Top Editing Tips For Salvaging Imperfect Video Footage
Source: CapCut.com
Alt-text: Free online video editor
Successful video shoots where the content plays out just right are highly rewarding. Unfortunately, you may occasionally find that your amazing footage is riddled with video quality imperfections.
Granted, you can bin the footage and start filming all over again, but that takes time and resources. Plus, the odds are you may not be able to recreate the same magic a second time.
But, what if you could salvage your precious video footage by making some creative editorial changes? Yes, you read that right. CapCut, a free online video editor, provides a range of outstanding editing tools that you can use to try and make imperfect footage presentable.
So, before you delete all your hard-earned footage, here are some ideas on how to correct some common filming errors using CapCut.
Poor Lighting
Lighting, especially in outdoor settings can change abruptly during shoots. This can lead to video sections where the lighting on characters or objects is below the ideal standard.
Where possible, it is advisable to pause shooting and find ways to mitigate the change in lighting. However, if this is not possible or the change was too subtle to notice while filming, you can try to correct it during the editing stage using color grading tools.
Color grading tools, on CapCut, feature a variety of lighting and color parameters that you can adjust to improve the look of your video. You can, for instance, increase brightness, the saturation of colors, or contrast between objects to make them more visible. You can also remove shadows or adjust intensity, among a host of other options.
Why color grading?
Lighting affects how the human eye perceives objects mostly based on color. Therefore, by adjusting features such as brightness and color components, you may be able to improve the aspects of video quality that were compromised by poor lighting.
Undesirable Elements
It is not uncommon to find that you may have captured objects or people in a video that:
- May offend or you do not wish your audience to see
- You have no consent to display on your video
- Negatively impact the story you are trying to tell in your video
Naturally, it is important to get rid of such elements from your footage if you are to share it with the public. Here are a couple of ways to do that.
Trim the Footage
Source: CapCut.com
Alt-text: Free online video editor trimming tool
If you are lucky, the unwanted elements may feature in a section of the video that you do not mind deleting. This is convenient because you can simply trim out those parts on CapCut as follows:
- Tap the '+' to start a new project
- Select the right video
- Identify the parts of the footage with unwanted elements
- Set the cursor at the start of the section
- Click 'Edit' on the menu
- Select 'Split'
- Repeat this at the end of the part
- Tap between the splits to highlight the area
- Select 'Delete'
Crop
Cropping creates a zoom-in effect that can allow you to exclude unwanted elements in a wide shot. It works as below:
- Import the video onto the CapCut editor
- Click on the 'Edit' button
- Select 'Edit' among the options that come up
- Click on 'Crop'
You can either crop freely by adjusting the frame that appears on the video or you can select one of the cropping templates displayed below the video timeline.
Masking
Masking allows you to conceal unnecessary objects or people from your video shot. You can use it on CapCut as below:
- Import the video to the CapCut editor
- Choose the 'Edit' menu
- Select 'Mask'
- Try out the different masking shapes to see which of them can properly conceal your unwanted elements
- Adjust the suitable masking shape by stretching or narrowing using the arrows/cursors around the shape until it is in a satisfactory position
- Tap the tick mark to confirm the edits
Poor Sound or Noise
Poor sound can occur if the microphones were not set right during filming or if the background noise was too distracting for the microphones to capture speech. You can correct this in different ways on CapCut.
Source: CapCut.com
Alt-text: Free online video editor
Extract Audio
This allows you to cut the audio from the video footage entirely or you can save it, take it through sound editing, and then reapply it to the video.
- Open the 'Edit' menu after importing the video
- Select 'Extract Audio'
- Click on the extracted audio to edit or delete it
Adjust Volume
- Select the 'volume' option under the 'Edit' menu
- Increase or decrease the volume by dragging the cursor
Reduce Noise
This can help eliminate background noise.
- Select 'Reduce Noise' under the 'Edit' menu
- Drag the cursor to set a level of noise reduction. You may need to attempt this a few times until you find the right level of reduction.
Voiceovers
If you can not salvage the original audio in the video, you can extract and delete it and then record voiceovers to replace it. You can access the CapCut voiceover option as follows:
- Select 'Audio' on the main menu
- Tap on 'Record'
You can also explore other options under the audio menu like adding music or sound effects.
Uninspiring Backgrounds
A video background is a salient feature but it is, nonetheless, essential because it remains in the line of sight of the viewer at all times. Therefore, if the background is uninspiring or diminishes the quality of your video, consider:
Source: CapCut.com
Alt-text: Free online video editor
Background Removal
The CapCut video background remover can get rid of your boring background in a few clicks.
- Tap 'Edit'
- Choose 'Cutout'
- Select 'Remove Background'
Replacing the Background
- Tap '+' to start a new project
- Select and import a scenic background video
- Select 'Overlay' on the main menu
- Choose 'Add Overlay'
- Select your content video
- Remove its background (as above)
- Position the content video properly against its new background
To Wrap It Up
That's it. With just a few clicks and the right tools, your video could go from low-quality to viewer-worthy. Why bin it when CapCut can fix it?