The Video Editor’s Digest | Edition #39

July 28, 2019 by Josh Short

Hey there and welcome back to the Video Editor’s Digest!

In case you’re new around here, in the Video Editor’s Digest you get the lowdown on some cool happenings from around the internet on things related to video editing, video production, or just being a creative professional. It also gives me a chance to update you about new pieces on the EVF website and YouTube channel and tell you any freelance, work, or life stories I may have.

If you have a resource of your own or one you stumble across that you want to share in a future Video Editor’s Digest, you can submit it here.

Alright, let’s get into it!

Quick Tip!

Always fiddling with the settings in Adobe Media Encoder? Create your own presets by clicking the button that’s circled in the picture. After you save your preset it’ll appear at the top of the Preset dropdown list for that format. I have 10 or so presets saved for what it’s worth.

Adobe Media Encoder Export Settings with Save Preset button circled

The Video Editor’s Digest | Edition #38

July 21, 2019 by Josh Short

Hey there and welcome back to the Video Editor’s Digest!

If you have a resource of your own or one you stumble across that you want to share in a future Video Editor’s Digest, you can submit it here.

Alright, let’s get into it!

The Video Editor’s Digest | Edition #37

July 14, 2019 by Josh Short

Hey there and welcome back to the Video Editor’s Digest!

One last thing before getting started. I created a form for you to submit resources of your own or ones you stumble across for publication in future Video Editor’s Digests. You can access it here.

Alright, let’s get into it!

Recent Life and Career Changes

May 30, 2019May 30, 2019 by Josh Short

Eight months ago my personal life got flipped upside down. Four months ago my professional career took a drastic turn. And a few weeks from now every waking second of my existence will forever be altered.

You can probably guess one of the changes already — my wife and I are pregnant. Our son will be here before we know it. Man, I’m nervous and excited and every other emotion in between.

crib in nursery

The other twist of fate life threw at me was a career change. I traded in the edit bay for another role. In February I started transitioning off of editing projects and over to the producing / project management side of things. I’m with the same company and working on the same product but in a completely different role. As of mid-March I moved over to this full-time and started growing a team under me.

The only thing you need to succeed in 2019

July 19, 2019January 2, 2019 by Josh Short

(Sorry for the clickbait-y title… I’m rusty at writing good, catchy titles)

It’s early in 2019. The confetti is still falling. Most of us are back to the office. Ready or not it’s time to begin another year in our careers. Another year of our lives.

Looking back at 2018 maybe there was something you didn’t do. Something you didn’t learn. Or something you didn’t accomplish. A project, a habit, a new NLE to master, a documentary to edit. So we look to 2019 as our saving grace. We have a whole fresh calendar for us to get X done. And that fills us with a glimmer of hope. That we can make that change this year. Heck, we have 12 whole months.

As the confetti is swept up and the hangovers from NYE are cured, we head back to the edit bay or cubical or home office. We got this in 2019. Then…we check our email.

Finding Your Path from Student to Professional Editor with Grace Novak — Command+Edit Podcast Episode 86

September 11, 2020May 1, 2018 by Josh Short

Hey there! This is a very special episode of the Command+Edit Podcast. I interview Grace Novak. Grace is in the midst of one of the scariest points in her life — trying to figure out how to make the jump from student to professional. Our discussion focuses on topics such as networking strategies, how to make … Read more

Revealing My Freelance Video Editor Rate

May 25, 2020March 3, 2018 by Josh Short

This article tells you what my freelance video editor rate is, how I got to this number, and how flexible this dollar amount is.

Some brief thoughts on creating creative work

July 19, 2019January 4, 2018 by Josh Short

There several dozen half-written and probably twice as many fully-written but never published blog posts scattered across my computer, laptop, Google Drive and various Moleskins. They contain thoughts I’ve had on many post production-related topics that I’ve worked countless hours on. And they’re just sitting there in digital purgatory.

“It’s not good enough.”

“Someone could say that you don’t mention ______ method/shortcut/etc.”

“You aren’t really an expert. Who are you to give advice?”

I could think of endless reasons not to ship each one of them.

Today I was watching some random YouTube video from this guy another YouTube guy I routinely watch recommended. His production quality was low. He knew it. But he said something that struck a nerve with me.

The Creation Cycle of a Video Editing Project

June 2, 2020November 19, 2017 by Josh Short

You probably don’t edit airport employee training videos. You probably don’t edit online marketing videos for healthcare startups. And you probably don’t edit small-budget YouTube comedy series. These are all types of videos I edit. They all have different audiences, goals and styles. Each video contains unique challenges and are different in so many ways from one another. One thing is the same though — the creation cycle of a video editing project.

For just about every video I edit I go through the exact same routine. In this post I’m going to explain what that process is.

I could write about pre-production for hours but I’m going to start from after the footage is shot and we’re in post. Let’s get into it!

Creation Cycle Phase 1: Pre-Production in Post Production

This is the first phase in the creation cycle of a video editing project. But before I begin what many would call “the actual editing” of a video there’s a lot that takes place. The time you spend right now in this phase will reap more benefits than time spent in any other phase. You will in all likelihood edit video faster with more time spent working on the tasks in this phase. It’s kinda like pre-production but you’re already in post.

Review pre-production notes

Read over any notes you have from the client/producer/director/whoever on the goals, audience, specifics, branding guidelines, must-haves, must-have nots, etc. of the video. Alternatively if possible you should talk to the client/producer to go over these details again. Things change during production and sometimes you’re left out of the loop. Tackle any possible surprises ASAP!

I Got A New Job!

July 19, 2019November 8, 2017 by Josh Short

It’s been awhile since I’ve truly written something for EVF. Actually it’s been awhile since I’ve written much of anything. My writing muscle was burnt out after letting my former daily blog expire and disappear into a digital black hole back in August. Two years of writing and publishing everyday… Fast forward a quarter of … Read more