video editing can be one of the most
daunting aspects in the entire video
creation process but it definitely
doesn't have to be in this video we're
going to break it all down for you in a
full video editing tutorial for
beginners using Windows or PC and we're
also going to drop a ton of editing tips
along the way to get you up to speed and
to make your editing much faster hey
it's Justin Brown live from primal video
we help entrepreneurs and business
owners amplify their business and brand
with video if you're new here then make
sure you click that subscribe button and
all the links to everything we mentioned
in this video you can find linked in the
description box below so let's jump into
it we're always asking the primal video
community for suggestions on the types
of content you'd like us to cover now
you may not be surprised to hear that
one of the biggest challenges that
really takes the number one spot for a
lot of people is video editing the good
news is you can significantly reduce the
amount of time you're spending in your
video editing software with an
understanding of the fundamentals of
editing a video and just some simple
tips and tweaks to your editing process
and the even better news is you're
actually going to get all of that inside
this video now Before we jump in I want
to hear from you guys in the comments
while you're watching this video what is
your number one tip for editing better
videos or to do it faster we always
learn a ton down this and make sure to
take a look at what everyone else is
sharing as well and once we're done we
won't stop with this video you're also
going to get access to a free
downloadable guide you can follow along
with next time you're editing a video so
that you don't forget anything alright
so first off let's look at this software
now if you're interested in a video
covering all of the options for video
editing software on Windows I'll put a
link to a video we've covered that up
there but I'm personally using Adobe
Premiere I know that this is gonna be a
lot more complex and complicated than a
lot of you out there especially if
you're just starting out now if you knew
then grab a copy of something like shot
cut or VSD see and start running with
that for now and you can come back in a
few months when you're editing like a
pro when you're ready to upgrade or you
want to check if you're ready to upgrade
to see what the other options are now
for this video covering the fundamentals
of video editing we're going to be
running through in short cut now because
we are covering the fundamentals it
doesn't mean that you need to be using
that piece of software because these
fundamentals are going to flow through
to any video editing
software out there so follow along in
either the application that we're using
or in your own video editing software
alright so here we are in shotcut now
this is the first thing you'll see when
you open it up so to start off with
you'll want to bring in your video
footage and all the video assets that
you're going to be using in your editing
project so open up an explorer window
and we'll find the files that we want to
bring in sort of select those three and
we'll drag them into our playlist window
here and you can see now that we've got
our three Clips here inside our video
project so the first one that we
imported this top one here is just some
b-roll or overlay footage the second one
is a music file that we're going to use
in the Edit and the third one is our
actual video file all the content of the
video this is a really quick overview of
the interface this is the playlist area
this is where all of our files and
everything are displayed you can also
swap it out here for properties to see
clip properties so you can see that
these are 4k files and then you've also
got your filters down here as well all
your effects over here is the playback
window this is where you can see what
your going to be playing back or the
file that you're actually editing and
down the bottom here is your timeline
this is where you'll actually do your
video editing so we'll come back over
here to playlists we'll select our
actual video file here our content click
on that and we'll drag it down into our
timeline now you can see what that's
done automatically it's created our
audio waveforms or the visual
representation of our audio file or of
our audio that's spoken inside the video
so as we click here and scrub through
here you can see the parts where I'm
speaking have this graph shown then the
parts where I'm silent is completely
flat or close to it
so that makes it really easy to go
through your video to find the parts
where you're actually talking and remove
anything where you're not now we can
zoom in and out on the timeline here
using the minus and the plus buttons or
we can also use the keyboard shortcuts
for minus and plus on the keyboard to
zoom in and out I keep pressing - now
you can see the boom right out and we
can see this entire file and before we
get too much into the actual editing it
is
a good idea to set up your project first
so if you come up here the settings and
choose video mode then you can choose
the quality of the file that you want to
actually create so ideally here you're
editing in the same quality that you're
filming at so if your video recording
was at 1080p 25 frames per second then
you would pick that here to keep the
quality as high as it can be so our
