Your Instagram videos need to look their best before you post them. Whether you’re an influencer or you just want to keep things aesthetic, Final Cut Pro is a common tool to use.
If you aren’t editing your videos and making sure they look their best before you post, you are likely not getting the attention you deserve.
With fun elemental additions and templates that stand out, you can create videos that are absolute masterpieces for your branding.
They don’t have to be just photos or you talking; they can hold so much more! In this guide, we share some simple tips to edit your vertical videos for Instagram. Keep reading to learn more.
Get The Ratios Right
The first thing to know about editing your vertical Instagram videos is you need to be able to get the ratios right. Instagram has very specific requirements when it comes to video ratios.
If you want your video published, it has to fit within those parameters. Otherwise, it gets rejected.
For vertical videos, you should be using a 4:5 ratio. This is going to be the first setting that you adjust in your Final Cut Pro software.
Get the ratios set up right before you even get started. This helps ensure that all of your adjustments from here on out fit perfectly inside the vertical design.
Incorporate A Template
You can create things from scratch and spend countless hours trying to perfect your design.
However, in Final Cut Pro, you can also integrate pre-made templates that are incredibly helpful.
The templates already have the challenges of design work taken care of. Then, you can edit or adjust the template to best meet your branding needs.
The nice thing about these templates is you have the basis of your video already established. All you need to do is customize it to add your personal touch.
There are tons of templates and template resources out there. Some of them are free, while others may require a membership or a small fee for the template. Search for what fits your design needs and take it from there!
Crop and Edit Carefully
No matter how perfect you think your video is from the beginning, you probably need to stop and make some adjustments.
Watch the video several times and make notes of anything that doesn’t work well. You’re going to need to edit or crop to ensure the video portrays what you want and isn’t too long to work for Instagram.
If you shot some camera footage, this is where you will magically take footage from square or horizontal and find the best way to align it within your template.
Don’t fret if you’re adding landscape content. You should be able to easily crop and adjust within Final Cut Pro.
It just may take some testing and playing around to figure out the best ways to crop and add these elements.
Learn To Repurpose
One tip that a lot of people don’t think about when they are making new videos is you can often repurpose something you already have.
Now, you don’t want to do a new video that is the same as something you have done before. However, you can take short pieces or clips from old videos you already have and integrate those into your new content.
If you have a project you previously completed or a clip that you can use that is horizontal, this is exactly what Final Cut Pro was designed for.
Take that clip or project and turn it into a vertical masterpiece. Once you integrate your template and other visuals and overlays, it will be a brand-new piece!
Try Smart Conform
Final Cut Pro has a unique tool in it that helps to take whatever you have in the clip and adjust the aspect ratios for you.
Smart Conform is very helpful in this capacity and saves you some of the struggles of trying to figure out how to make horizontal content magically become vertical.
With Smart Conform, you simply select the box, and then Final Cut Pro will carefully look at every clip to determine the best way to reframe it for the desired aspect ratio. You can go back through and make adjustments, but this can save tons of time!
Final Thoughts
As you are creating, tools like Final Cut Pro can simplify the process. There are many different options to help you create the perfect vertical video for your Instagram.
You can easily add on various elements, adjust the aspect ratio to vertical proportions, and place overlays or templates that work for your content needs.
