Do business videos need editing?

Do business videos need editing?

Do business videos need editing?In a world of self produced videos, mobile phone photography and other low fidelity content, is video editing still required? There are large numbers of successful videos on YouTube that have simply been uploaded straight from a camera or phone and have not been edited in any way. There are also many professionally produced videos which have been edited, have had graphics and animations added and had further ‘tweaking’ to improve the quality and overall effect.

In most business video cases, editing (and the post production process) is essential. There is usually the need to add corporate titles, voice over tracks and background music, as well as the more basic functions such as selecting and trimming the best clips. Often there is the need to de-hiss the audio, match volume levels and fix any colour issues. In almost all cases, it would be impossible to produce a quality business video without the edit stage.

There are however a few exceptions, in some cases a video can be too professional and that might interfere with the real-life or emotional impact. Over production can be quickly recognised and could make the difference between success and failure. Videos such as testimonials, product demonstrations, news/event recording and knowledge share can work as simple one clip videos. These can theoretically be shot and uploaded without the need to edit. For this to work you will need a dedicated camera operator, perfect sound recording conditions and of course the ability not to make any mistakes during the take!

A good example would be a client testimonial video, recording this on a camera phone would produce a very authentic and natural video that is more likely to be believed than a professional video production. The on-the-spot nature of such a video, would likely be based on opportunity and the desire to record words from a happy client rather than a more staged version that would result from a planned session.

A product demonstration video could also be achieved in this way. To be truly effective it would need to be short and straightforward and presented by a strong and well versed personality.

Video editing offers many benefits and in general will be required for most video projects. Even videos that appear to have no editing are still usually trimmed, sound treated and colour adjusted before being exported in a format suitable for upload. That said, the speed and convenience of uploading directly from a camera or camera phone combined with the more personal lo-fi approach, can be engaging and may reach out to viewers in a different way.