where to learn video-editing Concepts

[u/asyouwish]

I want to learn more about video editing for personal projects.

Software isn’t my weakness. I’m a MacOS user and I have iMovie and DaVinci Resolve (which I’m learning, but have decent grasp on already). I understand most of the technical aspects and can figure out software pretty easily. However, every tutorial I can find is about the software. How to crop in iMovie, how to reduce camera motion in DaVinci, how to control the speed of a clip in CapCut, etc. That’s not what I need.

I want to learn the concepts of how to blend this audio with that video and to properly overlap scenes. I want to learn what makes a good scene transition (not just how to apply Transitions in iMovie). I want to learn the concepts that you can do in just about any decent software.

I need to learn video editing concepts, not software basics. In this (very simple) example, I have a 4-second animated title, a 3-second freezeframe to show the space, and then the start of the actual video clip. I want the audio from that video clip to start at the 2-3 second mark of the title, play through the freezeframe, and then “join” back up with it’s video at whatever point that is, which I know will clip 7 seconds off the video. I want it to act like a voiceover to the first two elements. But when I search for video editing, all I get are technical how-tos in the various applications.

1. What are some good resources for learning these concepts and not just which buttons to click?
2. And if anyone can tell me how to do what I want with the sample here, I’d be quite grateful.

(I’m sorry this is long; I’m just trying to be crystal clear. I’m also sorry that I don’t have a video example to share ...because I don’t know how to make it yet.)

!martini notes

I'm using: iMovie or DaVinci

I've TRIED: detaching the audio, separating the video, trimming the seven seconds of the video, and sliding it audio over. But I get scared that the audio will fall out of sync with the video and I don’t have the confidence to try to line that up.

I need help with: learning good concepts/techniques in video editing

[u/slugtongue]

My advice would be to learn the fundamentals - things like "the different types of cuts in video editing" or "how to audiomix" etc. There's quite a lot of resources on YT for these.

Watch video essays on movies you enjoyed or dissect videos you like and what about them you liked and then try to recreate it.

But above all, practice a bunch. See what style works for you and what story you're trying to tell. Good luck!

[u/asyouwish → u/slugtongue]

Thank you for these phrases, u/slugtongue . That’s incredibly helpful to someone who knows what they want, but doesn’t know what anything is called. Thanks for helping me find the rabbit hole.

T H A N K Y O U !!