After gathering clips, audio, and still images, the next step is assembling them into a finished video. This page covers the editing process using Adobe Premiere Elements and walks through a complete editing exercise.
Choosing a Video Editor
This course uses Adobe Premiere Elements. It is inexpensive, works on both Mac and PC, and is well suited to how-to style videos. If you use Premiere Elements, the professional version — Adobe Premiere Pro — works similarly and is in some ways easier, though it is substantially more expensive.
Other editors you are welcome to use:
- DaVinci Resolve — free, professional-level tool for those who feel constrained by Premiere Elements
- iMovie — included free on Macs and iPads; easy to use and recommended for Mac users
- Windows 10 Video Editor — a basic built-in option accessible through the Photos app; suitable for simple trimming. Note: do not use music clips from this program, as YouTube will flag them as copyrighted.
Tutorials for most of these editors are available through LinkedIn Learning, which all UC ANR employees can access for free.
Buying Premiere Elements
UC ANR and UC Davis employees can purchase a license to Adobe Premiere Elements at a reduced price through AggieBuy. If you have not used AggieBuy before, having your office manager complete the purchase will be faster.
Note: you are purchasing a software license, not a physical item. The AggieBuy purchasing process is not instantaneous — allow several days for the transaction to complete. If you want to get started right away, download the free trial from Adobe and register it when your activation code arrives.
- Log in to AggieBuy and open the SHI Software punchout, found in the Computers section
- If Premiere Elements appears on SHI's home screen, click it, add it to your cart, and complete the order
- If it does not appear on the home screen, use the search bar at the top of the page — search for "Premiere" (include the final e). Filter by Software. Look for: Adobe Premiere Elements — 1 Person License
- Add it to your cart and complete the purchase
After all approvals are complete, SHI will send an email with your license key and software download link. If a download link is not included, download Premiere Elements directly from Adobe and use the key SHI provided.
You will need an Adobe account to use the software. Create one using your ucanr.edu or ucdavis.edu email address — you may already have one if you use Adobe Acrobat.
If you receive an error during installation such as "Update Required" or "Version Not Supported," download and install the Adobe Creative Cloud app and run it once. Installation should proceed normally after that. You can disable Creative Cloud from starting at login, but leaving it installed is recommended if you use Acrobat.
Adobe Premiere Pro is the professional version of this software. It is subscription-based and substantially more expensive than Premiere Elements, even with UC volume discounts. Premiere Elements will handle everything you need for this course without a recurring cost.
What You Will Do as an Editor
Regardless of which editor you use, you will complete tasks such as:
- Trimming and ordering clips
- Fixing recording problems such as exposure, noise, or mistakes
- Adding narration
- Adding text
- Adding still images, with pan and zoom effects as needed
- Adding music (optional)
- Adjusting audio levels across tracks
- Adding transitions and fades
- Rendering the final video to MP4 format
Editing Exercise: Aphids Video
To practice editing, you will assemble a short video about aphids. The exercise is designed to incorporate most of the common editing tasks you will encounter. It is not meant to be the definitive video on aphids — it is a structured practice project using a variety of content types.
Watch the completed video first to understand the goal:
Your goal is to replicate this video using the provided assets. The finished video should run approximately 1 minute 10 seconds to 1 minute 50 seconds. Plan for one to two hours of editing time depending on your experience level. As with learning any new technique, try to follow the example closely on your first attempt — matching the example will allow you to compare the two versions and identify where you had difficulty.
Video Editing Demonstration
This approximately one-hour video walks through the entire editing process. Watch it before attempting your own edit.
Note: the demonstration was recorded via screen capture on a laptop while running Premiere Elements, which created some processing demands. Audio cuts out briefly in a couple of places, and the pan and zoom section was particularly affected.
Adjusting hold times in the Pan and Zoom tool: Click the keyframe you want to edit (there are two). In the top left corner of the green box in the preview pane, click the word "HOLD" to open the hold time editor. The default is 1 second. To remove the pause, lower the value to 0 or 1 frame. This video uses 30 frames per second.
The exercise assets are provided as .zip archives to preserve original filenames. Before beginning, unzip the files:
Music Tracks
The aphids exercise uses royalty-free sound assets included with Premiere Elements. If you use audio from other sources, check for copyright restrictions before posting to YouTube — even some free sounds carry limitations that YouTube will flag.
- YouTube Audio Library — free and royalty-free
- Killer Tracks — UC ANR has a license for contemporary music available through Strategic Communications