Greetings /r/videoediting!

I’m working on documentary-style YouTube videos and trying to improve my audio quality, specifically my voiceovers.
I’m still relatively new to DaVinci Resolve and learning as I go. My goal is to get that clean, full, consistent narration sound you hear from established documentary and commentary YouTubers.
Right now I’m using a fairly basic onn USB microphone, and I’ve been experimenting with EQ, compression, normalization, and Dialogue Isolate in Fairlight. I’ve gotten some decent results, but I feel like there’s still a lot of room for improvement.
I’m curious how everyone else approaches this.
What’s your typical processing chain for narration?
Do you use track-level EQ and compression, or process individual clips?
How do you keep your volume and vocal tone consistent across different recording sessions?
Are there any underrated Fairlight tools, plugins, or techniques that made a noticeable difference in your audio?
Do you have any tips for getting better results from a cheaper USB microphone?
I’m not necessarily looking for a magic preset, just trying to learn better techniques and develop a repeatable workflow.
I’d especially love to hear from anyone editing documentary, video essay, or commentary-style content.
Thanks in advance

Please read in full before commenting!

I'm working on a multi-hour video-essay and have prepared most of the resources I'll need (apart from recording the voiceover and some info-related footage).

The video won't feature my face or a lot of live footage, as it will mostly be relevant screenshots, text and some infographics. Most of the text is also already prepared. Any visual and sound effects used will be simple. I intend to clean up most of the voiceover before editing so assume it needs minimal adjustment.

With that in mind, is 20 minutes of editing per minute of video a realistic pace to keep? If not, how long should I expect it to take?

We've seen an uptick in people gatekeeping in this community, often being not decent humans.

One of the easiest things you can do is to report somebody's post or comment if it breaks one of our rules, especially around "Don't be a Jerk"

It's totally fine to disagree. Do so politely. Behave as an adult. Name calling, doxing etc is not okay here. Try not to be caustic. Life is hard enough.

Treat everyone "as if" they're having a bad day and you'll be fine. Disagree if you like - just don't be disagreeable. Remember there's a human being on the other side of the keyboard

Any time we get a number of flagged items, it automatically gets pulled, and a moderator manually removes it.

Thank you for your attention to this community service note.

We return you to your regularly scheduled program.

Im going to remake this in capcut, but i need you help to make it perfect. Its the best idea i have to help my friend understand how to get riders republic for free before it ends.

So my friend doesnt miss out on this opportunity and chance to get this game. Would be very helpful for other friends in the future who cant understand how the Playstation store works.

I also wang to make another vidoe showing how easy the game is to play. Apparently my friend says the game is too hard.

And they also say "i have been to tired" because they get overwhelmed and anxiety when they cant understand/havent learn to do something.

I need to find a video/something i could use to make the game look easy.

I edit as a freelancer since 2020 and kept getting different answers on what loudness to deliver for socials, also for my own accounts i never was sure... so I measured what the apps actually serve.

135 recent videos from 20 big accounts (BBC, ESPN, GoPro, MrBeast and others), requested logged out, audio measured with ffmpeg ebur128.

- Instagram: 92% of Reels within 1 LU of -14 LUFS, none louder than -14.0. Anything hotter just gets turned down.

- TikTok: no levelling on the delivered files. Median -21.2 LUFS, 80% between -27.5 and -15.

- Shorts: median -19.6, but 22% louder than -12 and a third with true peaks above -1 dBTP.

Video side: Instagram's best stream was VP9 every single time, no H.264 at that resolution. TikTok's top stream was H.265 in 88%. Only YouTube offered 4K (19% of Shorts).

What I take from it: master Reels around -14 LUFS / -1 dBTP, and aim for -14 on TikTok too, because a quiet upload stays quiet next to everything else.

Raw data (CSV, free to use): github.com/shortformkit/short-form-video-delivery-2026

Snapshot of big accounts only, and apps might get different streams than the web. Happy to measure something else if people are curious.

I'm a Premiere guy migrating to Resolve. Found an old feature film I did (mixed media, so a good chunk is not MP4s or Quicktime, but odd unplayable camera capture files from MiniDV). Conversion by XML to Premiere has been shoddy, lots of unlinked elements etc. but not totally unusable. The Final Cut Pro 7 project can only open on an old Mac Pro Tower from 2012.

Anyone ever had luck doing this?

