I still remember the first video I made with Windows Movie Maker back in the early 2000s (I feel old)… I was editing a bunch of shaky home videos of my family taken by the only person in my family who had a cell phone with an actual camera capability (VGA though). It was more like a slide show than an actual video.
Video editing has changed a lot since the early days, and if you don't edit videos regularly or are only ever used simple filters on Instagram or Snapchat, you might not realize how far the technology has come.
So let's dive right in and take a look at what the future holds for video editing and aspiring Spielbergs.
AI-U Are you ready?
The first big piece of the future “video editing pie” is AI. AI is your tech friend that makes the editing process just a little bit easier. You don't need to spend hours organizing your day's shoots. Sophisticated algorithms are coming in, allowing you to:
- Select the best moments from the footage
- Create a rough edit (automatically!) based on parameters you set
- Smooth out pixels with color correction and noise reduction
The next time you work in Adobe Premiere Pro or Final Cut Pro X, let AI help you be creative where it matters: add a cinematic slow pan to your drone shot instead of wasting time trying to fix a poorly lit frame.
Virtual reality: a surreal world
This isn't a new trend, but it's gaining momentum. Now it's possible to keep your audience engaged.
Editing these immersive visuals requires special tools, techniques and a wide range of imagination to unlock the full potential of 360-degree spatial awareness.
Augmented reality aspects
Not only was it an exciting moment for '90s kids to see Pokémon suddenly appear in their living rooms, but it also marked a step forward in showing how AR has evolved from its sci-fi roots. Seeing video editing seamlessly blend with reality is a big deal.
AR allows editors to seamlessly blend virtual elements into real-world footage.
Web Browser Video Editor
Not everyone has a computer powerful enough to use advanced video editing software, and that's okay: For amateur videographers or those who aren't quite ready to commit to professional editing software, web browser video editors are a ray of hope.
Together
This isn't a prediction; it's already happening and will continue to proliferate. Each social platform has different video formats, sizes, and lengths (a quick video on TikTok is obviously different from a longer cut on YouTube), and the future of video editing will have to keep up with these ever-changing demands.
Video editors will increasingly be working on producing “social media ready” clips: square for Instagram posts, vertical for IG and Snapchat stories, and shorter versions for Twitter posts.
AI-powered narration and subtitling
You've probably mistaken an AI voice for a human narrator in a YouTube video (it's happened!). Though still a work in progress, AI narration is starting to sound surprisingly human. AI narration is streamlined, time-efficient, and offers a variety of tone options without having to hire someone behind the mic.
AI is also leaping ahead in terms of perfectly synchronizing subtitles with audio (regardless of speed or speaking style). Think of how much time we could save by not having to manually adjust the timing. Sure, the accuracy still needs some fine-tuning, but once perfected, it would save us a ton of work time.
Text-based editing
Tired of scrubbing through timelines? Text-based video editing is an emerging technology that has the potential to simplify our lives in the near future. Just like searching for instances of text in a Word document (e.g. Ctrl+F), you can simply jump directly to the part of a clip that contains a particular word or phrase. Yes, that's exactly what we're aiming for – editing by transcription.
Want to remove a speaker who used the phrase “paradigm shift” over and over during a gigantic two-hour seminar? Find it and just cut it out.
Deepfakes and face swapping
This aspect is a cool innovation and
Although this field too has had to be heavily regulated for ethical use, there is no denying that there is an element of wonder in terms of technological advancements.
Interactive Video Editing
You can sync exercise videos to your smartwatch or turn a cooking tutorial into an interactive experience and sync instructions directly to your smartwatch.
You can also create videos that react to user interactions and perform actions like branching (choosing different paths within a video), purchasing directly from a product review video, or changing elements in your video based on viewer preferences.
Merging these “choose your own adventure” mechanics with film and games opens up the possibility for entirely new forms of media content. Netflix's Black Mirror: Take a moment to imagine how an interactive episode of Bandersnatch might have been created?
What about video editors?
You can't talk about the future of video editing without talking about the video editors behind the lens. No matter how much technology evolves, the human touch will always be essential. The complex decisions that lead to storytelling and evoking emotion are often too complex for AI or software alone (at least for now).
However, this rapid development in technology doesn't mean that all creative talent working as video editors are on the brink of unemployment, although there may be some shifts in the required skillset: Familiarity with Adobe After Effects is no longer enough, editors will need to develop new skills such as AI programming, 360-degree video editing, AR and VR content creation, and managing cloud-based editing suites.
Despite these advances, the need for human intuition, decision-making ability, and ultimately creativity remains as compelling and important as ever. Remember, technology is a complement, not a substitute for human creativity.
Keep calm and click “Export”
So is it time to hit the panic button on these accelerating changes? Absolutely not. Trust me, you're not going to wake up tomorrow and suddenly have to edit 360-degree videos with AI tools in a virtual reality environment. (If that happens, tell me where you work and I'd love to join in.)
These changes are underway. They're evolutionary, not revolutionary. These technological advances have been seamlessly integrated into our workflows for years, and we'll take it all in stride, just as we did when we went from VCRs to DVDs, or from landlines to smartphones.
