What does your editing process look like? Have any hacks to speed up the job? Let me know! And don't forget to grab that sweet, sweet 70% discount on Audiio's royalty free music Pro Plan using the code Luc70: audiio.com/lucforsyth
20+ year editor here, this process is a must. Great video Luc! I like to take it one step further and group like clips together in my dailies and then use a track to drop a text title above those clips and name the title something related to the grouped clips instead of using the marker range. Then when you scroll through the timeline quickly you can see what the group is without needing to hover over a marker and can easily move the title with the clips if needed. I do the same thing for interviews and leave a note in the title that gives me the gist of what they said. It takes a little extra time but makes it so much easier to find what you need when you're weeks or months into a project. Any specific clips that I want to stand out I change the clip color and use the top three clip colors in Resolve (orange, apricot and yellow) as kind of a rating system. Again takes time but when you're dealing with hundreds or maybe thousands of clips, anything that makes it so you can scan through a timeline quickly and find what you need saves 10x more time during the edit.
Specially usefull with interviews! First time I tried this was after sorting the footage from a videoclip. Most of the footage was from the band on their studio, so I divided my daily in band members. It made my life muuuch easier.
This workflow was specific to the needs of the doc style show I worked on but here was my workflow. - Put ALL B-Roll into one timeline - Then they are organized / grouped by scene - As I'm doing this I delete any footage that is 100% clearly unusable but like to keep everything else. - After all clips are grouped by scene then you order the scenes in chronological order - The scenes are then color coded. Do this for B-Roll and the interview footage so that if the interview footage is labeled a forest green color, you can go to the b-roll and quickly identify the related footage since it's the same color. - I never used a bright yellow/gold color for color coding scenes. I assigned that to a keyboard shortcut and used that color label to highlight the best 10/10 individual B-roll clips. These are the best shots that I know I want to use. It's also helpful for social media teaser edits since all the best shots are highlighted. - There is sometimes overlap between shots that can be used in more than one scene. In that case you can select the clip, color code the video with the primary scene it fits best into, and color code the audio for the other scene it could potentially work in. My show had minimal overlap so I would usually just be able memorize which shots could work in other scenes. But yeah no idea if anyone will ever even see this comment but it worked really well for me because the show was structured in a way that every scene was another location with it's own interview specific to that location and we never jumped back and forth so it was just one by one. So there was minimal overlap between B-Roll. In that case, this workflow worked beautifully.
I’ve just finished and uploaded an interview I did a couple of weeks back. In the process of editing, I was just beginning to do similar techniques in Resolve. Because we touched on subjects in and off throughout the interview, I had to piece all of those together in separate bins and timelines. The best thing I learned, by accident, was that you can select all the timelines and create a new timeline out of those. THEN, editing the original timelines affects the master one. This saved me so much time and stress. I know this is an older video, but I love how it showed up just as my video went live.
I’ve avoided editing my personal project for several years now. I’ve been filming it for over twenty years now so it’s not just a film but rather my “ life’s work”. So, yes, I have to get past this stasis I’m stuck in or I’ll die with a lot of footage that someone will simply toss as pointless.
I cannot express to you how much I love you chill, helpful, straightforward your videos are. This one helped me immensely. I'm struggling less with gear these days, and more eith pre & post production workflow efficiency & organization. This video showed me a lot of was I could have made my current project easier!
The Cut window in Resolve was a huge mystery for me when I first got started with editing. I didn't really understand it's value, and then we started working on some bigger projects and I bought the Speed Editor (as a bundle special with the studio license) and it changed everything. Saved as days and days of work in the long run, and now we have a super slick workflow. We don't touch a project until the Speed Editor has been dragged across the full set of footage, and we have extracted a master file of highlight cuts to begin the real process of editing. Great demo Luc, I hope lots of people are going to head this advice :)
This is funny, but I've gone in the opposite direction. I used to create dailies reels but this became very time consuming. Now I edit interviews first and create a narrative. Then I look through folders of appropriate footage to find supporting visuals. This works because I'm a solo operator and have at least an idea of what has been shot. On rare occasions, I play with the dailies first and create sequences, but the story has to come first. Dropping all footage into a project eventually makes a project file unwieldy for the computer, so selecting which clip you want to include cuts down on project file size.
