You planned the shoot, you wrote your script, you gathered your team and equipment, you shot your scenes… now you have to put it all together and tell a story that your audience will like. This is the post-production stage. If we want to be very rigorous, we must say that the term “post-production” describes several processes, even if for many people it usually means only editing. Post-production is, in fact, a much more complex process, which, in addition to the actual editing, also includes sound mixing, graphics, visual effects and color correction. But let’s take them one at a time…
EDITING
In a nutshell, editing means adjusting the length of the video shots and placing them in a certain order, so that at the end we tell a story, form a collage or present a coherent speech. Editing is a process that can be done both by a beginner, in its simplest form, and by an expert who has spent a lifetime refining his skill and style, in its most complex, even artistic form.
Precisely because editing can range from very simple to very complex, you will need to adopt different types of editing for different videos, depending on the needs and style of the project. As a general rule, the complexity of the story and that of the editing go hand in hand. Because the discussion about editing can go on and on (just go to one of the many online editing forums and discussion groups to find out why), we are only going to put together a list of requirements and good practices:
Editing Software
If you are new to editing, it is best to start by using simple, inexpensive or free editing software. This way, you will be able to learn the basic techniques, without being intimidated or confused by the multitude of options, effects, buttons and other functions that come with a professional editing program. At the same time, you will not be frustrated that you have spent money on something you do not use, or not properly. Then, as your skills and needs progress, you can move on to more complex programs.
The editing process has a few preliminary steps that must be strictly followed if you want everything to go smoothly and not run into problems along the way:
Connect your smartphone, tablet, or camcorder to your computer and download the raw video to a folder on your hard drive. If your camera records on memory cards, it is much easier to connect the cards directly to the computer, through the built-in or external readers.
Make sure to name the folders where you download the material in a way that makes it clear to anyone what’s inside, especially if you are working on a shared computer. You don’t want to end up not finding the material in the multitude of folders on your computer or, worse, someone accidentally deleting your material, because they don’t know what it is.
There are no strict rules regarding how to organize, but in principle it should be a system that makes sense for you or for whoever is going to edit the footage.
Now you have to import the material into the editing software and organize it, a stage that may differ in the way it’s done from one program to another.
Experienced editors often have their own workflows and methods of organization in which everything is made as logical and intuitive as possible, so that the editing process goes almost by itself.
Editing
Once the import and organization are done, you can proceed to the actual assembly. In simple terms, as I said earlier, editing consists of cutting the videos at the moments chosen by the editor and arranging them in a clear sequence.
Editing has its own “grammar” and precise rules, which, even if sometimes you can “force” or break, you must first know. So before starting to edit it is recommended to follow a training in video editing, either with a specialist or online, the resources being very vast.
In addition to simple cuts, editing software allows you to add transitions between clips. Just be careful not to overdo it. The transitions should provide smooth editing and be suitable for the style of video you produce. Excessive use or inappropriate transitions can distract from the content or even bother the viewer.
Text and graphics
Once the edit is ready, you can add titles or other graphics over the image. Graphics can be the names and positions of the speakers (this type of graphics is called “lower third” in the language of television), descriptions of locations, explanations of technological processes, subtitles and so on.
Most editing programs have functions for adding graphics to the image, from simple text to complex animations. These can be edited and adjusted in many ways, but for the best results you need some patience and care, especially in the case of animations.
VISUAL EFFECTS
If you want to add visual effects to your videos (for example, inserting or removing logos, replacing displays on computers, tablets and phones, 3D and moving graphics, etc.), don’t try to do it on your own before you have an acceptable level of know-how. If you really need them, for a while it is better to turn to a specialist, who will be able to do them much better and faster. If you want to learn this part of post-production, the most suitable software to practice is Adobe After Effects, a standard for video post-production.
COLOR CORRECTIONS
You will soon discover that there is a difference between how the images look immediately after you download them from the camera and how a completed professional video looks, and this difference is sometimes quite significant. We are talking here about the level of contrast and the color palette.
Although it is very tempting to quickly apply some color filters that are included in your editing program, in terms of corrections our advice is the same as above: for starters, turn to a specialist if you want your videos to look high-end. There are a lot of cases where you will need an experienced eye to notice the color differences between the shots (especially if you filmed at different times of the day or different types of lighting) and a skilled hand who can adjust them, so that your video has a unified “look”.
Because most of the time business videos focus on people, color corrections will be needed to make the protagonists look their best. You will need to adjust skin tone, especially if you are shooting in neon-lit offices (which tend to emit a greenish light), you will smoothen much wrinkles and pores that are too visible, in the case of high resolution filming, and so on.
SOUND AND MUSIC
Your careful recording of sound on location will have been for nothing if you do not put in a little effort to improve it in post-production. Beyond adjusting the volume levels, the sound of the voices will almost always need to be cleaned and processed, to be as clear as possible.
You will need fades at the beginning and end of the audio clips (so they don’t start or end abruptly) or you will need to add audio effects. In most cases, the sound of your videos will need minimal processing and mixing, but there will also be cases where you will need to turn to professionals for sound mixing and mastering, such as when you produce commercials that need to be broadcast on TV or screened in cinemas and must meet certain standards.
Remember: If you use background music, turn to royalty-free stock banks. A piece will cost you a few tens of euros, and you won’t have any issues with copyright. Never ever use famous songs, no matter how much you like them. Better try to find similar sounding songs that you can license from the collections mentioned above.
COMPLETION OF THE PROJECT AND EXPORT OF DISTRIBUTION FILES
Once post-production is completed, you will need to export the final files, which you will then distribute on the channels chosen in the video marketing strategy.
Each distribution platform has its own video settings that work best, so even if you could export a main “Master” file that works more or less on all platforms, it’s also good to export separate files for each platform you are about to distribute on. Depending on the destinations chosen, you will need to find out what the technical export requirements are.
Remember! Some platforms, such as Instagram, require videos to an aspect ration different from the standard, in order to match the design of the site or application and get the best results. Instagram, for example, distributes square videos (1:1 aspect ratio), while YouTube defaults to 16:9 aspect ratio (although lately it adapts to any aspect ratio, sometimes with less than optimal results). Find out what aspect ratio is standard for the platform you are distributing, before making the final export.