A guide by InSain · Updated · 7 minute read

How to edit a short video

Start on the first frame worth watching, cut to the rhythm of what’s said or heard, write the words for the sound off, and end on the payoff.

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Still from “Ever since you left me”, a short video for Halal Munchies
Still from “What’s in the bag”, a short video for Shah’s Halal Food
Still from “Grand opening: street interviews”, a short video for Shah’s Halal Food

Much of a short video is decided in the edit. The same footage can make a film people watch twice or one they skip. Here’s how we cut ours.

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What editing a short video means

Editing a short video is choosing which seconds of the footage make it into the film, in what order, with what sound and words, and where it ends. For a film under a minute, most of the work is cutting: the walk in, the second take, the pause before the line. What’s left should be the hook, the beats and the payoff, and nothing a stranger would skip.

The order we edit in

  1. Lay the shots in script order, and watch it through once without stopping.
  2. Find the first frame worth watching and cut everything before it.
  3. Cut each shot to its job, trimming the start and end of every clip.
  4. Set the rhythm to the words or the sound.
  5. Add the words on screen, then the music, if any.
  6. Find the last frame: the payoff, and nothing after it.
  7. Watch it with the sound off, then on a phone, then export.

Start late

Open on the first frame worth watching: the food on the grill, the question, the face. Cut the walk in, the logo and the hello. Our wrap film for Da.Si.Mar Shawarma starts with the bread warming against the spit. Instagram’s advice is to “Pull the viewer in within the first 3 seconds, and keep them interested the whole time” (Instagram for Creators).

Cut to a rhythm

Every cut should land on something: a word, a beat, a new step. For a new Shah’s Halal Food on opening day, we cut nineteen seconds to the rhythm of the answers from the line, so a stranger finishes it knowing what to order. A shot that runs past its job slows the whole film; a cut that comes a moment early keeps people leaning in.

Keep the sound close

The crunch, the sizzle and the pour sell food better than music alone. For Shah’s new sandwich, the microphone was close enough to hear every crunch. Sound you recorded yourself also leaves no song to clear, as long as no one else’s music was playing in the room. If a radio was on, that’s someone else’s music in your film.

Music you’re allowed to use

Popular songs are someone else’s property, and a business is held to that more strictly than a person posting for fun:

  • Meta (Instagram, Facebook): “Use of music for commercial or non-personal purposes in particular is prohibited unless you have obtained appropriate licenses”; “Shorter clips of music are recommended” (Meta, Music Guidelines). Instagram’s licensed music library may not be “available for your account type or in your country or region”; then it points you to its Sound Collection (Instagram Help Center).
  • TikTok: a business account sees only the Commercial Music Library, “free for businesses”, for “organic or paid content” (TikTok, Commercial Music Library).
  • YouTube: “Any Short that is over one minute in duration with an active copyright claim of any type, including manual claims, will be blocked globally on YouTube” (YouTube Help).

So edit the master file with your own sound, mute or replace any music that was playing while you filmed, and add music inside each app from what it offers a business account.

Words for the sound off

Caption anything said, word for word, and put short lines on screen for anyone watching without sound. Keep them in the middle of the frame, where no app’s buttons cover them. Instagram’s advice is “9 x 16 vertical videos with no borders, where text does not cover the majority of the screen”. For Icon Auto Centre, the words read a mechanic’s legs under a car: “Everything is fine”, “Challenge accepted”, “Damn, this bolt is tight”, “We’re cooked bruh”. Each line stays on long enough to read twice.

Make it loop

End on the payoff, and let the last frame lead back to the first. A five-second film for Shah’s, a phone that “sees through” a takeout bag to the platter inside, was made to play again and again. Replays count as views on Reels and Shorts, and a film that ends where it began invites one.

A trend edit borrows a pattern people know. For Halal Munchies, nine seconds of glitch cuts went from a Queens street sign to the grill and ended at the counter, with the next order being placed. The trend brought the rhythm; the business filled it. “Should you follow trends?” covers when to use one.

Export once, upload everywhere

Export one clean vertical file with no app’s watermark, and upload that file to TikTok, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube Shorts. Meta’s advice for Facebook is to “Avoid using visible third party watermarks and content that is visibly recycled from other apps or sources” (Meta for Creators), and Instagram’s eligible content has no visible watermarks. “One video on every platform?” covers why.

Check the edit against the numbers

After a few days, compare how long people watched with how long the film runs. Instagram defines a reel’s average watch time as “the watch time divided by the number of initial views” (Instagram Help Center). For example, round numbers: 6,000 seconds of watch time over 1,000 initial views is 6,000 ÷ 1,000 = 6 seconds on a twelve-second film: an average of half its length. Replays and people who leave early both go into that average, so it can’t say where anyone stopped. Watch the film again as a stranger would, and cut the second you’d scroll.

Common mistakes

  • Keeping the first take’s warm-up because it took effort to film.
  • A popular song under everything, which a business may have no licence to post.
  • Text on every second, covering the picture it’s meant to explain.
  • Transitions for their own sake, when a straight cut would do.
  • An outro: a logo, a thank-you, a “follow for more” after the payoff.
  • Exporting from inside one app with its watermark, then uploading that file everywhere.

A checklist before you export

  1. The first frame is worth watching.
  2. Every shot does one job and ends when it’s done.
  3. It makes sense with the sound off.
  4. The music, if any, is music you may use.
  5. The last frame is the payoff.
  6. The file is vertical, clean, and yours.

Or let us edit

We plan, film, edit and post every video on our plans.

Questions owners ask

How long does it take to edit a short video?

It depends on the footage and the idea. A planned shoot with a script edits much faster than footage shot without one.

Should I add music to a business video?

Use the sound that helps first: the crunch, the sizzle, the voices. Add music when it carries the rhythm, and only music you have the right to use: on TikTok a business account picks from the Commercial Music Library, and Meta prohibits commercial use of music without the appropriate licences.

Can I use a popular song in a YouTube Short?

Only with the rights. YouTube blocks worldwide any Short over one minute with an active copyright claim.

Where should on-screen text go?

In the middle of the frame, where no app’s buttons or captions cover it, and never over most of the screen.

How do I start?

Apply to work with us: a few quick questions about your business. We read every application, and if we can help, we write back to set up a free thirty-minute video call. Apply to work with us

Keep reading

Sources

Updates

  • : Lengthened: the order we edit in, music a business may use (YouTube’s three-minute page re-read; Meta’s music guidelines, Instagram’s audio help and TikTok’s music library page read), words on screen in Instagram’s terms, a clean export, checking the edit against average watch time, common mistakes and a checklist.

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