The Best Drone Video Editing Tips

You're probably used to filming the majority of your video footage from the ground, but adding drone videography to your toolbox can quite literally take your videos to new heights. Aerial footage allows videographers to showcase their subjects from a new perspective, change up the appearance of their videos, and add a professional touch that helps their projects stand out. Here are some of our top tips for filming and editing drone footage, as well as what to look for when choosing drone video editing software!

Drone Video Editing Tips

Integrating your drone videography into the rest of your project takes a bit of extra planning, but this effect can turn basic videos into professional works of art. Here are some tips for planning and editing your drone videos!

Start By Planning Your Video

Although the real magic happens during the editing process, having a list of scenes you want to film before you get started can help you stay organized and avoid having to spend too much time redoing elements you missed. Having a general idea of the story you want your video to tell and how your drone filming will fit into the context of your full project can help you have everything you need ready to go when you're ready to start putting your video together.

Film More Than You Expect to Need

Filming the same scene multiple times by flying your drone forward, backward, and in a variety of angles gives you more options to choose from when you're ready to edit your video in order to make sure it looks interesting instead of monotonous. Certain angles can flow better into your next scene than others, and you won't always know what order you want to feature your scenes in until you're able to go through your footage on your computer. Filming each scene for 5-10 seconds longer than what you plan to use can also give you more flexibility when transitioning between scenes.

Keep Your Scenes Short

Drone video footage is often used to supplement other types of video rather than as a stand-alone project. For this reason, keeping your scenes and montages to a reasonable length that makes sense within the context of your video is a must in order to avoid losing your audience's interest.

Don't Overuse Special Effects

Special effects are meant to highlight a particular element of your video, not distract your viewers from your actual content. Sound effects, text, graphics, color effects, complex transitions, and other special effects momentarily draw your viewers' attention to something other than the footage you filmed, which means that it is important to make sure they are used sparingly and make sense within the context of your video. Random or overused effects will likely make your project look unprofessional and poorly edited.

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Drone Video Editing Software

Choosing quality video editing software is a must in order to have access to the most cutting-edge features available. Although there are plenty of free basic video editing software programs available, these options typically only offer essential editing tools and will not include the wide range of unique, innovative, and drone-specific features you will need to make your videos stand out. Software like VideoStudio is a full-featured video editing software that has the tools you need to make outstanding drone videos.

Conclusion

Well-edited drone video can add a professional and aesthetically pleasing touch to nearly any type of video project. Investing in a quality video editing software program and fine-tuning your drone filming and editing skills can help you take your personal or commercial videos to the next level, and VideoStudio is here to help you learn new skills every step of the way.

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