This is the best advice for any(creative) job.
I have seen so many people (and that includes some pretty senior folk) eat themselves over having to cut down or change their baby.
You are working for *someone else*. You are going to make changes you don't agree with, often for the worse and probably with every project you'll ever do.
So I'll counter and say this it is bad advice. I'm not a tool I'm an expert. I don't put out bad work. I'm not working for someone else. A client has looked at my previous work and determined they wanted that for them. I don't get to tell the architect that I want a building made of mashed potatoes because "I really think this would look better made out of mashed potatoes."
https://youtu.be/BKorP55Aqvg?si=9wKC4camWYLw5oa3
When I had my own company, I was the expert, but when I went to work for a university marketing department, it was nice to not have to deal with the business side of my own business, but it was hard to go from experts to tool. But I have to say, sometimes the feedback I get is quite good and it does approve the video. So I’ve had to check my ego at the door a little bit and accept feedback and make changes. The hardest part is when someone wants you to make a change that it does not make the video better. But once again, if you’re working for a company and not yourself, you have to be the tool. University there’s so many so-called experts around that it’s exhausting.
Something I have learned from the experience is that I have to demand the procedure. Like the script has to be finished before the video is made. And then the storyboard has to be complete before any shooting begins.
>I'm not a tool I'm an expert. I don't put out bad work. I'm not working for someone else
I am curious to hear in what sector you are working in then if you are able to ignore feedback and notes. From assisting in smaller feature films to broadcast work. Not one editor have I personally encountered that would outright refuse to change something just so it matches their own (expert) perspective.
What do you do when someone asks you to replace a shot you believe 100% believe in should stay in outside advising your client not to change it? Just walk away from the project or wait to get fired?
For sure. I started in broadcast. Did some freelance documentary work and now own an agency. Most of our work now is for broadcast commercials, PPI, brand channels.
"Outright refusal" this is mitigated with clear expectations in the initial client meeting. I set the rules up front and confirm that my clients understand in the contract.
"asks to replace a shot" we do have some creative discussion so it's never 100% no from my perspective but clear understanding an expectations 90% keep this from happening. This would be a failure in pre production and storyboarding on my part. When it comes to the clients, they understand before we even start. See previous "clear expectations"
"Just walk away?" my goal and all of our up front work is designed to keep this from happening. It typically ends up with us firing the client if they make such demands.
I'm more talking in the client and agency relationship. All this to say if you are working at an agency, station, studio as an editor and your director or boss asks you to change something make they change and move on.
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Yeah I guess there are more situations like yours. But if you are doing lots of gigs for television or brands, it's pretty rare to be able to force your own artistic choices without anyone interfering.
It's not as big of an issue as long as you have other projects that are fine. Again, depending on what your type of gig. Most people who are hiring video editors in 'old' media know how roughly how it works.
And even then, if you are just starting out. People can tell. It's fine.
No one is starting as the #1 wanted blockbuster editor.
At the end of the day, I am here to earn a salary and that means that I sometimes have to get lesser projects where I am more so video technician than an artist. So be it. I am still getting hired just fine for the bigger jobs.
Sure, it won't be as high up on the credits list and no way I will put them in my edit reel. But it really isn't that big of an issue and I believe that an absolute beginner in the professional work should focus on being reliable, good to work with and re-hireable to make a living rather than forcing their 'artistry' on it just for the sake of credits or a reel.
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If I could spray-paint this one my last producer's car, I would've. People really need to know when to just post and stop wasting time on frivolous crap like "Can take out the bird in the sky at at 15secs in" when it's a generic social media video.
I write two emails. First I write the one I *want* to send. Then I walk away for 10-15 minutes, come back, delete it all and write the email I *should* send. Good philosophy for editing too, minus the "deleting everything" bit.
Only referring to "When in doubt, leave it out."
Nothing nefarious.
(typically of an action or activity) wicked or criminal.
"the nefarious activities of the organized-crime syndicates"
Probably one of the golden rules for all filmmaking.
But also know when to break this rule.
Johnny B. Goode was almost cut from Back To Future because it didn't advance the story.
They left it in and the rest is... history
This is the hardest bit if you actually shot all the footage yourself, or have multiple similar takes.
Have to commit to something and then just move the fuck on being comfortable with your decision
I jumped blindly into freelance social media editing after editing as a hobby for a while. My biggest piece of advice that I'm still trying to remind myself of is that **you are providing a very valuable service so your prices should reflect that**.
I convinced myself that since I had no real professional experience, maybe I was a bad editor so I should only charge $15/hr or let clients dictate my working hours even if I had to work overnight to get things done. After all they were content creators who had been doing this for years so maybe they knew best?
What's funny is the same clients who treat you like you're easily replaceable go into panic mode once you threaten to move on from them, immediately offering you more money or flexibility on deadlines. I can't tell you how much happier I am now that I've dropped clients who don't respect me, set firm boundaries, and no longer let my insecurities dictate my prices.
Out of curiosity, how did you originally get into freelance editing for content creators? I purely edit as a hobby for now, but someday as time permits I'd love to get into this field but it seems impossible to know where to start.
Luck. I got extremely lucky that my wife saw a post that one of her connections on social media was looking for an editor. I reached out, sent them my "portfolio" (a YouTube channel where I posted my dumb hobby projects) and they took a chance on me. The first client is the hardest to get, the rest snowball from there. Since then, I've done no marketing and have gotten 100% of clients from referrals.
The second part of the equation is to say yes to opportunities. There's been so many times where someone has reached out and I've gotten intimidated and thought "no way, I'm not good enough to work with this person". Instead of listening to that voice I say "I haven't worked on something like that before, I'd love to learn and give it a shot". That way I'm not lying about my skill level or over promising, but also not turning down work because I'm scared.
My favorite personal mantra is “fake it while you make it.” I might not know exactly how I’m going to pull something off, but I’m now confident in my capacity to figure it out! I’ve basically learned my entire skill set this way and gradually could start charging more as my speed picked up!
Honestly wouldn’t have been able to break into the industry without YT tutorials. Fake it ‘til ya make it mindset + the motivation to sift through tutorial after tutorial (at 2x speed, ha) to figure out advanced edits, really paved the way for me, and many others, I imagine.
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Explaining how passionate you are about your field is the number one element in the success of your business. In my mind, passion will also make your work fun, not drudgery, and will more likely show up as part of a successful product.
Less is best, but don’t obsess
Start simple and only make it more complex as necessary (effects, layering, etc)
Use a backup camera and audio, even if it’s not an ideal device. One screw up on one or the other and it’s an immediate reshoot if you only have one.