footage here was shot at 4k 25 frames
per second so we'll pick that here so
now we've got your video files in and
we've got your project created it's now
time to start trimming down your video
clips so import all of your video
content you see we've just got one file
here but if you've got multiple files
then drop them all down into the
timeline then we're gonna start trimming
them down so what you start off with
this is come back to the start of your
clip we'll zoom in on this section of
our timeline either dragging this up or
pressing the plus button on the keyboard
and what we want to do is position this
playback head or this white line at
where we want our videos or starts you
can see it's gonna be just before I
start talking here and then we want to
add a cut in the timeline here and
essentially just remove this first part
that we don't want so we can right click
on our clip here and we can choose split
at playhead or press the keyboard
shortcut s on the keyboard is going to
do the same thing and that's created a
split there at that point so we've now
got two clips so we press the Delete key
on the keyboard then that clip is gone
and then to remove this gap we can right
click on the gap and choose remove and
now our video is actually going to start
back at the start where we just added
our cut that is now the first frame of
our video so if we zoom back out again
now we'll do this for all the clips that
we've imported and we'll trim off the
end of this video file as well so we'll
come across the end of the video where
we want it to finish which is about here
you can see with the audio that's where
I stopped talking again press s on the
keyboard to add a split we'll click on
that clip there and press Delete and
that's gone now if I undo that pressing
ctrl Z a couple of times one to undo the
delete one to undo the cut now another
way to do is to move your mouse cursor
to the end of the clip you can see it
goes red there
we can actually then click-and-drag and
change that end point of the clip and
whenever we let it go it's actually
adjusted our clip to finish at that
point and obviously if you remove too
much then you can drag it back out and
go the other way as well until you get
it right where you need it so once
you've gone through and trimmed off the
start and the finish of each of the
clips in your timeline then the next
step is to go through and start the
actual editing process this is where you
going to go through your video from
start to finish and you're gonna remove
all of the bad takes and any of the
mistakes or really anything that you
don't want in your actual video file
you'll be going through in this step so
we'll start with the start here you can
either use the S key you can delete the
clips you can then right-click and
remove the gap another way that you can
cut down your footage too is by pressing
this just split the clip where you want
it and say we want to remove this little
section here while I'm not talking we
can move our mouse over here until it
goes green with this mode enabled which
is the ripple trim and drop mode which
means it's going to automatically close
that gap for us so if we click on this
green part here and we slide across to
the right then we're changing the start
of that clip until I let go so that
first part of that clip here has now
been removed so exactly the same as if
we want to move this little section here
come across here press s to split the
clip well then grab the green handle
here and we'll swipe it along until that
gap is closed so that's how easy it is
okay so once you've gone through and
you've added all of your cuts you can
actually reposition all your Clips
around in your timeline and move them
around as you need to so you can just
pick them up and drag them around maybe
swap the order of them if you need to
tell build out the story or the flow
that you're after and then if you've got
any additional b-roll or overlay footage
that you want to show while you're
talking as well then you can add a new
video layer come over here to these
three lines which is a settings menu and
choose add a video track you can see
we've got an additional layer here on
top of our core content here so if we
come up here to our b-roll footage we'll
double click on that because we may not
want this whole thing this whole clip
here is pretty big so let's just say we
pick this part here where we're playing
with some camera
settings we can press I on the keyboard
and that will mark an in-point you can
see that now our selection range is
moved from this whole clip to just here
let's choose where we want this to
finish probably around here somewhere my
press o on the keyboard so we've only
got this small selection of this much
bigger clip then you can either drag the
clip down here or come down here and
press the plus button to drop that down
into our timeline you can see it's
automatically put it up on the layer
above for us and just like any other
clip we can pick it up we can move it
around to where we wanted we can adjust
the start and the end point on it by
using this green and red handles so we
could stretch it out a bit if we wanted
if it wasn't long enough and then what
happens is when we're playing back our
video file in this section this top clip
is shown over the top of the other one
so if I mute these tracks now just while
we're editing here if I click and drag
from here you can see that we've got the
