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Video Editing: What to Learn First — Art or Software?

In this video and article I discuss whether you should learn the art of video editing or the software first.

Recapping What you Should Learn First for Video Editing

Let’s get right to it. To learn video editing I believe you should learn a piece of software first. Here’s why…

First, you’re going to have to learn bits of both, the art and the software, in order to become really good at one of them. The question is, which one to learn first?

My opinion is that if you get really good at one of the NLEs (Avid Media Composer, FCPX, Premiere Pro, DaVinci Resolve, etc.) then it becomes much easier to get really good at the art of video editing. How come?

When you’re editing you want to be focused purely on the art. You don’t want to have to think about how to do something or if something is possible in the program you’re in. If you want to make this graphic fly in then you want the “how to do it” part in your brain to be automatic so you can focus your attention on the esthetic of it. Does it look good? Should you nudge it over a few pixels? If your brain is still thinking about how to make a keyframe then eventually it’ll get taxed out. You’ll get tired, make mistakes, and generally stop caring as much about the fine details. The decision fatigue is real and knowing the software is a simple way to fight it.

Note: Some links in this article are affiliate links. All that means is that if you were to purchase something from the site after clicking the link, like Amazon, I would get a small commission. It’s no extra cost to you and maybe one day from it I’ll be able to buy a 6-pack of Sierra Nevada Pale Ale or Peyton some pumpkin Fruitables.

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– Josh

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