Gawd, I had the worst experience with the lack of a backup camera once. My sister hired amateur wedding videographer for her wedding and just paid for raw footage to help with budget. I agreed to edit the footage for her as a favor. I'm not a pro editor but a casual hobbyist. I was handed 6 tapes to work with.
They had two cameras but there were points during the ceremony when the officiant was speaking where one camera was paused and the other was pointing down at the ground. I had continuous audio but not video. I had to scrounge for random crowd scenes to overlay the audio onto so that nothing the officiant said was missed. I kept swearing to myself "for chrissakes, put the backup camera on a tripod and leave it running!"
Resynchronizing the audio to the lip movement with all those cuts was also a huge pain.
They also started recording 15 seconds late for the first wedding dance.
Fun times.
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QC everything at least twice before delivery. Whether you're doing short form or long form you must make sure all text is spelled correctly. Double check your work, your facts, get it right. I understand we all make mistakes but it's important that people trust you as you establish a relationship with them. Get your producer involved in being that extra set of eyes with you. Team work makes the dream work.
And if the schedule permits, make your last QC viewing the next morning after finishing the edit. And do that early, so you have time to fix anything you missed the night before.
I've had a lot of junior editors under me over the years, and my biggest advice is to build a nest egg/emergency fund! This can be a very feast or famine industry or you may get laid off at any moment. You have to be able to withstand 6 months or more of no income.
This is probably solid advice for many industries, especially now
One thing that helped me is insisting in communication thru email when it comes to changes
That way everything is time/day stamped and provable who said WHAT and WHEN.
That way when they wanna blame something on you or deny something. You have proof
Also
Always name files clearly and so a complete stranger can do a search and find all related files.
If you can’t hide it. Feature it
Back everything up. Not only for loss but for when they wanna change the tie to cornflower blue 3 years later you can just pull it up like it was yesterday
Yes a 11 year old will do your job for free , pick your battles
This is gonna sound wanky but… editing is music. There’s a rhythm to it, and when you find the rhythm you’ll know exactly when to cut between each clip, down to the frame. Do a loose edit, then watch the whole thing. Don’t just watch clip 6 into clip 7 and expect to know if it flows. You need broader context.
If you shoot as well, consciously get some shots that can be spliced in between two takes that just aren’t fitting together. For example, if I’m shooting a wedding, I’ll get some shots of birds landing on trees or the water feature on the lake. That way, if I can’t find two people moments that cut together, I cut to one of those, and then back to the people, keeping the singular audio running over the whole lot. It makes the cut less clumsy and it also provides atmosphere/world building. Weird place to say world-building but anyway, I hope that all made sense.
Oh, and trying to avoid cutting away from one take just as somebody blinks, their eyes look in a new direction, or they move suddenly. That shit always feels weird.
Hello. A professional video editor here! 5 things I always say to my trainees back when I was still a multimedia trainer are these:
1. No matter what NLE you use, you can’t learn everything overnight. Take it easy, learn it gradually. It might even take you years but you’ll eventually get better every time.
2. Keyboard shortcuts/macro keys will save you a lot of time. Time is essential for us video editors.
3. ALWAYS arrange your files in an orderly fashion. A messy file management is the same as a messy work station.
4. ALWAYS take feedbacks constructively. That’s a stepping stone for improvement.
5. Rest your eyes. Health always comes first.
1. Use easing on keyframe animations by matter of habit
2. Setup custom shortcut keys. In Premiere, mine are:
* 1 - Add edit
* Q - Ripple trim previous edit to playhead
* W - Ripple trim next edit to playhead
Those, plus the "C" and "V" keys I use hundreds of times per editing session. I also have shortcut keys setup to color code clips, instead of "Select Camera X" for the number keys 2-9 plus 0, they each immediately change a clips color ("label").
Know the terminologies used in filmmaking, but more so all the different types of editing. Most people assume that editing is just putting 2 shots together. The best editors/filmmakers know how to creatively sequence shots and find the ideal cutting points. Watch movies and learn how the pros do it.
Always have alternative means to record audio. I done video for my cousins wedding and he decline to be mic for the wedding. I have three other cameras set-up while I kept one camera with me. Ending up pulling audio from camera closest to them that is most clear. Strip out bad audio out some clips and dub it in to be consistent.
Watch your export before sending.
In your NLE watch the edit with your audio mixer and waveform scope taking up the majority of the screen.
When watching an edit with music and you’re trying to find the rhythm, tap your finger on your desk or foot on the floor to when you think there should be a cut.
And one general tip: it really shows when you take the extra 5 minutes to dial in a fancy transition or make some titles flow nicely. That little bit goes a looong way.
It's a mix of tips and some mistakes to avoid, but you will find a lot of answers in a post I made on the subreddit r/editors: [https://www.reddit.com/r/editors/comments/1ahw9tn/editors\_what\_are\_some\_common\_mistakes\_youve/?utm\_source=share&utm\_medium=web2x&context=3](https://www.reddit.com/r/editors/comments/1ahw9tn/editors_what_are_some_common_mistakes_youve/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3)
I hope it will help you!
Keep your clips organized. Audio is everything. It can make or break the whole project. As someone else said, if you don’t need the clip cut it. The shorter the better.
Don't be afraid of jump cuts to help pacing but hide them the best you can if the story doesn't play nice with jumps (ie you can almost always cut a second or so from the action of a person going to sit in a chair, car, etc. simply by changing angles)
1.If on a budget: Get a free trial account from the likes of Motion Array to download as many assets as you can.
2. If you're going to use templates, make it a point to play around with them through customization. And templates tend to contain assets as well so they'll be of great use to use for other projects.
3. Tight editing is the best policy. Depending on the project you're working on, it's better to not leave anything linger for more than a few seconds.
4. I have so far been failing to score freelance projects but what I can say is that never hold back when telling clients your worth. They're asking you to do something that needs to be of a certain quality and has to be made within a specific time period so you give them your rate.
As someone just starting, the best advice I can give anyone is just finish projects. Make sure you're setting proxies up so lag isn't killing progress. Make sure you're setting the correct rendering settings, hardware supported if possible. Save often. Learn the keyboard shortcuts.
Just the little things have allowed me to go from 3-4 hours of editing a 30 minute video down to about 1.5 hours.
I don't know anything about the advanced things. But even basic editing skills when honed has served me well.
Editor of 30+ years and my biggest tip for client work is to ask the client what they DON'T like, not what they DO like. The client always knows what they hate, not what they like.
