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This guide will show you how to Edit Videos Faster by giving you some simple tips and tricks for each step of the process. It will not only save you a lot of time, but it will also make your videos better overall. Cutting your videos down can take a long time and give you headaches and frustration.
This is the part of making a video that many people hate, and some even do everything they can to avoid it. Editing a video can take a long time, especially if you have a lot of footage to cut down to make a rough cut. Find the part of the video you want, cut it at the right spot, and put it back together in a way that makes sense. This can slow down the editing process by a lot.
We do this by giving you a super accurate transcript of the footage and then letting you edit the video by editing the text, just like you would with any other word-based document. So, you can get to a rough cut much faster if you just highlight and choose the important parts of the video instead of trying to find and match timestamps.
ways to Edit Videos Faster
Keyboard Shortcuts
When editing videos, you’ll be slower the more you have to use your mouse. Learn as many shortcuts as you can for the keyboard. Instead of using the mouse to do something, learn the keyboard shortcut and use it instead.
You can see all of them by moving your mouse over any button, reading the keyboard shortcuts in the drop-down menus, or bringing up the keyboard shortcut menu. Here are the 10 we use the most.
- 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
Stock Footage
When we are editing a video, what slows me down the most is when we don’t have one or two shots that we know would make the video better but we don’t have them. Sometimes, all we need to finish a video is a simple drone shot or close-up of something related to what we are talking about.
But we lose a lot of time if we have to stop editing and go back to filming. This is why subscribing to a stock video service like Storyblocks, which is the sponsor of this video, is a great idea. You can quickly find a shot like aerial footage of a place where you don’t have a licence to fly a drone by searching by collections.
You can find the right video clip by searching by category, resolution, and length of clip. You can download the clips you want, try them out in the editor, and then click “Export.” They also have templates for lower thirds, logo reveals, and typography for After Effects and Apple’s Motion.
Make & Use Proxies
If your computer can’t play your video files smoothly and you have to keep pausing your timeline, you’ll move much more slowly. Even though you could lower the playback quality (by choosing 1/2 or 1/4 in Premiere or Better Playback instead of Better Quality in Final Cut Pro X), you should make proxies if you really want to move quickly through an edit with high-resolution footage.
Proxy files are just smaller versions of your video files that you can link to the real files. Because the quality is lower, like 720p or 480p, even old laptops can play them.
To make proxies, just right-click on your files, choose “Create Proxies,” and pick a quality preset. The original files are then used at their full resolution when you go to export. This is very helpful if you’re editing on a laptop or shooting in 4K or higher.
Use Multiple Monitors
Even if you only use an extra monitor or an old TV you have lying around, having more screen space helps you save time when you’re editing because you can see everything you need to see at once.
Our preferred setup is an ultra-wide monitor for the timeline, a vertical monitor to the side for file management and effects windows, and a third monitor above for full-screen video playback. When we need more screen space while editing on the go, we make sure to bring our iPad Pro so we can use Sidecar.
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 getting lost in an idea or getting sidetracked by a problem, use markers to remind yourself to come back to it later. Then you can do things like edit audio, make graphics, or fix problems with exposure all at once.
FAQ
How do YouTubers edit videos so quickly?
What do most people who post videos on YouTube use to edit them? As I said before, iMovie, Final Cut Pro, and Adobe Premiere Pro CC are the top three programmes that YouTubers use to edit their videos. A first option is a great tool for people just starting out. If you are a complete newbie, you can use iMovie on Mac OS.
Why do I take so long to edit videos?
Video editors will need a lot of time to look through all of the clips, trim and patch them, add visual effects, and render the whole video. When there isn’t enough footage is another example. To add more content, the editors will have to take hours away from their work on the video.
What is 321 rule in video editing?
The 321 rule is something that all video makers use. This means you should always make three copies of everything you make and keep them in two separate places. You only have one goal for your video: to tell a great story to your audience. This can be done by editing your content over and over again until it’s perfect.
How long should it take to edit a 3 minute video?
A simple 3-minute video might only take 6 hours to edit, but a more complicated 3-minute video might take 30 hours or more to edit. When you add in things like logging, tagging, colour correction, mixing, and compression, editing your video can take days or even months.