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Why learn video editing
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Learning video editing can be both financially and personally fulfilling. Video editing is both a rewarding profession and useful skill for personal use. Outside of professional work, video editing skills can be used for personal projects ranging from family occasions to sporting events that are captured on video, with editing skills allowing you to share higher quality projects.
Learning video editing provides professional opportunities
The most apparent video editing roles are those in film and TV production. Yet, these aren’t the only industries that employ video editors. Businesses need help creating content for training, marketing, and presentations to clients, creating a need for both in-house video editing roles at companies and independent video editors that get hired for specific projects. With increasing digitalization and accessibility, videos are an easy way for companies to convey messages and are often used as an alternative to creating printed materials or longer text descriptions on a website.
The need for professional video editors is only expected to increase, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, as consumers express an interest in video and a growing number of streaming services. Video editors are also expanding the industry from within. This is happening as video editors create new kinds of content such as virtual reality and 360-degree immersive videos, which have the potential to broaden the use of video editors into additional industries.
Working as a video editor provides a creative outlet
Viewers don’t always recognize the contributions that video editors make when watching the finished product. Still, most things that appear on screen are highly calculated by professional video editors who have often spent years studying the craft and gaining hands-on experience. Learning video editing can make these creative decisions more apparent when watching any kind of video content.
By knowing the basics of the trade, video editors can appreciate others’ work and speak the language when collaborating with other industry employees. Communication about expectations for content is smoother when working with professionals that have formal training, even if an editor has limited experience, and leads to higher quality production. Setting expectations beforehand within a creative team allows video editors to know where they can take creative license within a project.
Video editing is a growing field
Although many video editing jobs require formal training or a degree, video editing positions provide an above-average income. The median pay for film and video editors in 2019 was just under $63,780 a year, and the number of available video editing positions is expected to grow by the thousands in the coming years.
For those who don’t want to work for a firm directly, or are unable to find a full-time role, it is possible to work as an independent contractor providing video editing services. These freelance roles offer a viable way to gain experience or work independently.
Video editors continue to be in high demand as platforms rush to release content to meet the seemingly endless appetite for video entertainment.
How to learn video editing
You can learn video editing through video editing classes, workshops, and tutorials. These can include learning specific video editing tools such as Premiere Pro or Final Cut, and for those wanting to enhacne videos using effects and animation, learning After Effects in an option . These are some of the most commonly used professional-level video editing tools that run on the most common computer platforms.
Reported by Morgan Keith
About the author
Christopher Smith is president of American Graphics Institute. He is the co-author of Adobe Creative Cloud for Dummies and more than 10 other books on design and digital publishing. He served as publisher and editor of the Digital Classroom book series, which has sold more than one million books on topics relating to InDesign, Photoshop, Illustrator, After Effects, Premiere Pro and other Creative Cloud apps. At American Graphics Institute, he provides strategic technology consulting to marketing professionals, publishers designers, and large technology companies including Google, Apple, Microsoft, and HP. An expert on web analytics and digital marketing, he also delivers Google Analytics classes along with workshops on digital marketing topics. Christopher did his undergraduate studies the at the University of Minnesota, and then worked for Quark, Inc. prior to joining American Graphics Institute where he has worked for more than 20 years.