Tools and project setup

You know the scene: a folder on your phone, forty files called something like "VID_2041", and no memory of which one had the good take. Half of all editing problems start before editing: wrong project format, wrong frame rate, footage in one pile. Later that shows up as stutter, black bars and lost takes. Let's head that off first.

Phone or computer

For short videos under a minute, a phone is enough. Mobile editors can cut, add captions, drop in music and export in the right format. And the footage is already on the phone, so nothing needs transferring.

A computer earns its place when the video is long, when there are lots of layers (text, B-roll, graphics), or when you shot on more than one camera. A big screen makes cuts more precise and small mistakes visible, and desktop editors give you far more control over colour and sound.

My rule: while your videos are short and few, edit on the phone. Once they regularly need lots of layers and careful sound work, it's time to move.

Choosing an editor

There are dozens, and plenty are free. They fall into three types. Simple mobile apps: templates, auto captions, a music library, few settings. Advanced mobile apps: layers, keyframes, manual colour. Desktop editors: full control, including free versions of professional software.

Pick by one test: after ten minutes you understand where things are. Everything else is secondary. Switching editors later is easier than it seems, because the principles are the same everywhere.

Before you settle in, check that the free version doesn't stamp a watermark on exports or cap the export quality. A watermarked video can't be delivered to a brand.

Tip. Don't install three editors at once. Pick one, make five videos in it, then decide what's missing.

Project settings

The first thing any editor asks when you create a project is the aspect ratio and the frame rate. Get these right at the start, because fixing them later is fiddly and sometimes breaks the framing of an edit you've already built.

Aspect ratio: 9:16 for vertical social videos, 16:9 for horizontal video on video platforms and websites. The vertical standard today is 1080 by 1920 pixels. If the editor offers "vertical" or "for social", that's it.

Frame rate: the same as your footage, unless you plan to slow things down. Shot at 30, project at 30. Shot at 60 for slow motion, the project still goes at 30, and you slow the 60 fps clips down inside it. Mix incompatible frame rates, say 24 in a 30 fps project, and the editor starts dropping or doubling frames, and motion turns choppy.

Check your footage

Two traps your phone sets quietly. First: HDR. If a clip looks brighter, paler or greyer in the editor than it does in your gallery, it was shot in HDR and the editor or platform may display it differently. Turn HDR off for the clip in the editor, or convert the file to SDR before you start. Second: variable frame rate. Screen recordings and some phones in low light record this way, and the audio slowly drifts away from the lips towards the end of the video. The fix is converting to a constant frame rate before editing.

Organising your files

Before opening the editor, sort the footage. One folder per video. Inside: raw clips, separate audio if you recorded any, music, images. Rename files so the name tells you what's inside: "intro_take2", "product_closeup", "hands_unboxing". On a phone, albums do the same job.

This feels unnecessary while you have two videos. By the tenth you'll be hunting for one take among four hundred files, and every minute of hunting is a minute not spent editing.

And don't delete raw footage after export. A brand will ask for a change a week later, and without the originals you'll be reshooting.

Tracks

Almost every editor is built like a layer cake. Video at the bottom, B-roll above it, text and graphics higher still, and audio separately: voice, music, effects. Whatever is higher covers what's below.

Get into the habit of putting the same kinds of things on the same tracks: voice always on audio track one, music on track two. Then you can duck all the music in one move without touching the voice. If your app only has one audio track, adjust volume clip by clip and colour-label the music.

Mistake. Editing everything on one track, splicing B-roll into the main video. Later you can't move a cutaway without breaking everything around it.

Keyboard shortcuts

On a computer, learn six: cut, delete, ripple delete (so removing a chunk doesn't leave a gap), undo, play, jump to start. That alone speeds editing up noticeably. On a phone the equivalent is the gestures the editor shows you on first launch. Don't skip that tutorial.

Do this now

• Create a folder for one video and rename five files in it so the name tells you what's inside.
• Start a new 9:16 project with the same frame rate as your footage.
• Put voice and music on separate audio tracks and try lowering only the music.