Software That Any Professional Video Editor Must Know

Profession

When you are finally entering into the professional world as a videographer or editor it is important to have a full repertoire of post-production skills. It does not matter if you are trying to make your own personal masterpiece or looking to get hired at a local production company, there are certain things you need to have on your resume. Knowledge of specific software is a must for all fields, video production included. There are a number of packages and applications that you must know before you can enter the professional realm.

Editing Programs

The most important thing to have on your repertoire is a great deal of experience in non-linear editing software, no matter what it is. Most are fairly similar, so having an in depth knowledge of the principles of video editing is more than crucial. The best way to do this is to be well educated in two major software packages. Right now the reigning kings are Final Cut Pro and Avid Media Composer, and at least one of them has to be in your toolbox.

Packages

Along with these must be extensive use of the associated applications that come in the package. In every editing suite of quality there are a number of other programs that come with that you can use in conjunction to supposedly do every necessary production task. For example, the Final Cut Studio also has DVD Studio Pro, Live Type, Soundtrack Pro, and others. All of these must get some experience time, especially any and all that work with sound. Since there are a number of these you may not need to know all for more than one package, but right now Final Cut Studio applications are the most requested.

After Effects

One independent program that is basically required for most jobs is After Effects. This visual effects program from Adobe is their absolute flagship when it comes to the film world and is now used by almost every production house that does any kind of film or creative video work. It is also recommended to work with Color, which comes along with Apple. This color altering program is being used more and more since it was brought to a prosumer pricing scale. This application is difficult and requires and incredible amount of power from your Mac, but some experience will help you out quite a bit.

Others

Some programs you are going to need are not even directly related to video editing. Photoshop is going to be requested as much as any of the conventional video programs, mainly because this is the best program for altering still images. Along with this is the need for basic understandings of web design since online integration is standard for video distribution. Dreamweaver is the current leader for web design programs, and it does not look as though it will be dethroned any time soon.

Learn Them

If you feel confident that you can take all the pieces of a film and construct it on a computer using available software then you are ready to send out applications. Any program that you missing knowledge with should be learned through tutorials or formal education.