Top 12 Video Engineer Skills to Put on Your Resume

In the rapidly evolving field of video engineering, having a robust set of skills is crucial to stand out and deliver. The tools shift, codecs morph, workflows expand. Show range, show depth, show you can pivot when the pipeline changes.

Video Engineer Skills

1. Adobe Premiere
2. Final Cut Pro
3. After Effects
4. DaVinci Resolve
5. Avid Media Composer
6. OBS Studio
7. NDI Protocol
8. HLS Streaming
9. MPEG-DASH
10. 4K Production
11. Dolby Atmos
12. Unreal Engine

1. Adobe Premiere

Adobe Premiere is a professional video editing application for assembling, trimming, grading, mixing, and delivering video across formats, with deep integration into broader post-production workflows.

Why It's Important

Premiere anchors many editorial pipelines. Broad format support, powerful trimming tools, Lumetri color, and tight links to companion apps help teams move quickly from ingest to master without handoffs stalling the process.

How to Improve Adobe Premiere Skills

Push speed and stability, then polish:

1. Tune performance: Enable GPU acceleration, set adequate RAM allocation, and purge/relocate media cache to fast SSDs. Keep scratch disks on NVMe if possible.

2. Work smarter with shortcuts: Customize keyboard layouts, map frequent edits (ripple, add edit, lift/extract), and use shuttle/trim shortcuts to shave minutes per hour.

3. Use proxies and smart rendering: Cut heavy footage with proxies or optimized media, then switch to full-res for grading and export. Smart render intermediate codecs when available.

4. Grade with intention: Rely on scopes, not just your eyes. Standardize LUT management, work in consistent color spaces, and keep secondary corrections organized.

5. Audio that lands: Use the Essential Sound panel for dialogue cleanup and loudness targets. Keep bus structure simple, monitor peaks, and export with proper true-peak limits.

6. Collaborate cleanly: Productions and Team Projects reduce conflicts. Lock bins, version consistently, and consolidate before archiving.

7. Hardware matters: Fast GPU, many cores, and separate SSDs for OS, cache, and media. Update drivers only after verifying stability.

How to Display Adobe Premiere Skills on Your Resume

2. Final Cut Pro

Final Cut Pro is a professional non-linear editor for macOS with swift timeline performance, roles-based audio, powerful multicam, and deep integration with Motion and Compressor.

Why It's Important

It’s fast, efficient, and rock-solid for high-volume work. Magnetic timeline, background rendering, and proxy workflows make it a strong choice for teams working at pace.

How to Improve Final Cut Pro Skills

1. Master shortcuts and the magnetic timeline: Precision trimming, ripple edits, and clip connections keep cuts tidy while moving fast.

2. Use roles: Organize dialogue, SFX, music, and stems with roles for cleaner exports and painless revisions.

3. Grade with confidence: Work with color wheels/curves, use scopes, and handle HDR safely when needed.

4. Build proxy/optimized media: Store proxies within libraries on fast storage, switch as needed to keep playback fluid.

5. Multicam that sticks: Sync by timecode or audio, angle-editor for fine tweaks, and label angles clearly.

6. Leverage Motion and Compressor: Create reusable titles/transitions in Motion; batch, transcode, and deliver with Compressor presets.

7. Keep libraries lean: Separate media and cache, consolidate before handoff, and routinely delete render files.

How to Display Final Cut Pro Skills on Your Resume

3. After Effects

After Effects is a motion graphics and compositing tool for animations, VFX, titles, and visual polish that pushes projects beyond straight cuts.

Why It's Important

Complex visuals, screen comps, kinetic typography, tracked elements—this is where After Effects shines, bridging editorial and design.

How to Improve After Effects Skills

1. Structure your comps: Pre-compose, parent layers, and name everything. Future you will be grateful.

2. Expressions unlock speed: Learn basics (time, wiggle, valueAtTime, linear), then build reusable rigs to avoid keyframe sprawl.

3. Make previews snappy: Use region of interest, manage cache, and match preview resolution to the task at hand.

4. Use 3D features wisely: Cameras, lights, collapse transformations—great power, great responsibility.

5. Template your work: Essential Graphics for editors, Motion Graphics templates for repeatable deliverables.

6. Round-trip cleanly: Render through Media Encoder for stability; lock to production frame rates and colorspace.

How to Display After Effects Skills on Your Resume

4. DaVinci Resolve

DaVinci Resolve is an end-to-end post suite combining edit, color, Fusion VFX, and Fairlight audio in one application, from offline to delivery.

Why It's Important

One timeline, every department. Powerful color science, collaborative features, and solid audio tools make it a finishing hub for modern pipelines.