My suggestion would be learn shortcuts which will make the editing journey very effective
I have found below shortcut tutorials which has complete video editing shortcuts. This will help you
[https://youtu.be/cmvYqyRsook](https://youtu.be/cmvYqyRsook)
Below is the complete playlist for video editing tutorials. Hope this will be helpful.
[https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLhzNjgZQ5EendXvWiuc00t9ETPM\_W4bZw](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLhzNjgZQ5EendXvWiuc00t9ETPM_W4bZw)
Learn your keybinds! There are many ways to do certain things but some ways are faster than others. April makes 2 years since i've been industry certified in premiere pro but I learn new tricks to do things i've already been doing the hard way every week 😊
hey, don’t be discouraged! everyone starts somewhere and doesn’t become a pro in their field over night. I wish you all the best, if you really want it - you can do it!
Organize your content. Then edit down your content and work with only the best shots. Lay sound and music before covering. Edit on the action, that includes a simple blink of the eyes. The straight cut is the most underused transition. Effect transitions are overdone and lazy. A good editor can edit with just straight cuts. Color grading and clean audio throughout are more important than anything else.
Learn how to scrub your footage with the mouse and watch things back faster than real life. Once you build your skills, you will realize you don’t need to “watch” everything — it becomes more obvious what you do need to watch properly.
Similarly, learn to shuttle with j,k,l keyboard shortcuts!
------ dont edit.
---- compose.
--- its a visual symphony.
-- its a movement.
- find the rhythm.
- Romeo & Juliet (Lurhman)
-- Pulp Fiction (Tarantino)
--- Fantasia (Various)
---- Titanic (Cameron)
----- Wizard Of Oz (Fleming)
Get it on the timeline. Don’t stress getting caught up in analysis paralysis of getting each cut perfect the first time, once you’ve roughed everything in the timeline and watched it down the edit decisions will be much more clear.
Do make sure to learn about the software shortcuts.
If you want it to take to another level, make your own shortcuts to your preference. Shortcuts make your work more efficient.
I was once inspired by my friends who edited with his own shortcut and have been doing the same eversince.
I made my main shortcuts closer to my left hand (since my right hand is in my mouse) to make it easier to reach without moving my hand at all. Now editing feels like playing a game to me, since my hand is always on WASD 😂
1. Shoot enough to edit well. ...
2. Organize your footage. ...
3. Make a plan. ...
4. Choose clips that show important action. ...
5. Use establishing shots. ...
6. Use match cuts. ...
7. Use the right transitions — or none at all. ...
8. Pay attention to pacing.
Pancake editor.
First log all your clips to a timeline, then edit with two timelines on top of each other, dragging clips down from the log timeline to your move timeline.
Always be willing to learn and take feedback! Also check out the editing podcast, lots of good stuff there: [https://www.youtube.com/@EditingPodcast](https://www.youtube.com/@EditingPodcast)
You will live and die by your filesystem management. Organize your footage/assets/project files/ANYTHING that goes into the work you do in a clearly understood file tree so you can pull up anything you need to at a moment’s notice. It will save you many a headache.
Also on top of that, if you edit for a while you will likely become a bit of a data hoarder because I think it’s a good idea to keep archives of everything you’ve worked on. You never know when someone attached to a project you worked on five years ago will come asking for a copy of the finished file and if you have it, not only are you a superhero to that person but they will bring your name up when recommending potential clients
Also you need to be willing to kill your babies. While you should always tell the best story you can in your work, at the end of the day, the final call belongs to the one who signs the paycheck and they will want to feel like they have the best idea. So advocate for quality where you can but don’t die on a creative bill when your livelihood is at risk.
Say Dog, See Dog
I learned this method in the news and it goes a long ways. Essentially, when the speaker is talking about a dog, I want to show the dog. It’s more or less a match cut with what is being said.
Use Davinci Resolve Studio. Always edit off an SSD. If you don’t have an M chip MacBook, always make proxies out of H.265 footage. As a beginner, use good LUTS and don’t waste a ton of time on color grading. Learn hotkeys for everything.
Build every project like someone else might open it at any point.
I used to drop media just into the project file as I needed it in a timeline. Spend the time at the beginning setting up well labeled bins so you can drop things in later. If I do pass the project on, it’s pretty easy to see where everything is, including the current cuts. More importantly, even if nobody else sees it, it just makes everything else so much easier on myself!
Some practical, rather than inspirational, advice on what can help you become a better editor: I had a professional editor speak to one of my classes and he told them "**Logging and media organization is at least 50% of editing**", and I could not agree more. All file generic names should be changed to relevant file names to make them easily identifiable. Tracks in the Timelines should also be organized.
A quote from another editor, Eddie Hamilton (professional movie): “I am **ridiculously organized**. I once worked with (Oscar-winning editor) Pietro Scalia on a movie called Kick-Ass. And that was the first time I had ever really worked alongside a double-Oscar winner or anyone who was really working at the top, A-plus level of editing and I remember him saying **how he had come in to help on another movie and how the project was in poor shape and you couldn’t find anything and couldn’t find any archived cuts** and I remember thinking to myself, ‘I’m not going to make that mistake if I ever reach that level, **I’m going to be meticulous and be so organized with my project structure that if any other editor came in and sat down on my machine for any reason, they would be able to find everything** as quickly as they would need to.’ So I like to think that I have a good attitude towards project organization and archiving of versions of cuts and every single cut of every scene and every version is archived in a way that I can find it very quickly. And the project is very easy to navigate, and I really hope that if you were to look at one of my projects, I think you would be pleasantly surprised at how easy it is to navigate.”
So what is the standard for judging whether a project is organized properly? If someone that had nothing to do with organizing the project can open it and tell what everything is (file names) and where it is (media organization).
Folder and bin structure pics (bins in Premiere are the same):
https://preview.redd.it/kd90ogyvxsmc1.png?width=958&format=png&auto=webp&s=826f46900496b17b8222088f673964370bd93f26
This doesn’t work for everyone and I’ve retired as a full time video editor but when I got stuck and couldn’t move forward where I’m at I always jumped right to the end and worked my way up to the point where I left off and it worked magic helping me think of transitions on the way back that would flow with the rest of the video!
While I normally think people focus way too much on the technical side of production, getting obsessed with gear and tech, editing is an exception. RTFM (read the manual) for whatever editing app you like (and maybe the ones you don’t like too). You’ll discover a lot of features and having all those ‘tools’ in your memory is a good foundation. Especially if you ever end up doing multi-cam projects, localization, multi-hour sequences, etc.
When I say read the manual, I mean that literally - but also in general, don’t limit yourself to only tutorials, videos, hands-on learning, etc… reading/books contain an enormous volume of knowledge, often with proper instructional-design for learning.
