Starting a YouTube Cooking Channel: 5 Editing Tips For Beginners

The food industry is among the most popular on social media. Famous chefs like Jamie Oliver and Gordon Ramsey are among the most popular faces in the niche. They are generating millions of views for the content they share.

That might lead some to think that there is no way to compete with that. Therefore, starting a YouTube channel about food probably won’t reach a lot of publicity. However, you have to keep in mind that it is a quite wide area. With a couple of interesting ideas, some talent, and a passion for cooking, you could turn your channel into passive income.

Still, there are some important things to know about creating and sharing videos on this platform. First of all, the public is expecting good quality and engaging content. In that matter, you will have to pay attention to editing as one of the key processes.

As a beginner, spending a lot of money on some professional tool can be an issue. But, we have a great solution for you. A free tool that is capable of turning your video into thousands if not millions of new subscribers. If you want to learn more about this software, check out Adobe Express.

Furthermore, no matter the software you are using, the editing process remains as something you should never skip or rush through. Here are some tips that will help you improve your content and ensure the higher popularity.

1. Plan the Scenes

Plan the Scenes
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A lot of details and factors can affect the final output. For example, a shade that is putting too much dark on a part of the screen, or reflections that are making people difficult to concentrate.

To avoid these issues, you can simply test the environment. Shoot a short video, and then check it out. You can even process it with additional tools to make sure that it looks just right. You can always improve some details, like the color saturation, balance, shades, and more. However, these processes can be difficult and time-consuming for beginners. Therefore, the focus should be on ensuring the best ambient where you will spend less time editing.

2. Use More Than One Camera

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First of all, be aware of the fact that the most recent flagship phones can serve the purpose just as good as some average camera. That is the especially the case with the latest Samsung S 24 Ultra or iPhone 15 Pro Max.

These devices have stability control, excellent focusing abilities, and many other features that makes them a decent alternative for a professional camera. This tip is especially valuable for those on a budget. The minimum price you will have to pay for it is $3000, which is double of the price of the phones we mentioned earlier. In case that you are interested in getting on, or already own it, combine it with a phone to get more depth in your videos. This will lead to a more creative structure.

For example, you can set the pro camera for the main stage. Let’s say that it is focused on a whole table with a wide angle. The additional set-up can serve as a back-up when you want to zoom in while preparing ingredients and explain more about some recipe.

3. Be Sure to Implement Additional Editing Features

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The key is to be aware of the fact that you cannot simply turn on the camera, film the scenes, and share them. Editing can be made easier, but never avoided completely.

In that matter, you must learn more about elements such as:

  • Cutaways
  • Match Cuts
  • Jump Cuts
  • J and L Cuts
  • Cutting on Action

All these elements serve to create balance and flow of your video. For example, there will be brakes, a lot of them. The whole cooking process may take few hours to complete in the right way. However, sharing it as a whole is never a good idea because the audience will either fast-forward it or skip it completely.

The goal is to create focus on most important parts. You can do that by cutting the unnecessary parts of the video.

4. Add Graphics and Text

If you are watching cooking videos, you probably noticed the short brakes where the focus is on main ingredients, instructions, or some facts. Adding additional valuable information will make you video more engaging, and doing that with graphics and text is the best solution.

One of the best examples is when you have to provide an insight into ingredients. The screen will turn into a recipe. The best part about this is that people can either check out during the 10 of 15 seconds while it is on, or simply pause the video while writing it down for them.

5. Don’t Rush

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Patience is a skill that you must have in order to ensure quality, engagement, and, in the end, more followers. Combine the previous tips and make sure to check the video several times before uploading it.

There can always be a details that can be either fixed or removed. It will help you determine if there are any changes required in the first place. Maybe the music in the background is too noisy or monotonous.

Additional Tips

No matter, how good the quality is, the content is the crucial point. As we already mentioned, cooking is a wide area, and it could be difficult to rank for some basic or already popular things.

In that matter, our suggestion is to try to be more creative. For example, choose a micro-niche and set-up something as a special and unique detail about your videos. This will make you different from the competitors.

You can add a level of humor, or focus on unusual recipes, like something exotic or from medieval times. It is up to you and your skills.

The Bottom Line

In the end, being creative remains the most important factor, and proper editing skills will surely help you make something interesting for the audience.

As a beginner, the best solution is to try and cut down on the need for editing as much as you can, or hire someone for additional help at least for the first few videos until you improve your skills.

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