How to Edit Your First Video (Step-by-Step)
If you have been following this blog for any amount of time then you should know that I just loves me a solid workflow tutorial!
The reason for that is that I subject myself to the daily news, tips, articles and more importantly, marketing rubbish that gets put out about video creation.
Amidst all of that noise there is one subject that very rarely gets much attention from existing creators.
That subject is basically covered by the title of how to actually start.
You have shot some footage, you installed editing software and perhaps even opened it… so now what do you do!
Here’s at least one answer to that.
The Gaussian Splat Effect – Creative Transition Tutorial
How could you go past learning how to create an effect called a Gaussian Splat!
I mean come on!
I really have no idea when you would actually use this but it is a cool looking effect and relatively simple to pull off.
Besides that, think how impressed your friends or clients will be when you casually say something like, “Sure I could do that and while I am at it I’ll drop in a gaussian splat to really take it to the next level!”
Manual Adjustments Take Forever… Do THIS Instead – PowerDirector
One of the features that was added to PowerDirector a year or so back was the ability to copy and paste keyframe attributes from one clip to another.
At the time it was introduced it was the result of a lot of complaining to CyberLink on various forums that the feature was needed and wanted.
Eventually they came to the party and added the feature and at the time it was all the rage!
Of course since then some features like this have sort of drifted into the background while the marketing guys are getting all hot’n’heavy over A.I.
So here’s a little recap on what is a very, very handy feature to save you time in your editing.
Tips on Customizing Titles Designed by Cyberlink – PowerDirector
Like most decent video editing software these days PowerDirector comes with an overwhelming amount amount of free assets already loaded into the program.
On top of that they also continually add to that already impressive library of various elements you can use.
What is often overlooked by more inexperienced users is that a great many of those assets are customizable once you load them on to the timeline.
Here’s a look at how you can access those customization settings for titles.
Remove Silence From Video Automatically – Save Hours of Editing
This is a feature that many editing programs now offer and is one of those hybrid A.I. modules that can really help you with your editing process.
The feature itself is basically able to identify and remove silences in sections of video where there is silence which you would have to otherwise manually cut and delete yourself.
In fact if you look at the overall time taken to edit your average speaking video for YouTube or similar a majority of the time taken to do that would be carrying out this exact process.
I have given it a run based solely on the automatic setting and for most of the clips I gave it, it was completely accurate.
On other clips where I wanted longer gaps left between spoken words I used the manual mode which works fine.
Make Money Editing Videos – Portfolio Building & Client Strategy with Filmora
OK so first up the title of the video below talks about making 2K per week editing videos so let’s just acknowledge that as the clickbait it is.
Having said that let’s set our sights on a level that is more realistic because if you have taken the time to learn the basics of editing, you can make money.
Of course how much you can make will depend on a number of factors and no, it is not as easy as falling off a log!
If it was that easy everyone would be doing it.
Having said all of that here’s the real situation with editing at the moment.
Just about every creator that gets to any point of even minor success on YouTube or Instagram or whatever very, very quickly works out one vital point.
If they don’t farm out the editing of their videos as soon as they can, they will soon start to struggle with maintaining the level of content they need to build on their success.
In fact I saw an interview with Charlotte Dobre (https://www.youtube.com/@CharlotteDobre) the other day who has a couple of million subscribers.
In that interview she stressed that the first task she contracted out to a freelancer was that of an editor and she did not hire anyone else until she had that task covered.
So that tells you clearly that the need and the demand is there so if that seems interesting to you, here are some steps you can take to get started.
The Wildest Effect I’ve Ever Made in DaVinci Resolve
OK kids, there comes a time when everyone that deals with DaVinci Resolve has to pull up their big boy, big girl or gender non-specific pants and dive into the Fusion Page!
The reason I say that is because working with Resolve and not using the Fusion Page is just leaving so much of that programs capabilities on the table.
Yes it is daunting!
However if you can get a handle on it a whole new editing world of special effects opens up.
So in light of that here’s a tutorial form Daniel Batal that you can walk through with him step by step to begin to understand how it all works.
Best Free Video Editing Software Without Watermark (Mac & PC 2025)
I referred to a similar video to the one below a few weeks ago and from memory it was from the guys at Primal Video. (https://www.youtube.com/@PrimalVideo)
This is another one from what I would consider to be a trusted source and in this one they go a little deeper into what the free options are.
More importantly they cover how each one differs in what they offer as part of the free model as opposed to what you may have to pay for.
The reason this is relevant is that some people get put off by the fact that they would have to pay for “feature X” not realizing that they would probably never use that feature anyway.
So if you are looking around for a free editing solution this video is a good place to start.