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Editing video can require some big technical chops, but it can also be pretty simple if you’re okay with a more natural result. Once you have a good raw video, like what I created yesterday, you should be able to use the video as it is, or adjust with just a couple of quick fixes.

So today, I’m going to…

• Edit the beginning and end of the video
• Insert a call to action slide at the end of the video
• Publish the video for the web

Let’s get to it…

Choose Your Editing Software

Before I edit, it may help you to know what software I’m using to edit my video.

I’ve been using Camtasia for quite a while, and I like the way that it publishes the videos I make. However, it’s not the best for doing live action video. You may want to go for something like Sony Vegas Platinum or Adobe After Effects. But since I’m most comfortable with Camtasia, that’s what I’m going to use. You can get a free trial of Camtasia at Techsmith.com for 30 days (you won’t be charged automatically when its over, and you have full access to any videos you’ve created during the trial. But I do recommend you buy it).

You can also use Windows Movie Maker (PC), or iMovie (MAC), which you likely already have on your computer. And if you’re using the Flip, you have very basic editing features in the software that comes with the camera.

The primary thing is you need to be able to publish your video as .avi or .mp4 to have an easier time submitting it to video sites.

Fixing The Start Of The Video

Note: If you upgraded your account at DiscoverAutoresponders.com, you’ll see the steps I took today in today’s video.

When your video starts playing on the screen, you may or may not want to include the second or two at the start that shows you turning the camera on.

So I’m going to clip the front part of my video, making sure the starting frame is fairly normal looking (still frames of yourself always look a bit weird, or maybe it’s just me).

In Camtasia, you have a “scrubber” and two inverted triangles that you position to highlight the part of the video. I’m using the scissors/cut to delete the first couple of seconds from the raw video.

The Camtasia Editing Screen

Just like the start, I want to avoid having the video end too abruptly, or with me turning off the camera. So I’ll clip the last second or two as well.

Call To Action Slide

On many of the video sites, when your video comes to an end it shows related videos, advertisements, or other distractions from the call to action you’ve said in the video. There are typically ways to turn these off, but I still want to increase the likelihood of conversions with an end Title Slide.

In Camtasia, you create a title slide by using the “title clips” option. It will take the shape of your video dimensions, and you simply type text into the clip.

I’m going to use a black title clip, with yellow text at the top, white text at the bottom, and I’m using the Enter key to make space between the top and bottom lines.

Once the title slide is done, I then insert it at the end of the video timeline. I drag the right side of the title clip to make the slide remain on the screen for another 20 seconds. That way it will appear that the video is over, but the title screen will remain while the viewer enters their information.

I also want to make the call to action crystal clear, so I’m going to add a “callout”. I’ll use a red arrow on top of the title slide, pointing to the right where the opt-in form is on the squeeze page.

Publish Video For The Web

Once my basic editing is done, and I’ve added the final slide, I’m ready for publishing the video for the web.

In Camtasia, I’ll be publishing at 400×225 (the ratio of HD, at a width that will fit on my squeeze page). If you are using a standard 4×3 video, then you’d publish at 400×300 or 480×320. Typically, I’ve found videos larger than this on squeeze pages don’t convert as well for some reason. That may be because they take longer to load for weaker internet connections.

I’m going to be using the Camtasia Express Show settings, which will make the video an .mp4. I check the video and audio quality to strike a balance between quality and file size, favoring quality a bit more than file size.

To save time later, I’m going to embed in HTML in case I ever want to serve this video off my own web server instead of the video sites. I also add a few keywords, description, author, etc., to the video information option.

I publish the video with a filename that has keywords in it (internet-marketing-free-gift.mp4) because SEO can sometimes be affected by filenames.

Tomorrow, I’ll upload to a video site, and embed the video onto my squeeze page. See you then!

Bob Jenkins

p.s. If you want to really master Camtasia (especially for screencast recordings), you should check out this excellent Camtasia training from Lon Naylor. He’s giving away an excellent free lesson on how to “ace the audio”.

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