How to Make Videos That Look Professional
If you're an amateur video editor, here is the ONE thing you can do to instantly make your videos look more professional.
Don't use video transitions or filters.
I'm talking about: wipes, ripples, cross zooms, page peels, twirls, light leaks, lens flares, and yes even the basic dissolves and cross fades. These effects which only exist in digital video editing packages and give away your lack of experience the moment you use them.
Using an abundance of these effects is the first give away of a new video editor because feels like someone who knows their footage look fairly low budget trying to fancy up the trailer with a bunch of video filters. Trust me, in the vast majority of cases it does not make the trailer look better. If anything it makes your game look MORE cheap.
This is the best example I can think of where "cheap" filters were used to great effect, because here they're used to tell the story of some incredibly silly teenagers.
Why it looks Amateurish
The other reason it gives away amateur video editors is because of the lack of intent behind each transition. Just like words have different meanings, editing and filmmaking have a visual vocabulary which we've absorbed over time. If I were to ask someone the intent behind a twisty twirly distortion video transition effect, I bet the answer would mostly be: "Because it looks cool." Not because it told the story or communicated an idea better. Eye candy for the sake of eye candy is amateurish because its goal does not support the story.
A popular style of video on YouTube are Call of Duty montages or "edits" which are exercises in style and syncing to music, but just for the sake of style and cool factor, not storytelling. This is like an extreme version of what I see in a lot of amateur game trailers. Lots of cool factor at the expense of information communication and retention.
What Professionals Do
If you watch professional trailers, TV shows or films, you'll RARELY see any video filters or effects because they so seldom fit into the story being told. Cross dissolves and dips to black are about as fancy as things get in most cases and even when those are used ad nauseam in trailers it gets very predictable and calls out the editor as someone with not a lot of experience. A common reason people tell me they use cross dissolves on every cut is to make everything look "smoother."
I understand the desire for a trailer to have flow, but cross dissolves on every cut is not a great way to do it. Better and more professional looking things to do are to use good eye trace, match cuts, and shots which convey complete ideas.
So my challenge to you, amateur video editor making game trailers. Make your trailer without a single cross fade, dip to black, or video transition or filter of any sort. If you find yourself opening that effects palette, ask yourself: "Does this help better tell the story? Or is it just to make the footage look cooler?" If it's the former, absolutely go for it. If it's the latter, consider why you're feeling the need to artificially make the footage look "cooler."
Are you trying to cover up or compensate for something?
If so, start over and really think about what makes your game special and unique. It might very well be there's very little unique or hooky about the game, but if there's ONE thing that even in the smallest way makes it stand out, it's much more worth spending time focusing on that thing than trying to compensate for the shortcomings of the source material.
