How I became good at Video Editing

 I'm not good at coding. But, why am I mentioning this out of nowhere?? Well, there is a common pattern between various things I do on a daily basis... like editing (don't do anymore), coding etc. We'll talk about this later.

September 2023, the first time I got an opportunity to edit a YT video for someone. As promised, the first video edit would not be charged for, merely as courtesy.. You know.. win-win for both the parties, The new editor gets a dope-ass edit and I get a client. The most important bit here is I knew nothing about editing on a high-end software like Premiere pro. So, I thought maybe I would go ahead and learn and implement my learnings on the client video itself.

So, this is how it started. Initially, I was just copying what the YT tuts explained.. There are tons of features provided by these hardware heavy software. When things started to become saturated for me... I started to play around, fuc* around. I started messing with different features and let my curiosity take control. I would go like... "oh, what happens if I just flip this switch on.. Oh damn! Undo it is.".
This made me get a good understanding of how to manipulate the software to give you great results.. The first video, as I watch today.. makes me feel discomfort in my stomach. It was that bad.. But, still.. a first is a first right? Since then, I have edited for many clients and most of them were quite happy with the results I would bring.

But, what lesson does this story convey?

There is a pattern in how we become good at something.

You kick things off by learning the most basic things. Then you start to mess around and try making your way in... you know.. just letting your pure curiosity take over. And that opens doors for you that you never thought even existed. The thing is.. I practiced really hard for producing good results... I tried planning on my diary, as in what sort of element do I need to show at this timestamp and how to hook the user in the first few seconds of an Instagram Reel. I used to have certain inspirations as well in my mind. I used to copy them and then learned things on the fly.

I am not saying I'm a great editor as well. I still haven't created a single animation in After Effects... So, I merely qualify to call myself an editor (that's self-awareness right there you see, xd).. But, practicing and letting myself just explore with a child's mind helped me get so many clients...

[A note to my coder self: This time, don't let an "I don't even know After Effects moment limit you."]