Getting Started with Video Editing, Beginner to Pro
So you’re starting to shoot video and you’ve got some footage but now you need to put it all together and create an edited video. In this episode, I’m going to talk about the programs that are available to you from basic, entry-level editors to professional-grade editors.
Before I begin, here’s a spoiler alert: You do not need to spend a single penny in order to edit together a great video. You don’t need to buy Final Cut Pro, you don’t need to upgrade your Creative Cloud subscription and get Premiere Pro, you don’t need to spend a dime.
Entry-Level Video Editing Software
Your computer comes with video editing software. On Macs that’s iMovie, and on Windows it’s called Video Editor. Both of these have basic timelines with drag-and-drop clip editing.
iMovie: Available on macOS and iOS. You can download it from the Apple website.
Windows Video Editor: available on Windows 10. Hit your Start button and start typing the words “Video Editor.”
Both of these editors are very basic, very simple editors that simply allow you to import clips, edit clips and arrange them in a sequence. That’s really all you need to get started, but if you’re going to get serious about adding video to your portfolio, I would just skip these options altogether and consider starting at
Intermediate-Level Video Editing Software
If you want to jump ahead to editing with more control, more polish, and more features, there are a number of options for you to choose from, but I’ll stick to the three best and most popular: Camtasia, Filmora, and Vegas Movie Studio.
What I find interesting is that all three of these have identical layouts, so it really doesn’t matter which one you go with.
Camtasia: Incredibly popular video editor and screen capture software. It’ll cost you $300.
Filmora: Gaining popularity among YouTubers. Very easy to use. Different plans starting at $40 USD per year.
VEGAS Movie Studio: Not as popular, but it will grow with you. It has intermediate and professional-level features but it’s not widely used, and there aren’t a lot of tutorials.
These intermediate-level editing programs will get you 90% of the way to professional-level video, but as you continue your journey into video, you’re inevitably going to want to start using professional-grade, multi-track, video editing software.
Professional-Level Video Editing Software
At the professional level, we have Adobe Premiere Pro, Final Cut Pro, and Davinci Resolve. All of these programs are used to edit commercials, TV shows, and Hollywood movies.
They all feature multi-track timeline editing, nested sequences, professional-level color grading, customizable workspaces, hardware interfaces, multiple monitor support, third-party plugin support, and more. If that seems overwhelming, you don’t need to start there. Ignore all that and get started with basic editing.
Adobe Premiere Pro: Included in Adobe Creative Cloud complete suite. Interface and functionality will be familiar if you already use Lightroom or Photoshop. Thanks to YouTube, it’s the most popular video editor in the world. Plenty of tutorials online. This is what I’m using to edit videos for the Studio Builder YouTube channel.
Final Cut Pro: Made by Apple. Only available for macOS. Very popular for editing Hollywood movies and very stable. You can download a 90-day free trial from Apple but will have to spend $300-400 to buy it, depending on where you are in the world.
DaVinci Resolve: Weapon of choice for Hollywood editors. It’s also free, It used to cost $500,000 but was purchased by Black Magic and they made the software free. You can upgrade to Resolve Studio which has more features, including a neural engine that can up-res 1080p to 4K, remove objects, speed ramping, and so much more. Unless you’re running a full-time post-production studio, the free version is all you really need.
Summary
If money is a concern, get DaVinci Resolve and start playing. There are a lot of tutorials online, it’s what they use in Hollywood, and you can’t beat free. If you’ve never edited video before, though, it has an incredibly steep learning curve, in which case, I recommend starting with Filmora or Camtasia.
My recommendation lands with Premiere Pro. The interface is already going to feel familiar to you, there are a ton of resources online for you to learn how to use it, and you can try it out now by installing it from the Adobe Creative Cloud app.
But here’s the thing: you need to get making video. Stop making excuses. Start making videos. Stop wasting time and start shooting. Start messy. Start now.
Full show notes can be found at studiobuilder.co/42
Take care.
