Welcome back to my Beginner’s Guide: Making Your Own Training Videos series. The recording is “in the can” as they used to say in Hollywood! Now it’s time to get it in the right order – step 5: edit the video!
The Beginner’s Guide to Making Training Videos gives you everything you need to start creating effective videos for learning. It’s full of practical processes, guidance, and advice on how to execute learning videos of all sizes using a repeatable and customizable process. My first four posts covered the first four steps of the process: set a goal, write the script, plan the video, and make the video. You’ll want to check those out before you move onto step 5.
Step 5: Edit the Video (Post-production)
As you know by now, making a video is a complex set of processes that challenge every beginner. Acronyms help us remember. Recording or making the video was all about making it “CLASSY“. Step 5: Edit the video is about making it PEACHY.
Make it PEACHY
I’ve broken down the learning video editing process into this handy, easy-to-remember acronym:
Plan
Edit
Add
Clean
Hone
Yes! It’s Good!
Follow the PEACHY process and you’ll end up with a peachy learning video. By the end of this step, you’ll have a completed sequence ready for distribution. So let’s get a bit deeper into what each segment entails.
Plan
Ask yourself, “Why am I making this video? Refer to your Learning Strategy or design document to ground your editing in the business purpose.
Review the purpose
Before you start dealing with any video clips or footage, you need to remind yourself why you are making the video. Are you raising awareness? Teaching a skill? Demonstrating a process? Keep this in mind so that you can use the appropriate cues in the video to achieve the purpose of the video. For example, if you are trying to teach your learners 5 steps to follow when sending an email, then using text on the screen will be helpful. Creating a recap of the list of steps will also be essential. If you disregard the purpose, you run the risk of creating a sequence with flashy graphics that do not accomplish the purpose of the video.
Choose your software
I use and recommend Adobe Premiere. However, if you would prefer to use Screencast-o-matic, Camtasia, DaVinci Resolve, or Final Cut it’s up to you. If the names in the previous sentence read like lorem ipsum, I suggest checking out my guide on the Computer Gear You Need to Make Learning Videos. Whatever tool you choose, remember that it is a tool. It should be easy, after some practice, for you to use to accomplish the purpose of your learning videos while providing you the level of professionalism that is good enough for your audience.
Make new folders
Create a main folder for your project on your computer. Then, create subfolders within that main folder where you’ll store (and easily find) everything you’ll need for editing. Check out the screencap for an idea of the set up I use. There should be a subfolder called Assets where you’ll have sub-subfolders for your video clips, audio files, photos, and graphics. Your next subfolder will be for Documents, where you’ll keep your scripts, shot lists, and storyboards in their own sub-subfolders. Then, create a subfolder for exports, where you’ll store your final edited files. Finally, the last subfolder you need to create is for your project files – these are the files that get created by your editing software.
Import video clips
Now that you have your folder structure, start putting stuff in it! If you recorded on your phone or on a storage card inside of a camera, it’s time to move the video clips into the Raw Video folder. Raw means it has not been edited or altered in any way. I recommend backing up your Raw video to three locations if you haven’t done so at this point. Remember, storage WILL fail… you just don’t know exactly when that will happen.
Log and sort
Logging video means you watch it and name it appropriately. For example, I sort by subject or actor and then by scene or script number. So if you have a salesperson, Kelly, talking to the camera about how to answer a customer question, then log it (or rename the Raw clip) like this:
Kelly_answer1_take_1
Sort your clips into subfolders if you feel this is appropriate. I typically sort by the actor for scenario and simulation videos. If I’m editing a single actor piece, I would group by a segment of the storyboard/script.
Review storyboard/script
If you worked with a team to make the video or if you made it by yourself, there should be field notes. These are notations made on the script or storyboard during filming. As a producer, I like to mark the timecode of the good takes so it’s easier to find them when editing while also ignoring the not-so-good ones. If you are not using a camera with a timecode, then perhaps you should mark which take was the best during recording. Hint: it’s often the last take.
Edit
The “E” in PEACHY stands for Edit.
Make a selects sequence
Now that you’re organized, you can start reviewing your video footage for the best takes. When you locate a good clip that you want to use, drag it onto a track on your video editor’s timeline to create a “selects sequence.” Don’t worry too much about getting everything in perfect order yet – this is just to make sure you have your best clips at hand as you master how to edit learning video.
Make a rough sequence (aka rough cut)
Look at your storyboard or script and assemble the video in the sequence that the writer intended. Use the best of the best clips from your selects sequence to string together your “rough” (aka first draft) version of the final video. Avoid music, titles, graphics, and photos at this point. When you put those in too early, they can be a pain to tweak/fix if and when you need to make major edits to your rough cut.
Trim out wasted time
Watch your rough cut several times. Try to cut down on the wasted time where there’s no action or the actor is not talking. The trimming process is often what people think of as editing. You will be trimming the clips so that only the parts needed for the final story are left on the timeline.
Add
Now that you have edited a sequence together that tells the scripted story and you’ve trimmed the clips, it’s time to ADD things to it!
Add b-roll
Once your rough cut is solidified, add b-roll or other video that does not feature the actor(s) talking. Use shots of the scene or actions to cover the cuts, doing this will help things flow and add visual interest. For example, it’s common to cut from someone talking to show a close-up of their hands. You may also use b-roll of a prop to highlight the story if the actor references that prop during their dialogue.
