate creator, it shows how the small, repetitive tasks that make filming feel like a chore can be streamlined.
Remember the key point here which is that replacing equipment is generally optional; the practical lesson is to build a repeatable routine that makes starting your next video easier.
The introduction of high definition footage into the hands of the average user was in itself a huge leap forward for all of us.
However, with that introduction came two technical problems.
The first was that even the slightest hint of a shot being out of focus was magnified by the high definition capture resulting in footage that looked terrible.
Fortunately with most modern devices, whether cameras or phones, the new breed of auto-focus systems have caught up.
The second problem has not been quite as simple to fix.
That problem is shaky footage.
Many, many creators these days are working handheld and that, combined with high definition, can result in footage that can be pretty hard to watch!
Whilst it is true that onboard stabilization features have improved and are improving all the time, we are still left with software stabilization as the final solution.
Currently there are two main types of stabilization available in most editing software.
One is the old school type that tries to analyze the footage, identify the unwanted movement and compensate for it.
In many cases this can be enough, but usually it means you as the operator to some degree need to understand what type of stabilization is needed in order to guide the software.
On top of that, there will always be some amount of cropping done to the image in applying the process meaning you lose of of your original full frame.
The other type of stabilization currently getting better and better is AI driven.
This form of stabilization analyzes the images of the footage, identifies what should be moving and what should not and applies the fix.
However it adds an extra step in that it “rebuilds” the outer perimeter of the image that would normally be lost.
You can see the Filmora version in action below.
A few weeks back Filmora updated to version 16 and as I mentioned at the time, they seem to have (mercifully) taken a little break from all the AI stuff!
One of the new features I liked was the greater flexibility being offered in the area of masking.
They have always had pretty good masking features but the new one is really good.
It allows you to apply multiple masks at the same time but more importantly, apply color correction and grading to each mask.
The video below show what you can do with it.
This next video explores Power Director’s Highlight effects and how you can use them to draw the viewer’s attention to a particular part of a video or photo.
The tutorial demonstrates options such as glows, spotlights, flashlights, and masks, showing how each changes the look of the image or video footage.
It walks through the controls available for customizing these effects, including their position, size, feathering, shadow, and color.
As you can see for yourself, it seems to be a fairly specific kind of effect but possible worth having up your sleeve at any given time.
Agnes from Dina and Agnes takes over the helm for this week with a very helpful tutorial on editing cuts.
Bear in mind that Dina and Agnes work exclusively in CapCut and as a result all their tutorials are aimed at that editor.
However many of their videos, like this one, apply to any editing situation using any video editor.
With most editing jobs there is a lot of emphasis placed on effects and corrections and a bunch of other stuff but your core action as actually making cuts.
In this video Agnes runs through some great information giving an understanding of when, where, how and most importantly, why you should make a cut.
In part three of his Adobe Premiere Elements 2027 basic training series, Steve Grisetti explains how to assemble a video project and work with clips on the timeline.
He introduces the basic editing moves involved in placing and arranging footage, helping you understand how your individual clips fit together into a sequence.
The tutorial also explores ripple editing which is how changes to one clip can shift the footage that follows, and demonstrates how to remove unwanted gaps between clips.
This is probably the key video in his series given that you will spend most of your time editing working on the timeline.
As a person who absolutely hates being in front of the camera, I’ll take any advice going!
In this video Chris runs through some very handy tips for anyone wanting to appear confident on screen.
Year ago I was involved in the music industry and I remember seeing quite a big singer at that time just before he was going on stage to perform.
It is still a vivid memory because the guy was bent over a bucket at the side of the stage, throwing up violently!
Later I asked him what that was all about and he told me it was a pretty regular occurrence.
He also told me he had long since given up on expecting to feel totally comfortable while performing, but had mastered the art of appearing comfortable, and that was as good as it was going to get!
So the trick here is that even if you don’t feel comfortable, you should at least look comfortable.
One of the reasons I use DaVinci Resolve as a video editor is because of the Color page.
This is one of the most powerful features of Resolve and once you come to grips with it, it becomes easily the best in class for getting clips right.
However! One of the downsides of using Resolve is that it is aimed at pro editors.
The result of that is that the program seems to be pretty complicated from the outset.
In reality, it is not that complicated but when it comes to pulling off simple effects, it certainly can seem so!
The key to this is knowing how to do it in the first place because once you know, suddenly it is simple!
Here’s how to create a Picture in Picture effect using resolve.
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