Video editing from scratch

Step 1

Pick an app

You don't need expensive software for your first video: the core skills are the same everywhere, and switching editors later is easy. Three popular options:

• •CapCut: a free plan, runs on desktop, in the browser and on your phone; the easiest start;
• •DaVinci Resolve: a free version for Mac, Windows and Linux with editing, color and audio, handling video up to Ultra HD 3840 x 2160 at 60 fps;
• •Premiere Pro: a paid Adobe subscription with a 7-day free trial; for Windows, Adobe lists a minimum of 8 GB of RAM, 16 GB for HD.

💡 Pick one app for your first month and stick with it. Half of "I can't get the hang of editing" is really "I learn a new interface every week".

Step 2

Organize your material

Before you open the app, put all the footage, music, voice-over and images for the clip in one folder on your drive. Inside the app, sort files into folders: in DaVinci Resolve and Premiere Pro they're called bins. Then:

• •review everything you shot and mark the good moments: in most editors that's the I (in) and O (out) keys;
• •decide the format up front: 16:9 for a regular YouTube video, vertical or square for Shorts and Reels;
• •write down in one sentence what the clip is about. Anything that doesn't serve that sentence goes in the bin.

Step 3

The rough cut

A rough cut is the first assembly of the story from start to finish, without polish. Drag the marked sections onto the timeline in order and don't stop on details: transitions, color and titles can wait. The job of this step is to see whether the story works at all.

• •put sections in the order the viewer needs to follow the idea;
• •cut pauses, repeated takes and anything that repeats;
• •watch the assembly from start to finish without stopping and note where it gets boring.

💡 A rough cut is usually noticeably longer than the final one. That's fine: cutting is easier once you can see the whole story.

Step 4

Rhythm, sound and titles

Now bring the clip into shape. Shorten shots once the eye has seen everything, even out voice and music levels and add titles. A useful technique is the split edit: the next shot's sound starts a little before its picture, or the previous shot's sound carries over the next shot. In DaVinci Resolve you can mark video and audio boundaries separately for this.

• •the voice should be clear, and the music shouldn't drown it;
• •one or two transition types across the whole clip look cleaner than a new effect on every cut;
• •check that titles are readable on a small screen.

Step 5

Export and your first mini project

For online platforms Adobe recommends H.264. In Premiere Pro the Match Source – Adaptive High Bitrate preset picks up the sequence's frame size and frame rate for you. In DaVinci Resolve the fastest route is File > Quick Export with presets for YouTube, Vimeo and TikTok, and in CapCut it's the Export button in the top-right corner. Final exercise: a one-minute video about your project or process, taken all the way to a file.

💡 Before posting, watch the clip on your phone: small text, a quiet voice and extra seconds show up right away.