Lower thirds & Transitions. The Goals of Editing There are many reasons to edit a video and...

Lower thirds & Transitions

The Goals of Editing There are many reasons to edit a video

and your editing approach will depend on the desired outcome.

Before you begin you must clearly define your editing goals, which could include any of the following:

Remove unwanted footage This is the simplest and most common

task in editing. Many videos can be dramatically

improved by simply getting rid of the flawed or unwanted bits

Choose the best footage It is common to shoot far more footage

than you actually need and choose only the best material for the final edit.

Often you will shoot several versions (takes) of a shot and choose the best one when editing.

Create a flow Most videos serve a purpose such as

telling a story or providing information. Editing is a crucial step in making sure

the video flows in a way which achieves this goal.

Add effects, graphics, music, etc This is often the "wow" part of editing. You can improve most videos (and have

a lot of fun) by adding extra elements.

Alter the style, pace or mood of the video A good editor will be able to create

subtle mood prompts in a video. Techniques such as mood music and

visual effects can influence how the audience will react.

Give the video a particular "angle" Video can be tailored to support a

particular viewpoint, impart a message or serve an agenda.

Tape to Tape (Linear) Linear editing was the original method of

editing electronic video tapes, before editing computers became available in the 1990s.

Although it is no longer the preferred option, it is still used in some situations.

Digital/Computer (Non-linear) In this method, video footage is recorded

(captured) onto a computer hard drive and then edited using specialized software.

Once the editing is complete, the finished product is recorded back to tape or optical disk.

Live Editing In some situations multiple cameras and

other video sources are routed through a central mixing console and edited in real time.

Live television coverage is an example of live editing.

Cut The most common transition — an

instant change from one shot to the next.

The raw footage from your camera contains cuts between shots where you stop and start recording ▪ (unless of course you use built-in camera

transitions).

Mix / Dissolve / Crossfade These are all terms to describe the same

transition — a gradual fade from one shot to the next.

Fade Fades the shot to a single colour, usually

black or white. ▪ The "fade to black" and "fade from black" are

ubiquitous in film and television. ▪ They usually signal the beginning and end of

scenes.

Wipe One shot is progressively replaced by

another shot in a geometric pattern. There are many types of wipe, from

straight lines to complex shapes.

The Jump Cut A jump cut is a transition between two

shots which appears to "jump" due to the way the shots are framed in relation to each other.

Jump cuts are usually caused by framing which is quite similar, such as these two:

Lower Thirds In video and television, the lower third

refers to the lower portion of the frame which contains graphical information such as station ID, name/title keys, etc.