7 Creative Video Editing Techniques for Graphic Designers

 

How many of you Graphic Designers out there want to learn how to edit videos? I have you covered with the best Visual Editing hacks for Designers to improve their video editing skills anywhere.

Video editing is a critical phase in production; that’s when you create stunning visuals and make the viewers feel emotionally connected. Your editing goal should consistently deliver an enticing story that can keep your audience’s attention.

Sometimes, you need to break some industry standards and make your video unique and stand out among the rest. Having a knack for designing can help you improve the video post-production results. With some design skills, you would be able to edit videos and add the exact atmosphere that fits the video’s content while also delivering valuable information.

Real-world video editing expectation.

After putting in the work filming your video and compiling the footage you need, it’s time to get started on the second phase. 

Post-production is when footage is selected and organized, then piece the video together. The skills you’ve learned will help you create smooth video editing instead of straight-cutting clips. The clean transitions and footage placement create an enticing story for your viewers.

Qualifications and involvements in editing videos

You do not need a film degree to be a video editor. There’s plenty of opportunity for creative input in video editing rooms! Graphic designer skills can come in handy to help with the overall look and feel of the video.

When it comes to incorporating graphics, text, and other motion graphics, you want someone with a good eye and design sensibilities. That’s why graphic designers find themselves working with the directors and sound engineers in the editing room.

However, graphic designers get very little credit from the general public for their involvement in the creative process. They’re more involved than most people would think. Video editing is one of the handfuls of roles where designers can make a huge difference.

There are a few fundamentals that every video should follow to look good and make it professional. Get them wrong, though, and your videos will look flat or dull, which is unappealing to your viewers.

This article will discuss the basic video editing techniques every graphic designer should know.

What is graphic design?

Graphic design is a form of art that can be used to convey messages with specific objectives. The profession or academic discipline of graphic design is all about creating images using colors, lines, textures, and shapes.

Graphic designers are often responsible for creating the visual aspects of various marketing materials, including posters, book covers, and product labels. They also work on infographics and logos, just a few examples found in their portfolio! Graphic designers are often left out when people talk about video editing, but it’s a small part of their job.

Let’s look at the two worlds and see how they connect.

Video Editing and Graphic Designers: What’s the relevance

When people think of video editing, they often do not think about graphic design. Yet, a video is designed by creating a story using footage, color, typography, symbols, and titles. A video editor has some graphic design skills to ensure correctly edited the video.

The fundamental skills shared between video editors and graphic designers are basic principles, making them closer than one might think.

Before we get to the specifics, it’s vital to understand why you can’t separate video editing from graphic design. Graphic designers and video editors are two different jobs but they share a few things in common.

While, graphic design is the art of arranging lines, colors, shapes, and textures to create visual representations. Video editors “design” the video by developing a story from selected footage, symbols, color, effects, and typography.

If you want to edit videos, you’ll need design and organizational skills to create compelling pieces. These talents will help you stand out from the competition and excel in your field. This is a great way to increase opportunities for yourself!

The interchangeable role between graphic designers and video editors is not a recent trend; it has been happening for years. Many famous movies can attribute their success to graphic designers; Hollywood has depended on both visual professions.

How Can Graphic Designers Improve Video Editing?

 

The video editing process often includes brainstorming and iterating before the final product is approved. Graphic designers can help by providing creative concepts and ideas to improve the video. Good communication between designers and editors will allow post-production to go smoothly and avoid common pitfalls.

For example, a graphic designer might suggest different fonts or colors in the video. There are other inputs that a designer can offer, such as recommending images, storyboard concepts, or adding animation.

Video editors often get designers’ input when creating animations for commercials, advertisements, promotional videos, and even youtube introductions and outros. These motion graphic animations suggestions are a great way to add value to videos and capture viewers’ attention. The teamwork between those two during post-production turns an average video into an excellent one.

Video Editing Tips for Graphic Designers

Editing a video is not much different from a designer’s vision when creating a poster, brochures, or other types of graphic design. The thought process is very similar. This article focuses on editing tips with strong elements design that will help improve your video editing skills. The following are a few tips that every graphic designer should remember when editing video:

Use the Best Video Designing Tools Available

With the advancements of the internet, it is easier than ever to find excellent video editing software. You can get started with simple features for standard video edits and then move on to advanced tools as your skills progress.

The right software can make a difference in getting your work done. It’s essential to pick which software you use based on the interface that works with your style and preferences.

A little video editing tip for graphic designers is to start with something simple. You can always use free software such as an online video editor for less complicated video editing design. It will not have the bells and whistles of more advanced editors, but it gets the job done.

Consider Final Cut Pro or Adobe Premiere Pro for more complex video editing projects. These programs has a wide range of features used for professional purposes and do an excellent job editing videos while still including your style.

Master keyboard shortcuts

One of the best ways to become a great video editor as a graphic designer is to learn and use keyboard shortcuts. The keyboard shortcuts can help you save time and energy while editing videos.

