I recently connected with Mike Gentilini, Jr. who’s the founder of VidMuze. VidMuze is a video community where tutorials and stock footage content is shared for video editors and visual effects artists to learn and grow from. Empowering storytellers to take their video productions to a higher professional level is the core mission of VidMuze.

There are many great tutorials which you can watch on VidMuze, but in the mean time I have hand selected a couple below to get you started. To watch the others simply visit their tutorial page, or their Vimeo channel page.

Below is some pretty cool video stock footage provided by VidMuze

If you like what you’ve seen here, then be sure to head over to VidMuze to get even more valuable content to benefit your current and future video productions.

Have something to add? The comments are yours below!

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Jeremy Campbell Production Tool, community, resources adobe tutorials, after effects tutorials, editing, editing software, encore tutorials, Facebook, film editing, film editors, premiere tutorials, stock footage, twitter, VFX, video editor, video projects, video stock footage, video tutorials, VidMuze, Vimeo, visual effects artist, YouTube

Quick mention: First off, extremely happy to announce that our hacked servers from late last week have been 100% restored, and everything is back to normal once again. So you can again feel safe visiting and using our platform, and reading our blog. Now onto the topic of the day which is giving you five video editing tips you can use for your future production projects.

Since the mid-1990’s, video production has undergone vast changes due to technological improvements in video equipment and software, distribution options, funding avenues, and barriers to entry have been virtually eliminated.

Once you film and record an entertaining video, you or someone on your team needs to edit it down to its core to tell viewers an engaging story.

Here are five video editing tips:

1. Always use a tripod if possible. Tripods have been created for one reason, steady shots. Earthquake-like effects are sometimes desired, but you don’t want your audience to sit through an entire shaky video. In fact, they won’t anyways. Let the tripod do it’s job. When it comes to video editing, steady shots will help you make clean edits.

2. Use instrumental background music. That way the lyrics or vocals from the artist don’t clash with someone speaking on-camera. You can safely use vocals for parts of your video where there is no dialogue. Also, try to edit to the beat of the music, meaning change your shots on each beat.

3. Normalize your audio when editing. This means that all of your sound levels should peak in the middle of your audio meter bar. This bar is an area of your video editing software that quickly moves up and down when a video is playing. You don’t want audio that is too low to hear, or too loud which hurts viewer’s ears.

4. Don’t use too many video effects. This is a rookie mistake, and I’m sure you don’t want to look like a rookie even if you are one. Find one or two good transitions which fit the video’s format and stick with them, but don’t use them for every little scene. Also, use only one or two good filters, which are effects that make the entire screen change or look different. At times a nice effect is to start your video black and white and let it gradually dissolve to color. Experiment with video effects as they can make your video more entertaining, and deliver additional production value to your viewers.

5. Be patient. It takes lots of time to become a good editor. Use your editing software help section, read related blog articles, and tap into community knowledge on video editing forums. Forums are fantastic places to invest your time, and there are likely many thousands of people using the exact software you are. They know the pros and cons of your software, and any issues you are having they have likely experienced similar ones also. Some useful forums are CreativeCow.net, Videomaker.com, and Videoguys.com.

And most importantly remember to have fun, because if you aren’t having fun editing videos then perhaps partnering with a quality editor may make more sense to your projects.

If you have any other video editing advice, be sure to post it in the comments below.

Jeremy Campbell Lists, resources edit, editing, editing skills, editing software, film editing, how to, information, learn, list, software, talent, tips, video editing, video editor, video production

New technologies in video production equipment combined with the emergence of online video viewing, has made it possible for anyone with some talent and passion, to become a respected video creator in a short period of time. Video production equipment is relatively inexpensive, and can be mastered quite quickly with easy to use controls and features. Even the upcoming release of the iPhone 4 is going to have 720p HD video baked in.

While there is a lot more to the fine art of video creation than just having the right equipment, the accessibility of video production tools has encouraged many amateurs to simply jump in and give it their best shot. Understanding the basics of video production equipment is perhaps the first step to becoming the next Steven Spielberg.

As you prepare to make a new video or short film, it’s a good idea to determine what equipment you will need for an ideal shoot. Below is some of the primary equipment you will need, and some basic considerations you should keep in mind.

• Video cameras – From ENG cameras that are slightly larger than your average camcorder, to Studio cameras, there are infinite choices when it comes to cameras. There are way too many cameras to list here, but $500-$2,000 should get you a high enough grade camera that can provide quality image resolution for video scenes.
• Stabilization – This equipment includes tripods, shoulder mounts, camera dollies, and other related hardware which keeps the camera steady. Stabilization equipment ensures that video production is smooth for viewers to watch. A tripod is one of the best investments that can be made for shooting video effectively, and tripods are usually quite inexpensive to purchase.
• Quality lighting – Some professionals argue that lighting is perhaps the next important thing to video production after the camera selection. If you can’t clearly see the actors in a video, or if there were weird shadows being cast on the set, you can almost hear the viewers vigorously clicking to find another video to watch. Light pricing ranges dramatically in cost, and can be as expensive or even more expensive than the camera itself. Focusing the light, and reflecting light successfully is a whole other post that I may one day write.
• Audio – While many video cameras contain a microphone to capture sound, creating a professional quality video requires separate audio equipment. If the video’s sound is good but the video is of low quality viewers are more tolerant of that, versus good video and poor sound. Just like cameras, there is a multitude of audio equipment options available. Be sure that the video’s audio is clear, clean, and crisp to keep your viewer’s ears happy.
• Editing software – Unlike film, which must be edited manually, video can be edited from the comfort of your home computer. Using professional video editing software you can add transitions, trim scenes, and cut the whole project together seamlessly to tell a story. Final Cut Premiere or Final Cut Pro are two good affordable options. Many new computers now come standard with video editing software, but most of those are only good for home videos. Investing properly in quality editing software is money well spent.

These are the five most important pieces of equipment and software to consider before getting into video production. Having the right mix of these five will get you well on your way towards creating quality video entertainment that viewers will enjoy watching, and sharing with their friends.

Equipment is only the first step though, so if you need the next piece of the puzzle which is talent to add to your team, don’t be shy to create a Spidvid profile and then tap the expertise of our production community.

Jeremy Campbell resources camera, editing, editing software, equipment, how to, lighting, talent, team, tripod, video, video creation, video entertainment, video equipment, video production