talking head we've got me talking and as
we get to this clip here then that clip
is now shown over the top of the other
one now play backs a little bit slow
here because of the screen recording but
you can see what's going on okay so once
you've added all your b-roll or your
overlay footage to your timeline
next step is to add any titles or
effects so if we want to add a name
title that says Justin Brown primal
video on to the start of their video
here we'll come back to the start we'll
add an additional cut into our timeline
here for the length of the title that we
want so we might play along here say we
want the title to come in a couple of
seconds in we'll add a cut there press s
and we'll play out our clip again so
maybe we want our title to come on for
probably about that sort of distance
that that sort of time then what present
s so we're going to add a title to this
small section of that bigger clip so
adding these cuts here hasn't changed
our actual video and there's nothing
noticeable there that there are any cuts
because we haven't made any adjustments
to it but this lets us apply a title
just to this section of that bigger clip
so with that selected come over here to
filters we're going to add a filter
press the plus and then the one you want
to pick is video filters now if we
scroll down here and go down to text
there it is we can click on that and
that is now added you can see we've got
the default which is timecode added to
our frame here now to change out the
text we can change timecode to say
Justin Brown at a new line primal video
and then in here you get to change
things like your font the color will
make that light blue possible bold you
also scale down the actual box up here
so we can click on that box and drag it
down so you can go through and customize
up your titles to say anything that
you'd like now if we were actually
creating this title here what I would
probably do is split these out into so
we've got Justin Brown on one line I
would then copy that filter and paste it
in so I've got two text and I will call
the bottom one paste that back in Primal
video so they've got two there and that
way you can really control the position
of the two individual layers so I would
probably bring that in about here and
the other one if we click on that we can
move that across as well it's a very
simple titles that we can add in here so
now if we come back to the start of our
clip and play through you can see that
at this point here our titles appear
Justin Brown primal video until the end
of this clip here where they're going to
disappear there they go
so that's pretty straightforward okay so
once you've gone through and added all
your titles in for the entire project
the next step is to add in any audio or
any music to your project so once again
we're going to add in a new audio layer
so come up here to this menu and choose
add a new audio track the audio track
has appeared there below our video track
so we just come up here to our music
track that we imported earlier we can
click on that and drag it down into our
timeline on that new audio track and
just like our video tracks we can pick
up the clips we can move it around we
can drag the end to adjust the end time
we can drag the start to adjust the
start time but the same amount of
control over the audio files as we do
with the video files so we'll pick this
up and must move it back
the start of our video so the music
starts when our video does so you see
here this music file is much shorter
than our actual video so here you could
add in multiple music tracks or you
could add in the same one and then set
it up so that it repeats seamlessly so
your viewers don't know that the music
track is changing but you've got a heap
of control in here around your music
files you can clearly see on that audio
waveform there that drawing diagram that
the music drops off to nothing at the
end of that track and then picks up
again
the start of the next one so you might
want to add in some sort of crossfade
see if you pick up this track and slide
it along over the top of the other one
now obviously you have to work a little
bit here to make sure the beats and
everything line up perfectly but when
you let go it actually adds a crossfade
between the two so this first one will
fade in to the next one that's starting
now obviously you can get a lot more
advanced than this this is just a quick
run-through but let's just see what that
sounds like just with such a simple
crossfade between the two
[Music]
it was probably usable one of them
finishes and it is kind of a soft fade
then into the next one while it's
starting as well and what we'll do too
is trim off the end of that audio file
so that it finishes at the same time as
the rest of our video then if you do
want to add an audio fade to the end
then you can come back over here to
filters you can add a filter with that
bottom track selected you do want to go
over to audio filters and we'll go down
to fade out audio and when we click on
that the last part of our audio track
here if we zoom in you can see here
that's got that gray triangle there that
shows that it's fading the audio out
over that last section okay once you've
got all your music in and any sound
effects and all your audio files in as
well the next step is to go through and
color correct your video or zoom in a
bit click on the first clip here it's
always a good place to start click on
