Unmasking the Magic: A Step-by-Step Video Editing Guide and Tools

Do you want to use video to promote your brand and are looking for a video editing guide and tools to get started? You’ve come to the right place. 

Video is one of the most powerful assets for engaging audiences. Compared to other content formats, video is unparalleled in its ability to tell stories, generate social proof, convey emotions, and capture attention. 

Statistics also prove that the present and future belong to video. Asked how they want to learn about a product, 44% of consumers said they prefer to watch a short video. This comfortably beats other formats such as ebooks, infographics, and text-based articles with 16%, 15%, and 13%, respectively. 

However, to succeed with video marketing, you need to learn how to create top-quality videos for your brand. Our comprehensive guide will show you how to edit your videos like a pro and recommend some of the top tools to consider. 

Let’s get started!

Step-by-step Video Editing Guide and Tools to Consider

Video editing plays a key role in the overall video production process. If not handled properly, it can result in poor-quality videos that fail to engage your audience effectively. Follow these steps to video your videos like a pro.  

Step 1: Make a Plan

Before you step out to shoot your video, create a plan. It doesn’t have to be very detailed but you need a clear picture of how your video project will look like. Most video editing guides and tools experts recommend creating a plan for the production and post-production phases.

Creating a plan streamlines your video creation process since you’ll know exactly what to do at a particular stage. It also helps you allocate resources more efficiently since you’ll know the video editing cost and production process.

Step 2: Shoot Enough Footage

According to the Attrock comprehensive video editing mistakes guide, not capturing sufficient footage is one of the common video marketing mistakes video editors make. The lack of sufficient footage to work with often hinders creativity in the editing phase, thereby hindering the storytelling process. 

Gone are the days when storage services were expensive and inaccessible. Nowadays, you have more storage options, such as: 

• Memory cards with gigabytes of storage space
• External hard drives with terabytes of storage space
• Cloud storage services like Google Drive and DropBox
• Portable SSDs for fast and reliable storage on the go

Step 3: Organize Your Files

To make your editing work easier, ensure to organize your files from the get-go. Ensuring your video clips, audio recordings, and video backgrounds are well organized makes it easy for you to find the content you need when editing. 

Here’s a simple video editing guide to organize your files effectively:

• Store your footage in the cloud: Raw footage takes a lot of storage space. To keep your computer free of clutter, store all your raw footage in the cloud. This will also ensure you don’t lose your precious footage in case your computer and drives get stolen. 
• Use a consistent labeling format: Go through all your files and label them accordingly for easy identification. Many professional editors use the Year-Month-Day_FileName format. For example, 240303_Makeup-Tutorial. 
• Organize your folders: Create a folder for each video project. Within each folder, have separate subfolders for your video clips, audio files, background music, and still pictures. 

Step 4: Choose the Right Video Editing Software

After shooting and organizing your footage, it’s now time to edit it to create a quality video that communicates your message to the masses. For this, you’ll need reliable video editing software. 

There are many video tools to choose from, some more complex than others. The software you should should balance two important features:

• Usability
• Performance

You should be familiar with the software so you can use it effectively to achieve your editing goals. Additionally, the software should have the features you need to execute your creative vision efficiently. 

As you explore different platforms, ponder through these questions to determine the right video editing software for you: 

Is this a complex video project?

If you’re creating a long-form documentary with extensive raw footage, you’ll need a professional video editing software with advanced features.

Most of these tools come with detailed tutorials to help you master the platform’s true capabilities. 

Is it a short project for social media?

Professional-grade video editing software might not be necessary for your simpler projects, such as creating social media videos to celebrate your child’s birthday. Most operating systems come with free video editing software for such projects. 

Does my computer meet system requirements?

Complex video editing software needs more computing power to run effectively. Examine your computer to ensure it meets the system requirements to prevent program crushes and other errors. For effective video editing, you need a computer with at least a 2.80 GHz processor, 8GR RAM, a graphics card, and 500 GB of storage. 

Step 5: Edit the Footage

Now, it’s time to edit the raw footage to remove unwanted segments and create a compelling narrative that aligns with your vision. According to Wyzowl’s video marketing study, 87% of consumers say the quality of a video affects their trust in a brand.

As such, you want to edit your footage thoroughly to ensure your video maintains high quality to enhance your video marketing efforts. 

The things to pay attention to when editing your footage include:

• Clarity and focus: Ensure the final video is sharp and clear to keep viewers engaged to the end. Use a trimming tool to remove parts that don’t add great value to the final video. 
• Lighting: Adjust color, brightness, and contrast to enhance visual appeal. If need be, use the color correction feature to adjust the color grade of your video. 
• Sound quality: Ensure the audio is clear in all clips and remove background noises. Balance the audio levels in your clips to ensure a smooth listening experience. 
• Transitions: Use smooth transitions between shots to maintain a coherent flow. Avoid overly dramatic transitions as this could give your video an amateurish look.
• Storytelling: Your editing should enhance the narrative flow and communicate your intended message clearly. 
• Effects: Add visual effects to enhance the viewing experience without overwhelming your viewers. 

Step 6: Export the Video

When you finish editing and are satisfied with the final output, download your video so you can share it on different platforms. This process is known as exporting and converting your video into a playable file format. 

The popular video file formats include:

• .mp4
• .webm
• .mov
• .mkv
• .wmv

Most of these file formats are supported by the main platforms where you will publish your videos, such as YouTube and Vimeo.

Ready to Create Quality Videos?

Now that you’ve gone through our comprehensive video editing guide and tools post, you’re ready to create quality videos. Remember to create a plan before shooting any footage. Also, ensure to shoot enough footage and organize your files to simplify the video editing process.

With the right video editing software and skills, you will create high-quality videos that will help you earn the trust of your audience. Implement these tips when creating your next video and watch your brand soar. 

Gaurav Sharma

Gaurav Sharma is the founder and CEO of Attrock, a results-driven digital marketing company. Grew an agency from 5-figure to 7-figure revenue in just two years | 10X leads | 2.8X conversions |  300K organic monthly traffic. He also contributes to top publications like HuffPost, Adweek, Business 2 Community, TechCrunch, and more.