Chapter 1. Creating Watchable Video

A video editor is like a hammer. Knowing how to hammer nails, straight and true, is a noble skill, but it doesn't guarantee you can build a sturdy house. Similarly, knowing how to capture your video and add transitions and titles and perhaps a special effect or two doesn't guarantee your video is watchable that family and friends will be able to watch it for more than two or three minutes without squirming in their chairs.

My goal with this book is not only to show you the capabilities of Studio, our metaphorical hammer, but to help you create watchable videos. This involves a range of skills, such as using the proper camcorder settings; framing your shots correctly; shooting the right shots; and capturing, trimming, and weaving your scenes into a polished video production.

Don't fret. I'm not talking Hollywood movies, MTV videos, or 30-second commercials here. If you're like me, you probably shoot most, if not all, of your videos of friends and family for viewing by that same group and have minimal or no commercial aspirations.

So this chapter doesn't throw a lot of advanced theory your way just a small set of fundamentals that will change the way you shoot and edit, and hopefully increase your enjoyment of the process. It should also greatly improve the perceived quality of your video.