2. Video Editing

The Video Editing documentation is split into 3 chapters, representing a typical workflow in a video editing project: (1) Setup, (2) Edit and (3) Render. You can think of these phases also as : pre-editing, editing and post-editing.

Before even starting to edit a single video, you need to (1) setup your (1.1) Work Environment and your specific (1.2) Project. Setting up your work environment includes: (1.1.1) Customize the Video Editing Workspace, (1.1.2) Install some Add-ons, (1.1.3) Manage your User Preferences, and (1.1.4) Tweak the Proxies & Cache system.

A typical (1.2) project contains hundreds of files. Setting up a logical and comprehensible (1.2.1) directory structure and appropriate (1.2.2) Project Settings will improve your workflow. Then you can (1.2.3) Import your footage.

The (2) Editing phase start with the (2.1) montage of the final video, e.g. (2.1.1) adding, (2.1.2) selecting, (2.1.3) splitting, (2.1.4) moving, (2.1.5 ) trimming, (2.1.6) grouping, and (2.1.7) deleting strips. An extensive description of all available strip types is included in (2.1.1). When the rough montage is done, you can add some (2.2) effects such as transition and fade but also more advanced animation effects, including speeding and masking. This will give you a semi-final timeline. Then, you start (2.3) color grading and (2.4) editing the sound, although some authors start with the sound much earlier (for example when editing a music video).

When the editing is complete, you can start (3) rendering the project. First, you have to (3.1) choose your codec and probably do some (3.2) post-processing in the compositor or FFMPEG. Sometimes you need subtitles.

Please note that there is also a separate chapter about the Video Sequence Editor . There, you can find detailed info about basic timeline operations such as moving, zooming, and navigating the timeline. Also, in a separate chapter are some Extra Tools. You may need them while editing: some useful Python or FFMPEG scripts, and info about ExifTools and MediaInfo.