How to Edit Videos FASTER — 10 Tips from 10 Years Spent Editing
Here are my 10 favorite tips for editing videos faster no matter what editing program you use.
1. Use Multiple Monitors
Even if you're just using an extra monitor or old TV you have laying around, having more screen real estate when editing helps you save time by quickly seeing everything you need to at a glance.
My preferred setup is an ultra-wide monitor for the timeline, a vertical monitor to the side for file management & effects windows, and a 3rd above for full screen video playback.
When I'm editing on the go I make sure to bring my iPad Pro to use Sidecar and have more screen space.
2. Stock Footage
What slows me down the most when I’m editing a video is when I’m missing one or two shots I know would make the video better but I don’t have them. Sometimes a simple drone shot or macro of something related to what I’m talking about is all I need to finish up a video.
But if I have to stop editing and go film again, I lose a lot of time.
That’s where subscribing to a stock video service like this video’s sponsor, Storyblocks, is extremely valuable.
You can quickly search by collections to find a shot like aerial footage of a place you aren't licensed to fly a drone.
You can search for the perfect video clip filtered by category, resolution, and clip length.
Download the clips you want, test them out in the edit, and hit export.
They also have Motion Graphics templates for After Effects and Apple's Motion of lower thirds, logo reveals, or typography.
If you want to learn more about Storyblocks and their unlimited download plans, go to storyblocks.com/calebwojcik.
3. Keyboard Shortcuts
The more you have to use your mouse while video editing, the slower you’ll be. Take the time to learn as many keyboard shortcuts as you can.
Every time you're about to use your mouse to do something, learn and use the keyboard shortcut instead.
Find them by hovering over any button, reading the shortcuts in the dropdown menus, or pull up the keyboard shortcut menu to see them all.
Here are my 10 most used ones.
- Q & W - ripple trim delete to playhead either forwards or backwards
- J, K, L - to reverse playback, pause, & play forward
- E & R - to go 1 frame forward or back (or hold shift to jump 10 frames)
- Z & Shift+Z - to zoom in and out
- D - select clip at playhead
If you want to learn more keyboard shortcuts watch my video about my 37 favorite for Premiere Pro here.
4. Make & Use Proxies
If your computer can't playback your video files smoothy and you keep having to pause your timeline, that’s really going to slow you down.
While you could drop the playback quality (by selecting a 1/2 or 1/4 in Premiere or selecting Better Playback instead of Better Quality in Final Cut Pro X), if you really want to fly through an edit with high resolution footage, you should make proxies.
Proxies are basically smaller resolution versions of your videos files that you link to the original files.
Since they are lower quality like 720p or 480p, even old laptops can handle playback.
To make proxies, just right click on your files, select create proxies, and choose a quality preset.
Then, when you go to export, the original files are used at their full resolution.
This is really helpful if you're filming in 4K or higher or editing with a laptop.
5. Edit in Stages
To stay focused while editing, only do one kind of task at a time.
Here are the 7 stages I edit my videos in:
- Work on the speaking, A-Roll edit
- Add B-Roll into to the right places
- Color correct & Color grade
- Insert graphics
- Add in music
- Add in sound effects
- Review & export
Instead of going down the rabbit hole of an idea you have or getting sidetracked by an issue, use markers to come back to it later.
Then you can batch your audio edits, creating graphics, or fixing exposure problems all at once.
6. Edit Backwards
If you're trying to cut down A-Roll of someone delivering directly to the camera try editing it backwards the first time through.
Most likely the best takes will be at the end of each attempted section of a script or outline delivered before moving on to the next part. This way you can quickly grab those best takes instead of having to watch back through all the mistakes.
7. Give Notes While Filming
To piggyback off the previous tip, to speed it up even more you can give visual or audible notes to the future editor of the video while filming.
I either snap or clap 3 times when I make a mistake recording my A-Roll so the audio waveforms shows 3 spikes. Then during the edit I know that the section right before those 3 spikes is a mistake and I can delete it without watching it.
You could use a different number like 5 for the best takes.
Another way would be to put your hand in front of the camera after a good take. I heard of this from Chris Lavinge over at Wistia who learned it from friends who made skateboard videos, which usually have a lot of failed attempts at doing tricks.
Then in the edit just scrub to right before a hand is in front of the camera and that is a usable take. This works with both A-Roll and B-Roll.
8. Cull B-Roll in a Separate Timeline
Speaking of B-Roll, the quickest way I've found to cull through and choose your best shots is to make a brand new empty timeline sequence.
Then either go one by one scrubbing through all your B-Roll to select in to out points on each clip and insert those to a timeline with the “insert” keyboard shortcut.
Or just drag all of your B-Roll into an empty sequence and quickly chop it up with the ripple delete keyboard shortcuts I mentioned earlier to only include the best parts.
9. Stack Multiple Timelines
Once you're ready to add your b-roll into your main sequence with your a-roll, stack the two timelines on top of each other in your editing program.
This way you can quickly copy and paste the clips you want from the top b-roll timeline into the bottom sequence.
To keep track of the b-roll clips I’ve used, I then either disable them or drag them up to a higher track to signify they’ve been added already.
10. Create Presets
If you find yourself remaking a lot of the same effects or wasting time repeatedly doing the same things video after video, spend the extra time to create and save presets for them.
Here are a few of the presets I've made that I copy over from previous videos.
- Color Correction & Color Grading settings
- Audio Effects for different microphones/environments
- Cropping an image to show up in the upper corner & add a drop shadow
- Transitions for graphics
- Export Settings for Media Encoder
If you have any tips for editing videos faster, let me know in the comments below this video.
And if you want to learn more about video editing, check out my courses on Premiere Pro and Final Cut Pro X here.