Digital Video Editing Then And Now
My first experience of digital video editing was way back in what now seems like the mists of time (actually about 20 years ago). It was very different to what it is now. Back then digital was really just starting to change the world. As an audio-visual technician at the time I had the chance to play around with some early digital video editing kit. How things have changed!
In those days the video came from two VHS players (remember them?) They were controlled by a mechanical piece of kit. You set in and out points on the video tapes. Those parts were then copied into an early digitiser housed in a wardrobe sized flight case. The whole process took hours and was pretty pernickety. Our clients paid a small fortune for corporate videos because A. The equipment was very expensive and thin on the ground and B. Because of the highly skilled video engineers needed to do the work.
Now with a laptop and some free (often included) or inexpensive software anyone can do it. You can even use your phone to do the filming. If you want to get really fancy you can add a cheap mic and a couple of lights. This is easily as good as the £1000 per minute videos an AV company produced not long ago.
Yes the pro’s may use mega expensive cameras but most digital video editing is done on laptops using software very similar to what can be bought for $100 these days. Of course at the top end video production and editing is a highly skilled profession. Nevertheless the results that Joe soap, with a little practice can achieve are inspiring.
The Digital Video Revolution
The result of all this progress has been the current video revolution. Billions of minutes of video are uploaded every day to Youtube and other video sharing platforms. Naturally enough this has also turned into big business. With so many of us now looking for information, reviews, recommendations and entertainment via online video it’s no wonder Youtube is now the world’s second biggest advertising platform.
For me and thousands of internet business owners working from home, video has become a key part of business growth. Video advertising is no longer a game only available to big budget advertisers. On Youtube we can use tools like cards and end screens. These let viewers click through to our offers straight from a video. We can use free keyword research tools to find those viewers organically and generate business at no cost. We can also do pay per click advertising on the same platform.
Contrary to what you might think, marketing videos, particularly on Youtube, don’t have to be masterpieces. They don’t need to look like expensive TV ads or to be cleverly scripted by expensive copywriters. In fact simple “unboxing” videos, where the video, as the name suggests, shows a new product being taken out of its packaging, are big business these days.
How Digital Video Has Expanded Our Possibilities
Being able to create videos from scratch using a webcam or laptop camera or by turning a slide show into a screen capture movie is pretty awesome. Being also able to import movies captured on smartphones, camcorders and DSLRs, expands the possibilities even more. When you can do all this and with digital video editing software, manipulate it all visually, adding images, annotations, captions and music, the sky is the limit.
As a 50 something baby boomer involved with sound recording and photography I was sceptical about all things digital at first. Now though I embrace the digital world whole-heartedly – digital video editing in particular. It has changed my life in so many ways and all of them good. I often wish either the digital revolution had come sooner or I had come later.
Want to lean more about how to leverage the digital revolution to the max? Click on the image below to meet two extraordinary digital entrepreneurs who will really open your eyes to what’s possible.
