Editing video is all about choosing what you want people to see and hear.  The technical side of it can be intimidating and that is where I can be most helpful to people.  If you are planning on editing video and you do not know where to start, or if you get stuck somewhere along the way, let me know.  I might be able to help you out.
Yes, you can edit video on your smart phone or tablet, however, the type of editing you can do there is very limited.   That may be perfect in some situations (like when you just want something simple done quickly), but when you choose to really work with the footage you have and create great looking, compelling videos that can be re-purposed for many different uses, you will need something more advanced, and if you want to do a quick, simple edit that is always still an option with bigger systems.

Here are some ideas on what to do before you edit video:

Create a copy of all your raw footage and test your workflow.  The last thing you want to do is lose your raw footage.  The second to last thing you want to do is try to edit video on a system that is not capable or set up properly to edit video.

Unless you want to stay in the “quick cut and post” style of just getting your videos online, the first thing you will need to do is get the video that is in your recording device (camera, cell phone, tablet, etc…) onto the computer you are going to edit with.  Eventually, if you shoot enough video your recorder is going to get completely full and you will have to do this in some way or another or lose some of what you have already shot.

The second thing to do is to make a copy of those files and save them somewhere else (other than the computer you are editing with).  That way if something bad happens to your computer or you make a big mistake (like deleting raw footage files), you can always get your video files, copy them back onto your computer, and continue editing.  If you do not do this, you may lose your video footage forever.

Download your video files

On some devices getting the footage from your camera on to your editing computer is as simple as taking the memory card out of the camera and putting it into your computer.  Other systems require you to use a cable to connect the two devices and some have different methods altogether.  If you have the manual or can read it online, that is usually a good place to find information about this essential procedure.  If you are having trouble with this let me know in the comments section of this post (tell me the make and model of the device you have recorded video on and I’ll do what I can to help you figure it out).

Once you have the video files backed up (copied and stored both on your computer and somewhere else) then you are ready to get into a video editing software solution.  There are a number of options to choose from.

My personal favorite video editing software

I highly recommend Adobe Premiere Pro CC (Creative Cloud) because it is compatible with so many different kinds of video and other types of graphic and audio files.  It also offers several ways to collaborate with people worldwide.  Premiere Pro is capable of doing everything from simple trims (changing the length of a video file) to exporting a feature length motion picture.

If you have another choice, let me know about it and tell me why you like it.  For now, I am going to concentrate on the Adobe software because it works really well on most computers.

Who I am:

I’m Philip Quintas and I make it easier for customers to trust you before and after they buy from you by creating simple videos that help you help more people.

If you want one-to-one help with making better videos, I can answer your questions and even write, shoot, edit, upload and promote videos for you or any combination of these services.  Sign up using the Email Address* and First Name* form on this website to get direct access to me, my experience and offerings.