the plus we're back under the filters
click on the plus make sure that we've
got show video filters selected and
you've got quite a few options in here
in regards to color correction the color
grading is probably where I'd suggest
you start out so click on that one and
then here you've got a heap of controls
over your color so you can see here
we've got our standard color wheels that
you see in pretty professional video
editing software to change the color and
the brightness of the shadows so the
dark areas of your shot the mid-tones or
the mid color areas of the shot and the
highlights the bright white areas and
the bright colors of your shot so you
can see here as we adjust the shadows
here if we lift this up that the shot is
getting brighter or the dark areas are
getting brighter as we bring it back
down they're getting darker and as we
move these color wheels around here you
can see that the colors in the shot are
changing quite a lot so the trick here
while you're tweaking your colors is not
to move it around too much but just to
move it around until you're happy with
the look of it or until you can correct
any issues that are wrong with your shot
so the color grading filter is a good
one to start with but another one in
here that is quite handy as well is to
add another filter and come down to the
white balance so if we add that one then
in here you can either pick your neutral
color so it should be a white or a gray
so we can say that something white in
our scene he's probably this bright bit
up here if we pressed that that's gonna
make an automatic adjustment for our
color based on that point there being
white and then if we want to make
further adjustments then we can grab
this slider here to the left and right
you can see the where they get more warm
or more yellow and if we come up this
other way it's gonna make it more blue
or cooler so now there's no real right
or wrong with this it is all personal
preference creating videos is a creative
process so it's all about creating the
look and feel that you're after now once
you've got your filters applied and
you're happy with your color grade then
you can apply those to the rest of your
clips as well so what you want select
here is copy the filters and then come
across to the clips that you want to
paste it onto select the clips and then
you can just choose paste and that's
going to paste those effects on to the
next clip so this one here also has our
title long as well but has now also got
how color grading and our white balance
filter added as well that's how easy it
is to go through and apply whatever your
color grade or whatever your color
settings are to your entire project by
pasting them onto each clip once you've
finished editing down your video and
adding all your effects and everything
on then it's time to save the video file
out so you just come up here to export
so as you can see there are heap of
options in here but if you're not sure
where to start that I would suggest you
start with h.264 main profile when you
click on that is loaded the default
settings or whatever your project was
created in or whatever footage you've
had in by default so in our case it was
a 4k resolution at 25 frames per second
so these settings are all good to go
but obviously if you want to change
anything up and you know what you're
doing here then feel free to make any
adjustments and likewise with the codec
you can go through and customize
everything up if you really don't know
what you're doing here then you can
almost leave everything as default but
the main one that you want to look at
here is the quality so the quality it's
defaulting to here is 60 I'd probably
recommend 80 or 90 but again you're
going to end up with a bigger file size
at the end and the same for the audio
you can see that the default quality is
50 I'm probably going to push that up to
around 80 but again if you're obviously
need higher then push it up to 100 once
you've got your settings they're sorted
then you can press export file choose
where you want to save your project
so we just put that one there on the
desktop it's name - JB press save then
up in the top right hand corner here you
can see that it is exporting that
project out for us and it looks like
it's gonna take a little while and
hopefully that's just because I'm doing
the screen recording at the same time
but that's how easy it is to edit your
videos down using shortcut on PC now
shortcut is also available on Mac and on
Linux as well and obviously there is a
lot more features and a lot more control
that we can get into then in this really
quick beginner walkthrough I just want
to show you how to get up and running
really quick in shotcut so that you can
start editing your videos down and start
seeing some success with that so that's
a complete walkthrough of the
fundamentals for video editing that you
can apply and use no matter which video
editing software you're using now I've
also put together a free guide stepping
through the entire process which is
linked on screen so that you can
download it and print it out or have it
on-screen to follow along next time
you're editing so click the link
on-screen to download it now and while
you're editing if you want to get an
awesome new animated intro for your
content and check out the tutorial
linked on-screen now for a step-by-step
run-through on exactly how to do it and
I'll see you soon