I have tons of articles on video editing on this website, whether it be discussing about a particular video editing software, different types of video editing, how to earn from video editing, or even comparing some of the popular video editing softwares.
Bottom line, there is a lot to know about video editing, and this is why there are so many topics that you can talk about video editing because it is quite a fascinating occupation (even though it can be quite tiresome in real life) that has lots to talk about.
Well, in this article, I will cover almost everything there is to know about video editing, and if you are a beginner as a video editor, you should definitely read this one out.
If you are an intermediate or a professional, do let me know if I missed something about video editing.
Also read: Video editing tips
Also read: Benefits of video editing
Contents
What is A-Z of Video Editing?
A-Z of video editing is basically everything there is to know about of video editing, naming it from A to Z. Now, this article is discussing about the things that you are able to create on video editing and naming them from A to Z.
This is not about anything outside of video editing; it is mostly about video editing softwares.
There are definitely some alphabets missing because there aren’t things that cover all the things from A-Z for video editing, just wanted to let people know before someone gets offended and claims of click-baiting.
So, without wasting any more time, here is A-Z of video editing.
A
Aspect Ratio
The Aspect Ratio is a very important thing for any video. The basic aspect ratio is that people see most of their videos are in a 16:9 ratio, but that is just the standard format for videos.
There are multiple different aspect ratios ranging from 4:3, 1:66:1, 1:85:1, 2:39:1, 2:75:1, and many more types of aspect ratios.
Various different use different types of aspect ratios for their videos, and you can adjust all of them through video editing software or by shooting in those aspect ratios as well.
B
B-Roll
B-Roll is also an interesting concept that is used in different types of videos. Usually, when you are shooting a particular project, you also end up shooting some extra footage that is not the scripted events that you had come to shoot.
This is just an additional piece of footage that you shoot just so that while you are editing in the post-production, you have some extra footage, graphics, images, etc., that you can use if you feel that the shot material isn’t working properly, which happens a lot of times.
So, having this level of material in your edits is a big help, especially for projects that have no budget left for re-shoots.
Bit Rate
Bit Rate is basically the amount of data that is available in one second of the overall video that you have created. This is different from the Gigabytes, which is the overall size of the video you have.
The Bit Rate of the video is defined by the overall pixels and resolutions that are available on the video that you have captured.
It can be a bit confusing for someone who is new to these terms, so hopefully, with this article, you get used to some of the terms that are used while editing videos.
C
Colour Correction
Colour correction is an important tool that a lot of people in the industry focus on; there is a special department that just focuses on colour-correcting the videos.
Colour correction, as you can tell by its name, is all about changing the overall look of the video that you are editing on the video editing software.
Usually, professional individuals like to shoot in the RAW mode so that they are able to manipulate and play with the colours of the video while they are editing it, rather than get stuck with the limited amount of colours that the camera captures.
Continuity
Continuity is an important aspect that every video editor keeps in mind. It also means that the overall word, in general, means to have an overall continuity between the scenes of the video you are editing.
This means that if you are cutting in between the scene, then all the actions in the previous should match with the action of the next shot so that a sense of continuity is maintained in the scene.
Otherwise, it would very oddly stand out to the audience who is watching your video, and they might not continue with it.
D
Depth of field
Depth of field has more to do with the optics of shooting a video, but it also can be enhanced thanks to the latest tools that you now have access to on your video editing apps and software.
Depth of field is basically an effect that you see in your daily life thanks to your beautiful eyes, wherein once you focus on a particular thing, the background gets blurred out, and when you look at things as a whole, they are all in focus.
That is also something that you are able to adjust quite a bit when you are using a video editing software.
3D
3D video editing, as you can tell by its name, is an effect or a filter that allows making your overall video have a certain 3D depth of field.
It is a post-conversion tool that is used on big-budget movies that don’t shoot in 3D. However, the tools that you get on the video editing software that you download don’t have such powerful conversion tools.
E
Edit decision list
Edit decision list, as the name suggests, is the list of the shots and the overall undertaking that will be done while the film or the video is in the post-production stage.
This list is provided to various people who work on the post-production stage of a particular project, especially the director and the editor of the project.
It is all done to make the overall experience that much more seamless and less chaotic because filmmaking can turn chaotic very quickly.
Establishing Shot
Establishing shot is also quite explanatory. In a scene that is quite new to the previous scene, so to make the transition between the two scenes, and to tell the audience about this new location or situation, many times, directors use establishing shots.
The entire purpose of establishing shots is to explain the new scenario and situation in which the story is taking place right now.
It is not necessary to use an establishing shot, but it works well, especially if you are someone who is just new to all of this.
F
Frame Rate
Frame rate is basically the number of frames there are in each second of a video. The overall number of frames in a particular video makes the overall video looks like it is in motion. Otherwise, they are just still images placed against one another.
