The art of manipulating and arranging video shots to tell a story or convey a message, using techniques such as cutting, splicing, and adding special effects to enhance the overall quality and impact of the final production.

What is video editing?

There is no proper way to just define ‘video editing’. One way to just put it simply would be that it’s the manipulation and arrangement of video shots. Video editing is used to structure and present all video information, including films and television shows, video advertisements and video essays.

The 5 stages to Video Editing

Organizing:

It’s the process of putting your media into bins or folders with labels. Sort your media by dividing it into folders. This could be done based on the angle, setting, or even the type of camera being used.

Assemble and Review:

This step of video editing is known as the initial assembly. The first assembly is arranging all of that media you organized into a timetable that corresponds with the video's storyboard. Editors frequently split this process by dividing all scenes before sequencing them all together in order to make this stage more manageable and orderly.

The first assembly allows you to see your video for the first time. It's better to string out and analyze all of your media before beginning the edit than to jump right into it and begin adding clips to the timeline.

Rough Cut:

This phase is sometimes referred to as the beginning of the video editing process. This step is learning how to edit videos after your media has been gathered, sorted, and approved. The Rough Cut functions as a workflow blueprint.

This stage lays the groundwork for deeper and finer editing; it does not implement extensive edits and fixes. Although the information should be comprehensible, the editing should not be thorough. You may condense that lengthy first assembly into a single and neat version using the rough cut that can be used to show someone your basic idea.

Fine Cut:

Move on to filtering each and every frame after the project has been improved throughout the rough cut stage. In order to ensure that the video plays smoothly, pay close attention to even the smallest elements in each cut. The final level of correction is the fine cut. Pay attention to the small details and fix any errors in your video as a result. Any complex issues that were missed in the rough cut are revised in the fine cut. Even if the rough cut may have had shots with a few too many seconds, here is the time to shorten them. Here, you are free to use your imagination while being attentive to the details. The details that have been adjusted should match the overall feel that the project is going for. At the end of this stage, you should find yourself in a position where you can watch and review the edit and even find it ready to publish.

Finalize:

It's almost time to finish and publish your product after you think the editing process is over. There is a distinction between concluding your project and refining it. Errors are inevitable while paying attention to every last detail. Review your edit on a mobile device, your TV, as well as your PC. Upload a sample file to YouTube to see how it appears there. Also, it is at this stage that you start color-grading your video. If done earlier, you might waste your time deleting a whole section later. This stage is convenient for color correction and color grading.