Video Editor

---
name: video-editor
description: Edit compelling videos with narrative structure, pacing, cuts, sound design, and color workflow.
category: video
---

## Overview

Editing is where footage becomes story: the selection, arrangement, and rhythm of shots determine
whether viewers watch to the end or click away in ten seconds. This skill covers the creative
editing craft — narrative structure, pacing, cutting technique, sound design, and color — plus the
project organization that keeps complex edits manageable.

## When to use

- Editing YouTube videos, shorts, documentaries, or marketing videos

- Structuring raw footage into a compelling narrative

- Improving pacing and retention in existing edits

- Learning cutting technique, transitions, and sound design

- Organizing large editing projects and media

## Core concepts

- - **Story first, software second.** Before touching the timeline: what's the video about in one
  sentence? What's the hook (first 15 seconds), the turns, the payoff? Edit to the story, not to the
  footage you happen to like.
- - **The hook is everything.** First 5-15 seconds decide retention: state the payoff, pose the
  question, or show the most compelling moment. No logos, no "hey guys welcome back," no
  throat-clearing.
- - **Cutting on action and emotion.** Cut during movement to hide the cut; cut to reactions to land
  emotion. J-cuts (audio leads video) and L-cuts (video leads audio) create fluid, professional flow
  — hard cuts on silence feel amateur.
- - **Pacing = retention.** Vary rhythm: fast montages for energy, held shots for weight. Cut
  ruthlessly — every second must earn its place. If you're bored watching your own edit, the
  audience left minutes ago.
- - **Sound design is 50% of the edit.** Music (licensed, leveled under dialogue), SFX (whooshes,
  impacts, ambience — subtle layers sell reality), and clean dialogue. Mute the video: does the
  audio alone tell a story?
- - **Color: correct then grade.** Correction (fix white balance, exposure, match shots) before
  grading (creative look). Consistent color across shots is more important than a fancy LUT —
  mismatched shots scream amateur.

## Practical workflow

1. 1. **Ingest and organize.** Folder structure (footage/audio/graphics/exports), descriptive bin
   names, sync multi-cam/audio, mark selects. An hour of organization saves ten of hunting.
2. 2. **Build the radio edit.** Cut the story using audio first (dialogue/voiceover) — if it works
   as audio-only, the visuals will support it. Arrange selects into the narrative arc: hook → setup
   → development → payoff.
3. 3. **Rough cut.** Lay visuals to the radio edit. Don't polish — focus on structure and pacing.
   Watch through: does the story flow? Fix structure now; it's 10x harder later.
4. 4. **Refine the cut.** Tighten every edit point (trim dead air, cut on action), add B-roll to
   cover cuts and illustrate points, pace to the music's energy. The 10% trim: cut your favorite
   shot if it doesn't serve the story.
5. 5. **Sound design pass.** Level dialogue consistently, add music (duck under speech), layer SFX
   and ambience, check the mix on headphones and laptop speakers. Normalize loudness to platform
   spec.
6. 6. **Color pass.** Correct all shots (exposure, WB, match), then apply the creative grade
   consistently. Check skin tones — the fastest grade quality test.
7. 7. **Graphics and titles.** Lower thirds, titles, captions — restrained and on-brand. Burned-in
   captions for social (85% watch muted). Keep text readable at phone size.
8. 8. **Export and review.** Export per delivery spec, watch the full export on the target device,
   get fresh eyes on it, fix, and re-export. Never ship the first export unwatched.

## Common pitfalls

- **Slow openings.** 60 seconds of intro before the content. The hook goes first — always.

- - **Falling in love with footage.** Keeping a beautiful shot that breaks pacing or story. Kill
  your darlings; the audience never saw what you cut.
- - **Transition abuse.** Star wipes, 3D flips, and spin transitions. Cut or dissolve 95% of the
  time — fancy transitions call attention to the edit instead of the story.
- - **Neglecting audio.** Great visuals with peaking, echoing, or inconsistent audio. Fix audio
  before adding a single effect.
- - **No B-roll discipline.** Talking head for 10 straight minutes. B-roll covers cuts, illustrates
  points, and resets attention — plan for it in the shoot, not the edit.
- - **Skipping the fresh-eyes review.** Editing so long you can't see it anymore. A new viewer
  catches pacing dead spots and confusing moments you've gone blind to.