Tips on Video Editing

Version 1.1

Presented by IT Clinic

What is a video?

• Components of a video

• video track (i.e. a series of images)

• audio track

What is a video?

You may see the video tracks and audio tracks in a typical video editing software

Typical workflow for composing a video

1. Take video clips using a smartphone / digital camera

2. Create video clips using animation softwares

3. Import video clips to a video editing software on a computer

4. Trim and arrange the order of video clips

Typical workflow for composing a video

5. Add audio tracks (e.g. background musics)

6. Add transitions

7. Add texts (e.g. titles and subtitles)

8. Export to a video file

1. Take video clips using a smartphone / digital camera

• Recent smartphones are powerful enough to take good quality videos

• You may also use the digital camera in IT Clinic (YIA1207) but you cannot borrow out

2. Create video clips using animation softwares

• Instead of movies, you may insert animations as some of the video clips

• You may use animation softwares such as Adobe After Effects and Motion (Mac only)

3. Import video clips to a video editing software on a computer

• You may use video editing softwares such as PowerDirector (Windows only) and iMovie (Mac only)

• You can use these softwares at IT Clinic (YIA1207)

4. Trim and arrange the order of video clips

• This can be done on a video editing software

Video clips can be trimmed and dragged to the timeline according to the order

5. Add audio tracks

• Audio tracks can be background musics, speeches, songs, etc.

• As video clips, audio tracks can be attached to the video timeline

6. Add transitions

• Transitions are inserted between video clips

7. Add texts

• Texts are positioned on top of the video layer

8. Export to a video file

• While you are editing / composing your video, your progress should be saved as a “Project” file under your video editing software

• When you are done, you can export the “Project” to a video file for publishing. Once you exported, no further changes could be made.

• You may need to study and choose an appropriate format for export, if you would like to upload to some websites / ENGG1000 Video Server

Get helps

• This guide only shows a typical workflow. Depends on your video, you may not need all the steps.

• We encourage self-learning, since this is a vital skill in the IT world. Most of the time, you have to Google for extra resources to assist your learning throughout the process. For example, you may search for keywords like “iMovie tutorial” to learn how to use iMovie.

• If you feel puzzled, you are always welcome to approach IT Clinic (YIA1207) to seek for further assistance