As a content creator, you already know how important it is to engage audience with your content and here’s where Iman Gadzhi’s video editing style shines. His smooth camera movements, cinematic visuals and way of storytelling keeps his audience engaged to watch till end and that’s exactly why YouTube’s algorithm loves to push these kind of high quality videos to more people.
If you want to edit your videos like Iman Gadzhi, then In this guide, you’ll learn exactly which software to use, the must-have plugins, sound effects, background music, and more to edit high quality videos like Iman Gadzhi. So lets do the complete breakdown of his cinematic YouTube style.
Essential Software To Install To Edit Like Iman Gadzhi
You don’t need so many complex software to edit like him, all you need to install is some essential softwares that almost every big creator use to edit their videos, these Softwares include
1. Adobe Premiere Pro
This is where your most of the video editing is done, it’s where you’ll cut your clips, add transitions, arrange audio, and structure your entire video.
2. Adobe After Effects
After effects is used for advanced motion graphic, you can create smooth camera movements, animate text and motion graphics like you see in his videos.
3. Adobe PhotoShop
This is essential to grab audience attention. This is where you will create Thumbnails for your videos and design overlays like social media handles or branded text to import into Premiere or After Effects.
4. Blender (Optional)
If you want to go beyond into animations, you have to use blender for that. It is a free, open source 3D creation tool. While it is not essential for every project but you can create your own 3D world if you ever feel like going beyond in your animation style videos.
After Effects Plugins For Iman Gadzhi Style Videos
Now comes the second most important part of this guide, After effects plugins which are essentials for Iman Gadzhi style videos. See the motion design part of his videos are done in After effects and some plugins are essential to edit cinematic style videos like him.
If you’ve noticed the glowing text, clean transitions, animated titles, and subtle camera shake in his videos, those are the result of motion design. But here comes the secret it’s not just raw skill actually it’s the right plugins that take those visuals to the next level. These plugin are:
1. Deep Glow: For Cinematic Light Effects
When it comes to cinematic styles, text plays an important role and Deep Glow plugin has it all, it has a rich, realistic glow effects. It’s perfect for making text pop, lighting up elements, or adding that premium touch you often see in Iman’s title cards or transitions.
2. Sapphire by Boris FX: Hollywood-Level Effects (Optional/Advanced)
It’s heavy on resources and premium-priced, but it includes the same tools used in music videos and Hollywood-level production. It is recommended if you want those ultra-polished effects.
3. Animation Composer by Mister Horse: Quick Motion Presets
Animation Composer gives you thousands of presets for text animation, movement, and fade effects. It is beginner-friendly, and great for fast paced editing styles like Iman’s.
4. Motion Bro – Transitions & Effects
It is is a plugin that comes with massive packs of drag-and-drop transitions, camera movements, zooms, and glitch effects. These save hours of editing and are highly used in high-retention content
5. FX Console by Video Copilot
It is not a visual effect itself, FX Console is a must-have productivity plugin it will help you to search from a big library of all plugins in After effects and you can simply drag and drop to use them in your video
If you’re an absolute beginner then check these free beginner friendly plugins for After Effects that will help you take you editing to next level: Essential After Effects Plugins for Beginners (7 Picks)
Background Music and Sound Effects to Edit like Iman
Now that we’ve covered the essentials for editing, Its time for royalty free background music and Sound effects , you can easily find them on youtube, one of the free and documentary style background music is Ben Elson – Orthosie Royalty Free Music
Similarly you can find more background music from the given sources below
- Youtube
- Epidemic Sound
- Artlist
- AudioJungle
- Pixabay Music
Sound Effects for Cinematic Style videos like Iman Gadzhi
You can easily find sound effects for your cinematic style videos from youtube and here are most of the sound effects used in Iman gadzhi’s youtube videos
- Whooshes & Swishes (for transitions)
- Typing or Click sounds (for pop-up elements)
- Bass hits (for emphasis)
- Ambient or room tone (for realism)
- Glitch SFX (when cutting between fast-paced moments)
Simply search for above sound effects on YouTube and you can easily get their mp3 versions or you can also get some free sound effects from Mixkit / Pixabay SFX
The Structure Behind Iman Gadzhi’s Viral Videos
Now that we know about his video editing styles and sauces, we need to also focus on the structure of the video because it is designed to grab attention fast and hold it.
1. Strong Hook (0–5 Seconds)
One of the most powerful techniques Iman Gadzhi uses to hook viewers from the start is a provocative statement. It is usually a bold, controversial, or emotionally triggering sentence that immediately grabs attention and challenges the viewer’s perspective. For example, he might open a video with something like, The algorithm isn’t broken. You just don’t understand it yet. These statements works because they trigger curiosity which compel viewers to keep watching just to see what he says next. If you’re trying to edit like Iman, mastering this technique is important.
2. Deliver Instant Value (0–30 Seconds)
Right after the intro, he quickly explains why the video matters and what the viewer can expect to gain from it. You’ll often see text overlays, screen recordings, and real-life examples pop up within seconds. The goal here is simple, to reward the viewer early so they stick around longer.
3. Main Content (30 Seconds – 2+ Minutes)
Now here we came to the heart of our video, the real insights, storytelling, and value delivery part. Iman uses a combination of camera zoom-ins to focus on powerful points, sound effects with transitions and key phrases, and jump cuts to maintain a tight pace. This editing style ensures there’s no dead time left, its just constant flow.
Another genius editing move Iman often uses is alternating the pace of his video. You’ll see a blend of high speed cuts with sudden dips into cinematic slow motion, mostly paired with an emotional background music or voiceovers. This contrast reset the viewer’s attention and keeps the video from feeling boring.
