---
title: 'How to Edit Viral Videos'
source: 'https://youtube.com/watch?v=RBvIv-LfVBE'
video_id: 'RBvIv-LfVBE'
date: 2026-08-08
duration_sec: 553
---

# How to Edit Viral Videos

> Source: [How to Edit Viral Videos](https://youtube.com/watch?v=RBvIv-LfVBE)

## Summary

This video is a comprehensive guide to editing viral videos, covering everything from gathering footage to advanced effects and sound design. The creator shares practical tips on A-roll and B-roll usage, keeping viewers engaged with quick cuts, and using subtitles and presets to enhance retention. The tutorial also covers monetization strategies and recommends specific tools and platforms for stock footage, music, and presets.

### Key Points

- **Introduction and Footage Types** [00:01] — The video starts by explaining the two main types of footage: A-roll (footage with voiceover, like someone talking to camera) and B-roll (supplementary footage like stock videos, screen recordings, or additional camera shots). A good rule is to gather enough A-roll for the whole video and 2-4 times as much B-roll.
- **Gathering B-Roll** [00:41] — B-roll can be sourced from various places: screen recordings for gaming channels, filming your own footage, or using stock footage websites. Popular paid options are mentioned, but free alternatives like Pixels.com are recommended for those who don't want to pay.
- **Editing the Intro** [01:45] — The first few seconds of a video are the most important for retaining viewers. The creator suggests using face A-roll to create a personal connection, having about three times as much B-roll as A-roll, and making cuts every 1-4 seconds to keep the intro stimulating and prevent viewers from clicking away.
- **Rough Edit and Pacing** [02:27] — Lay out the rest of the footage for a rough edit, maintaining a 3:1 B-roll to A-roll ratio to avoid boredom. Keep cuts quick and avoid long pauses in voiceover by overlapping clips to create a smooth flow.
- **Outro and End Screen** [03:11] — Keep the outro short to prevent viewer drop-off in the last 15 seconds. Always leave at least five seconds for an end screen to promote other content.
- **Adding Subtitles** [03:23] — Subtitles are a great retention hack. The video shows how to create a pop-in subtitle effect by keyframing text position and scale. Subtitles should be used in the intro and throughout the video, but not be too distracting.
- **Transitions and Motion Effects** [04:27] — Instead of creating complex transitions from scratch, the creator recommends using preset packs, which are often free and available for various editors. These presets can be applied quickly and should be used sparingly to avoid distraction.
- **Advanced Tracking and Scaling** [05:08] — A cool trick is to use motion tracking to overlay an image (like a face) onto a background video, making it look like the person is in the video. Scaling clips down to 80% for comedic effect or scaling up over time with keyframes can also add interest.
- **Sound Design** [06:15] — Sound design is the single biggest factor that turns a decent edit into an incredible one. Use sound effects like whooshes or pops where they make sense, and build a catalog of sounds to vary them up. Never ignore sound design.
- **Music Selection and Mixing** [06:56] — Section out your video by subject or mood changes, then find music that fits. Use non-copyrighted music from platforms like Thematic (free plan with 5 downloads/month) or Epidemic Sound ($9/month for personal plan). Keep music volume between -20 and -10 decibels, and use fades when cutting music to avoid harsh transitions.
- **Monetization and Next Steps** [08:59] — The video concludes by mentioning that the creator has another video about monetizing a channel in 30 days, implying that editing skills can lead to income.

### Conclusion

The video provides a solid, practical overview of the viral video editing process, from initial footage gathering to final sound design. The key takeaway is that a combination of fast pacing, engaging visuals, and professional sound can significantly boost viewer retention and video quality.

