Getting Started With Video Editing
Learning the visual art of video editing can turn your home videos into movie studio quality films. Being a filmmaker is the easy part. If you own a handheld camcorder or a smart phone, you just point and shoot. Simple! right? The problem is when you sit down to watch the video you created, you often see jerky sudden movements, sound is off, and the background is not quite right. This is the work of amateurs! Learning the art of video editing can solve this problem for you by turning your personal videos into mini-movies with the same high standards you expect from Hollywood.
Video editing can help you tell a real story with smooth, seamless transitions. You can add a title, visual effects or a soundtrack. You can even change the tempo of your film-slowing down the action or speeding it up. If you watch a TV show or movie, you may notice that if the film shows a particular scene, the camera angle changes rather quickly-10-20 seconds max. This transition is smooth and, unless you are paying attention, you may not even be aware this is happening as you follow the story. This technique of interesting storytelling, you can incorporate into your own movie by editing different shots into a storyline.
What type of equipment do you need to do video editing? Good news! The answer is not much. You already have a camera that can digitally record video. All you need is a computer to download your video and video editing software.
Once you have shot your video using your camcorder, you need to download it onto your personal computer. You need a special connector typically called a Fire wire or sometimes known as an IEEE 1394 high band connector. This is essentially the same thing as a USB connector but is specially designed to handle data as large as a high definition video. Most camcorders have a port labeled DV in/out. You simply plug in one end of the Fire wire connector to your camcorder and the other end to a port on your computer. The transfer of data is fast! In a few minutes you are ready to begin the process of video editing.
One issue that may cause you a problem is the CPU power and hard disk space available to you on your computer. If you do not have enough CPU power, the ability to download your video will be hindered. Shots may get dropped and the process, despite the Fire wire connector, may be extremely slow. You should research the computer specifications to make sure it can handle the power and speed of your video downloads.
Video editing software is the final element you need to get started. Many computers such as Apple come with this software right on the machines when you purchase them. Windows XP has video editing software as part of its operating system. In addition, you can purchase video editing software programs such as CyberLink Power Director-I think the name says it all!
Now that you know about video editing and the things you need you are ready to begin the journey of amateur filmmaker to professional director.