Now for the final tool you need to pull it all together – Editing software.
A friend of mine was very hesitant about this as he is a bit of a technophobe. At an attempt to avoid editing he would try to get the whole take in one shot. I asked him: “What about the titles, music… effects and cutting off loose ends?”
He had spent days trying to shoot a 30-second video when he could have spent 45 minutes learning to edit and stitching the best bits together – doing the job properly.
The editing process is where the magic happens. It doesn’t have to be difficult either. If you are a beginner take baby steps… and stick to the philosophy “less is more”.
There are two different types of editing software I recommend, especially if you are new to this:
Camtasia – If you are using a PC
Screenflow – If you are using Mac
If you remember back to the first post in this series I mentioned these two pieces of software for video Tools you need to film your own business web video Pt 1 (records your screen while you narrate).
You may be feeling a little apprehensive about this, but you shouldn’t. If you haven’t already noticed, Youtube is an information powerhouse that has a tutorial on EVERYTHING. Without even checking, I’m willing to bet there are at least 30 quality step-by-step how-to tutorials you can choose from. Start basic first, and then branch out to more challenging stuff when you get more confident.
Caution: Once you realize how easy it can be, you will want to play around with special effects… by all means, have fun, but don’t over-do it for your final video. Think of it like making dinner… You don’t reach for every spice in the cupboard and add them all to your dish… less is more.
This editing software comes with a fee trial, so if you are unable to follow step-by-step tutorials, or just too busy, then you won’t have to pay anything.
If this is the case you have one more option – Outsourcing.
If you are on a low budget and feeling lucky your best bet is Fiverr.com. Fiverr is a site loaded with every freelancer you can think of with services starting at $5 (they say that but with new added fee’s it should now be called Sixxer.com).
Services START at $5, so you will be paying a lot more than that to get your video edited… I sometimes use Fiverr for small easy jobs that are time consuming… But I would never use them to do professional quality editing… there are some real nightmares out there. But at the same time, you can find some really good freelancers too… it’s like sifting for gold. Much like my friend who was trying to shoot everything in one take, it is sometimes quicker and easier to learn to do it yourself than finding the right person to do it for you.
TIP: Be sure to carefully inspect the testimonials… look for fishy signs in their reviews – are the dates of the testimonials natural looking? Do the reviews sound natural? I have also learned to be suspicious of profiles with NO bad comments… the world is full of people who are never happy, so be wary of a squeaky clean review profile. And finally, ask to look at their previous work.
If all else fails, contact us at Web Videos Australia and we can finish the editing off for you.
Good luck!