Video Editing Run-down
Video editing can be one of the most difficult and tedious parts of multimedia. There is a lot involved when it comes to making sure everything is edited correctly, timed correctly, and more. There are so many different tools to use and ways to edit videography that it’s almost overwhelming. In this article, I am going to be talking about some of those tools and the various important video editing types and functions.
In terms of the different types of video editing, people use different ones specific to what their desire for an outcome is. Different methods have their advantages and disadvantages, but work out in the editor’s favor in the end. There are two main types of video editing: linear and non-linear. The most common and originally used type of video editing in the past was linear video editing. Linear video editing consists of specific copying from one tape (yes, a physical tape) to another. This type of editing was used before digital software and computers that could edit videography became a thing. With the linear editing process, two video machines act as a source and a recorder, connecting to record the desired order from the tape then copy to the new tape. The name “linear” video editing is pretty self-explanatory. This means that the recording in this type of editing is recorded in an order from start to finish without stopping. With that being said, if a mistake is made while recording through linear editing, it’s pretty much impossible to go back and fix anything. Linear video editing used to be the preferred way of video editing (in the ’90s) but CAN still be used. Non-linear video editing is a computer and digital way of video editing that involves transferring any captured footage into a video editing software to later edit or add different things to the recording. Examples of what can be added to footage in non-linear video editing include effects, graphics, images, sounds, text, and more. Today, non-linear is the most preferred and the best way ever to edit videos. There are so many more pros that make this type of editing better than the old-fashioned linear way. One of the things video editors find the most remarkable about non-linear compared to linear editing is the fact that it allows the editor to make changes to anywhere and any time of a recording, hence, “non-linear”. Because you can do so much with non-linear editing with pretty much any software and use it on pretty much any digital platform, it is now the most preferred and most common. Non-linear is the industry standard for video editing, I would say. If you were to walk into a job interview for the position of video content editor, I’m sure they would laugh in your face if you were to try and do some linear old-fashioned editing. Ultimately, both types of video editing are equally important to know about because it shows further understanding and knowledge about technology, which can always be an advantage.
There are more detailed editing techniques that can be used to edit videos, like batch processing. Batch processing in the digital world is processing multiple items as a batch all at once. With this process, there is no requirement for the user to interact with what is being processed, automatically doing the work. In terms of video editing, this processes and executes desired functions or components of videos in batches together to ultimately save time and space. However, this is no longer a really used process, as it is outdated and used more so with information and data or files. Project trimming is another tool that can be included in the detail of video editing. This process involves trimming down large size video files that are not necessarily needed in the post-editing process. For example, if you were to record a tutorial of making a cake but left your camera sitting there beforehand for a good hour recording unneeded stuff, project trimming would cut all of that out of the actual file in the editing phase to keep your file size as small as possible. This is important because with videography, recording and video file sizes can add up and you can run out of space on your device. There are different software such as Premiere Pro that have a tool that allows you to achieve project trimming. These steps are important to any video project or video editing process because they ensure the best quality, size, and execution possible of your video. It keeps things organized and easy, which is important with videography.
Overall, there is a whole lot more to video editing than what I covered here in this article. From personal experience, I can say that it’s a lot of work and editing, and the best thing you can do is prepare yourself to make it as easy as possible to edit with the right tools and software, and more importantly the right knowledge of video editing.
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