How to Improve DaVinci Resolve Skills

1. Spec hardware well: Multiple GPUs shine, fast CPU helps, and NVMe scratch/cache drives keep playback smooth.

2. Cache and proxies: Use optimized media, render cache, and proxy workflows for heavy grades or FX.

3. Color management: Choose ACES or DaVinci Wide Gamut; standardize IDT/ODT, and keep deliverables predictable.

4. Grade with consistency: Nodes over spaghetti. Separate balance, look, and utilities. Always check on calibrated displays.

5. Fairlight fundamentals: Bus structure, loudness metering, noise reduction, and dialogue cleanup before sweetening.

6. Collaborate: Project Server/Cloud, bin locking, and change logs reduce conflicts in team environments.

7. Delivery discipline: Presets for platforms, legal range vs full range, and QC against scopes before you press render.

How to Display DaVinci Resolve Skills on Your Resume

5. Avid Media Composer

Avid Media Composer is an industry-standard editor built for large, precise, collaborative projects with rock-solid media management.

Why It's Important

For long-form and broadcast, it’s a workhorse. Bin discipline, shared storage, and proven stability underpin complex editorial operations.

How to Improve Avid Media Composer Skills

1. Organize like a pro: Clear bin structures, consistent naming, and color labels keep massive timelines manageable.

2. Pick the right path: Link via AMA for quick access, consolidate/transcode to DNx codecs for speed and reliability.

3. Cut with precision: Asymmetric trims, segment mode, top/tail edits—lean on the timeline’s surgical tools.

4. Search and sync: ScriptSync and PhraseFind save hours when wrangling interviews and selects.

5. Color and finishing: Understand color management; the Symphony toolset strengthens grading inside Avid.

6. Team environments: Shared storage (e.g., Nexis), bin locking, and project permissions prevent overwrite wars.

7. Map your keyboard: Build muscle memory. Put trims, markers, and navigation under your fingers.

How to Display Avid Media Composer Skills on Your Resume

6. OBS Studio

OBS Studio is open-source software for recording and live streaming, offering scene-based composition, real-time mixing, and flexible encoding.

Why It's Important

It’s the backbone for countless live productions. Customizable, capable, and friendly to both solo streamers and pro control rooms.

How to Improve OBS Studio Skills

1. Keep it current: Update OBS for stability, new codecs, and features like AV1 hardware encoding where supported.

2. Pick the right encoder: NVENC/AMF/Quick Sync offload the CPU; x264 is fine when tuned. For recording, consider higher quality settings; for streaming, stick to platform-safe bitrates.

3. Dial output settings: Typical streaming uses CBR, 2-sec keyframe intervals, and resolutions matched to content. Recording can favor quality-based rate control.

4. Balance quality vs load: Set base canvas to your scene design, output scale only if needed, and choose sensible scaling filters (Lanczos when headroom allows).

5. Tame your scenes: Limit heavy browser sources, preload media, and keep sources paused when not visible.

6. Audio is half the show: Match sample rates, set monitoring where required, apply filters (gain, noise suppression), and check sync offsets.

7. Network reliability: Favor wired connections, reserve upload headroom, and monitor dropped frames in the Stats dock.

8. Profiles and collections: Separate configs for different shows; easy rollback when something breaks mid-gig.

How to Display OBS Studio Skills on Your Resume

7. NDI Protocol

NDI (Network Device Interface) is a video-over-IP standard enabling low-latency transport of video and audio across standard networks for live production and routing.

Why It's Important

It replaces expensive SDI-only paths in many cases, unlocking flexible, scalable I/O over Ethernet without sacrificing quality in typical broadcast and event setups.

How to Improve NDI Protocol Skills

1. Build the right network: Use gigabit as a baseline; 10GbE for multi-stream or 4K. Managed switches with IGMP snooping help with multicast sanity.

2. Prioritize traffic: QoS and VLANs separate and protect production flows from office chatter.

3. Pick the flavor wisely: Full NDI for lowest latency; NDI|HX variants when bandwidth is constrained.

4. Clock it: Stable NTP or PTP reduces drift between sources and destinations.

5. Tune endpoints: Disable unnecessary NIC power saving, consider jumbo frames where appropriate, and lock link speeds.

6. Monitor constantly: Use NDI monitoring tools to verify source health, tally, and sync before going live.

How to Display NDI Protocol Skills on Your Resume

8. HLS Streaming

HLS (HTTP Live Streaming) segments media into small chunks served over HTTP, enabling adaptive bitrate playback across a huge range of devices.

Why It's Important

It’s the default for reaching phones, TVs, and browsers. Adaptive switching keeps playback smooth when bandwidth dips or spikes.

How to Improve HLS Streaming Skills

1. Adopt low-latency HLS when needed: Use CMAF chunks and shorter parts for near-real-time playback.

2. Right-size segment durations: Typical 2–4 second segments balance overhead and adaptiveness; shorter parts improve latency.

3. Tune the ladder: Remove redundant rungs, cap bitrates, and align resolutions with content complexity and audience bandwidth.