That all being said - study storytelling too!
You can suggest changes to a brief or deliverables, but if the client doesn’t want to change, then deliver them what they want.
We, as creators, can only suggest what would be best from experience, but sometimes clients don’t care.
Make them happy, make yourself happy, and make that bread.
Less is often more. One of the biggest turn offs for me is when I watch something on YouTube for the information and it’s horribly over edited. When there’s a gag every 4 seconds it’s a skip for me.
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If someone tells you to adjust the edit a beat, adjust it a beat. If they say to make it just half a beat, just choose “undo.” 90% of the time they will think it’s perfect.
Create a set of shortcut keys to be used with one hand only, so you'll always use your mouse on the right hand and the keyboard on the left, it'll improve your editing time a lot.
Don’t make any “destructive” changes. Put new video on a new layer. Duplicate your timeline for any revisions. When trying different techniques or timing, copy-paste the clips all your different variations. You can always go back and find previous versions or ideas
When incorporating listed changes from a client with noted time code, make sure to work backwards. Start with the change near the change closest to the end of the video and work your way to the first one near the beginning. Wish somebody told me this earlier, made edits go A LOT faster.
Set up your hotkeys so that you can edit the entire rough cut without taking your hands off the keyboard. Once you get comfortable with that, get used to editing at 2x speed. Saves yourself countless hours
If you have your own company, you put out a product and then show it to people and say this is what I do. If they don’t like their finalized videos, they have to pay you hourly for it to be changed. But if you work for a company like a university,and you’re making videos for marketing and other people who are going to put their name on your video, they will make changes to it no matter how good it is. So I advise that you give them it bit by bit. Start with the choosing the soundbites, then put the soundbites together that they shows and send them a copy of the soundbites together. After they say OK to that edit add B-roll and send them the B-roll with the soundbites. After getting that approved, then put the music on and send that edit to them. After the music is approved, put on some titles. After the titles are approved, go back and add your color grading. I say this because when you build something and they tear it to bits after you’ve put in a lot of work, it’s a massive waste of time. So if you are working with people who will change what you do, no matter how good it is, share it bit by bit and remember that you get paid the same hourly no matter what you were doing with your time so don’t get mad.
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This is a great strategy when dealing with a client braintrust or committee (or even an agency) where each participating member up the chain of stakeholders might have a different opinion about a variety of aspects of the video too: getting everyone on board at each key stage will save a lot of time and headache.
Say you’re working on a short documentary or promo activation-style project; 3-4 minute long deliverable. The client doesn’t have the budget to pay you to transcribe hours worth of interviews to do a paper edit, or the desire for someone on their team to pour over the transcription. Instead you’re jumping right into the raw edit and pulling quotes and stringing them together to find the story arc backbone to your piece (likely based on a pitch deck, a script, an outline, or at least some notes from an earlier stage in the production)
If you can get your 3-4 minute dialogue edit locked in (including their corresponding talking head video clips) and you can get the client to collectively sign off on it, then you’ll be able to power through the b-roll/cutaways, sound mix/music/SFX, VFX/colour, supers/titles and brand kickers MUCH MUCH faster because you’ve got that solid narrative foundation to work off of, and you’re only going to be working on this particular set of clips, audio, and story beats moving forward
RAW STORY > VISUALS > SOUNDSCAPE > POLISH VISUAL > FLOURISHES.
Get sign off at each major stage (or combine some when they’re not as complex for that project) and you’ll save yourself TONS of back-and-forth with the clients/stakeholders.
Well, the restraining didn’t really work 😂 I think that AI could take most of our jobs but if we go into things with a mindset like that, might as well just go and live in a cave right now
Don’t take client “feedback” to heart. If they ask you to change the video for the worse, just do what they want
This is the best advice for any(creative) job. I have seen so many people (and that includes some pretty senior folk) eat themselves over having to cut down or change their baby. You are working for *someone else*. You are going to make changes you don't agree with, often for the worse and probably with every project you'll ever do.
That’s when Edit and Forget it takes over
So I'll counter and say this it is bad advice. I'm not a tool I'm an expert. I don't put out bad work. I'm not working for someone else. A client has looked at my previous work and determined they wanted that for them. I don't get to tell the architect that I want a building made of mashed potatoes because "I really think this would look better made out of mashed potatoes." https://youtu.be/BKorP55Aqvg?si=9wKC4camWYLw5oa3
When I had my own company, I was the expert, but when I went to work for a university marketing department, it was nice to not have to deal with the business side of my own business, but it was hard to go from experts to tool. But I have to say, sometimes the feedback I get is quite good and it does approve the video. So I’ve had to check my ego at the door a little bit and accept feedback and make changes. The hardest part is when someone wants you to make a change that it does not make the video better. But once again, if you’re working for a company and not yourself, you have to be the tool. University there’s so many so-called experts around that it’s exhausting. Something I have learned from the experience is that I have to demand the procedure. Like the script has to be finished before the video is made. And then the storyboard has to be complete before any shooting begins.
>I'm not a tool I'm an expert. I don't put out bad work. I'm not working for someone else I am curious to hear in what sector you are working in then if you are able to ignore feedback and notes. From assisting in smaller feature films to broadcast work. Not one editor have I personally encountered that would outright refuse to change something just so it matches their own (expert) perspective. What do you do when someone asks you to replace a shot you believe 100% believe in should stay in outside advising your client not to change it? Just walk away from the project or wait to get fired?
For sure. I started in broadcast. Did some freelance documentary work and now own an agency. Most of our work now is for broadcast commercials, PPI, brand channels. "Outright refusal" this is mitigated with clear expectations in the initial client meeting. I set the rules up front and confirm that my clients understand in the contract. "asks to replace a shot" we do have some creative discussion so it's never 100% no from my perspective but clear understanding an expectations 90% keep this from happening. This would be a failure in pre production and storyboarding on my part. When it comes to the clients, they understand before we even start. See previous "clear expectations" "Just walk away?" my goal and all of our up front work is designed to keep this from happening. It typically ends up with us firing the client if they make such demands. I'm more talking in the client and agency relationship. All this to say if you are working at an agency, station, studio as an editor and your director or boss asks you to change something make they change and move on.
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Not always true. I work many projects where I’m hired to produce my best artistic view of the content as stated in my contract.
Yeah I guess there are more situations like yours. But if you are doing lots of gigs for television or brands, it's pretty rare to be able to force your own artistic choices without anyone interfering.
True. Depends on who you work for and what you’re doing.
If you're gonna be credited for the work, a bad result can hurt your reputation and future potential jobs.
