Filmmaking and video editing are both an art form and a process. You can expect joy, sadness, frustration, and pretty much every human emotion as you create your piece of art. Just like all true artists, filmmakers leave a piece of their soul on screen. That’s not to say that you need to go to such lengths for video marketing. On the contrary, promoting your brand through videos is about connecting with people such that they want to find out more about you. You’re essentially creating curiosity and intrigue. An online video editor is a perfect way to do that. In fact, you can learn more about how to do that by leveraging the tools and templates it offers for your video creation.
Common Video Editing Terms from your Online Video Editor
Depending on what type of learner you are, you might want to check out some common editing words before you get started with your video online. Some people might prefer to just jump straight in and just try them out when they make a video. Either way, here are some typical words you can expect to find on most video editors:
- Aspect ratio
- Crop factor
- Jumpcut
- Crosscut
- J cut
- Fade
- Transitions
- Color temperature
- Three-point lighting
Aspect Ratio
This refers to the relationship between the height and the width of each frame when you edit videos. It’s worth noting when you create videos for social media that each platform actually recommends different aspect ratios. So, for example, Twitter uses 16:9 whilst Facebook works well with square 1:1 or vertical 4:5, 2:3, and 9:16. Nevertheless, some video editor software is specially designed to download directly into some social media platforms so the aspect ratio will be done for you.
Crop
All video editing tools offer this simple option to remove any unnecessary parts to your images. This is particularly useful when perhaps something appeared in your video clips that weren’t supposed to be there. Again though, most video editing templates are pre-designed so you’ll only most probably be using this on your own video content.
Jump Cut
Essentially, a clip is cut such that the video jumps forwards in time. This is one of the easiest effects to implement with your video editor so it’s tempting to overuse it. Actually, most professionals suggest that you should avoid it if you’re new to editing unless you have a major mistake to edit out.
CrossCut
Rapidly changing between two different scenes that are happening at the same time can give context. When it comes to video marketing and launching a free video though, simple is often best. It’s therefore a good idea to plan ahead and think about your key message. How would cutting between two scenes represent your brand? Perhaps you can have a customer using your product at home in one scene and crosscut with the manufacturing process happening in parallel, for example.
J Cut
Sometimes it can be powerful to allow the audience to hear something off-screen which is what a J cut does for you. This means that people have to use their imaginations through so make sure that the context is clear when doing your final video editing.
Fade
It can be very useful to have an image fading in and out of a black, or any other colored, background. Combine this with the right music and you could have a dramatic entrance or departure of your main subject focus.
Transitions
Digital effects can be great fun for transitions when making videos for free. To give you an idea, think of animations such as bubbles or frames that come in and out of your images. Of course, transitions also involve fading in and out but you’ll soon discover that most video editors get quite creative with these and there are lots of styles to choose from.
Color Temperature
This basically means the color of the light coming from a bulb. There’s a bit more physics behind that but in terms of video editing, it refers to the measurement of the light sources influencing your shot. As you can imagine, there’s a scale on most video editors for you to adjust to suit your images. As a general rule of thumb though, you’ll generally need the warmer tungsten setting of 3200K and daylight at 5600K to create stunning quality videos with your editor.
Three-Point Lighting
When you make a video, lighting is the most important consideration. Of course, you can adjust this post-production in your online video editor. Regardless, it’s useful to get it right from the start with your three-point lighting. This refers to the three types of light that impact your video clips. As a summary, these are the key light that shines on your main subject, the fill light that counteracts the shadows from your key light, and your backlight that further removes shadows from the side.
Working with an Online Video Editor
Video marketing will teach you a lot about video editing. Of course, you can go as far as you like with it. Although, it’s worth remembering that an online video editor does most of the hard work for you. After all, your key goal with video marketing is to reach as many people as possible with your messaging. It’s not about passing a film school with flying colors. Clearly, the two can go together and the above terms will help you find your way around any online video editor. Nevertheless, sometimes you should just give things a go and see what happens. Your online video maker guarantees you a high-quality output, especially if you use the templates, so have fun with it. You’ll work out the rest as you go along. If you’re looking for professional help, consider checking out Standby Productions
