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How can I easily edit myself into the short Tech Tips videos?

Best practice recommendations for inserting yourself into your regular video content

James Lett avatar
Written by James Lett
Updated over 3 weeks ago

Video is one of the most powerful forms of communication, so it's really important to make sure video content is part of your regular marketing mix.

The new tech tip 'short' videos (delivered monthly, designed to be publish weekly) are an engaging way to help business owners (and their staff) use their technology more efficiently. They're typically produced fully finished and ready to go (complete with presenter), but we suggest YOU appear in the videos instead if at all possible.

Once you've recorded your footage, hopefully you'll find the below editing guide useful and will grow your confidence in doing this regularly. If however you don't have the time, we will be launching a Done For You service in the near future (you film, we edit). Just send an expression of interest to [email protected]

Here's a finished example made using our recommended video editor (see below for full details).

FILMING

It all starts with getting yourself on camera. First, check out our three recommended ways of filming your own footage.

Due to the advancement of AI-powered video background removal (like that seen in Zoom video calls), we no longer suggest members use a proper green screen to film with. You can just use our recommended video editor (see below) to remove any background you film against.

EDITING

First...

Get our recommended video editor app 🎬

We have tested a LOT of video editing apps designed to run on a Windows PC / laptop (including Premiere Pro, Camtasia, Canva and more) and can now thoroughly recommend using Filmora from Wondershare.

It's a very good multitrack video editor that includes an AI-powered background removal tool (no more need for green screen) and is only around £40 / $50 for a year (they even have an optional $1 one day trial).

At the time of writing, other editing apps are either more expensive or don't have the background removal tool. Premiere Pro has started to introduce this feature in the Beta version, however the app is more expensive and complex for average use.

Affiliate sharing links in no way influence these genuine recommendations.

Then...

Read our detailed guide on how to edit your video ✂️

As mentioned above, we now recommend a specific video editor app and this step-by-step guide is created assuming you're using it. Most editors work in a similar way, but not all include the AI portrait cutout feature.

  1. Get started

    When the app opens, under Create Project select the New Project button and select 9:16 orientation (portrait), then click Short Video Project.

    Click Import or drag your footage in. You'll need the No presenter version of the tech tips short video and the presenter footage you've just filmed.

  2. Start filling your timeline

    Once your items are within the app, use the below image as a guide as to which items to drag in which tracks and in which order. The first item you drag in will prompt you to set the resolution and framerate for the entire project - select 'Match Media' (ie 1080 x 1920 pixels 30 frames per second).

  3. When you come to drag in your presenter footage, there's a chance you'll see the following prompt about differing resolutions and frame rates. Select the right option, Keep Project Settings.

  4. Select your presenter footage, then go to the Video tab, AI Matting, then turn on AI Portrait Cutout. This can take several minutes depending on the length of your footage.

  5. One of the biggest things that can let down a video is actually the sound, however good your footage may look. Read our other guide on capturing the best sound as part of your video recording. If your captured sound still isn't the greatest, you maybe able to improve it by turning on Voice Clarity and Voice Beautification under AI Voice Enhancer (these options are towards the top of the Audio tab). There are other settings you could try too, like Denoise (but don't use too much).

  6. Trim your footage and clips

    First trim your presenter footage to just what is needed. You can either use the left and right trim handles (hover over the end of the footage until you see the square bracket and arrow, then click and drag), or you can select the footage and hit the scissors to split the footage (then select and delete the unwanted footage).

  7. Adjust the content

    You may need to adjust the length of the 'No presenter' content in order to match the length of your footage. To do this, hover over the right end of it until you see the trim handle, then drag it until it matches the same length as your intro.

    You may also need to move either your footage or the content so the things that are talked about in the script (eg clicking a button) are happening at roughly the same time in the content. To move the footage, just left click, hold and drag the footage left or right.

  8. Adjust the size of footage

    By default your footage may appear small and in the middle of the video. To give your finished video that look that viewers expect to see in their short video feed, scale the footage, move it to the bottom right corner and perhaps rotate it slightly.

    To do this, just click on the footage in the timeline, then click on the visual image of the footage in the timeline preview window. You can then click and hold on the drag handles to resize the footage. To rotate, just hold the upper middle drag handle.

9. Add your captions

More people these days are watching video silently, so adding eye catching subtitle captions has become common place. Our 'ready to use' video already has the captions displayed in the footage, but you'll need to add them to your own video version.

Animated captions are better but not 100% necessary. The ones seen in the 'ready to use' version have been created with a licenced Premiere Pro plugin, therefore we are unable to share captions in the same format.

However to speed up the process, we have included a captions SRT (and VTT) file. Just drag the SRT file into Filmora's project media section, then drag it onto a timeline track above your footage. Double click the captions track and a window will appear to allow you to edit the captions.

In this editing window you can make the following useful edits:

  1. Change the font to something big and bold. Arial Black is okay. Ideally something like Montserrat or Poppins if you can download it.

  2. Change the text to all capitals

  3. Adjust the start and end time of each block of words. Just hover of the ends to adjust with handles.

  4. Move the text up from the default position, to keep it within the 'safe zone' (see below)

  5. Edit the actual text if needed

  6. Hit Apply All to commit the style changes to all caption clips

EXTRA TIPS

  • Learn / create keyboard shortcuts

One of the things that makes video editing faster and more enjoyable is being able to quickly navigate around the timeline. One of the main functions is zooming in and out. Yes you could use the zoom handles at the bottom of the screen or the + and - just below the monitor window, but it's faster to use the keyboard rather than having to move the mouse. There are already shortcuts setup by default, but Ctrl+= or Ctrl+- aren't the easiest to use quickly. To set your own single-letter zoom shortcuts, go to File > Keyboard Shortcuts > View.

  • Turn off 'Close Auto Ripple'

When you first use Filmora the above feature is turned on by default. It's a handy feature if you have more than one clip on a single track and need to reduce the duration of a preceding clip by dragging the right side trim handle to the left. But performing that action means every following clip also moves to the left. This is fine if you're only using one track, but if you have multiple tracks filled with clips, the other clips can act strangely. If this happens, just turn off the button marked below.

  • Be aware of the 'Safe Zone'

NOTE: Be aware that many video platforms will add text and other elements around your videos, leaving a 'safe zone' where you most important content will be seen. We have designed the shorts to fit within most of these safe zones, especially LinkedIn. When adjusting the position of your footage and adding captions, make sure you keep your important content within this zone. Here is LinkedIn's own guide.

PUBLISHING

With your finished videos are completed you can then publish it whenever you wish, but we suggest using our content calendar as a guide. Just head to the Content section of the Portal and then click on View content calendar.

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