post production tips

Fighting Decision Fatigue as a Video Editor

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Fighting Decision Fatigue as a Video Editor

This article discusses what decision fatigue is and how to fight it as a video editor.

Introducing the Problem of Decision Fatigue

Wayyy back when I wrote a post called something like, “Done is Better than Perfect”. The TL;DR of it was that most of the time getting a video project out the door and delivered is better than having a perfect video project. Getting your video over to your client, director, producer, or audience is more important than having the video be 100% flawless.

The perfect video project simply doesn’t exist (unless you count Interstellar which by all accounts is the greatest movie ever made 😉). There will always be adjustments you could make. There could always be shots that need more color correction. More audio that needs sweetening. Different pacing, shot selection, etc. The thing about videos is that we’re making a 1,000-piece puzzle with 10,000 pieces while not being able to see the box to see what we’re supposed to be creating.

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The only thing you need to succeed in 2019

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(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.

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Add Edit in Premiere Pro

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This tutorial is on how to perform an Add Edit, or split a clip, in Premiere Pro similar to how you would in Avid Media Composer.

Increment and Save in After Effects

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This tutorial explains how Increment and Save works in After Effects. It’s a simple method for backing up your AE projects.

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

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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

Show and Hide Properties in After Effects

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This video tutorial and article covers different keyboard shortcuts in Adobe After Effects to show and hide layer properties.

Side Hustles for Video Editors — Command+Edit Podcast Episode 85

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In this episode of the Command+Edit Podcast Nick and I discuss side hustles for video editors and ways to earn income using your post production abilities.

Black and White Video Tutorial in Avid Media Composer

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This tutorial teaches you how to create black and white video in Avid Media Composer using the Color Correction tool and how to keyframe saturation.

Some brief thoughts on creating creative work

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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.

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The Creation Cycle of a Video Editing Project

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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!

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