Cropping videos can be very useful. It can help you to adjust the aspect ratio, improve the composition, and remove unwanted elements from the video. However, the power of cropping videos can cut both ways. That is why it is important that you take care to avoid many common mistakes that could have a negative impact on your video.
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Mistakes to Avoid When Cropping a Video
To be more specific, there are three common mistakes that you need to avoid:
1. Cropping out too much of the video
Do you want to crop a long shot and turn it into a close-up instead? While that is possible, it will mean that you need to crop out a significant portion of the video.
That is a mistake that you need to avoid. The more of your video that you crop out, the lower the resolution of the remainder will be, and its quality could be very poor if you crop out too much.
It is important to be aware of the resolution of the frame that you’re cropping and make sure its quality is acceptable.
2. Focusing on a single frame
Always remember that while photos are static, videos are not – and the subject and elements in them may move over the course of the video. If you focus on a single frame when you decide on how you want to crop your video, the rest of the video may not turn out the way that you hope.
To avoid this mistake, you need to be aware of the elements in your video and the movement pertaining to them. On top of that, you should check that the cropped video looks good at certain key points of the video.
3. Not leaving enough headroom
One of the most common problems when cropping videos is that too much is cropped from the top – leaving very little ‘headroom’ (i.e. the space between the subject and the frame).
Not only can this make your video look cramped, but it will reduce the impact of your subject. The good news is that it is easy to avoid, however, and all you need to do is be aware of the space between the subject and the video’s frame.
Enabling the grid in your editor can help you to gauge that space more accurately, and help position the subject better in relation to the frame.
Now that you know some of the more common mistakes that could affect videos when you crop them – you should make it a point to remember and avoid them. The best way to do that is with a bit of practice.
One way to try cropping videos easily and conveniently is to crop videos online. For example, you can use the Crop Video web app to quickly crop videos without installing any software.
If you successfully avoid all of the mistakes described above, you should be able to enjoy the benefits of cropping videos without having to worry about their impact on the video quality.