Add graphics
It’s time to add the sprinkles to your video sundae. Add the titles, graphics, and icons. Unlike my own use of sprinkles on my favorite ice cream, use each of these sparingly. These elements should support what is being said in the video. If the graphics do not aid in the instruction leave them out. Cool for cool’s sake has no place in learning videos.
Add music
When it comes to learning videos, reserve music for your intro/outro sections or when you are changing scenes. Avoid putting music under the teaching portions of the video. Nothing should take away from the message to the learner.
Add effects
Transitions are subtle animations that help visually tie separate video clips together. There are many different types built into your editing software, but I recommend keeping your transitions fairly basic: cut, dissolve, or wipe. The most common is a cut, and just by trimming and placing clips in a sequence, you’ve already inserted those in your video at this point. Look for places where a dissolve or a wipe may help the viewer engage from one scene to the next.
Add Subtitles
People are more likely to watch an entire video if there are captions available. With the availability of in-program tools and free tools like Kapwing, adding captions has never been easier. “The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requires private companies to caption their content. This includes public-facing videos, training videos, video tutorials, and video used for internal communications” (3PlayMedia).
Subtitles are also great at holding attention and retaining information. A research study by Bigelow and Poremba, University of Iowa, found that people were significantly more likely to recall information if they saw it and heard it.
Clean
Now that you’ve Planned, Edited, and Added to your video sequence, it’s time to Clean it up.
Review and revise
There is no shortcut for review. You need to watch your sequence from start to finish and make adjustments. Shorten clips to remove dead frames. Make sure you let text live on-screen long enough for people to read, 2-4 seconds for young audiences, 4-7 seconds for older folks.
Normalize audio
Now that the visuals are locked into place, you want to normalize the audio. This simply means getting all of the clips to a similar volume from the beginning to the end of the video. Sudden volume changes can distract viewers. The overall mix should span from –6db to -20db. Dialogue sounds good at –6db to -12db. Music should be at the-14db to -20db level and sound effects should stay between-15db to -24db with occasional spikes up to -7db.
Hone
Honing your video is like sharpening the tool before you use it. Use these “honing” reminders to deliver a professional product.
Fine-tune color correct
Correcting the color in your video at the most basic level means making sure that pure white is the same from one scene to the next. If not, this can also distract your viewer and “take them out” of the world of your video. Here are some tutes to help you with this step:
How to Color Correct Video (The 101 Guide!) – YouTube
How To Color Correct Videos FAST! (All Major Editing Software)
What’s next? Once you have completed these 10 steps you’ll know better how to edit learning videos like a pro. Now it’s time to export or share a version of your video with your learners.
Choose your export settings
If terms like codec, compression, h.264, and bit rate make you want to scream before you start Googling, please take a breath. Your final delivery method is going to dictate these details. Chances are, your authoring tool has a preferred format for videos, so you should use that. I’ll make it simple. For example, Articulate Rise “recommends using high-quality videos with a 16:9 aspect ratio for the best results in your published courses. Rise 360 compresses videos so they have smaller file sizes while maintaining quality, converting videos to H.264 video and AAC audio in MP4 containers.”
My personal experience suggests that if you provide Rise with an h.264 AAC video the compression will not degrade the video quality.
Save and export your video at the highest quality available to you.
If you are like me and crave the details, here is a list of export format parameters that pros use.
Format: h.264
Preset: If you have this option choose Vimeo or YouTube.
Size: 1920×1080 – unless your source video is smaller. Never enlarge your video from its original size.
Frame rate: The higher the frame rate the smoother the image will be. But, like the size, you cannot enlarge the frame rate without degrading the quality.
Audio: 320 Kbps is ideal, with a 48kHz sample rate. If you have to step down, please listen to it to make sure the audio loss is marginal.
If your deliverables will live on social media, please refer to the guidelines below:
YouTube Upload Encoding Settings
Everything You Need to Know About LinkedIn Video
Reviewing exported file
Review it again. Watch it from start to finish. Just like you reviewed the sequence during the “Clean” step of this checklist, you need to do it again. I’ve seen professional editors in a rush skip the final review only to be embarrassed by a corrupted file later. Take the time to watch the video one last time before you declare “It’s done!”
Yes, it’s good!
The Y in PEACHY stands for YES! Everyone loves to hear yes. It makes us feel good and gives us confidence. As you review your exported videos, work hard to earn a YES from yourself. You deserve it! Perhaps one of the most important parts of step 5: edit the video is … Yes, it’s good!
The only way to get to YES is to put in the 10,000 hours to achieve “mastery.” Practice, practice, practice and you will get better. Do not judge yourself when you make mistakes or have to re-do parts of your edited video. It’s all a part of the process! No one is perfect and great videos are not created after one try.
Conclusion
Editing a learning video like a professional takes careful practice and confidence. In step 5: edit the video, you have to first believe that you know what effective learning videos look like! As you read above, it takes a variety of processes and procedures that need to happen before you start choosing good clips. Once you are ready to edit, plan how you’ll manage the edit, cut the clips into the right segments, add sprinkles (b-roll, titles, music, graphics, effects subtitles), clean up the edit, hone it to the tightest, sharpest edit you can make. Then, praise yourself. You did it!
Now it’s time to share your learning video with the world. Up next, distribute the video.
Helpful Links
How to Edit Learning Video: The Ultimate Checklist
10 Steps You Need To Edit Learning Video
10 Best Ways to Edit Video like a Professional
5 Pro-tips You Need to Edit Learning Video
10 Things You Need to Know About Editing Video
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