One of the essential skills you should master as a video content creator is editing. Quality, speed, and efficiency are the top factors determining your skill proficiency.
While there is no denying that video editing is a time-intensive process, there are things you can do to save time on your projects to offer more content and better quality to your audiences.
In this post, let us discuss a few simple ideas that should help edit videos faster, regardless of the software you use.
Organizing a properly
A tidy project means half the battle is won. Like paper files, clutter can lower productivity when working with video files. To edit faster, you must stay better organized with your videos.
When your projects are scattered around, you will likely face production and editing issues. Searching for the right video whenever you need them can take up a lot of time.
Make folders for your videos, and make sure you store them well. You can also organize your files by criteria like size, subject, or date to make access easier, speeding up the editing process.
Use the Right Video Editor
It would help if you had the right tools to do any job; this is true for video editing. The most important tool here is the program you use to edit videos. Some video editors work better for specific projects than others.
For example, editing a product demo video differs from editing an interview video and requires different tools.
It helps you determine the perfect video editor for your project. See that the program offers the right features to make your task quick and easy. You can also try an online video editor, but they may need more sophistication for complex jobs.
Export in Batches
To edit your videos faster, consider exporting them in batches, not one by one. Though quality is an essential aspect of video post-production, it is also crucial to focus on quantity. Use batch processing for your post-production tasks whenever possible.
You should find a way to handle each item on your to-do list in bulk than individually. Though this is not an advanced editing technique, it is a valuable tactic that helps you save a lot of time.
Learn to Use Keyboard Shortcuts
When editing your videos, you can convert a repetitive mouse-intensive task into one that can be accomplished via keyboard to save effort and speed up your workflow. The more you use your mouse during the process, the slower you are.
Learn as many keyboard shortcuts as available for your software by reading the shortcuts in dropdown menus or hovering over a button. An editing keyboard also helps save time because it displays all the editing shortcuts clearly on the corresponding keys.
Get Faster Hard Drives
Your editing speed depends significantly on how quickly you can access your videos. Hard drive speeds are essential when working with editing software as they affect render times. Ensure that the rotation speed of your hard drive is as fast as possible, at least 7200 RPM.
These days, Solid State Drives (SSDs) are an excellent option for those who can afford them. Apart from the hard drive, you should also ensure the interface you use for file transfer doesn’t slow you down. Remember that you can lose frames if your drive cannot keep up with the editing process.
Create Custom Presets
If you are making the same effects again and again or spending a lot of time doing the same things in every video, consider creating and saving presets to save time and energy.
For example, you have a YouTube channel where you always use the same camera and lighting set up for every video.
Most editing software will allow creating a color grading preset, saving you the effort and time of manually color grading repeatedly. Some common examples of presets are:
- Audio effects for microphones
- Graphics transitions
- Color grading and color correction settings
- Export settings
See what custom presets the editing software facilitates creating and use the feature to save a great deal of time and frustration.
You can also use tools such as InVideo, with a wide range of templates similar to presets, making editing and repurposing videos easier.
Edit in Stages
Staying focused during the post-production phase of your content creation helps save time and improve productivity.
Consider working on a single task simultaneously to increase concentration and efficiency. Here are some stages you can divide your work into:
- A-roll edit
- Adding B-roll into proper places
- Color grade and color correct
- Add graphics
- Insert music
- Add sound effects
- Review and export
Rather than getting distracted by an issue at a stage, please use markers to return to it later. You can complete your tasks and then fix all the problems.
Use Multiple Monitors
Investing in multiple screens can improve your editing speed drastically in the long run. Even if you can’t afford to buy multiple monitors, you can use an old TV or extra monitor lying around to get more space.
This will help you speed up you’re editing by quickly displaying everything at a glance. You can dedicate a monitor to full-screen video playback and use others for timeline and file management.
Final Thoughts
Editing videos is a complex and time-consuming job. Quality is, without a doubt, the core of editing projects. However, tips like these help the editor increase speed and efficiency, allowing more time to focus on the quality of content.
When put into practice, these video editing ideas should improve your editing speed considerably so that you can win back some of your valuable time.
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