Arts and crafts

How to learn video editing from scratch

Editing is not effects and transitions but decisions: what to keep, in what order to show it, and when to cut. You can learn the software in a week; a feel for pacing comes from dozens of short videos. Below is an eight-week plan with free editors and exercises on your own footage.

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In this article

Choosing software and footage#

A free editor is enough to learn on. The free version of DaVinci Resolve gives you editing, sound and color correction at a professional level, but it needs a fairly powerful computer. Kdenlive and Shotcut are lighter open-source programs. Pick one and stick with it for at least two months: the skills carry over between editors, while constantly switching interfaces just eats time.

Shoot your own footage on your phone: a walk, cooking dinner, assembling a piece of furniture, a conversation with a friend. Your own footage teaches more than someone else's — you immediately see what you failed to capture, and next time you shoot with the edit in mind.

Weeks 1–2: the timeline and basic operations#

Learn how a project is organised: importing files, the media bin, the viewer, and the timeline with video and audio tracks. Master cutting a clip, the ripple delete (removing a piece and closing the gap), trimming a clip's edge, and stepping frame by frame with the keyboard. Set the project to the frame rate and resolution of your footage — a mismatch gives jerky playback.

Exercise: turn ten minutes of walk footage into a one-minute video. The stage is done when you can do it barely touching the mouse to scrub.

Weeks 3–4: cuts and pacing#

The heart of editing is where to cut. Study the cut on action (cutting during a movement hides the join), changing shot size, cutaways, and J and L cuts — where the sound of the next shot starts before its picture, or the sound of the previous shot carries on under the new one. Watch a scene from a favourite film with the sound off and note every cut: you will see how often editors really cut.

Exercise: film yourself making a sandwich from three or four angles and edit a 30-second video in which the action flows without a break.

Weeks 5–6: sound#

Viewers will forgive mediocre pictures but not bad sound. Learn to even out the volume of speech, reduce background noise, lay music under the voice at a lower level, and add fades in and out. Check the sound both in headphones and through a phone speaker — that is how many people will watch. Only use music you are allowed to use: from libraries with a free licence or the ones built into the platform you publish on.

Weeks 7–8: color, titles, export#

Start color work with primary correction — white balance, exposure, contrast — so that shots from the same scene match. Stylised grading comes afterwards. Add titles and captions and check that people have time to read them. Learn the export settings: codec, resolution, bitrate, vertical and horizontal formats for different platforms.

The final result is a finished two-to-three-minute video about something from your own life, with sound, color and titles.

How to check your work#

  • Show the video to someone and ask where it got boring — that is what to cut.
  • Rewatch your video a week later: weak cuts stand out to fresh eyes.
  • Compare running times: a good edit is usually shorter than the first assembly.

Step-by-step plan

  1. Preparation — an editor and your own footageOne free program for two months; you shoot the source footage yourself.
  2. Weeks 1–2 — the timelineImport, cut, trim, keyboard navigation; one minute out of a ten-minute walk.
  3. Weeks 3–4 — cuts and pacingCut on action, shot sizes, J and L cuts; continuous action from several angles.
  4. Weeks 5–6 — soundLevels, noise, music under the voice, checks in headphones and on a phone.
  5. Weeks 7–8 — color, titles, exportPrimary color correction, captions, export settings; a finished 2–3 minute video.

Start learning this in your own space

The plan goes into your repository: tick off stages, keep notes — the change history shows how far you have come.

Start the plan

Sources

  • DaVinci ResolveFree version with editing, sound and color; the developer also publishes free training
    free
  • KdenliveA free, open-source video editor for Windows, macOS and Linux
    free
  • ShotcutA free cross-platform editor that runs on modest computers
    free

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