## Transcript

professional video editor with millions of views and years of experience to my name here's how to edit videos that go viral and make you a ton of money in the yourself or even somebody else to start you'll obviously need a video idea
type of video you want to create I'll assume you had that already which means to edit with there are two main types of footage that you'll likely use a-roll and b-roll a-roll is just footage where the voiceover is inside of the video for
example in a clip where somebody is talking directly to the camera b-roll on top of the voiceover which can be in the form of stock videos footage shot with a camera and even screen recorded Clips off of YouTube to name a few examples A
good rule of thumb is to gather enough a-roll to last the whole video and at the whole length of the video two to four times over maybe it seems Overkill too much b-roll depending on the type of video you're making you'll get your
b-roll in a variety of different ways for example on my gamedev channel most taken from the game and just screen you might want to go out and film some stuff and really you just have to get
editing for somebody else they've already given you stuff which is great though stock footage is great to fill the gaps and lucky for you stock footage is actually really easy to find on the internet many times it's even free our
are some of the most popular paid Solutions if you sign up for any of description then I'll actually get a small commission and it helps support however some people can't or won't pay for stuff like this and I understand
that so I just recommend you use pixels.com in that case in fact one of the editors on this channel actually uses pixels remember to use my links in these when you've gathered all your b-roll and a-roll if you decide to
include it then lay down the footage for your intro don't even worry about the first few seconds of your video are easily the most important part as they for the rest of the video or not the average person today has severe
undiagnosed Ada HD and the attention span of a goldfish so it's important stimulation in the opening shots of your video if you have a-roll with your face with that footage as it creates a personal human connection with the
the rest of your intro make sure you have about three times as much b-roll as all try to make Cuts every one to four seconds as well so that you keep your viewers hooked if you have a voiceover or honestly even if you don't just try
possible because when an intro drags on it's really just so easy to click off visual effects or Motion Graphics quite yet as for now we just want a rough edit lay out the rest of your footage across the entire video once again if you have
three times as much b-roll as you have a-roll as otherwise it's really boring no matter how attractive you are and believe me I know you are no need to go still try to keep your Cuts quick and try and not you know lose the viewer
this especially applies if you have a voiceover and video a half second pause not seem like much but when you have it throughout an entire video it becomes voiceover back to back and they sound rough literally just overlap them like
it'll sound really smooth then when you make sure it doesn't drag out or your retention graph will have a ton of viewers dropping off in the last 15 seconds either keep your outro short and
just make sure you leave at least five seconds for an end screen now on to the fun stuff let's start by spicing up our video with subtitles subtitles are a great retention hack and actually aren't that hard to make in your video editor
it recognize font scale it down and move it's not too distracting if you don't want subtitles that are animated then great just duplicate it a bunch of times and you're done otherwise start by
of the text and move it about 5 frames down a little bit but not all the way and add that keyframe to the beginning finally scale it a little bit bigger than your last keyframe and stick it
beginning if you play you should get a really nice pop-in subtitle effect now duplicate this and use it wherever you want obviously changing the text though intro because like I said it's a great retention hack but otherwise use them
the video it really all comes down to personal preference whatever you do distract I like to think they're a nice supplement to whatever's going on the just to overtake everything next I'm going to show you how to make all those
crazy Transitions and motion effects that you see other YouTubers use it's of these ourselves but most YouTubers work smarter instead of hard what I mean people's presets to get it done quickly I'll leave links to a few popular preset
packs that I use in the description depending on your video editor of choice free preset packs for whatever editor you're using you might have to sign up totally worth it trust just like subtitles wherever you use these in your
distracting there's no one size if it's all rule for this so you really just good and what does here's another cool editing trick in my videos I like to tracking for example I don't show my face so sometimes I'll just have my
somebody in a stock video to make it look like it's me to do this you'll first need the image and then a video to go in the background line them up and video and the image then move your image to wherever you want it to track and
make keyframes for position and scale next scrub forward a couple frames and keyframes keep doing this for the rest of the clip and when you're done you've go to editing is all about being creative so really just have fun with
editing is to take advantage of scale for example if the voiceover says something stupid then I'll scale the clips down on screen to about 80 percent really just makes it funnier for some reason scaling things up is cool too
like especially when it gets all grainy and low resolution it's really all up to with this just like anything else scaling also doesn't have to be stagnant you have something still try making keyframes for the start and end of Clips
to have it scale up over time like this especially if you have still images in it and makes it a lot more interesting once again you really just have to experiment now that we've polished up our video with all of these cool effects
video to life sound design may seem like a small part of the edit but honestly it's the single biggest thing that turns a decent edit into an incredible end I YouTube and a couple other platforms that I'll talk about when we get to
just ask other YouTubers for the sounds that they use and it usually works as them anywhere it makes sense I know that's helpful but for example if an whoosh sound effect or some kind of rock slide because that's what would happen
in real life I guess whenever you do just keep building up a large catalog of actually use them you can vary it up as well like don't use the same pop sound boring depending on your style of editing you may also want to tone back
or lean into sound design more which is fine just never ignore it trust me up next is music you're going to want to start by sectioning out your video in you change the subject or whenever the mood changes or when you go to a
different place Etc it really all depends on what's relevant to your video section of your video in your video editing software after that go find describe any using copyrighted music comes with a ton of risks that you
actually able to use whatever music non copyright music on YouTube is usually pretty bad cheesy or all of the above so I personally use a couple different the Matic has a really generous free plan giving you five downloads per month
go through if you want unlimited downloads and even more music you can dollars a month for a thematic premium this video isn't sponsored but if you description I take a pretty significant cut I used to rely on thematic quite a
bit but nowadays I use epidemic sound epidemic sound has a way bigger catalog tools it costs nine dollars a month for the personal plan and also includes isn't sponsored by them but if you sign up with the link in my description I
there are plenty of other platforms out there for you to use or honestly you can creators to use their music and their content as long as they provide quote whatever you do just be careful when you've got your music lay it out on your
based on the sections that you made earlier it's gonna be really loud at first so I keep the volume in between negative 20 and negative 10 decibels so you ever need to cut the music for a second like when you say something funny
just cut the ends like this because it could sound rough instead still cut both ends but add little Fade Out and fade in transitions to the start and end of the Snippets to make it sound better and not so harsh similarly if you ever have
we can just have them fade into each other or you can even take advantage of something to kind of mask the transition between the two songs when you've got all of this done polish up any loose ends in your video and you're finished
how to start making money off of your edits and come up with viral video ideas go watch my video about how I monetize my channel in only 30 days my channel in only 30 days [Music]