Hi all, I am trying to make a fan trailer for GTA VI with different music in the background. I am using Adobe Premiere Pro on a 2022 MacBook Air M2. I want to keep the dialogue present in the scenes that I am editing, but there is often background music that conflicts with the music that I am adding. Is there a way for me to remove or reduce the music without losing the dialogue? I can download the songs present in the clips, so can I somehow "cancel out" the existing music using the actual song? I am also wholly against using AI in any way, so utilizing the Enhance Dialogue feature is off the table. Any and all help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

Currently using Canva. Any insight on how to make videos similar to this or what it's called? Specifically the way the elements move and how the cursor is slow.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/4pph8VcV8LM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ueQv69QSsgI&t=4s

What I tried: I attempted to do a search for "how to make animated cursors" or "cursor tutorials imac", to no avail; Most of those videos teach how to change a cursor on iMac, not how to create these sorts of videos.

!martini

I wanna get this look on the iPhone and I only use CapCut. Is it a way to get this look? Plz help me!!!

Hi everyone, I am currently working on a short doco which will include a montage of archival footage and scanned images. Does anyone where I could find good examples of a short doco/film (or even a TikTok/Reels edit) that does this in a creative way? Particularly fast paced and over music? I will be using landscape footage as well as vertical. I’m still learning premier pro and want to know what’s possible so I can find accurate tutorials online. Thank you for your help.

There's this meme going around of Sean O Pry. I'm curious to know what the effect for the face morphing sequence is. It's some kind of frame interpolation, right? Some other people tried copying it by doing a simple radial blur which is clearly not it. If it is frame interpolation, which kind? I've used Twixtor and I don't think it could generate this clean of a transition between two different photos. Could it be something inside of CapCut? I don't use that app that often to know, but I do recall it having a video interpolation thing.

I did some more searching and apparently CapCut's frame interpolation uses deep learning while the Twixtor that I'm used to uses Optical Flow. That could be why the transitions are so smooth here despite the hard cuts in visual data.

Many thanks!

I am a hobby video game streamer. I like to do it for fun. I would like to make a transition out of an eight-second clip of the windows xp "starfield" screensaver that fades in, remains opaque for several seconds, then fades out when the transition between scenes is completed. What I Tried: I have attempted to export the video with alpha, but this turns the black background of the starfield pure green. I tried taking the clip apart and making the transparency happen frame-by-frame in clip studio paint before making an animated png of it and then re-inserting it back into my software but it made the background completely grey instead of black. I am using a software called DaVinci Resolve. for the love of god please help me.

Hello! I am brand new to editing and was wondering what the best way to study an editing style is?
Obviously not copying someone’s style exactly but taking pieces of video styles and making your own.

I’m not sure if it’s just something you develop along the line and if that’s the case it’s ok but I was just wondering if someone had some advice.

Hi! so for context i'm an experienced video editor & recent media studies graduate, starting my career in freelance video editing. by "experienced editor", i mean i've been editing casually for years and have a naturally strong understanding for pacing. i am very familiar with the software too and can honestly pick up new ones pretty quickly (i've learned FCP, Premiere, even After Effects and made pretty cool stuff). all to say, i'm past the basics of "how to edit".

Where i'd love to grow is: i watch other people's edits and wonder where they learned how to edit like that. i'm sure that feeling never ends even for professionals haha - but i'm saying, i fundamentally understand how that edit worked, and if i had a tutorial, i could follow it and succeed. but i find myself questioning how editors got to that point.

I don't doubt that for most people, it was probably just watching a million youtube tutorials - but i find myself wondering what else is out there. so my question is, how do you personally learn to develop your own style, learn new editing techniques, have all these effects in your (metaphorical or literal) toolbox, etc.?

(I'm new and only slightly confused on the subreddit's rules lol - hope this is the right place and flair for this question, just hoping to find somewhere to connect with other editors on this.)

Thanks!

I believe this problem is faced by anyone who monetizes their skills.

Before you did it for doing it, now everytime you do it without getting paid it feels like a waste of time considering the other projects you have to do and that will actually pay you.

System specs: 9600x. 9070XT, 32gb DDR5

DaVinci Resolve version 20 free

windows 11

Timeline resolution 1920 x 1080 HD

 nothing in the timeline wants to run. And when I close DaVinci, it doesn't turn back on. It just works when i restart my PC but the problem comes back after a couple of minutes.I'm a noob to this stuff PLEASE HELP!

