Video Editing Tips

The makings of a good video edit are a combination of nice video transitions and of course seamless audio. Yes this is a video editing site but who wants video without the audio part? There are two ways of getting or converting analog to digital, a converter that automatically converts the analog signals into digital format then directly saving it into your pc or installing a video card that has the facility to accept video from an external source. In analog, there are two specific areas to edit the video itself and the audio part. Since analog devices recorded both on the same track that would be very hard to separate and edit. Digital video has distinct tracks, one for the video data and the other for the audio data. These can be imported independently so editing is a breeze.

There are tons of Video capture and editing software on the market and some of them are even free. Try to go to review sites that provide feedback from users and then do some more investigating by going to the developer�s site and finding out more about the specs, built-in effects and all that you can find out from them. After going through several of these software you can now rank them and make your choice on which to purchase and use. And a note to consider, the video card that you purchased may have some bundled software of its own so try it out and if it works for you there would be no need for additional purchase of separate software.

DVD conversion requires a lot of computational operations which would be no wonder that conversion of 45 minutes of video to take around 8 to 10 hours. Termed lossy video encoding, it has high requirements on processing, memory and storage that it does indeed take hours upon hours of processing. Encoding in either MPEG-2 or MPEG-4, movies take up to 10 hours. Just a tip, try doing your editing during the daytime and then the encoding process during the rest of the night, you might also want to turn off the screensaver and sleep/hibernate functions of your motherboard so you don’t end up throwing it out the window as you wake up expecting a finished conversion only to find a snoozing computer.

There are a lot of factors that have to be satisfied from which none is actually accomplished but satisfying most will result in a decent length of film. Do plan ahead for the planning allows you to get to know the area and gets you to find the best places to take shots from. It might not have anything to do with editing but it sure helps with the amount of material you need for that perfectly edited video. If you are going to film solemn moments like baptisms, weddings and other formal activities, do plan to go to the venue so you can familiarize yourself with the person who is in charge (priest, rabbi….) so you get to introduce yourself. Try to establish a rapport so you get to ask the do’s and don’ts of the ceremony. You get to show respect and are allowed to film during the event itself without getting thrown out as a nuisance.

Ask any professional videographer and they would always tell you that for a 2-hour length of processed video, they would have taken more than twice that and from all the best angles. Also, most videographer work in teams from two to more depending on the price for they allow the coverage of events from all angles, a relevant and important shot may suddenly have the subjects move in a way that the view of one camera is obscured with another to take over giving the shot continuity. You can overcome this by combining video with still shots as fill in’s to prevent gaps or jumps from scene to scene and venue to venue. There should also be a lot of shots of the background and venues well before the event for not even the celebrants get to see the in their full splendor.

After investing in all the necessary hardware and equipment, you need to determine the software you would wish to base your work on, they come in several versions from dedicated ones or so-called proprietary formats and general or free ones that are free for all to use. The best software might be to expensive for the home video buff so invest in a manageable piece of software that is easy to use and easy on the wallet. Decent free ones are found from the internet that even have free updates available for download on regular intervals. There might be a bit of trial and error when you begin which is okay for it familiarizes you with the capabilities of your system.

Transferring analog tapes to digital form can take some creative thinking but the best way we’ve seen to give the best output is by using the old digital camcorder. Have the lens cap on so you prevent accidental recording of footage you don’t need. If your camera won’t allow it set it in a quiet room where no one is present to mess up the process. You can also use nifty techniques like the one I used to do for capturing taped sounds, by using a couple of pillows on the bed I set up the recorder and player within cancelling most of the background noise and vibrations from the floors from getting into the recorded audio.

To make your video more appealing and professional-like write a script so you get to have a guide to use and follow as you go along. If you intend to do this as a business, you can even have storyboards done to attain that smooth flow of video your work is to follow allowing you to come up with professional work. Stick to it and avoid skipping scenes too fast to maintain the proper storyline. It makes for good video as long as you get that smooth flow of ideas.

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You can select a fragment in a source file by switching to the editing mode of that file. To do that, double click on the file name which is on the Source Files list. When you double click it, the built in player will start playing. Usually located in the right part of the window of the program. Next is to move the slider to the desired part of the movie and then click on the In Point button. This will be marked as the starting position of the file. Next step is to move the slider to the desired position within the movie. Then you select the Out Point button. This will set the end of the file to be added. After doing the procedure that i mentioned, the selected In and Out points will display the fragment length or duration in the additional window Properties. You can access this by pressing Ctrl + Enter on the file. Note that this is not applicable to images. Fragment selection is only available for audio and video files.

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The preset video editing tool from Microsoft is probably one of the coolest feature of the whole package. It provides the ultimate user-friendly interface. I started using the software just recently. I am amazed that i could pretty much edit my videos with such incredible ease and efficiency. I did not take long to be comfortable using this software.

How to cut or remove unwanted shots.

• Movie Maker gives you the option of capturing your video manually. You decide exactly what sections of the video you just want to transfer.
• Movie Maker allows you to cut video clips in half. This is a great way to get rid of videos that you will not use for the final movie.
• You can trim the ends of your clips by setting the exact start and end points of each video clip. While working on the timeline, drag the end of each clip to the exact point that you would like it to start or stop.