Short answer
The edits that matter for short-form are: a hook in the first 3 seconds, cuts tight enough to remove every pause, burned-in captions, and sound that carries the pace. Transitions and effects matter far less than beginners assume.
The core workflow
- Import & trim — Cut ruthlessly. Most beginner edits are 30% too long.
- Captions — Auto-captions, then fix errors. Most social video is watched on mute.
- Sound — Trending audio for reach, but keep voice clarity as the priority.
- Pacing — Cut on the beat. Silence and pauses are where viewers leave.
- Export — 1080x1920, 30fps, high bitrate for Reels and Shorts.
The hook is most of the job
Retention graphs almost always show the same thing: a cliff in the first three seconds. No amount of editing later in the video recovers viewers lost at the start. Lead with the payoff, the problem, or a visual that raises a question.