In the last few months I have begun to learn more about nonlinear editing. I can now assemble a simple video with basic edits and sound, but nothing I have produced thus far has much polish to it just yet.
Part of the lessons I have learned has involved trying different programs. I have tried iMovie, Premiere, DaVinci Resolve, and, what has become my favorite, Hitfilm Express.
Another part of those lessons has involved making mistakes and figuring out how to fix them.
Those mistakes inspire the following post. They are presented for your amusement, without comment, though you are welcome to add your own editing lessons in the comments below.
And with that, here we go:
- Use folders to hold all of the materials — clips, stills, sounds, and titles — for a project. Doing so will make the import into the editing program much easier.
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Also use folders within the program itself to organize different kinds of content such as sounds or images or related pieces of content such as elements for a specific segment.
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Name your materials with as much description as possible so as to avoid guessing what’s inside.
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Avoid moving any of those files across hard drives or folders during the editing process. Not all nonlinear editors can track the files after they have been moved, and you will be updating the next time you open your project.
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Make sure the size of your still images matches the size of your video. By extension, make sure your composite shots match the video setup as well.
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There is a difference between 25 fps and 24 fps, and no that difference is not just the 1 fps.
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Rendering takes much longer than you might think.
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And patience. Lots and lots of patience.
Lots and lots and lots of patience.
Did I mention patience?