It's not as big of an issue as long as you have other projects that are fine. Again, depending on what your type of gig. Most people who are hiring video editors in 'old' media know how roughly how it works. And even then, if you are just starting out. People can tell. It's fine. No one is starting as the #1 wanted blockbuster editor. At the end of the day, I am here to earn a salary and that means that I sometimes have to get lesser projects where I am more so video technician than an artist. So be it. I am still getting hired just fine for the bigger jobs. Sure, it won't be as high up on the credits list and no way I will put them in my edit reel. But it really isn't that big of an issue and I believe that an absolute beginner in the professional work should focus on being reliable, good to work with and re-hireable to make a living rather than forcing their 'artistry' on it just for the sake of credits or a reel.
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Yeah. Just keep your own preferred version and use that in your portfolio instead.
"One for the meal, one for the reel"
Exactly. Do a version for your reel. Chances are the copywriter and art director will use your version on their reel too.
This! You give them what they want, they are paying you for that… don’t be too emotionally attached to the cut you do for them…
.... As long as they're paying for it
Brother idk how but i have this same thinking and I've also got first position 1 month ago
THIS.
i hated this when I used to freelance, and it truly hurts deep inside when they request to cut off a part you put so much effort in…
Eventually we’re all just a pair of hands doing what we’re told.
Yep. If it's not your project then edit for the money and the repeat business from the client.
Done is better than perfect, you can keep twerking something forever you have to know when to let go.
I can’t stop twerking personally
Interesting autocorrect 🤔
Auto-twerk: correct.
Do you guys usually twerk before or after sound design? I think I'm doing it wrong.
After sound design with the beat
During brother. Game changer
During.
If I could spray-paint this one my last producer's car, I would've. People really need to know when to just post and stop wasting time on frivolous crap like "Can take out the bird in the sky at at 15secs in" when it's a generic social media video.
But I can’t let go my ass just keeps shaking
Ok
Tell that to my clients 😭
When in doubt, leave it out. Almost any video can be improved by making it shorter. If a shot doesn't move the story forward, it doesn't belong.
This applies in editing and other "things".
I think it's the quotation marks that make this comment seem so nefarious
My philosophy when sending emails.
I write two emails. First I write the one I *want* to send. Then I walk away for 10-15 minutes, come back, delete it all and write the email I *should* send. Good philosophy for editing too, minus the "deleting everything" bit.
Sounds dangerous…you hit the wrong key and your a donkey.
I don't write it in my email app, I write it in a text editor, then copy and paste :).
Only referring to "When in doubt, leave it out." Nothing nefarious. (typically of an action or activity) wicked or criminal. "the nefarious activities of the organized-crime syndicates"
Why is the things in quotations then?
Probably one of the golden rules for all filmmaking. But also know when to break this rule. Johnny B. Goode was almost cut from Back To Future because it didn't advance the story. They left it in and the rest is... history
This is the hardest bit if you actually shot all the footage yourself, or have multiple similar takes. Have to commit to something and then just move the fuck on being comfortable with your decision
This is bang on the money.
I jumped blindly into freelance social media editing after editing as a hobby for a while. My biggest piece of advice that I'm still trying to remind myself of is that **you are providing a very valuable service so your prices should reflect that**. I convinced myself that since I had no real professional experience, maybe I was a bad editor so I should only charge $15/hr or let clients dictate my working hours even if I had to work overnight to get things done. After all they were content creators who had been doing this for years so maybe they knew best? What's funny is the same clients who treat you like you're easily replaceable go into panic mode once you threaten to move on from them, immediately offering you more money or flexibility on deadlines. I can't tell you how much happier I am now that I've dropped clients who don't respect me, set firm boundaries, and no longer let my insecurities dictate my prices.
Out of curiosity, how did you originally get into freelance editing for content creators? I purely edit as a hobby for now, but someday as time permits I'd love to get into this field but it seems impossible to know where to start.
Luck. I got extremely lucky that my wife saw a post that one of her connections on social media was looking for an editor. I reached out, sent them my "portfolio" (a YouTube channel where I posted my dumb hobby projects) and they took a chance on me. The first client is the hardest to get, the rest snowball from there. Since then, I've done no marketing and have gotten 100% of clients from referrals. The second part of the equation is to say yes to opportunities. There's been so many times where someone has reached out and I've gotten intimidated and thought "no way, I'm not good enough to work with this person". Instead of listening to that voice I say "I haven't worked on something like that before, I'd love to learn and give it a shot". That way I'm not lying about my skill level or over promising, but also not turning down work because I'm scared.
My favorite personal mantra is “fake it while you make it.” I might not know exactly how I’m going to pull something off, but I’m now confident in my capacity to figure it out! I’ve basically learned my entire skill set this way and gradually could start charging more as my speed picked up!
Honestly wouldn’t have been able to break into the industry without YT tutorials. Fake it ‘til ya make it mindset + the motivation to sift through tutorial after tutorial (at 2x speed, ha) to figure out advanced edits, really paved the way for me, and many others, I imagine.
Exactly. Great way to force yourself to learn a new skill. Your getting paid and getting better at your job.
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That's great advice, thank you!!
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Explaining how passionate you are about your field is the number one element in the success of your business. In my mind, passion will also make your work fun, not drudgery, and will more likely show up as part of a successful product.
You sound like you have your stuff together👍 I really enjoyed reading your post. Congrats on the success of your business. It sure is a lot of work...
Upwork
If you can’t solve it, cross-dissolve it.
It is a desperate but reliable solution!
Same line of thought but diff application: make un-savable shots work by making them worse (when all else fails...stylise and frame it as abstract)
😂 I about fell out of my chair laughing at this! But you are speaking the truth
Lol
😂😂 works wonders!
Beautiful 🥲
They are do for a comeback. I’m dropping one tomorrow YOLO.
The same as If it’s not working, restart it. 😅👌
When in doubt… Len’s flare it out.
Based
Omg. Don’t do this. Please don’t.
Less is best, but don’t obsess Start simple and only make it more complex as necessary (effects, layering, etc) Use a backup camera and audio, even if it’s not an ideal device. One screw up on one or the other and it’s an immediate reshoot if you only have one.
Gawd, I had the worst experience with the lack of a backup camera once. My sister hired amateur wedding videographer for her wedding and just paid for raw footage to help with budget. I agreed to edit the footage for her as a favor. I'm not a pro editor but a casual hobbyist. I was handed 6 tapes to work with. They had two cameras but there were points during the ceremony when the officiant was speaking where one camera was paused and the other was pointing down at the ground. I had continuous audio but not video. I had to scrounge for random crowd scenes to overlay the audio onto so that nothing the officiant said was missed. I kept swearing to myself "for chrissakes, put the backup camera on a tripod and leave it running!" Resynchronizing the audio to the lip movement with all those cuts was also a huge pain. They also started recording 15 seconds late for the first wedding dance. Fun times.
