What is the Best Course to Learn Video Editing?

Video editing classes come in a lot of different styles, formats and pedagogical focuses. Since video editing is a technical art, a creative digital skill, a century old trade and an essential part of filmmaking, there are a number of different approaches to learning and becoming proficient in video editing. This article will explore some of the most significant considerations and differences between classes and class formats that you should consider to make an informed decision about what kind of video editing class to enroll in once you have decided that one of these classes is right for you.

Are You Brand New to Video Editing?

The first thing you need to consider is how much prior experience you have with video editing concepts and applications. Most prospective editors at least have an understanding of what video editing is and what it entails. Beyond that, you’ll need to gauge how comfortable you are with video editing applications and theories in order to find the best course to begin your studies. Students who have a lot of experience with video editing, either from prior classes, hobbyist work or through experimenting with free tutorials and training videos, may want to look for courses that bypass introductory work, while students who aren’t comfortable with the basics of technical editing may want to enroll in a course that offers beginner lessons as part of its larger curriculum. If you have absolutely no video editing experience, you’ll want to consider enrolling in a shorter introductory course and experimenting with free training resources since you don’t want to enroll in an immersive ten-week workshop and discover on day two that you actually really hate editing.

How Much are You Willing to Pay?

While it may seem like a boring logistical question, you do want to consider roughly where your budget lies when it comes to enrolling in any kind of training program. It is true that learning new career skills is a great way to increase your long-term earning potential, but this is over a lifetime and the upfront cost can be pretty steep. If you know that you want to become a professional video editor, there are a few options at various price points with college film programs being the most expensive and time-consuming but also giving you the most complete education and the most networking opportunities (and the most time dedicated to learning theories of editing). If you don’t have the spare tens of thousands of dollars to dedicate to learning video editing, you can spend a few thousand dollars and enroll in an immersive video editing certificate program, where you’ll get career-focused training and spend time building a professional demo reel while you learn through hands-on editing lessons. You'll have fewer networking opportunities and you’ll mostly focus on the technical side of the equation, but you’ll still get the education you need to start applying for professional editing jobs right away.

If you are looking to spend a bit less on your video editing education (either because you are looking to learn slowly or because you aren’t trying to make a career out of it), you can enroll in a shorter introductory or intermediate class, which often run for only a few hundred to less than a hundred dollars (depending on the amount of time and in class engagement). These classes won’t be enough to set you up for a career in video editing, but they will introduce you to essential concepts and will likely be enough for hobbyist editors or anyone looking to edit their own short content. Students who don’t want to spend anything will only be able to introduce themselves to the basics of video editing, but there are a wide range of free options at their disposal.

How Quickly Do You Need to Learn New Skills?

Another key factor in deciding which course is the best fit for you is how much time you feel you have to learn a skill or set of skills. If you feel that you have the time to slowly pick up your skills piecemeal as you attend to other professional responsibilities, you’ll want to consider part-time immersive study, since this will provide you with the most training spread out over a manageable amount of time. If you are in a bigger hurry, you can enroll in a full-time immersive training program that aims to help students quickly learn all of the career skills that they need in order to find work as video editors. However, while these full-time courses are faster than alternatives (including college programs and internships) they can still take months or weeks to complete. If you need to learn a specific skill very quickly, you can consider enrolling in a focused, shorter class or even an on-demand class that aims to teach the skill in question. This is most useful for editors who already have a grounding in the basics of video editing, since this isn’t the most efficient way to learn the basics.

Do You Want to Become a Professional Video Editor?

Video editing can be a fun hobby (for making your own content on platforms like YouTube and TikTok) or the foundation of an enriching professional career. It is important to understand what your long-term goal is when looking for the best course, since you won’t want to spend too much time on professional development if you aren’t aiming to make a career out of your editing skills and, likewise, if you want to learn how to edit at a professional level, you’ll want to be sure that they course you enroll in focuses on getting you career-ready. You can also enroll in a shorter introductory course to gauge whether or not you think you’ll want to continue on with your video editing training, since you may not be 100% sure of your long-term goals when you start off on the program.