There are also a number of different frame rates available for any video. You have the traditional frame rate that is used in most videos, i.e. 24fps. However, many people also prefer to use 30 fps or even 60 fps.
The more amount of frames you have in your video, the more smoother the video looks, but it also sometimes feels quite off because we are all adapted to watching videos at 24fps.
G
Graphics
Graphics also play an important part in any video that you are editing. They can help in making the overall outcome of the video look that much better.
Graphics in the video can be used as B-Rolls for a video, and if you don’t know what B-Roll means, just scroll a bit upwards to the ‘B’ section, and you will understand what I mean.
It is not necessary to put graphics in your video; it is an artistic approach to use graphics, and sometimes it works, and other times it doesn’t so much.
H
Handle
Handles are usually referred to the particular part of the video that starts before its transition starts off and continues to roll to its out-point.
It is done so that the transition effect that is applied between the two shots works seamlessly between them, and the overall transition is smoothened out.
If not done like this, then the transition might occur a bit jittery, and it won’t work well. You can extend the out-points and the in-points of a particular handle as well to extend the overall effect of the transition.
I
Images
Images, as we all know, are the pictures that are clicked. There is not a lot of definition behind the term of Image. Images are also often used for videos, and they can be used in B-rolls.
In all actuality, all videos are images only. They are all played in a certain amount of repetitions per second (FPS) that make them appear that the image is ‘moving’, and it gives the image of a video.
J
J-cut
J-Cuts are basically a type of cut where the audio of a particular video is played out before the video is played on the screen. It is an artistic approach to a scene, and sometimes it works well for the particular scene, and other times it doesn’t so well.
Jump cuts
Jump cuts, on the other hand, are not like J-Cuts. Over here, both the audio and the video are played at the same time. This is the most basic form of cuts that are used, and they are the most efficient ones as well.
You can easily use a jump cut in a horror film or video as well; that works out to be something that is known as ‘jump scares’ as well.
Jump cuts are pretty typical to use, and you see them in all the movies and videos that you see.
L
Letterboxing
Letterboxing is basically what defines a particular aspect ratio. Letterboxes are the black bars that you see on the top and bottom sides of your video (If you are watching Zack Snyder’s Just League, then they appear on the left and ride sides of the video).
The wider the overall image is, the bigger would be the letterboxes of the video will be. You can manually add letterboxes to your videos to give them a particular set of aspect ratios, or you can simply shoot in that manner as well.
L-cuts
L-cuts are the opposite of J-cuts. Wherein J-cuts, the audio plays before the video. Over here, the video plays out before the audio.
This is also an artistic approach to the overall scene of the film that you are editing, and just like J-cut, L-cuts also work sometimes and don’t so the others.
M
Montage
Montages are basically the sequence of events that you play with a particular background music. Usually, in montages, there are not a lot of dialogue that is said, but mostly the actions of the character or the object.
Montages usually comprise of small video clips that are attached to signify or tell a particular story in a quick manner that is both efficient and easy to understand.
N
Non-Linear editing
Non-linear editing is the form of video editing that is done most these days. Earlier, when video editing was basically invented, film strips were manually cut and pasted to represent the overall video.
It used to be a very laborious and time-consuming method. However, with the invention of computer editing, things started to become a lot more simpler and easier to do when it came to video editing.
This meant that you no longer had to work linearly to edit your films; you can pick and choose and insert as many types of clips as you wanted to.
Hence, the name non-linear video editing.
Also read: Video editing vs photo editing
Also read: Video editing vs graphic design
P
Pan
You must have heard this name in your kitchen, but this is quite different from the pan that you have in there. Pan shots usually refer to when the camera either moves from left to the right or visa versa or from top to bottom or visa versa.
Pan shots are sometimes used as establishing shots, and if you have been paying attention to this entire article, then you should be knowing what establishing shots mean.
R
Resolution
As you may know, there are various types of resolutions present these days. A resolution of a video is defined by the number of pixels that are available in the overall video. The lesser the pixels, the lesser will be the resolution of the video.
You have heard of 8K and 4K video resolutions; along with them, you also have resolutions such as 1080p, 720p, 480p, 320p, 270p, 144p, etc.
You can also customise the overall resolution of a video when you are exporting the video by adjusting the settings of it.
Rendering
Rendering is a common phrase that is used when the video editing software is combining various effects and audio effects that you have applied to your video.
Some people often refer to rendering as exporting as well, but that is used when the overall edit is complete, and you just want the particular video with all the inputs that you have made.
Real-time rendering, on the other hand, means when the video editing software is powerful enough to show you the effects as a preview to you without having you to export the video to see its effect.
S
Shotlist
Shotlist is also a common term that you must know because it contains all the shots that were captured while the shooting of the project was happening.
