Video editing is a great skill to have. Some people learn it on their own while others have more formal training. If you are thinking of a career change and know your way around editing videos and film, then you have a potential avenue for growth right there. You don’t even need to look for a job listing. Freelance video editing is a major industry, and you can be part of it. Here are some things that you need to get started.
A Good PC Rig
One thing that you will need above all else nowadays is a suitable PC for doing video editing. You can have an all-digital workflow, which will make things much easier for you. A reliable PC will allow you to process a long video within minutes instead of days. Additionally, you will need some heavy-duty editing software. Something like Adobe Premiere will be what you need when you need to do some video editing. But power is not everything. As a freelancer, you might have limited space or need your work computer to be portable. Something from the NUC computer lineup would be similarly useful since it can allow you to do work anywhere without the limitations of a laptop.
A Large Amount of Storage
If you are planning to do some editing, your PC or Mac’s hard drive is not going to be enough. You will soon discover that videos take up gigabytes and terabytes of space. You may end up with your hard drive full of various videos, and you have more coming in. Getting independent digital storage should be one of your priorities. That is not one of those single external hard drives that store one terabyte. You need multiple hard drives. If possible, you should buy large internal ones and load them up in casings then allocate each to a client. That way, you can just pull up their large drives when you need them.
A Demo Reel
The hardest thing that you will need to do as a video editor is to find clients. You need to prove to them that you can do the job that they want. The best proof is your work. Have a demo reel that you can show to your clients at any time. The best way to do this is to load it up on a streaming site like YouTube and have potential customers look at it. It doesn’t have to be a long one. You only need three minutes of a dramatic and good video that showcases your best work.
A Way to Contact You
Customers need to be able to get in touch with you. The best method is to have a website that showcases your work and has your contact info. If you are not willing to invest in that yet, a profile on the many freelance working sites online should be enough to get you your first clients.
Ready for Business
Running your own business can be very liberating. Additionally, video editing is in high demand nowadays as online video has become a major channel for advertising. With the right tools, you should be ready to handle any order that comes your way.