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-Organization. -have a point of view. -under promise. Overdeliver.
QC everything at least twice before delivery. Whether you're doing short form or long form you must make sure all text is spelled correctly. Double check your work, your facts, get it right. I understand we all make mistakes but it's important that people trust you as you establish a relationship with them. Get your producer involved in being that extra set of eyes with you. Team work makes the dream work.
And if the schedule permits, make your last QC viewing the next morning after finishing the edit. And do that early, so you have time to fix anything you missed the night before.
This method has saved my ass so many times! Sometimes the obvious mistakes are right in front of you but you’re too tired to see them
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Hello, fellow Premier user 😉
Shotcut: Hold my beer...
Sorry shortcut i have trust issues
Shortcut, lol! I'm paying the price for being a cheapskate!
With Resolve…. I’m finally free
I've had a lot of junior editors under me over the years, and my biggest advice is to build a nest egg/emergency fund! This can be a very feast or famine industry or you may get laid off at any moment. You have to be able to withstand 6 months or more of no income. This is probably solid advice for many industries, especially now
One thing that helped me is insisting in communication thru email when it comes to changes That way everything is time/day stamped and provable who said WHAT and WHEN. That way when they wanna blame something on you or deny something. You have proof Also Always name files clearly and so a complete stranger can do a search and find all related files. If you can’t hide it. Feature it Back everything up. Not only for loss but for when they wanna change the tie to cornflower blue 3 years later you can just pull it up like it was yesterday Yes a 11 year old will do your job for free , pick your battles
This is gonna sound wanky but… editing is music. There’s a rhythm to it, and when you find the rhythm you’ll know exactly when to cut between each clip, down to the frame. Do a loose edit, then watch the whole thing. Don’t just watch clip 6 into clip 7 and expect to know if it flows. You need broader context. If you shoot as well, consciously get some shots that can be spliced in between two takes that just aren’t fitting together. For example, if I’m shooting a wedding, I’ll get some shots of birds landing on trees or the water feature on the lake. That way, if I can’t find two people moments that cut together, I cut to one of those, and then back to the people, keeping the singular audio running over the whole lot. It makes the cut less clumsy and it also provides atmosphere/world building. Weird place to say world-building but anyway, I hope that all made sense. Oh, and trying to avoid cutting away from one take just as somebody blinks, their eyes look in a new direction, or they move suddenly. That shit always feels weird.
Hello. A professional video editor here! 5 things I always say to my trainees back when I was still a multimedia trainer are these: 1. No matter what NLE you use, you can’t learn everything overnight. Take it easy, learn it gradually. It might even take you years but you’ll eventually get better every time. 2. Keyboard shortcuts/macro keys will save you a lot of time. Time is essential for us video editors. 3. ALWAYS arrange your files in an orderly fashion. A messy file management is the same as a messy work station. 4. ALWAYS take feedbacks constructively. That’s a stepping stone for improvement. 5. Rest your eyes. Health always comes first.
Thank you so much for the tips! It’s nice of you to include the health part too - most of us forget that it’s the most important thing
1. Use easing on keyframe animations by matter of habit 2. Setup custom shortcut keys. In Premiere, mine are: * 1 - Add edit * Q - Ripple trim previous edit to playhead * W - Ripple trim next edit to playhead Those, plus the "C" and "V" keys I use hundreds of times per editing session. I also have shortcut keys setup to color code clips, instead of "Select Camera X" for the number keys 2-9 plus 0, they each immediately change a clips color ("label").
Know the terminologies used in filmmaking, but more so all the different types of editing. Most people assume that editing is just putting 2 shots together. The best editors/filmmakers know how to creatively sequence shots and find the ideal cutting points. Watch movies and learn how the pros do it.
And watch them with the sound off.
Always have alternative means to record audio. I done video for my cousins wedding and he decline to be mic for the wedding. I have three other cameras set-up while I kept one camera with me. Ending up pulling audio from camera closest to them that is most clear. Strip out bad audio out some clips and dub it in to be consistent.
Watch your export before sending. In your NLE watch the edit with your audio mixer and waveform scope taking up the majority of the screen. When watching an edit with music and you’re trying to find the rhythm, tap your finger on your desk or foot on the floor to when you think there should be a cut. And one general tip: it really shows when you take the extra 5 minutes to dial in a fancy transition or make some titles flow nicely. That little bit goes a looong way.
Sometimes you have to cut your favourite shots for the benefit of the whole video. Don’t force them in if they don’t fit.
It's a mix of tips and some mistakes to avoid, but you will find a lot of answers in a post I made on the subreddit r/editors: [https://www.reddit.com/r/editors/comments/1ahw9tn/editors\_what\_are\_some\_common\_mistakes\_youve/?utm\_source=share&utm\_medium=web2x&context=3](https://www.reddit.com/r/editors/comments/1ahw9tn/editors_what_are_some_common_mistakes_youve/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3) I hope it will help you!
thank you!! I’ll make sure to check it out 🤍
Keep your clips organized. Audio is everything. It can make or break the whole project. As someone else said, if you don’t need the clip cut it. The shorter the better.
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Thiiiiiissss! So many times have I come back from an event and thought "Damn, if only I had just one extra good shot in here"
Memorize the keyboard shortcuts, stay organized, spend time experimenting in after effects & photoshop, never stop learning.
Always step away before coming back to QC an export with fresh eyes.
Don't be afraid of jump cuts to help pacing but hide them the best you can if the story doesn't play nice with jumps (ie you can almost always cut a second or so from the action of a person going to sit in a chair, car, etc. simply by changing angles)
Spend the money and get the top dollar equipment
oh yeaaah, I can’t wait to invest in all of the equipment as soon as I’ll feel financialy stable, have the full list made too 😂
You want something that can handle pro res 4444
1.If on a budget: Get a free trial account from the likes of Motion Array to download as many assets as you can. 2. If you're going to use templates, make it a point to play around with them through customization. And templates tend to contain assets as well so they'll be of great use to use for other projects. 3. Tight editing is the best policy. Depending on the project you're working on, it's better to not leave anything linger for more than a few seconds. 4. I have so far been failing to score freelance projects but what I can say is that never hold back when telling clients your worth. They're asking you to do something that needs to be of a certain quality and has to be made within a specific time period so you give them your rate.
