Basic Features to expect in every video editing software package

Creating a video takes more than just pointing your digital camera or phone camera at a subject, pressing record, recording, pressing stop, exporting to your local drive, and uploading to Youtube. Producing quality videos require skillful editing. Thankfully, many features found in today's wide range of video editing software titles helps you compensate for a lack of formal video editing training to cover all the basics that used to be handled by manual editing. At its most basic, every video editing software should allow you to do the following:

Import video from a device

The software takes the raw footage you shot with your phone or video cam, converts it into a format you can edit, and gets it ready for editing within the software.

Playback

The software plays the formatted footage so you can select portions for editing.

Storyboard/Timeline

The software measures the footage in segments of playing time which you can use to mark segments for editing as well as allowing you to establish a sequence for differing spliced clips.

Split scenes

The software lets you cut out portions of the video or split one scene into two or more parts.

Transition effects

Roughly cut up and merged video footage look very unprofessional and often leaves the viewer confused. These tools make transitions from one segment in the footage to another smooth. The transition effects can range from very simplistic transitions to effects that actually help the “storyline” of the footage.

Titles

This feature lets you label the video, put titles for differing sections of the video, and also create credits.

Export

Exports your video into an easily playable format like MPG, MP4, AVI, or other common and widely recognized media format.

How to pick the right video editing software package

The features listed above is just the BARE MINIMUM of what to look for in a video editing software package. The features listed are all that are needed to capture, edit, and export video. However, the difference between producing passable/basic video and quality video lies in how much they help you go beyond basic quality and help you achieve more professional quality. Again, the analysis must be based on your particular needs since a person editing his child's birthday party video has differing needs from someone editing wedding videos for sale. Consider the following questions when trying to choose between video editing software packages:

Are there stock templates provided? Titles, video transitions and audio elements can be helped greatly by templates. Templates can help you save quite a bit of time and effort. Stock templates ship with the software Are there downloadable templates? Would you be needing more flexibility or diversity in templates? If so, this is an important criteria to consider.

Can the templates be customized? If you need one of a kind or specific elements for your video but don't have the time or expertise to creat elements from scratch, this would be a key criterion to keep in mind.

How many formats are supported? If you plan to distribute media very widely or are concerned about the viewing experience of your target audiences, format is very important. Although most people can view common formats such as FLV, MPG or MP4, other formats have higher resolutions or have features that meet your target audience's requirements.

Do you need subtitles? If you plan to distribute media across language barriers, this is a key considering.

Are there stock images provided? Some videographers place pictures in their videos and would be greatly helped by this feature. Are frames supported? Are downloadable frames included? Many videographers put frames around their clips and will need this feature. If you need a wide variety of frames, make sure that the download feature is available.

The Bottom Line

Video editing software has evolved so much that with a few clicks of a button, much of the early “skill” involved in editing videos can be handled by standard video editing features. However, regardless of your skill level and training, picking the right video editing software must revolve around the question of whether its features meet your specific needs. You must first consider your current needs and possible future needs and compare package features accordingly.