When I chat with new videographers, video editing comes up over and over again as one of the most daunting aspects of the video creation process — so I figured it was worth creating an entire blog post dedicated to the topic! If you’re new to the world of editing, follow these 5 tips to speed up your editing workflow and ultimately improve the quality of your video content.

 

Organize your footage before importing it into your editing software.

Think about how much better you feel when your home is tidy and organized vs. when it’s messy and cluttered. Sure, it requires some discipline and effort to keep your home in a clean state, but the benefits make it worth it. The same goes for keeping your footage organized: while it is an extra step in your editing process, you’ll gain so much clarity, will know exactly where to locate your assets, and will be able to do far more creative work.

My #1 piece of advice for new video editors is this: make sure you have a system in place that allows you to keep your footage organized long before importing it into your video editing software. While the exact system will vary from person to person, a rule of thumb is to make sure that your files and assets are divided up into categories, such as Audio, Footage, Photos, Graphics, etc. The more you can drill down, the better. This might mean separating each category into subcategories based on dates, different camera types, etc.

 

Learn keyboard shortcuts to speed up your editing time.

Editing can be a long and tedious process — don’t make the process longer than it already is! Making an effort to learn keyboard shortcuts early on can potentially save you hours, weeks or months sitting in front of your computer.

There are several different editing platforms, and each of them have their own unique keyboard shortcuts — but if you’re a Premiere Pro user, here are my favourite keyboard shortcuts that I use regularly:

• V: Selection Tool (Your standard setting)
• C: Razor Tool (Cutting)
• Q: Ripple-Trim Previous (Quickly trim the beginning of a clip)
• W: Ripple-Trim Next (Quickly trim the end of a clip)
• Space Bar: Play-Stop
• Backspace: Delete
• Command-S: Save
• Command-Z: Undo 
• Command-Shift-Z: Redo
• Command-M: Export 

 

Learn how to cut to the beat.

It’s important to acknowledge that the speed at which your clips move across the screen can have a major impact on the way your audience feels while watching your videos. Consider, for example, how upbeat videos are typically fast-paced and use shorter clips, whereas emotional videos have a tendency to be slower-paced and use longer, more drawn-out clips. This is no accident; pacing is an effective technique used to enhance certain feelings or emotions.

Most new videographers, however, forget to use pacing to their advantage. Instead, they throw clips of different lengths onto the timeline, and pray that they all come together in a cohesive manner. But there’s a better way, my friend! Consider cutting to the beat.

Simply put, “cutting to the beat” implies that you transition from clip to clip by following the rhythm or beat of the song you’ve chosen for your video project. Doing so will ensure that your video flows better, and it really helps with pacing! Give it a go in your next video project and see for yourself what a difference it makes.

 

Store your footage on a hard drive, not directly on your computer.

In my early days, I made the tragic mistake of storing all of my footage and photos directly on my laptop. Not only did this slow down my laptop significantly, but my laptop eventually crashed and I ended up losing precious footage forever!

Don’t make the same mistake I made: invest in an external hard drive or SSD drive, and back up your footage regularly. Click here to see which hard drive I recommend.

 

Take lots of breaks, and return to your project with fresh eyes.

I’ve spent my fair share of nights chained to my desk, trying to force myself to finish editing a video because of a looming deadline. But if there’s anything that I’ve learned after more than a decade of editing videos, it’s that forcing myself to be creative rarely bodes well.

If you’ve spent several hours looking at the same footage over and over again or can’t seem to figure out why your video project isn’t flowing the way you want it to, do yourself a favour and walk away. Go for a walk around the block, or even better, come back the next day. Although it can sometimes be difficult to do, temporarily stepping away from your computer will result in you being able to see your project with fresh eyes and allow you to make some major breakthroughs. This is particularly important when you watch your video one last time before sending it off to a client!

 

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