I was shooting with my Panasonic Lumix S5IIX and a vintage Haiou lens when I noticed some strange horizontal lines across one of my photos.

I've attached two nearly identical shots for comparison. One looks perfectly normal, while the other has these fine horizontal lines running across the image.

What's particularly strange is that the lines seem much more visible in the blue areas, especially the sky, while the buildings and other parts of the image appear relatively unaffected. Why would the artifact primarily affect blue areas?

Could this be an electronic shutter issue, sensor readout problem, interference, or something related to the vintage lens?

I'm also curious why it would appear in one image but not the other, despite using the same camera and lens.

Any ideas what might be causing this?

A lot of UGC ads don't have an editing problem. They have a hook problem.

I've edited UGC Reels and DTC ads for SaaS and other businesses and one thing I've noticed is that sometimes the biggest problem isn't the editing itself. It's how the ad starts.

You can have a great AI avatar, a clean edit, engaging subtitles, good background music, and a strong CTA. But if the first 2–3 seconds don't give people a reason to keep watching, most of that work might go unnoticed.

Here's what I try to focus on when editing these ads:

- Start with the problem, not the introduction. Instead of opening with "Hey guys, today I'm going to show you...", get straight to the pain point or an interesting claim.

- Make the visuals support the hook. Use relevant B-roll, screen recordings, AI generated clips, or a quick visual change to make the opening more engaging.

- Keep the pacing natural. Fast cuts aren't always better. Every cut should serve a purpose rather than just make the video look busy.

- Make subtitles easy to follow. Highlight important words without turning every sentence into a FLASHY animation.

- Give viewers a reason to act. The CTA should feel like a natural next step, not something randomly added at the end.

I use tools like HeyGen for AI avatars, ElevenLabs for voiceovers, and Higgsfield or Runway for AI generated visuals when the project calls for them.

But I don't think tools alone make an ad good. The hook, script, visual choices, and pacing need to work together.

I'm curious about other editors and media buyers:

When an ad gets views but doesn't generate clicks or conversions, what's the first thing you look at, the hook, the script, or the creative itself?

I'd love to hear how others approach this.

It's pretty easy to use chroma key to change a detail of an image. You just draw in the areas you want to be transparent with a narrow color band and save the image. However adding an irregular shaped mask to a video was not possible, or at least I didn't know how, using Movavi. Then it occurred to me to make a double color mask. I tried it and it worked really well. I thought you guys might think it's cool or something. :)

Is it safe to print out a label and put it on the DVD? I can't print directly onto the DVD so this would be my only option aside using a sharpie on the disk. This is for a homemade DVD. Thanks!

Hey everyone! I’m starting a YouTube channel focused on deep dives into video games, including their rise, downfall, and why they lost popularity.
I recently made an approximately 11-minute video about the downfall of Pixel Gun 3D, and I’m looking for an editor to help with future videos.
I’m looking for someone with prior video editing experience who can make entertaining, good-quality videos without needing overly complicated editing. I want the videos to look polished, keep viewers interested, and feel professional enough for a growing YouTube channel.
Rate per hour : $10/hr
I’m just starting out, so I have a limited budget. I’m looking for someone who can work efficiently while still producing solid results.
Requirements:
Prior video editing experience.
A portfolio or links to videos you’ve personally edited so I can verify your experience.
Good communication and a willingness to discuss the editing process.
Before starting, I’d like to agree on the expected number of hours and the payment arrangement so we’re both clear on the cost. I also prefer not to pay the entire amount upfront when working with someone for the first time.
If you’re interested, please send me a Reddit DM with examples of your previous work and a little information about your experience.

Thanks!

Just had a question about the type of video editing that seems to be normal with the kind of videos I see my nieces/nephews viewing on YouTube. I'm wondering how this stuff is done.

Typically, the kids are watching 30 to 45-minute video game videos, with audio sped up significantly (1.5x maybe) and without any breathing at any point in the video. In some cases, a single spoken sentence can have 10 or more cuts in the audio, making it so the audio is a single continuously-uttered noise, without even a millisecond of "dead air" between words, or even between syllables in some cases. No breathing.

The question is: how is this done? Is there software that automates this? I watched a bit of a video with my nephew over the weekend, and there had to be at least 50+ cuts per minute. Are editors really making thousands of cuts in each video, or is it done using AI or some such?

Thanks for any info.