In our last article, we talked about tips to help enhance your next video 
production. On the other hand, there are plenty of tips about what not to do in video editing. There are also quick fixes that can help save video editing or video production follies.
The category of “things to avoid” can easily be reversed in a positive way and included in a section of “things to do.” However, there are some things aspiring video editors can get easily wrong. It is important to emphasize on how easily certain things can go wrong and remind video editors to take extra care to not allow it.
Tip #1- Pacing
When synchronizing music to video, the tip to remember is to consider the speed of the video and match it with music of similar tempo. Slow music creates a jarring juxtaposition with fast video. Unless the story calls for this type of visual irony, it is best to match fast music with fast video and casual tempos with more calm scenes.
This might seem like an easy thing to get right, but even the slightest mismatch will turn into a lengthy problem. Music, being repetitive, will serve to emphasize over and over the mismatch. If the mismatch happened only for a few seconds, it might be easy to overlook. During a thirty-second scene, however, footage mismatched with music could ruin the entire scene and unhinge the entire video production.
Tip #2 – Light Bursts
Light bursts are those instances when something flashes on screen for the briefest of moments, and it occurs when a single frame is left at the beginning or at the ending of a spliced bit of footage. Otherwise known as flash frames, these are easy mistakes to make. They are also very small mistakes. Yet they have a pretty significant, jarring impact. They are also an easy thing to fix. Simply zoom in on the video editor and make sure to slice any extraneous footage from the beginning and ending of each spliced scene.
Tip #3 – Zooming
The general rule of thumb is that filmmakers should not zoom unless they know exactly what they are doing because the result will seem amateurish. However, when a video editor is faced with too much zoom, they can mitigate the problem by sometimes slowing the zoom. This helps principally with mis-timed zooming.
Of course, zooming can be accomplished digitally. The tip here of which video editors should be aware is to not overuse this technique. Not only does zooming result in amateurish video, digital zooming is the act of key-framing the video to gradually enlarge, creating the illusion of a zoom. The problem is that enlarged video can easily become grainy, especially if shown on a large screen.
Video Editing Quick Fixes
No guide to video production should end on what not to do, so here are a final few important tips for aspiring video production aficionados.
Quick Fixes
Tip #4 – Auto Stabilization
To help with shaky or handheld footage, use software that has the ability to auto-stabilize the footage. Auto stabilization can greatly help increase your usable footage in any video production.
Tip #5 – Digital White Balance
For live productions, white balance is critical. Concert footage used in music videos can be dark, and the lights can shift in intensity. Similarly, weddings can result in shifting shades of white and non-white. The filmmaker should always film these with white balance set to manual. Shooting footage with manual light balancing keeps lights consistent and prevent scenes from being too light or dark.
However, filmmakers might not always follow this rule. When n video editor is subsequently faced with oscillating levels of brightness, software that offers digital white balancing will help. The result will not be perfect, but it will show producers or customers that the video editor took direct steps to correct a problem.
Tip #6 – Intros and Outros
Intros and outros are elements that precede and follow the main video production. These elements should complement the video production rather than detract from it. The main way to accomplish this is to select elements that match the visual style and the message of the primary production.
Additionally, the last three seconds of the intro and the first few seconds of the outro should transition smoothly into and out of the footage.
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