Making videos can be challenging. There’s always more to learn, and it can be easy to feel discouraged if you’re an aspiring content creator just starting out on large, crowded platforms like YouTube. Most people that aspire to become YouTube creators and influencers drastically underestimate how much effort goes into shooting and editing video content.
One thing new content creators quickly realize is that actually shooting takes up only a minority of the time needed to produce a video; you’ll spend somewhere between one-hour shooting for every three or five hours in preparation and post-production. YouTube’s algorithm helps somewhat, but it still pays to put out quality content.
So, while you will need to master your camera, it’s equally important for you to master your skills in planning and editing. It’s now easier than ever to shoot high-quality video, so the amount of effort you put into preparation and post-production will set your work apart.
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1. Organize Your Workspace
The key to efficiency is organizational skills. If your workspace is cluttered, it can be hard enough to function properly; forget about getting any work done. When things are cluttered, you waste time shuffling things around so that you can have filming space. So, if you can, make sure you keep whatever workspace you have organized, whether you record your YouTube videos in an office, at your desk, or in a section of a room.
Having an organized workspace will help you keep a clear head and reduce stress, so try your best to keep the space where you work pristine, clean, and organized.
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2. Save and Use Presets
Using presets is such a time-killer, and I highly recommend using presets for all of your gear. Creating default presets for your gear takes time and experience for you to discover those presets naturally as you gain professional experience. Still, using presents lets you make the most of each task and job you do to speed up the editing process. Here are some presets I use for my gear:
- Have default camera settings for filming in your studio and home studio saved to custom mode 1.
- Use your lighting software to set presets for different lighting conditions.
- Set up presets for editing software like PowerDirector for audio and color grading to speed up the entire editing process.
- Use the best subtitle editors for free
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3. Organize Your Weekly Workflow
Commit certain days of the week to different tasks. For example, I start the week off by spending the entirety of Sunday planning and working on pre-production. With a full day of planning, as soon as Monday morning, I get to filming. It’s a good idea to have separate days for editing, researching, writing, and troubleshooting, depending on how much you need to work on the videos you’re working on.
Once you’ve got a handle on your current week’s workload, make it a goal to stay two weeks ahead of your upload schedule. This way, if anything happens, or if plans change, you’ll have plenty of time to relax. It is also a lot less stressful to know that whatever happens, you’re all set for the next two weeks.
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4. Use Proxies
If you film in really high-quality video settings, you want to be able to film in proxies. Proxies are basically smaller video versions of your high-quality videos, and it takes a long time to transcode high-quality videos into proxies on your computer. Certain cameras allow you to record proxies simultaneously and allow you to bring those proxies into your editor of choice and edit with those proxies, making it a lot easier to edit your videos on your computer. So, if you can, use proxies.
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5. Understand How Audio and Video Codecs Work
Video and audio codecs are a fundamental part of video making. You need to know which codec to use to reduce the file size of your videos without resulting in video quality losses. When used properly, codecs allow final renders of videos to use less bandwidth than they otherwise would, which is useful for sharing and uploading videos quickly.
HEVC and H.264 are popular lossless video codecs. Tools like Magisto let you choose the format and the codec of your audio and video.
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6. Invest in Quality Editing Software
Free online video editors are okay for learning the ropes, but if you plan to earn from making videos professionally, then you can’t afford to make the compromises involved with using only free video software. You may even have to use a watermark, which does not look good for your channel.
VideoStudio Ultimate is one video editing software worth investing in with features needed for processing high-resolution videos.
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7. Know Where to Search For Music and Sound Effects
Music is crucial to any video. But choosing the perfect audio clip is easier said than done. It’s worth searching for free and copyright-free music on YouTube directly.
There are paid options for royalty-free music and sound effects. Paid options offer advanced features like recommendations that help you find music that you’re looking for. You’ll save time off of searching for music and sound effects yourself and receive recommendations for new royalty-free music tracks and sound effects based on your search profile. Find music and sound effects to use with any video in under a minute using features for finding similar tracks.
While filming is about capturing stories. It’s video editing that is really all about telling those stories. It can be daunting to finish with filming only to realize that there’s so much left to do before your new video is ready, but the presentation is key, and practice makes perfect.
It’s a truism that you need to suck at anything before you can get good at it, so now is the perfect time to start making videos. For me, the hardest part was keeping myself organized. But with the right tools and the right drive to learn and improve, video editing can be a very satisfying and rewarding skill.