9 Common Mistakes in Video Editing You Should Avoid (Updated)

A well-judged mix of innovation and technical knowledge is imperative for professional video editing. If you are trying your hands in the same, you must be aware of certain common mistakes that can mar your product. It can be quite experimental, where you can incorporate your own editing styles. An experienced video editor maintains a good balance and synchronization in the visual and audio. Here are certain most common video editing mistakes that you should avoid when you edit a video.

• Starting without any proper plan

  When you start without a clear strategy in place, things may not work as you expect. The same applies in case of editing video as well. You are most likely to over-edit the video, making it look unnatural.

  If you check through any video editing guide or ask any professional indulged, he would always project planning as one of the fundamentals of video editing. So, take your time and come up with a work plan before you start. Ask yourself:

  By the end of the project we were able to:

  • What needs to be edited
  • What would be the time that needs to be invested
  • What impact can the edits cause on your audience
  • What all things you have to insert? Will captions or music work

  Get answers to these questions to have enough clarity so that you can save your time and effort. Unwise and thoughtless selection of tool.

  Wrong selection of the software program is one among the most common errors in video editing. Choosing the best tool for video editing is in fact very crucial. There are countless tools available in the market and getting confused on what to select is too common even among experts. You may be tempted by the great features some of the tools offer but before picking them you should check whether you actually need those aspect of the tools. Are you really going to make use of them? Consider your need first and make sure that the tool you are selecting can support you effectively. A lot of unused features are as good as no having them at all.

• Inconsistency in audio

  Freshers might find this element a bit difficult to understand. You will find different audio components like audio clips, music, and voice on your timeline. In case audio from the original clip is not required, turn it off. You may use the 'separate audio and video option to turn the audio off and delete it. The music track should not overpower the other tracks. It should seamlessly blend with the voice over. You should close your eyes and listen to it carefully this is one among the video creation basics that must be kept in mind. Wherever you find an imbalance in sound, make an adjustment and fix it. New video editors find it difficult to adjust the sound. So focus on sound effects and adjust the audio until the video and music blend together.

• Using jump cut

  Jump cut has to be incorporated only when it is relevant. It is used to collapse time. It can work out well when used correctly. This editing strategy is used to save time, while the story moves forward. Amateur video editors often lack knowledge about where to use it. Often, editors use jump cut in a single shot, where they cut out time from the same frame. This makes a character move dramatically to another position, which is unrealistic. In order to use jump-cut accurately, you should explore other options for editing. For instance, you may set up a different angle and cut into another angel, when the scene remains the same. You may also incorporate a transition to prevent the viewer from getting jarred. This is something in which professional video editing companies excel, at all times.

• Incomplete transitions

  This is a common mistake in video footage editing here the length of transition you use happens to be longer than the preceding clip. It happens when a transition is inserted between two clips, of which one is too short. Before the transition appears on the screen, the viewer sees a dark screen for a while, after the previous clip appears and this appears quite weird. In order to do away with this problem, take care to use longer clips. It will help you to adjust the transition time.

  Here are effective video editing tools and tip for you that will help you to use transitions in videos effectively. Simply drag the transition on the clips and drop it over them after you select the right length. You can extend the preceding clip to fix the issue. And it looks more professional, when you do flush the wipes and 3d cube spins.

• Unsuitable music

  The visual and music should sync well to make a good video that captivates the prospects. If the footage is fast, the music, too, has to be fast paced, and vice versa. In case the camera movements are quick and you use speedy cuts in the audio-visual, the music has to be energetic and carry a high tempo. Again, a sad scene should have a corresponding music. You cannot use joyful music for scenes of melancholy. Good visual editors known for offering affordable video editing services read the mood of the footage precisely and come up with the appropriate music that enhances the overall impact. First, you should concentrate on the editing part. Use a music that goes well with the context. Choosing a sound track that sets the right step for the piece, and edit your visuals to match the music.

  You don't have to always invest in composers. To find the right music, you may explore different stock music sites. You will get free audio clips in these sites. Editors in a professional video production company customize the desired mood through available filters before they download the clips. Keep an eye open for the licensing formalities if you are using the tracks. Else you will be inviting some serious troubles.

• Keeping the transitions messy

  No matter what all rules of video editing you religiously adhere by, if you make incorrect transitions, your work may end up worthless and futile. Weird and tactless transitions can ruin everything as it leads to an unpleasant visual experience. Keeping the transition reasonable and as per the need of occasion is one of the very basic video editing techniques that you must master. Effects like dissolve and cuts can be made prominent; keep special effects only at places wherever there is an insistent demand. To make your work look professional, stay away from tacky and senseless transitions.

• Reckless elimination of relevant details

  There may be a lot of details, especially in those which are educational. Many video editing software programs avail you the provision of specifically blurring any particular area in a visual thus helping you conceal the information in a better manner. When you use blur tool you can voluntarily invite the attention of viewers to any specific part as well. So, before you apply this tool check whether you want to actually hide details or highlight them.

• Wrongful way of frame adjusting

  After the hard work of audiovisual capturing is done, you now plan to see the audiovisual and analyze the pitfalls. The first thing you notice may be too much of room above the subject’s head or similar issues related to frames. So, there is scope for removing that extra space or such things from the frame. Decide the timeline for editing based on how you filmed the video. Don’t forget to maintain the aspect ratio as well.

• Inconsistency in graphics

  Even if you are not a graphic designer, you should have a minimum knowledge about the art. Maintain a consistency between the size of texts, colors, and fonts throughout the video. It is a common mistake for newbie editors to mix up font and colors. This creates a distraction for the viewer when they watch the video. You should stick to a single font and incorporate it on the title cards, lower thirds and other areas. You should also be consistent with the colour palette. At times, inexperienced editors offering video production service forget to incorporate effects like 'Bold' and 'Italics' in the desired place. Even if they use them, they remain inconsistent. Be creative and make necessary changes where required. It should add to the visual pleasure and not bother the eyes. You can always go through several of the tutorials available online to get a comprehensive knowledge about the use of graphic elements.

  These visual editing errors occur when the various elements on a graphics slide fade in different time instead of together. Ensure all the graphic elements on the same point of timeline.

Conclusion

These are the most common mistakes in audio-visual editing and you should not repeat these. With these five tips you will figure out how to avoid common video editing mistakes and make the clip sophisticated and polished. Visual editing needs a certain amount of creativity. You need not stick to the established rules all the time. At times, innovation needs room and you should break the established norms to give the video a creative essence. These video editing tips will make your editing look more professional.

Stick on to these guidelines. It will help you to grow the skills in different types of video editing for sure. Else in case if you want to rely on expert video editing companies, make sure that you zero in at the best people in the job who are capable to offer you perfect solutions at most reasonable youtube video editing services rates.