A quick guide to editing

The shorter the video the better. If the question/answer is not useful, cut it. Make 3 minutes your maximum film length. Beyond this, you've lost your viewer's attention. Think about captions - just one or two captions or title sequences add variation. Avoid capturing/adding music on video where possible. Music licensing needs to be sought or permission granted and will delay the delivery of your video. Remember: 'You never finish a film, you just decide when to stop' George Lucas.

There are a range of user friendly editing tools that allow you to do basic editing. Digital Diplomacy recommend two options.

Windows Movie Maker

Most Microsoft pcs come with Windows Movie Maker installed. Alternatively, it is available for free download.

Adobe Premiere Elements

1. Before you start

1. Get your camera or download clips from the ftp.
2. Plug Flip/Vado camera into the PC via USB adaptor. Ensure you can play the video clips on your PC. Copy files from the camera into a folder on your desktop or hard drive. If you've used a high definition camera, you may need to convert the footage to make the file size more manageable to edit.
3. Watch and label your clips.
4. Disconnect the camera (safely remove hardware).
5. Close down all other programmes.

2. Setting up your project

1. Open Adobe Premiere Elements.
2. Give your project a name. Choose your location to save your project.
   
   
   
   
   
3. The default project setting is PAL-DV-Standard-48Hz. If you need to save your video in wide screen, change the settings to Widescreen-48Hz.
   
   
   
   
   
4. Under the organise tab, select Get Media. Select PC files and folders.
   
   
   
   

3. Organising your project

1. Put the clips you have imported, in the order you wish them to appear, onto the timeline. Click on the clip and drag it to the timeline. Leave spaces between clips to give you room to edit. Save your project.
   

    

2. If you have any film or image cutaways (alternative scenes to show simultaneous or related action), drag these on to the timeline from the project view. Items higher on the timeline take visual priority over content lower on the timeline. If you want the cutaway to appear, place it above the video. You can unlink the audio and video by right clicking, in order to delete the audio from the cutaway. (See Section 4)
   
   

   

    
3. To expand the timeline to get a better view, use the cursor on the plus and minus bar (top of diagram), drag the slider to the right to zoom in, or to the left to zoom out.
4. Save your project. Press Enter to render which improves the quality your project.

4. Editing clips

1. Select play. Hit pause at the point you want cut. Drag the cursor to the left or right to perfect the cut point.
2. Use the scissor icon to cut.
3. Right clip on the clip not required. Select delete and close gap.
4. If you just want the audio from one clip, right click and unlink video and audio. Use the scissor tool to cut, right clip and delete video.
5. If you just want the video, use the scissor tool to cut, right clip and delete audio.

5. Adding titles/captions

1. Jump to an edit point: hit home or end to go to either the beginning or end of your film. Click |< or >| to go to the next edit point.
   

   

    
2. To add an introductory slide, jump to the start of the edit point. Select T. A cursor will appear on the playback screen. Double click to access. Use the editing options on the right hand edit panel to format your text. Keep the font style simple (Arial/Verdana) and a visible size. You can change the length of time the credit appears by putting your cursor on the right of the clip and moving to the right to increase, or left to decrease. Give your viewer enough time to read the text.
   
   

   
   

    
3. Add a caption / subtitle. Select the T tool. Use the blue rectangle tool to mark out a rectangle on the area you want a caption to appear (black box for white text). Use the colour palate icon to change the colour of the box. Use the Green T tool to edit/add text.
4. Use the justification icons to centralise and anchor the text. (orange and blue icons to right of the playback window)
5. To save formatting each caption, duplicate your title clips or captions under the Edit > Project tab. Copy one clip and paste it onto your work tab. Drag on to the timeline where you want another caption to appear. Double click to edit the text.

6. Transitions

1. Under the edit menu, select transitions.
2. Choose the transition – ideally cross dissolve or dip to black.
3. Adjust the length of the transition.

7. Enhancing volume

1. Right click on the clip. Select Audio Gain. Increase volume to 5, 10 or 20 dB.
2. If the audio is very quiet you can duplicate your clip and layer them parallel on the timeline to duplicate the volume.

8. Exporting your video

1. Under the share tab, choose Personal Computer, Windows Media (or Flash if saving the FCO video player).
2. In the Presets drop down menu, select Local Area Network.