How Much Technical Training Do You Need?

One of the unique aspects of video editing is that it falls somewhere between a technical skill and a creative design process. Video Editors will need to know the technical process of creating and managing cuts and edits, maintaining continuity between shots and ensuring that the edit flows naturally. They will also need the creative skills required to make interesting, impactful editing decisions in terms of how and when certain cuts occur. You’ll want to consider what your long-term goals are so that you can strike a balance in your training. If you are hoping to find work creating online content or doing simple editing work for a small companies advertising projects, for example, it will be more important to learn the technical skills as to understand how to make a video project look professionally done. You won’t need to spend nearly as much time learning the subtler arts of cinematic editing. By contrast, if your goal is to work on film projects, you’ll need more than the technical know-how to set yourself apart from the crowd and you’ll likely want to enroll in classes that emphasize the theoretical and historical qualities of film editing.

Do You Prefer In-Person or Online Training?

With the rise of personal video editing software applications, you no longer need to be in a physical cutting room, so you can learn to edit video from virtually anywhere. This means that you’ll want to consider the pros and cons of enrolling in an in-person training program or an online one. Many students report that they prefer to learn in person since it brings them closer to their instructors (in a literal and metaphoric sense) and makes them feel like they are learning as part of a cohort. Students also find the space of the classroom to be beneficial to help them keep their focus and get more direct feedback from their instructors. The drawback to these classes is that you’ll be limited in your options to classes that you can physically attend and the travel time will extend the cost of the class (both in terms of time expended and the cost in relatively subtle ways).

By contrast, online classes give you the option to learn from your own home office, meaning that you can enroll in virtually any online program offered globally (language and timezones notwithstanding). This greatly expands on your options for finding the right class to meet your needs as a student. In addition, even though the classes are taught online, many offer live training sessions that mirror the structure of a traditional classroom, so you won’t be sacrificing the personalized training and feedback as you learn from your own home. You also will save time and energy by avoiding a commute, which can do a lot to improve your quality of life, particularly if you would have to drive into a large city for in-person training and, while it won’t apply to all prospective students, some people just won’t have an option, since there aren’t any in-person training courses that they could reasonably attend. The downside to these classes is that students enrolled in them will be on their own slightly more frequently, since they will have less immediate and direct access to instructors. They may also need to procure their own video editing software and will need to have a computer that can run a relatively intensive program while streaming a digital classroom.

Learn Video Editing Skills with Noble Desktop

Regardless of how much money you want to spend learning video editing, Noble Desktop has a course that is built to fit your needs. Students looking for a detailed, professional training program can spend 126 classroom hours learning video editing skills in the Video Editing and Motion Graphics Certificate program. In this course, students with no background in video editing can prepare themselves for a career in the industry in full-time or part-time sessions. Students will learn how to edit complex video content using Premiere Pro, After Effects and Audition, and since this is a career-focused course, students will build an application-quality demo reel to demonstrate their skills as aspiring Video Editors.

Students seeking a more accelerated training program should consider enrolling in a course like the Premiere Pro Bootcamp. Over three days, students will get hands-on experience working with Premiere Pro, and they will learn everything from basic to advanced skills and get a handle on working with Premiere Pro at a professional level. Students will learn how to navigate the user interface and make simple cuts in one or more video files. They will also learn the basics of maintaining continuity, aligning audio and keeping their video project moving smoothly. Then, students will learn how to work with multiple video files, multi-step edits and adding, removing and cleaning audio files.

Finally, students looking for a quick introduction to video editing can enroll in the Premiere Pro in a Day course. This course will give students six hours of hands-on Premiere Pro training to help them become familiar with the interface and the basic process of uploading video files and working with them in the Premiere Pro interface. Students will learn how to clip and merge video files, and they will learn the basic philosophies that go into creating edited video content. This course is a quick introduction to the application for students looking to learn more about the tools and begin experimenting with Premiere Pro.