learning Video editing

Anyone on here, could some of you point me in the right direction to learn video editing? I'd love to create some content of my own and possibly for Paul but I cannot wrap my head around editing and I know it should be as difficult as it is for me. I'm looking for "simple" editing guidance, trimming video adding music and stitching clips together, no fancy effects. A crash course would be greatly appreciated, but any info would helpful. I'm broke so simple free software will have to do bit I dunno what or where to get it. My searches so far haven't been fruitful. Any help is greatly appreciated.

Hi Nicholas! Sorry, I can't help you with your request, but I noticed you're from Chittenango. I'm originally from Oneida.  I hope you find the help you're looking for.

But, it just hit me, you may want to try YouTube, there are countless tutorial videos on bazillions of topics.  

I do most of my editing on a mobile, and I use FilmoreGo. It has a free and a paid version for both Android and Iphone. It takes a little bit to learn, but once you get the tricks it's pretty cool all that it does.

My main advice, is just start making stuff, then start posting it. Maybe have some friends and stranger give you feedback on the videos. ( you're welcome to DM me all your video when you finish them and I will give you feed back) The more you do, the easier and easier it gets.  Also, if you're like me and editing doesn't tickle your fancy. (even though I still do it) I livestream. FB, Twitch, Dlive even now odysee all great places to livestream, the upside the livestreaming is it's a one shot things, and when people watch it, it feels honest and real. :)

I hope this helps. anything else I can do let me know!

-Justyn 'Doc'

I'm a video professional locked into the Adobe suite for a variety of reasons, so I don't have experience with editing software outside of Adobe products. However, I recognize a lot of names on this list as reputable: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_video_editing_software

Like most things, this is a craft where the tools can make or break the joy of doing the work. Keep that in mind, but otherwise don't stress too much about the software if you're just getting started. You can always switch later to a better tool if you're enjoying the process.

Then again, you came here for advice so here's my extra tips :)

Remember that usually software is free because it's limited, or stuffed full of advertisements. Mobile apps especially. That might be just fine for your purposes, I don't know. For me, if I'm putting in the time to learn a new tool, I want the possibility of growth to be available in the future if possible.

In my experience, good editing software looks complex, but you just need to learn the basics and ignore all the extra buttons when you're getting started. If you're ok with something bigger than your needs, Blender has an editing feature summarized here: https://youtu.be/Zoselojp3KQ . Blender is a robust program that's free for good reasons (because its founder has an interesting business/money philosophy, not because it's a cheap tool.)

If you can do the following, the tool is fine:
-Make precise edits (you should be able to move forward/backwards one frame at a time to place a cut right where you want it.)
-Import and export all of the formats you need
-No limits to video duration, filesize, etc.
-No watermarks or alterations to your video imposed by the software
-Ability to close your current projects and reopen them a few days later without fear of the software being offline, expired, etc. (persistent software on your local machine, not in the cloud, is ideal.)

Other people with more experience using today's free / "user friendly" tools can probably suggest more nightmares to avoid.

Editing is basically just putting one shot in front of the next. Like most things, the biggest part of this journey is going to be developing your craft, your instincts, your taste. Justyn is absolutely right: make stuff, share the work, enjoy the feedback, and you'll get better and better. When you start editing a lot, you'll also start noticing how other stuff is edited. You'll notice things that look bad, sound bad, feel "off," and eventually you'll start to know why and maybe how to fix it.

Best of luck!

I am using LinuxMint on my laptop, and so I use programs that are not available to Windows typically. I use Kdenlive, its simple to get started but also has many advanced features once you get used to the program. I usually import a clip, drop it into the timeline, and play through while cutting and moving all the bits I want. When I am done I render to the video format and resolution of my choice. Takes some getting used to, but not really to difficult.

I advise choosing a free video editor that seems simple and look up a tutorial on how to use it, youtube is your friend.

Also check out Natron for video editing
https://natrongithub.github.io/

Or OBS if you're interested more in live video
https://obsproject.com/

Both are FOSS (Free, Open-Source Software)

Davinci Resolve is a pro-level editor available across platforms.  Also, it's free, and there are good youtube tutorials.

There is a new editing paradigm emerging for news, documentary, speach-narrative focused projects.  It allows you to import all video, transcribe all speach, then edit it by editing the text - and automatically edits the videos to match your emergent script. I'm looking forward to trying it when they make it available to me.  

https://www.descript.com/storyboard?referralCode=u5fba0g&refSource=copy

I'm learning Davinci right now and it's incredible.  I have spoken with several people in the local film industry and it's a favourite.  Some of them use the free version for smaller productions.  

The biggest problem with DaVinci Resolve is that it's too powerful.  It has way more than someone would need making say youtube videos.  The learning curve is steep.  Some stepping stone software to use for a couple of years might be the way to go.  I used Filmora (they have a free sample, but the software costs money to export without a watermark) but others use free versions like Lightworks.  

Actually learning
For me, I found the free Linked In classes that the library has to be an awesome place to start.  But in the end, I had to learn by doing.  

Choose one thing to learn - make a video with that.  Then choose the next thing to learn and make a video with that skill.  

If you have a look through my old videos on my youtube channel you can see the progression.

First video - just make a video and add music
second - cutting and pasting to tell a story
third - adding text, improving cutting
forth - showing the passage of time with different transitions

and so on until I get to sound design (way harder than visuals) and colour grading.  

Been at it a while yet and I'm still about 10% of how far I want to get.  But I'm pretty happy to see the progression.

The thing I've learned is that it is a skill.  Like driving and gardening, best way is to learn by doing.  

There are a few threads here in the camera work forum of how I learned.  Feel free to ask questions as they come up.  The premies people are super-supportive with this sort of project.  I would love it if we had more permies people into making videos.  

If you prefer systematic training, video editing courses are suitable for you. Over the past few years, many educational content and courses have appeared on the Internet, providing effective and fast learning plans.  However, the final work is influenced not only by your editing skills but also by the work of production, which you can learn from https://www.videoworks-belfast.co.uk. Of course, this is more relevant for studios, but freelancers must understand how creating projects works.  I hope that you will be able to achieve your goal!