Video Editor: Scope, Sectors and Salary explained. Learn more about video content editing, an increasingly popular freelance career choice

Have you ever dreamt about becoming a freelancer?

Thanks to the pandemic, freelancing has become highly acceptable as a professional career choice. You can freelance in almost any field and make a good living for yourself. One such field is video editing. Due to the lockdown, the video content industry has experienced a boom. Video-viewing is at an all-time high, one of the biggest reasons for the high demand for video editors. And for now, it seems, this demand is here to stay.

What does a video editor do?

In simple words, a video editor takes a whole lot of video content and puts it in a flow that tells an engaging story. Primarily video content is created via specific video shoots. This content goes to video editors, who add sound, effects, animations, colour correction and more to the video. Thus, creating a visually appealing video that gets published for final viewer consumption. Sometimes, as in the case of cartoons and green screen shoots, video editors may require animating the entire landscape, including the characters, to create a captivating storyline.

Video editing is a broad industry. However, the following five significant branches suit freelancers the best. Read carefully to know the details of the roles and the sectors which require this skillset.

Web/Digital Marketing Video Editors

They work on videos that are short in length meant for viewing on the internet. These videos can be for small influencers or for big brands. You can freelance for an agency or directly for the client, depending upon your creativity and experience. These projects can be annual, monthly or weekly.

Typical salary: ₹15,000 - ₹2,00,000+ per month

Event Video Editors

They work on videos for small events like parties or household-level celebrations. They also deal with more significant properties like award functions, weddings, corporate events and more. Most of these events require videos to capture the essence of the occasion in a long-form or short-form. It is a lucrative sector where one can build their niche quickly.

Typical earnings : ₹2,000 - ₹1,50,000 per video

Film Editors

Usually, a film director shoots enough and more relevant scenes from various angles to convey the correct story to the audience. Multiple shots are often taken for the same scene to capture apt expressions. A film editor goes through all these shots to choose the best ones. He then puts the appropriate footage aligned with the director's vision to tell the best version of his story.

Typical salary: ₹25,000 - ₹5,00,000+ per month (Plus commissions, profit sharing, lots of glamourous perks)

Animators

These video editors are experts in creating motion graphics. They also are the ones who give the final post-production touches to videos. An animator's job is a slightly tricky one. It requires a decent amount of training and knowledge of several professional apps.

Typical salary: ₹15,000 - ₹2,00,000+ per month

Colourists

A colourist is a video editor who ensures the colour in a video looks visually appealing. They also enhance the visual settings of the video to give a larger than life look to the video. At the risk of oversimplifying the job role, a colourist does what a camera filter does. It magically transforms your dull or average looking image into a professional-looking, eye-pleasing one.

Typical earnings: aprroximately ₹40,000+ video(average lenght of 2 minutes)If you think video editing is not your field, we recommend trying your hands at beauty and wellness.