Everyone slips up when they start editing video. It’s a skill that balances technical precision, visual perception, pacing, and narrative — it’s not hard to get lost in the cool gadgets and effects and forget the basics of form and content. Fortunately, the mistakes we make as beginners are pretty typical and easy to rectify once you know what to look for.
In this guide, we’re going to walk through some of the biggest common issues that arise when you’re first starting out editing and some easy ways to correct for them. These aren’t software-specific “hacks,” but are rather broad concepts that are relatively transferable from one editing application to another.
Cutting for the Sake of Cutting
One of the most frequently seen rookie mistakes is cutting for the sake of cutting, because the material feels like it is running too long, not because the edit actually adds to the content or serves the edit. You end up with staccato cuts, or haphazard truncations that don’t add to your narrative.
Each cut should be made for one or more of these reasons: does the cut clarify the film, does it make it flow better, does it increase the emotional impact. If it does not serve any of these purposes, then there’s no need for the cut.
The solution is to play each edit and try to articulate why you’ve made it. If you can’t give a good reason, then try taking it out and playing with and without. I also like to do a rough cut before I start fine cutting. Don’t fine cut your timing until you have a rough structure. Get the big pieces working first, then the small ones.
Excessive Use of Transitions and Effects
Newbies overuse transitions, animated titles, zooms and other effects. They want their video to look “professional,” but end up with a mess of distracting, visually disparate elements.
A good editor is not seen. A few hard cuts and some solid timing is going to make something look more professional than a ton of transitions.
Never use more than one or two different transitions in a single production. Apply effects only when they clarify information. For example, if you need to indicate that time has passed or you have moved from one subject to another, you might use a dissolve. Otherwise, omit the effect and try the edit.
No Attention to Sound:
Novice editors spend so much time worrying about the visuals that they neglect the fact that substandard audio quality will immediately damage your perception of their project. So typical problems include inconsistent audio levels, hiss, and jump cuts in audio.
I think it should sound balanced, in control and deliberate. Main voice or dialogue should be significantly louder than background audio. Jumps in audio should feel smooth, not abrupt.
Solution: ALWAYS do a second pass for sound levels. First for VO, then music, then background noise. Apply fades wherever audio has been cut. And listen in both headphones and speakers. Helped avoid a lot of mistakes that I wouldn’t have noticed otherwise.
Poor Timing
A lot of novice edits are either too fast or too slow for reasons that are entirely gut-based. A clip will languish on the screen after the point has been made or leave the screen before it’s even digested.
If you are editing based on the information contained in a shot and the amount of time it takes for a viewer to process that information, you are likely to have better pacing. Instead of asking how long was this clip, ask how long does the viewer need to see this shot?
Solution: Watch your edit without the sound. If shots are visually too long, cut them down. Then listen to your edit without looking at the monitor. If it sounds too fast, lengthen the visual accompanying that section of audio. This will give you the best of both worlds.
Having No Structure Going into the Editing Process
Many times I see new editors just jump in and start editing. They just import their footage and start cutting wherever they feel like it. The result is timelines that are disorganized, and a narrative structure that makes little sense.
I find it much easier to edit if you have a structure before you edit the minutiae. Having even a basic structure of an intro, a few key points, some graphics to support it and a conclusion will be of great help.
Prior to starting the timeline, make a mini outline for the sequence. What sections should the sequence have? What do you want each section to tell you? Place the media according to your outline. It will save you a lot of time when trying to reorganize later.
Badly Organized Clips
A second common problem is dumping all the media in a single container or folder and every time you need a shot searching for it. It makes editing slower and more aggravating.
Proper organization will save you time and minimize errors. Organize your media by scene, camera, subject or shot type prior to editing.
label key shots. organize interviews, b-roll, audio, graphics into folders. make selects (trimmed versions of the best shots), so you’re not always scrubbing through long clips.
Incorrect White Balance, Exposure
Sometimes in novice footage there will be color and exposure shifts between shots. In one shot it’s cool and dark, the other it’s warm and light. Visual continuity is disrupted.
Consistency is more important than style to start. Shots need to match before you can go for cool color styles.
Solution: Start by getting exposure and color temperature to match between shots. Once you have them matched, then you can add a creative color grade. Always compare between two shots at a time.
I’ve seen a lot of new editors select typefaces that are more “artsy”, select colors with too little contrast, select awkward locations for text, use too small a point size, use too light a font, and overlay on noisy backgrounds.
Immediately accessible text should be simple, high contrast, and stay on the screen long enough for the reader to get through it.
Use clean fonts, high text-to-background contrast, and generous screen margins. Test for readability by moving a few steps back from your monitor. If you have trouble reading the text, increase its size or contrast.
The music is either too loud or does not match the intended tone. It can also happen that a newb picks music he enjoys listening to rather than music that enhances the message.
The music should always serve the scene and not fight with it. It should heighten the action and emotion, but never, ever overpower the dialogue or other important sound elements.
Lower the music than you think you need to and raise it a bit. Select music to fit the tone of the scene. Cut music with scene cuts rather than have it run continuously over everything.
Exporting With Wrong Settings.
Even after editing well, newbies will often export in the wrong resolution, bitrate, or file type, and end up with either a blurry or a massive file.
Export settings should be according to the platform and the project resolution. Guessing often results in loss of quality.
Here’s a solution: Have a few export presets that you’ve actually tested for things like social media, presentations and archive copies. Before you export, always verify the resolution, framerate and bitrate.
A Simple, Perfect Process for Any Project
Here are the steps I take to minimize novice errors: 1) Edit for structure and narrative. 2) Edit for timing and editing. 3) Edit for audio. 4) Edit for color and exposure. 5) Edit for graphic and effects. 6) Edit for titling. 7) Edit for export.