Making sure that the video is clean, without uhhmmss, profanity, and other mess, editors have no option but to do lots of jump cuts and I mean LOTS OF IT!

With lots of jump cuts, the editor’s dilemma would be how to come up with a smooth video. And the only way to produce a smooth video is to hide these jump cuts (or at least try to hide them).

Here are 5 smart ways to hide jump cuts that every video editor should know:

Use different shots

Using two cameras, and shooting different angles can really help so much in creating a smoother video because you can simply use the different shots to hide the jump cuts.

For instance, when shooting an interview, you’ll see that a two-camera setup can spare you so many jumbles in the editing process. With two different shots, let us say a wide shot and a close-up, and then simply alternate between the different shots when you need to.

Zoom in; Zoom out

Having two camera shots is great, but what if you only have one shot? Now, that sounds complicated, right? But don’t worry because we can work around that. However, to do this trick, the video should in high resolution.

What you can do with a single shot to get rid of harsh jump cuts is to do the zoom-in; zoom out the trick. The goal here is to edit the video as if you were using two different shots. This trick will definitely help you produce a smoother video even with just a single shot.

Use b-roll

B-roll footages are really great to use to get rid of the harsh jump cuts. Just put it on top of the jump cut so it hides them and so you can produce a cleaner and smoother video edit.

So, if you are editing for a client, it will always be great to ask for b-roll footage that you can later use.

Use stock videos

What if your client didn’t send any B-roll footage? No worries! There are lots of royalty-free videos that you can find online. Check websites like Pexels and Unsplash, they have a free-to-use short video that you can use for your project. Just make sure that the video you use is directly related to the video you are editing.

Overlay images

If videos are not available to use as b-roll materials then you can definitely use images instead. Simply overlay images on top of the video jump cut you want to hide. To give it more life, you can add animations to it too.

With these tips and tricks for hiding and getting rid of jump cuts, you will produce a smoother video for yourself or your client.

Producing a good quality video does not only mean using HD footage but also means doing good quality editing.