4. Choose codecs smartly: H.264 for widest support, HEVC where devices allow, AV1 for future-leaning efficiency.

5. Origin and CDN hygiene: Set cache headers, use consistent pathing, enable HTTP/2 or HTTP/3, and mind CORS where web players are involved.

6. Player behavior: Sensible start bitrates, buffer targets, and prefetching reduce startup delay and stalls.

7. Audio planning: Stereo vs 5.1, consistent loudness, and codec parity across variants.

How to Display HLS Streaming Skills on Your Resume

9. MPEG-DASH

MPEG-DASH delivers adaptive streaming over HTTP using manifests and segmented media, adjusting quality in real time to network conditions.

Why It's Important

It offers a standards-based approach to adaptive streaming, widely used across platforms where HLS isn’t mandatory.

How to Improve MPEG-DASH Skills

1. Go CMAF for alignment: Shared containers across HLS and DASH reduce duplication and enable low-latency modes.

2. Segment alignment: Ensure time alignment across all representations for smooth ABR switches.

3. Manifest craftsmanship: Keep adaptation sets clean, include audio/subtitle variants, and consider trickplay tracks for scrubbing.

4. Low-latency DASH: Smaller chunks, chunked transfer, and tuned player buffers drive latency down.

5. DRM readiness: Common Encryption with Widevine/PlayReady coverage; test license flows early.

6. Multi-CDN resilience: Improve availability and performance with health-based switching and consistent cache keys.

7. Measure QoE: Startup time, rebuffer ratio, video quality switches—monitor and iterate.

How to Display MPEG-DASH Skills on Your Resume

10. 4K Production

4K production refers to capturing, finishing, and delivering content at 3840 × 2160 (or higher) resolution with greater detail and often higher bit depth and wider color.

Why It's Important

Sharper images, cleaner edges, more grading latitude—4K elevates both technical headroom and perceived quality across modern displays.

How to Improve 4K Production Skills

1. Capture with headroom: Prefer 10-bit or 12-bit, 4:2:2 or 4:4:4, log or RAW. Good glass matters more at 4K; watch rolling shutter and moiré.

2. Mind the codec: Choose edit-friendly intermediates (ProRes, DNxHR) when possible; reserve long-GOP HEVC/AV1 for delivery.

3. Storage and throughput: NVMe or fast RAID, plenty of bandwidth, and a plan for backups—4K eats space fast.

4. HDR readiness: Calibrated HDR monitor, consistent EOTF (PQ or HLG), proper tone-mapping for SDR trims.

5. Accurate monitoring: External scopes and calibrated displays beat eyeballing on a laptop panel.

6. Deliver with care: Match platform specs, bitrates, chroma subsampling, and audio channel counts precisely.

How to Display 4K Production Skills on Your Resume

11. Dolby Atmos

Dolby Atmos is an object-based audio format adding height and precise spatial placement for immersive, three-dimensional sound.

Why It's Important

It transforms mixes from flat fields into spaces that breathe, crucial for cinema, streaming originals, and premium broadcast.

How to Improve Dolby Atmos Skills

1. Room and speakers: Correct placement, time alignment, and calibration. Bass management tamed before you start mixing.

2. Use beds and objects wisely: Keep a clean 7.1.2 bed; promote elements to objects when movement or placement matters.

3. Renderer discipline: Monitor in Atmos and fold-downs (5.1, stereo, binaural). Verify metadata and intents translate.

4. Loudness targets: Aim for platform-specific integrated loudness and true-peak limits; keep dialog intelligibility central.

5. QC and delivery: Check re-renders, stems, and ADM/BWF output for sync, channel order, and compliance.

How to Display Dolby Atmos Skills on Your Resume

12. Unreal Engine

Unreal Engine is a real-time 3D engine used for virtual production, visualization, and interactive media with advanced rendering and extensive tooling.

Why It's Important

Real-time means iterate fast. Virtual sets, in-camera VFX, and dynamic visuals move from idea to screen with fewer bottlenecks.

How to Improve Unreal Engine Skills

1. Lean on UE5 capabilities: Lumen for dynamic lighting, Nanite for dense geometry, and Virtual Production tools for LED volumes.

2. Profile first, tweak second: Use in-engine profilers to find bottlenecks. Adjust scalability, LODs, and texture streaming with evidence.

3. Sequencer mastery: Animate cameras, block scenes, and render plates. Take Recorder for fast pickups on set.

4. Blueprints plus C++: Prototype quickly, then harden with C++ where performance or control demands it.

5. Color management: Keep OCIO/ACES consistent from DCC to engine to delivery. Verify with reference monitors.

6. Integrate live: Live Link, virtual cameras, and media plates tie real-world devices and footage into your scenes.

How to Display Unreal Engine Skills on Your Resume