Surprisingly, ‘How long does it take to edit a video?’ is one of the most popular queries on the Internet when it comes to post-processing footage. And it’s not that the process of editing a video is intimidating or unpleasant per se. Just those who are new to it want to know how much time it normally takes to put together a decent video project from scratch.
If you’ve just embarked on your video editing quest, chances are you’re also wondering how many precious minutes you might need to invest in polishing your videos and what tricks you can avail yourself of to speed up this process. You can try video editor free offering as well to edit a video.
So, go on reading to get the answers to all these questions right now.
Things to Consider Before Editing
If you’re about to get down to editing your footage, you should keep some simple rules in mind. First of all, you should note that as with any creative undertaking, your projects might take up more time than you initially planned. And it’s pretty normal. So, always allow more time for your video post-processing and always factor in all possible nuances and details in the planning stage.
The amount of time you may need to fully spruce up your raw footage depends on your previous experience, editing style, the number of edits you’re planning on incorporating, and more. If you just want to delete some unwanted fragments from your video narrative or make short clips for your social media, you can get through with all the required edits within less than half an hour (provided you have some relevant experience under your belt). Also, you need to use the right software to edit videos quickly and effortlessly. But note that such a thing as ‘quick editing’ is only possible for amateur or very short videos.
If your goal is a professional-looking video with great sound effects, animation, color correction, captions, and the like, be ready to spend twice as much time editing your footage as you spent shooting it. The post-production stage might take days, weeks, or even months if you want to create a full-fledged film or professional cinematic video.
Therefore, experience and software play a crucial role in determining the duration of your post-production phase. You cannot expect to grab a random editing tool and start creating thumb-stopping videos from the get-go. It takes a lot of time to become proficient at using dedicated editing tools and crafting truly impressive videos.
Low-end devices that don’t have enough RAM or a decent processor also can get in the way of efficient editing. So, if you want to speed up the editing process, your best bet would be to invest in a powerful enough laptop or PC.
Is Editing Really That Difficult?
There’s no universal recipe for painless and fast editing. And unless you try editing videos by yourself, you will never be able to say if this process is really that difficult. Lots of people derive pleasure from it and revel in crafting their future masterpieces with their own hands. Still, for others, post-production is just a mandatory routine, dreary and mind-numbing. So, they prefer to outsource it to those who can do this job professionally for them.
All in all, post-processing is largely a trial-and-error process, which doesn’t like haste. If you’re determined to edit your video projects on your own, start with something simple just to get a feel for it. No need to install some sophisticated and expensive software from the get-go. Chances are you’ll have a hard time making all those tweaks to your footage at the beginning of your post-production journey. But once you get your feet wet, you can start experimenting with visuals, animations, audio effects, and more to get your projects to a whole new level.
Thus, step by step, you’ll polish your skills and develop an eye for quality editing. As you go through the process more often, things will get easier and easier. Hopefully, very soon you stop perceiving the editing process as something intimidating or boring.
