- Home
- Guides
Video editing guides
What actually keeps people watching, written from the edit bay for creators who cut their own videos, or want to know what to ask of an editor.
All guides
YouTube · 5 min read
How to improve YouTube audience retention
Read the retention graph, fix the first 30 seconds, and stop the mid-video slide.
Read the guide →
Short-form · 3 min read
How to edit YouTube Shorts that get watched
Length, hooks, captions, sound and the loop, step by step.
Read the guide →
Hooks · 3 min read
Video hooks: 10 ways to stop the scroll in 3 seconds
Ten hook formats for Shorts, Reels, TikTok and long-form, and how to cut them.
Read the guide →
Captions · 3 min read
How to add animated captions to your videos
Tools, styling rules and placement for word-by-word captions.
Read the guide →
Repurposing · 3 min read
How to turn one podcast into a month of Shorts
Find the clips, reframe to 9:16, caption, and schedule a month of posts.
Read the guide →
Content clipping · 6 min read
What is content clipping?
How video clipping works, what makes a good clip, AI tools and ways clippers get paid.
Read the guide →
AI editing · 3 min read
AI video editing in 2026: what actually saves time
The AI tools that save real hours, and where YouTube draws the line.
Read the guide →
Software · 3 min read
The best video editing software for YouTube in 2026
DaVinci Resolve, Premiere Pro, Final Cut Pro and CapCut, compared.
Read the guide →
Color · 3 min read
How to color grade LOG footage in DaVinci Resolve
Color management, nodes, scopes and skin tones, from flat LOG to Rec.709.
Read the guide →
Color · 5 min read
V-Log color grading in DaVinci Resolve
Exact V-Gamut settings, the 42 IRE target, and the colour shifts to fix.
Read the guide →
Color · 5 min read
Rec.709 color grading: the standard everything ends up in
Gamma 2.4 or 2.2, data levels, and why your export looked washed out.
Read the guide →
Software · 5 min read
DaVinci Resolve vs Premiere Pro for YouTube
Cost over three years, colour, VFR phone footage, and which to pick.
Read the guide →
Software · 5 min read
DaVinci Resolve free vs Studio
Every real difference, and the three features actually worth $295.
Read the guide →
Hiring · 5 min read
Freelance editor vs agency vs in-house
What each really costs, and how to choose by publishing volume.
Read the guide →
Color · 5 min read
9 colour grading mistakes that make videos look amateur
The errors that show up most in creator footage, and the fix for each.
Read the guide →
Hiring · 3 min read
How much does a freelance video editor cost?
Pricing models, what drives the cost, and how to hire without risk.
Read the guide →Send me one video. See what changes.
One paid test cut, one fixed price, one real deadline.