Most video editing software comes with a list of keyboard shortcuts that you can use. Familiarize yourself with these shortcuts and start using them when editing videos. It will make the editing process go by faster and easier for you!

Additionally, learning hotkeys allows you to fine-tune details in your audiovisual projects. Much like creating graphic design, the goal is to get as much done in a short time as possible while still achieving high quality.

Mastering the keyboard shortcuts is a much better process than the point-and-click method.

Use Visual Effects

With the growing demand for audiovisual projects, graphic designers can refine their skills in visual editing to enhance a project with digital effects. 

You want to put your signature style on everything you create as a graphic designer. Adding visual motion elements to your videos is a great idea and allows you to do that! Stunning animations and cool effects can make your video stand out on social media or other video platforms.

The visual effects aren’t only used in films during post-production, though. The motion graphics tools are used in video games, commercials, and music videos. There’s a lot of flexibility and scope for graphic designers to create animations and effects for different projects.

Compositing applications, like Adobe After Effects and Apple Motion, offer a wide array of limitless visual effects in your videos. Add your personal touch with special effects to make your videos more engaging and captivating. Use Apple Motion and After Effects to make your projects look more professional.

Create an organized structure when editing videos

When editing your videos, the key to your success as a graphic designer is organizational skills. By keeping your footage in folders and sub-folders, you can easily access the videos, audio, and picture files you need. Organizational skills will help you maintain the proper workflow you need in post-production.

Keeping things organized will allow you to work more efficiently when editing and speed up the process of creating a stunning film. Keep in mind, the workflow you follow when creating your video will vary depending on the project. This video editing tip for beginners is something you can use as a foundation and build on.

Keep your work organized, and you’ll be on your way to creating unique and high-standard videos!

Research industry standards

Research is important in whatever industry you are in—learning the industry standards keep your work looking professional. With proper research, you’ll be able to produce higher-quality video projects. 

The way to research video editing is to go online, read articles, and watch tutorial videos. These written resources could be from formal video editing websites (KingZoeFX.com wink, wink), or just a forum where people discuss issues. 

You can also go to YouTube and look up “video editing tips and tricks” in the search bar. There are many helpful videos that will give you basic information down to more complex issues. Be sure to also watch video reviews of software before making any decisions. This will provide you with a preview of using the video editing software before you purchase it.

Another place to get information about video editing is by browsing Fiverr.com… Yes, Fiverr! You’ll be able to ask many questions to professional editors that specialize in video editing. 

These research tips will get you the information you need and help you better edit your video projects. 

Use green screens to enhance your videos.

Depending on the video, a green screen background or a green screen effect may be effective tools to enhance your video.

Green Screen Backdrop

A green screen background lets you add things to your video that aren’t there. This video editing accessory is ideal for creating special effects. The backdrop lets you take your audience on a trip to space or through a burning building; the possibilities are endless. I once recorded a tutorial video with fire-breathing dragons flying around in the background. It may sound cheesy, but the fun video how-to video went viral on Tiktok!

Color Keying Effect

The idea behind color keying effect is similar to a green screen background but minus the actual backdrop. When dealing with greenscreen effects, chroma-keying will be your best friend.

Chroma key is a technique that allows you to composite two images or videos together based on color hues. This process is done with backgrounds of any type, but green and blue work best for this effect since these colors don’t variation easily when exposed against other tones in the footage. The technique is often used in movies when creating a special effects sci-fi scene. Remember, the key to success with this effect is to have a smooth, consistent background.

Both green screen backdrop and chroma keying effect can be used to your advantage when creating videos for social media. You can be as creative as you want, and the results will impress your audience!

Consider Color Corrections to level up your videos.

 

A graphic designer learning to edit video needs to understand color correction. This is the process of fixing color and making footage look as naturalistic as possible. The goal is for colors to look natural and clean as the human eye sees them.

Mastering color correction will separate your videos from the rest and give them a more professional look. Wedding videos are a great example of when color correction is used correctly to make the footage look beautiful.

Color is an essential aspect of video graphics. The colors chosen for the composition should be deliberate, and the selection should help set the tone and communicate the overall message.

Color correction should not be confused for color grading. Color grading is a vital part of post-production; this is where you adjust contrast, color balance, or even aspects like black level. The coloring technique is meant to amplify the visual tone and atmosphere of a piece of footage.

The distinction between color correction and grading is confusing for beginners, but it’s essential to understand the purpose of both techniques and when to use them. With a bit of effort, color correction can be mastered by any graphic designer.

A final thought about Visual Editing Hacks for Graphic Designers

In conclusion, creative video editing techniques for graphic designers can be easy to learn by doing a little research and experimenting. The skills of a graphic designer are transferable to editing videos; the only real difference is the final product.

Remember, the key to success in video editing is understanding color correction, mastering keyboard shortcuts, and using the appropriate software. Editing videos for social media is a great way to take your graphic designing skills more exposure. With some practice, you’ll be on your way to creating amazing videos that will WOW your audience!

So, now that you know a few Visual Editing hacks, it’s time to get started on your next project! Just remember to experiment and find what works best for you. Happy Editing!