| My thoughts on video editing: I'm a dad of two young kids and my photo hobby transitioned into recording random videos of our daily life together. Just for us. Maybe sharing with the close family. I use my Camcorder, Phone or sometimes my Canon R6. In that order. First thing I solved quickly: Storage/Backup. Got a NAS and done. Second thing to solve was more complicated. What to make with all those videos I record? I'm a kid of the 80s. So VHS-sized videos are kind of my guiding star from the past. 30min-60min and clips are shown in order I recorded them. This means usually I throw videos into iMovie and create ~30min clips themed after the age of the kids or the seasons. Add some transitions and text. That felt good for the past 2-3 years. I then enjoyed editing so much that I got Final Cut Pro (FCPX). I wanted to learn some advanced editing in my very spare time. Some tracking, some color grading, some faster cuts. But learning was slow as hell being busy with many other duties. The raw video material piled up in the past months as I didn't want to admit that I should go back to iMovie so I just forced myself through FCPX. Sometimes with joy, sometimes it feels like a duty and often loose myself because of the advanced tool FCPX is. I already recorded less because I sense the pressure of every new recording on my shoulders. The thing that I recognized only a few days ago: The initial idea to create VHS-sized movies was ill-advised. That pattern put the pressure on me because it always involves most/all recordings. Selection is super difficult when I want to showcase what happened in an entire season without having a specific topic. I should see the raw videos as my VHS. I should make it accessible on my TV or somehow shareable. That's it. Skip that stupid editing of everything. Nobody cares for that anyway and you can watch the individual files anyhow. What I should do instead: Pick a very specific topic. Like the first steps of my kids, a birthday party or highlights from our vacation. Something short enough while being really worth, so I spend my precious hobby time with joy. Maybe that helps some other video recording mum or dad out there. I'm glad I came to that insight so I can enjoy reading articles like the one linked here again. |
Like you, I've found that focusing on small topics, like a day out on the balance bike, or a birthday party. There are a few YouTubers that focus on making travel videos, and a lot of the tips that they present translate pretty well, such as making sure to have a lot of different angles.
I've also moved to Davinci Resolve, as it's free. Hoping to one day be doing enough editing to justify getting the studio version!