Our sixth post, in the Streamline Your E-Course Production series, is how to boost your course production efficiency by using 5 specific video editing strategies.
How do you edit your e-course video lectures?
Do you have a process? Or, do you approach it differently each time?
Video editing is one of the most time-consuming aspects of producing online courses.
So, we feel that finding any way to speed up the process, while still maintaining our quality standards is something worth spending time on to investigate and share with others. Especially if you are doing this on a budget and don’t have the means to outsource it or have a team of staff to take on some of the work.
So, I hope these video editing strategies that I’m about to delve into will help you out.
WHY SHOULD YOU ESTABLISH VIDEO EDITING STRATEGIES?
When you start producing more and more e-course videos, you may start to develop your own video editing strategies naturally.
However, if you are just getting started or even if you have produced several e-course videos already, the strategies we will look at should help boost your production efficiency.
So, how can implementing video editing strategies help?
Below are some reasons why you should establish video editing strategies.
They will:
- Improve the speed at which you can edit a video
- Help ensure that you aren’t forgetting to add a specific feature or enhancement to your video
- The reason being, your strategies will most likely be executed in a specific order, like you are reading them off a checklist, thus this can help you avoid missing items that need editing
- Allow you to avoid having to revisit each video multiple times after you have completed your video editing checklist or process
- Help you feel more confident that you are done editing a video
- This way, you can move onto the next one right away and later upload all your videos to a Learning Management System (LMS) without having to re-check each one
USE THESE 5 VIDEO EDITING STRATEGIES
So, let’s get into the specific 5 video editing strategies that we use here at e-course alley.
But, before we do, I just wanted to mention that the strategies you implement, may depend somewhat on which video editing software you are using.
Since we use Camtasia, I will be describing strategies that you can implement using this video editing software.
One more tip – make sure to apply these video editing strategies in order from 1 to 5. This will improve efficiency since you are doing your global changes before slicing up your audio and video tracks as you omit mistakes.
So, go for it! Try these 5 video editing strategies on one of your recorded videos!
1. Adjust Audio
When we first start off with a raw video recording, our first step is to adjust the audio.
This video editing strategy is implemented first because it is easier to apply audio leveling to the entire audio track before we start cutting it up, as we omit sections of silence, etc.
Watch the following video clip to see an example of how we do this in Camtasia:
2. Add Global Enhancements
Next, we will apply any global enhancements to our recording, such as video or cursor effects (if this is a screen recording).
It is easier to apply this video editing strategy upfront because the video track is still in one piece at this point in the editing process.
We normally apply a highlight to our mouse cursor so that viewers can follow with their eyes where we are clicking as we demonstrate procedures in our screen recordings.
Sometimes we may apply a zoom effect to an entire video, especially if we are recording ourselves on camera. So, this would be the time to apply a global effect such as this to our entire video track.
Or, if you want background music to play during your video, this would be the time to add your background music track to your project.
Watch the following video clip to see an example of how we apply this video editing strategy:
3. Remove Mistakes and Gaps
Now we are ready to embark on the main part of the video editing process, which will ultimately take the most time.
This is where you will go through your video step-by-step playing it to find mistakes, sections of silence, etc., that need to be removed.
For this video editing strategy, make sure to go through your video in order from the beginning to the end as you remove your mistakes.
By going from start to finish, you will avoid having to slide tracks around to close “gaps” where you edited something out. Which would undoubtedly be the result if you jumped around in your tracks during the editing process.
Therefore, the first sub-step in this part is to insert any pre-made video introduction sequence.
Since you haven’t started to edit the video and audio clips in detail yet, you can easily slide them to the right (or forward in time) to add in your intro sequence.
Next, start at the beginning, watching and listening to your video. Preferably, you should use a good quality headset or speakers so you can catch mistakes and your “umms” and “ahhhs.”
Edit out any mistakes you hear or see, and any gaps of silence. These may have resulted when you looked down to refer to your video lecture outline or from implementing some of our video filming strategies.
Watch the following video clip to see an example of how we apply this video editing strategy:
4. Add Animations – Zoom and Pan Effects
After the bulk of the editing process is complete, you can start at the beginning of your video again and go through it to add in some video enhancements.
What we tend to do is to add “zoom” and “pan” animation effects using Camtasia so that our viewers can more easily see what we are doing by following the mouse pointer.
You could also add in Text and Callouts like Arrows on screen to highlight important concepts.
So, for this video editing strategy, you will be going through your video from start to finish again, but this time you are focussing just on enhancing the video for your audience.
In this way, we are creating a “conveyor belt” approach to the whole video editing process.
Each time we go through the video, we only focus our attention on one aspect – this helps make sure our videos maintain their quality and consistency.
Watch the following video clip to see an example of how we apply this video editing strategy:
5. Review Your Video
Our last step is to go through our video one final time from start to finish to catch any errors that we may have missed.
Even though you may want to stop after the fourth step in this list of video editing strategies. Don’t!
This final step is essential.
Once you re-watch your video, you shouldn’t have to look at it again before uploading all your training videos to your course platform.
Plus, watching it now is best because you are in context with the material since you would have just applied video editing strategies 1 through 4.
My philosophy is that it is always best to look at something in the moment – when you are in context with the content.
So, make sure to re-check your videos!
Then, you can consider them complete.
Watch the following video clip to see an example of how we apply this video editing strategy:
CONCLUSION
So, let’s recap!
Here is a summary of our sixth step to help you streamline your e-course production:
Using video editing strategies will help:
- Improve the speed at which you can edit a video
- Ensure you are not forgetting to add something to your video
- Avoid revisiting each video multiple times
- Increase your confidence about being finished with the editing process so you can move onto the next video
Try these video editing strategies in the following order:
- Adjust audio levels
- Add global enhancements
- Edit out mistakes and gaps
- Add animations – zoom and pan effects
- Review your video
Well, that’s all for today.
What video editing strategies do you use? Let us know in the comment section below.
And as always, if you have any questions about our sixth step to help you streamline your e-course production, don’t hesitate to ask!
Stay tuned for our last installment of the Streamline Your E-Course Production blog series…
Thanks for stopping by,
Heather
CEO and Founder of e-course alley