Want to impress your audience with a polished, professional video? Well, it might be easier than you think. Making your videos look more professional is all about the techniques that you use rather than the tools. Hence, there is no need for you to spend a fortune on that costly equipment. There are great chances that you can create excellent videos using whatever you have right now. The most important thing is that you have to pay attention to those important details.
Tips on Improving the Quality of your Videos
Use Enormous Light
When it comes to the quality of your videos, lighting can create a big difference. Hence, this should be one of your major priorities when filming. If your lights are not sufficient enough and are not properly placed, then your video might look more amateur, even if it’s excellent in other ways.
One of the best sources of light for videos is the sun. If you want to use natural light when filming, then it would be ideal to do it in the evening or in the morning, wherein you can get a softer light. While using midday light overhead can create shadows on your subjects.
On the other hand, if you use evening and morning light, then it can be more flattering. If you want to do your filming in the middle of the day, then it would be best to look for a shady area or do it on a cloudy day so you can obtain a softer light.
If you choose to do your filming indoors, then you should be cautious when choosing the types of lights as well as their placement. One of the things that you should avoid is overhead lighting since this could create unflattering shadows on your subjects.
A good source of natural light would be your windows. To create the type of light that you want, you can use a large lamp. Before setting up your light sources, be sure that you are aware of the effect that you want to achieve in your finished video. Do you want to create some shadows on your subject, or do you want their face to be entirely lit up?
Creating more shadows can be dramatic, however, it can also be distracting in your videos, especially, if you don’t want to achieve a dramatic effect. Using minimal or no shadow at all can give you a straightforward and more open vibe. Generally, this is ideal when making marketing and business videos. By balancing two sources of light on any side of the camera, you can obtain a flat light in your video. You can place them in front or behind the camera.
Choose a Clean Background
When it comes to choosing your background, it is important that you should be cautious. Having a distracting or messy background can make your video less professional. One of the best ways that you can make your video look professional is to choose a solid-colored background. Some of the great options are a large sheet of backdrop paper, a bedsheet, or a wall. Your subject should not stand close to the backdrop since it could cast shadows on it.
Also, it would be ideal if you do your filming in a professional environment, for instance, this could be the place where you spend time or where you work. Just be sure not to shoot with a reflective surface or a window in the background. This is because you might recklessly include the camera in the reflection. Aside from this, if the light source comes from behind the subject such as the window, then the subject could look shadowy and dark.
Select a Superior Video Editing Program
With excellent video editing software, you can transform your raw footage into something fabulous. Some of the simple tools that you can use include iMovie and Camtasia. Some of the professional tools include Adobe Premiere Pro and Final Cut Pro. When choosing a video editor, the following are some of the important features that you have to consider:
- The library of sounds and stock videos.
- Incorporating filters and overlays.
- Its capability of changing the aspect ratio.
- Options for scene transitions.
- Its capability of cropping and trimming videos.
- Its capability of adding text to video.
Do a Simple Edit
During your video editing process, sometimes experimenting with various effects can be fun, however, you should avoid going too crazy. Generally, performing simple, clean editing is all you need to make your video look professional. Whether you outsource or you do the editing of videos yourself, the following are some of the important things that need to be done:
- Incorporating transitions and background music.
- Removing bizarre pauses and silences.
- Make a bit of adjustment on the lighting, when necessary.
- Make use of noise canceling to entirely eliminate all the background noise.
Also, keep in mind that when you are cutting one scene to another in your video, make sure that there is some movement in the two segments. This can make your video look more natural and smoother rather than simply jumping from one scene to another where nothing is happening.
Ensure Crisp, Clear Audio
Ultimately, your audio quality is more significant than your video quality. A lot of people would be willing to watch a video even if it is a bit grainy or is not shot in HD, provided that everything in it is good. However, if the audio is a bit fuzzy and indistinct, then they quickly hit the “back” button in just a few seconds of playing the video.
Since the audio of your video matters the most, then it is very important that you should invest in a good microphone. Try to get the best microphone that you can afford. You can probably get a microphone that costs between $100 to $200 which can last longer and performs well. However, if you are on a tight budget, then you can find some decent microphones that cost below $100.
Be sure to place your microphone near the subject so you can capture clear audio. To get rid of blips and crackles on your recording, you could use a pop filter. Be cautious about any background noise that could be captured by your microphone.
Prevent Any Shaky Footage
Keep in mind that any shaky footage cannot make your video look professional, instead, your video will only look like a home video. If you are having a hard time holding your camera steadily, then you can put the camera on a solid surface or you could use a tripod.
After you are done setting up your camera, try to avoid moving it unless you need to. Panning around could likely prevent your video from looking professional. Instead of moving your camera to modify the perspective, it would be great if you just simply cut from one shot to another.
However, if it still looks shaky after doing this, then you can use video stabilization software to fix this. Although there are also some cameras that come with built-in stabilization which can be handy when you are filming. Also, try to slow down your footage to prevent the shakiness from looking more obvious.
Enhanced View Services, Inc, can provide you with brand new and used equipment for creating videos. For more details, you can contact us at 305-971-2916 or send us an email at [email protected].