It is a very useful set of lists that is used by the editor to know what all shots he has to play around with and edit with. The shotlist of any particular project also includes all the B-roll shots as well.
So that the editor knows if a particular scene has some B-roll footage or not.
Sweetening
This is a term that even I wasn’t aware of, so even I am learning something new while writing this article. Sweetening, apparently, means to enhance the overall quality of the audio that you have.
This is done by adding in effects, music or filters to the overall audio. It is not fairly straightforward and does require a certain amount of skills to make the type of audio that you are trying to get from the software.
Storyboard
Storyboards are usually hand-drawn materials for a particular scene before the scene is shot. It is done to tell the people working on the project what the overall look of the scene is about.
It is quite a handy tool during the production of a film, and there are multiple storyboard artists who work to make these storyboards.
T
Time-code
Time codes basically denote the time of your particular video frame-by-frame. It is a very useful tool for filmmakers to know how long their overall film or video is and whether or not they have they can work around the time.
Timelapse
You must have seen many timelapse videos on YouTube and elsewhere as well. Timelapse also means quite literally what its name is like.
It is basically a type of video that establishes the overall passage of time. Many people use it to show the time passage from day to night or vice versa, and it is also an artistic approach to sharing about the passage of time.
V
Voiceover
Voiceovers are a form of audio notes that are played on top of the video that is playing. They are quite commonly used to explain the thought process of a character without having the character speak anything.
Voiceovers are used in many different spaces and not just in visual formats like videos and movies but even in audio formats like podcasts, and radio voiceovers are used.
They are a fun way to say something to the audience that is better when speaking on screen or directly talking doesn’t work that well.
W
White balance
The white balance of a particular video is also quite similar to what you might expect in photography. It is basically a tool that allows you to remove some of the blemishes in your video, to make the overall whites in your video look even whiter.
White balance is also something that falls under colour correction, and if you have been reading this article properly, you will know what colour correction is all about.
Wipe
Wipe is a type of transition that you must have seen in many videos. It is basically as the name suggests. A line appears on the video that you are playing, and that line basically wipes away the video and replaces it with a new video.
It is a classic transition, and the wipe can be used in many different ways, such as from top to bottom, left to right, inward to outward, or vice versa.
Also read: Free video editing software with no watermark
Z
Zoom
I am not talking about the popular video conferencing app but actually about the overall zoom-in and zoom-out effects. Through video editing, if you have a higher-resolution video, you can easily zoom in and zoom out as well.
Digital zooms are done for various different reasons and are also used sometimes as jump cuts as well.
When you don’t have enough shots to differentiate between the scene and the scene feels a bit monotonous, then you can very zoom in on the video, and use that as one shot, and use the original zoom-out video as the other shot.
FAQs
Let’s discuss some of the frequently asked questions regarding this topic.
What are the basics of video editing?
There aren’t, as such, basics of video editing. You always learn a lot when you are editing a particular video, and through that, you obviously end up learning the ‘basics of video editing’.
However, the most important part of video editing is the overall story that you are narrating through the video that you are editing. I think that should be the main point of the video.
The rest, filters and effects, are all secondary, and you can learn those skills as you continue editing, but you should be good at conveying the thing that you want to convey from the video that you are making.
Otherwise, it’s all a waste.
What is the 321 rule in video editing?
The 321 rule in video editing isn’t exactly a ‘rule’ rule. It is just something to keep your mind on while you are editing a video. It is more of a tip than a rule, per se.
The 321 rule basically means that you should make three different copies of the files that you have edited, including the RAW files, save them on two different devices and places, and one of them should be saved on an offline media.
It is a useful tip because, a lot of times, you hear the horrifying stories where all files are erased somehow, and everyone’s hard work has gone down in the drain, so you can easily avoid that by following this simple tip.
How many types of video editing are there?
I have written an entire article on this topic, so you can read it out to know more about it as well. However, to keep it short and simple, there are mostly two types of video editing software.
One is the Linear Editing. Linear Editing, as I mentioned above, is the form of editing that was used in older times where people used to manually cut each film and stick to the other film to make the overall look of the video.
It was very time-consuming and laborious, as you can expect. Non-linear editing, on the other hand, is the type of editing that you and I use using the modern video editing softwares.
Over here, everything is digital, and anything manually that you have to do is use the tools available on the software to make your overall video of yours better.
It is a much more simpler and faster method of editing a video.
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Conclusion
Well, there you have it. A-Z A of video editing, where I discuss everything that you can have on a video editing software and things that you can control in the post-production of the video that you are editing.
This was a different topic, and not a lot of people know about it, so I wanted to know what you thought about it, doesn’t matter if you are a beginner, intermediate or a professional.
Whatever your thoughts are, do let us know about them in the comments section down below!