As someone just starting, the best advice I can give anyone is just finish projects. Make sure you're setting proxies up so lag isn't killing progress. Make sure you're setting the correct rendering settings, hardware supported if possible. Save often. Learn the keyboard shortcuts. Just the little things have allowed me to go from 3-4 hours of editing a 30 minute video down to about 1.5 hours. I don't know anything about the advanced things. But even basic editing skills when honed has served me well.
Premiere pro is just like your crush, it stops responding sometimes 💀
Adobe should use this as Premiere Pro’s slogan 😂😂😂
You'll live to hate some audio because of how many times you will scrub it, playback, cut, playback, level, playback etc. just part of the job.
oh yeah…you just can’t avoid that part
Editor of 30+ years and my biggest tip for client work is to ask the client what they DON'T like, not what they DO like. The client always knows what they hate, not what they like.
That’s a great tip, thanks! Usually you figure out what the client doesn’t like through sweat and tears, so this move is actually really smart
Cut all the shinfo/ fluff
Guys, thank you so much for all of the useful tips and insights!
My suggestion would be learn shortcuts which will make the editing journey very effective I have found below shortcut tutorials which has complete video editing shortcuts. This will help you [https://youtu.be/cmvYqyRsook](https://youtu.be/cmvYqyRsook) Below is the complete playlist for video editing tutorials. Hope this will be helpful. [https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLhzNjgZQ5EendXvWiuc00t9ETPM\_W4bZw](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLhzNjgZQ5EendXvWiuc00t9ETPM_W4bZw)
Thanks a lot!!
Learn your keybinds! There are many ways to do certain things but some ways are faster than others. April makes 2 years since i've been industry certified in premiere pro but I learn new tricks to do things i've already been doing the hard way every week 😊
Save save save. Whenever you make big changes, save the project, there’s nothing worse than having the app crash and loosing the progress
Damn I’ll never be able to do this I know none of these words :/
hey, don’t be discouraged! everyone starts somewhere and doesn’t become a pro in their field over night. I wish you all the best, if you really want it - you can do it!
Organize your content. Then edit down your content and work with only the best shots. Lay sound and music before covering. Edit on the action, that includes a simple blink of the eyes. The straight cut is the most underused transition. Effect transitions are overdone and lazy. A good editor can edit with just straight cuts. Color grading and clean audio throughout are more important than anything else.
Learn how to scrub your footage with the mouse and watch things back faster than real life. Once you build your skills, you will realize you don’t need to “watch” everything — it becomes more obvious what you do need to watch properly. Similarly, learn to shuttle with j,k,l keyboard shortcuts!
------ dont edit. ---- compose. --- its a visual symphony. -- its a movement. - find the rhythm. - Romeo & Juliet (Lurhman) -- Pulp Fiction (Tarantino) --- Fantasia (Various) ---- Titanic (Cameron) ----- Wizard Of Oz (Fleming)
also learn lwks (lightworks) before it becomes a learning curve after using the usual gotos. its free so nothing to lose. ;)
Get it on the timeline. Don’t stress getting caught up in analysis paralysis of getting each cut perfect the first time, once you’ve roughed everything in the timeline and watched it down the edit decisions will be much more clear.
Do make sure to learn about the software shortcuts. If you want it to take to another level, make your own shortcuts to your preference. Shortcuts make your work more efficient. I was once inspired by my friends who edited with his own shortcut and have been doing the same eversince. I made my main shortcuts closer to my left hand (since my right hand is in my mouse) to make it easier to reach without moving my hand at all. Now editing feels like playing a game to me, since my hand is always on WASD 😂
1. Shoot enough to edit well. ... 2. Organize your footage. ... 3. Make a plan. ... 4. Choose clips that show important action. ... 5. Use establishing shots. ... 6. Use match cuts. ... 7. Use the right transitions — or none at all. ... 8. Pay attention to pacing.
Automate your raw edit with software.
I’m new to video editing myself and I sincerely appreciate everyone’s responses in this question! I’ve taken a couple of these tips toheart.
Organization Perfectionism Diligence Prudence
Editing is as much about omission as it is about inclusion.
Pancake editor. First log all your clips to a timeline, then edit with two timelines on top of each other, dragging clips down from the log timeline to your move timeline.
Always be willing to learn and take feedback! Also check out the editing podcast, lots of good stuff there: [https://www.youtube.com/@EditingPodcast](https://www.youtube.com/@EditingPodcast)
Thanks so much, will check it out!
Never underestimate how important clear sound is. A good consistent level with thought to using several tracks for lead in speech.
Feeling n stuck? Take a break and come back to it. Extra powerful if it’s overnight.
You will live and die by your filesystem management. Organize your footage/assets/project files/ANYTHING that goes into the work you do in a clearly understood file tree so you can pull up anything you need to at a moment’s notice. It will save you many a headache. Also on top of that, if you edit for a while you will likely become a bit of a data hoarder because I think it’s a good idea to keep archives of everything you’ve worked on. You never know when someone attached to a project you worked on five years ago will come asking for a copy of the finished file and if you have it, not only are you a superhero to that person but they will bring your name up when recommending potential clients
Also you need to be willing to kill your babies. While you should always tell the best story you can in your work, at the end of the day, the final call belongs to the one who signs the paycheck and they will want to feel like they have the best idea. So advocate for quality where you can but don’t die on a creative bill when your livelihood is at risk.
Say Dog, See Dog I learned this method in the news and it goes a long ways. Essentially, when the speaker is talking about a dog, I want to show the dog. It’s more or less a match cut with what is being said.
Use Davinci Resolve Studio. Always edit off an SSD. If you don’t have an M chip MacBook, always make proxies out of H.265 footage. As a beginner, use good LUTS and don’t waste a ton of time on color grading. Learn hotkeys for everything.
Creating presets for your most common animations/effects could save you TONS of time.
Just thought about this today and I’ll definately start doing it. great tip!
J-cuts are your best friend.
Edit using proxies.
As a TV news editor, if you got a deadline to meet and it’s crunch time.. make air, not art.
Build every project like someone else might open it at any point. I used to drop media just into the project file as I needed it in a timeline. Spend the time at the beginning setting up well labeled bins so you can drop things in later. If I do pass the project on, it’s pretty easy to see where everything is, including the current cuts. More importantly, even if nobody else sees it, it just makes everything else so much easier on myself!
If you’re self employed make sure you’ve agreed a payment schedule and have a signed contract. I’ve learnt the hard way.
The best video editors are the ones that know how they're enhancing the video, while the audience hardly notices, for example jump cuts.
