Beginner’s Guide to Using Final Cut Pro: Editing Tips & Techniques

Video is increasingly important to marketers looking to increase engagement on their website, social media channels and news output.

You may already have developed a storyboard and filmed all of the items you need on your iPhone or camera, but what do you do with this raw footage?

There are numerous tools out there to help you get started with turning your video into a final product ready to publish, and our team at Motive can help you on such projects.

Software options include KineMaster, an app you can install onto your iPhone, iPad or M1 computer, or for a more advanced video editing tool,you can invest in something like Final Cut Pro, to help you make strong video content without complicated features.

Someone who is a novice at video editing can benefit from taking some time to sit with a designer or multi-media specialist to understand the basic principles of using such software.

People can also be put off when they sit down in front of a video editing app or video production tool and see lots of buttons and features for the first time. That is understandable. The good news is there are also lots of self-help guides on the internet to help you through the basics, step by step, often with screen grabs.

Editing Video Footage

You can learn the most basic editing techniques you need in a matter of minutes, and you just need to remain resolute that you can complete your project as the resources are out there to help.

Taking Final Cut Pro as an example, in the simplest terms, you first need to import your raw video footage into the application’s ‘timeline’ and select the most important or longest piece of video first.

There are lots of cutting tools within Final Cut Pro to enable you to ‘snip’ or ‘trim’ your raw film to ensure only the footage you want to feature in your final video appears.

Gradually select each remaining piece of footage and cut and edit it to size and add it to the timeline before or after the first item of film, depending on where it features within your storyboard.

Once you have a very rough sequence for your film within the timeline, you can then explore the palette of colours, text, titles and backgrounds to produce a title page, end page and subtitles if needed, importing logos and other brand guidelines where necessary.

The ‘transitions’ and ‘effects’ buttons enable you to work through the video to make soft and gentle switches, perhaps from footage of a face-to-face interview to a pan of a corporate building or conference. It prevents the video from jutting from one scene to the next, keeping the flow smooth and seamless.

Further options allow you to add background music, correct colours and shades and help you determine what file format to save the final video as, in order for it to become an asset ready for use on your chosen media channel.

Never be afraid to experiment and try out new things with video editing software. These products have been designed to be accessible and appealing to beginners as well as professionals. Our team at Motive can help you discuss how video can add an extra dimension to your publicity plans. Please get in touch to see how we can help - we would love to hear from you.