Media Editing Resources

You don’t want your video to be any longer than it absolutely must. Planning and pre-production go a long way here, but you also may want to remove any extraneous material through editing. And just like editing for writing, editing video takes time. Depending on the complexity of the material, one minute of finished video can take hours of editing.

Not sure what editing software to use? The university offers Adobe Premiere Pro for free to faculty and staff through the WebStore as part of the Adobe Creative Cloud software suite. Step-by-step training is available via LinkedIn Learning.

Resources

• Adobe Products and Training
  • Basic video editing with Adobe Express
  • Get the tools of the pros with Adobe Creative Cloud Suite License @ WebStore and step-by-step training with LinkedIn Learning Premiere Pro Essential Training (using University email credentials)
• Additional Media editing tools
  • Mediaspace (aka Kaltura) video editing guide
  • LinkedIn Learning Camtasia 2020 Essential Training
  • Storyblocks for stock assets and their Maker tool for quick editing

You can always reach out to CITL for consultation and support for media projects.

Best Practices when editing media

• Start at the beginning, and end at the end. Viewers won’t want to see you setting up the camera, checking your notes, or clearing your throat, so make sure you remove any extraneous material at the beginning of your recording.
• Don’t be afraid to cut out stuff in the middle. It’s no problem if you stumble over your script or pause to take a drink. Just keep it tight in the edit by removing the unnecessary chunks. An extra tip: when cutting out spoken material, don’t cut in the middle of a breath. Make your cut just before the beginning of a word or sentence.
• Avoid “jump cuts.” If you chop out something in the middle of the video, there will be a visible “jump” from one section to another. If possible, cover that jump cut. Keep your audio continuous but cut away to another visual, for example an image or demonstration. If this is not possible, try “fading” or “dissolving” between shots. For screen capture movies, however, this jump might not be noticeable.
• Add visuals. If your video is mostly a “talking head,” keep it interesting by cutting away to relevant visuals that illustrate or complement your point.
• Use only copyright-cleared material. If you find it online, that doesn’t mean it’s available for use – even in certain educational contexts. The Copyright Reference Guide at the Library is a great resource for questions surrounding media copyright.