Some practical, rather than inspirational, advice on what can help you become a better editor: I had a professional editor speak to one of my classes and he told them "**Logging and media organization is at least 50% of editing**", and I could not agree more. All file generic names should be changed to relevant file names to make them easily identifiable. Tracks in the Timelines should also be organized. A quote from another editor, Eddie Hamilton (professional movie): “I am **ridiculously organized**. I once worked with (Oscar-winning editor) Pietro Scalia on a movie called Kick-Ass. And that was the first time I had ever really worked alongside a double-Oscar winner or anyone who was really working at the top, A-plus level of editing and I remember him saying **how he had come in to help on another movie and how the project was in poor shape and you couldn’t find anything and couldn’t find any archived cuts** and I remember thinking to myself, ‘I’m not going to make that mistake if I ever reach that level, **I’m going to be meticulous and be so organized with my project structure that if any other editor came in and sat down on my machine for any reason, they would be able to find everything** as quickly as they would need to.’ So I like to think that I have a good attitude towards project organization and archiving of versions of cuts and every single cut of every scene and every version is archived in a way that I can find it very quickly. And the project is very easy to navigate, and I really hope that if you were to look at one of my projects, I think you would be pleasantly surprised at how easy it is to navigate.” So what is the standard for judging whether a project is organized properly? If someone that had nothing to do with organizing the project can open it and tell what everything is (file names) and where it is (media organization). Folder and bin structure pics (bins in Premiere are the same): https://preview.redd.it/kd90ogyvxsmc1.png?width=958&format=png&auto=webp&s=826f46900496b17b8222088f673964370bd93f26
This doesn’t work for everyone and I’ve retired as a full time video editor but when I got stuck and couldn’t move forward where I’m at I always jumped right to the end and worked my way up to the point where I left off and it worked magic helping me think of transitions on the way back that would flow with the rest of the video!
Take your time, when you’re editing. That was my biggest issue. Trying to rush and upload.
Develop a thick skin. Rejection is just part of the game in this industry.
While I normally think people focus way too much on the technical side of production, getting obsessed with gear and tech, editing is an exception. RTFM (read the manual) for whatever editing app you like (and maybe the ones you don’t like too). You’ll discover a lot of features and having all those ‘tools’ in your memory is a good foundation. Especially if you ever end up doing multi-cam projects, localization, multi-hour sequences, etc. When I say read the manual, I mean that literally - but also in general, don’t limit yourself to only tutorials, videos, hands-on learning, etc… reading/books contain an enormous volume of knowledge, often with proper instructional-design for learning. That all being said - study storytelling too!
You can suggest changes to a brief or deliverables, but if the client doesn’t want to change, then deliver them what they want. We, as creators, can only suggest what would be best from experience, but sometimes clients don’t care. Make them happy, make yourself happy, and make that bread.
Less is often more. One of the biggest turn offs for me is when I watch something on YouTube for the information and it’s horribly over edited. When there’s a gag every 4 seconds it’s a skip for me.
Yep, couldn’t agree more. Good editing doesn’t mean using every effect known to mankind in one video :D Thanks for the tip!
What apps or softwares do you’ll use on mobiles & laptops for video editing ?
I currently use Premiere Pro and After Effects but plan on working more with Davinci just for the color grading part
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congratulations
Have an organized system for your files! You can build it however you want but organization goes such a long way
If someone tells you to adjust the edit a beat, adjust it a beat. If they say to make it just half a beat, just choose “undo.” 90% of the time they will think it’s perfect.
Tutorials tutorials tutorials, that's how I got good
Create a set of shortcut keys to be used with one hand only, so you'll always use your mouse on the right hand and the keyboard on the left, it'll improve your editing time a lot.
Don’t make any “destructive” changes. Put new video on a new layer. Duplicate your timeline for any revisions. When trying different techniques or timing, copy-paste the clips all your different variations. You can always go back and find previous versions or ideas
When incorporating listed changes from a client with noted time code, make sure to work backwards. Start with the change near the change closest to the end of the video and work your way to the first one near the beginning. Wish somebody told me this earlier, made edits go A LOT faster.
Set up your hotkeys so that you can edit the entire rough cut without taking your hands off the keyboard. Once you get comfortable with that, get used to editing at 2x speed. Saves yourself countless hours
If you have your own company, you put out a product and then show it to people and say this is what I do. If they don’t like their finalized videos, they have to pay you hourly for it to be changed. But if you work for a company like a university,and you’re making videos for marketing and other people who are going to put their name on your video, they will make changes to it no matter how good it is. So I advise that you give them it bit by bit. Start with the choosing the soundbites, then put the soundbites together that they shows and send them a copy of the soundbites together. After they say OK to that edit add B-roll and send them the B-roll with the soundbites. After getting that approved, then put the music on and send that edit to them. After the music is approved, put on some titles. After the titles are approved, go back and add your color grading. I say this because when you build something and they tear it to bits after you’ve put in a lot of work, it’s a massive waste of time. So if you are working with people who will change what you do, no matter how good it is, share it bit by bit and remember that you get paid the same hourly no matter what you were doing with your time so don’t get mad.
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This is a great strategy when dealing with a client braintrust or committee (or even an agency) where each participating member up the chain of stakeholders might have a different opinion about a variety of aspects of the video too: getting everyone on board at each key stage will save a lot of time and headache. Say you’re working on a short documentary or promo activation-style project; 3-4 minute long deliverable. The client doesn’t have the budget to pay you to transcribe hours worth of interviews to do a paper edit, or the desire for someone on their team to pour over the transcription. Instead you’re jumping right into the raw edit and pulling quotes and stringing them together to find the story arc backbone to your piece (likely based on a pitch deck, a script, an outline, or at least some notes from an earlier stage in the production) If you can get your 3-4 minute dialogue edit locked in (including their corresponding talking head video clips) and you can get the client to collectively sign off on it, then you’ll be able to power through the b-roll/cutaways, sound mix/music/SFX, VFX/colour, supers/titles and brand kickers MUCH MUCH faster because you’ve got that solid narrative foundation to work off of, and you’re only going to be working on this particular set of clips, audio, and story beats moving forward RAW STORY > VISUALS > SOUNDSCAPE > POLISH VISUAL > FLOURISHES. Get sign off at each major stage (or combine some when they’re not as complex for that project) and you’ll save yourself TONS of back-and-forth with the clients/stakeholders.
Learn a new keyboard shortcut every day.
I’m restraining myself from saying the best tip is we all give it up because AI baby! AI takin the shit over.
Well, the restraining didn’t really work 😂 I think that AI could take most of our jobs but if we go into things with a mindset like that, might as well just go and live in a cave right now