@@RyanRhodes90 Most jobs have a limited amount of subject material, which can be categorized according to location or activity. For example, shooting a chef doc would have footage of the interview, cooking, directing servers, maybe some market garden footage to find produce, exteriors of the restaurant or venue for establishing shots, etc. Shooting a sports team will result in a sequence of events like entering training, warm up, drills, game play, cool down, and so forth. Maybe you visit the subject at home, or out in a social event. Each shooting location or activity gets its own folder in the hard drive. Instead of painstakingly going through the rushes to make dailies reels, just look at the thumbnails so you know what's there. Then you listen to the narrative you created in the timeline and consider what footage will match it, then you find it in the folders. Because you've looked at your dailies to put them into folders, you know what is there. As you place footage, the visual story also takes shape. Sometimes you end up resequencing the narrative because the story flows better or you've discovered a better visual sequence that tells the story.
same here. also some suggestions based on several years of direct experience: 1. if you have to "find the story during editing" you (as a director) are in trouble. yes you can find unexpected gems during editing, but: you do need to work on research and putting together some kind of a story design so to have a map that will guide you through preproduction, filming and editing (and promotion + distribution actually). you need to know what the doc is about 2. if you shot 150 hours of footage to deliver a 15 min video you are a rookie filmmaker and need to hire a proper producer if you are considering an editing career: be clear that the editor/director relationship is (almost) everything for you so find a way to say no (graciously) to any director who can't answer to "what's this doc about? what's the story?" btw: story in its essence: situation, goal, obstacles/conflicts, stakes. you might want to read: The Practical Guide to Documentary Editing. good luck
Thanks Luc! 100% the way to do it. I can confirm that getting your footage out of bins and onto timelines is really the only way to handle a lot of footage.
I saw another editor creating all the ‘selects’ and editing from there, and I have always done that. Never knew I was already making ‘Dailies.’ It’s the best way to know your footage, and find hidden gems within that give angles to your story you might have not considered.
Luc ~ During the stringout phase I would suggest dropping markers on clips rather than the timeline. That way markers will transfer with the clips when moved to another timeline. Also taking the time to add a little metadata to 'keeper clips' along with clip markers aids searching and sorting.later. ... Another great vid.
Luc, you offer some of the most helpful videos I've encountered on RUclips. I just wanted to take a moment to thank you for all the hard work you put into educating beginners like me. You're the best!
Davinci resolve is gold! I was a regular Adobe Premier user for the longest time and switched over to DR. Man I am so glad I made that decision! Thank you for this video by the way. It helps ✌🏻 I am a speed editor user now too. I use to use Edit controllers back in the analog days back in the eighties and it jut feels good using it.
Super video Luc. Agree 100% with everything you said - and we learned a lot of this the hard way. The DR markers are very powerful. Love how they are customizable and you can add descriptions. I use a ton of keywords when organizing footage, which is then helpful when you bring everything on to the master. But I can see how the timeline of the dailies can be helpful as well. As you said the key is going through all of your footage, trimming away the fat, and organizing it relentlessly. Thanks for sharing your process and approach.
You are the best Luc! Thanks for all your amazingly inspiring tips and tricks you share! I´m truly so thankful for it, everytime I watch it. You are always spot on! /Peter
Great video. I go about it a little differently with the speed editor. Sort of the opposite of you. I drop all of the footage into the dailies timeline and as I quickly scrub through I discard what I don't need using the split and ripple delete or trip in/out. Then color code scenes. It's so fast, I fly through hours of footage. Awesome tip on dropping in music.
Really appreciate this youtube channel. Thanks for putting the time into each video. It's fun, thoughtful and well explained to someone who might not know alot about the film world. Thank you
Thanks for the video! If you haven't already, try using the "Source Tape" function between Source Clip and Timeline in the upper left corner of your viewer in the Cut page. It aligns all the Broll within your bin end to end so you can just scrub through setting ins and outs and inserting without ever touching your mouse to change clips until the very end. Speeds things up soooo much.
OK, that explains what was happening when I was working in the cut page. I couldn't figure out why it seemed to be jumping to the next clip when I wasn't finished with the previous clip. My fat fingers. I have a little tab of velcro on my F9 key as my tactile helper so I correctly press that to put the trimmed segment at the end of the chain while keeping my eyes on the monitor. F9 is a bit of a finger stretch from JKL.
LUC!!! Thank you so much! This is literally going to save me a ton of time and stress! I already have the speed editor but I spend most of my time in the edit tab in Resolve. I never thought about making dailies and using that to organize and plan the story. I recently hired an editor because I felt soooo overwhelmed with the mountain of footage and I had no idea where to start, just as you stated in this video. I ended up spending the same amount of time fixing the problems in the videos than I would have spent if I had edited the videos myself. Thank you for this video. I feel like such a newb! 🤦♂️
Great approach to starting the edit - always the toughest part! Davinci Resolve makes this process even a bit easier using the Cut Page's 'Source Tape' - that lets you play through all of your footage without having to worry about advancing shot by shot... (And yes - Resolve Rules - having a single program that can do it all from edit to color and sound allows you to tweak all parts of the production without having to transfer from program to program - making tweaks and fine tuning much more seamless!)
I always start at the beginning. Each step of my hike I'll take footage tell I get to where I'm hiking to. Start from the first shot tell I reach the end makes it easy
Awesome! Great job. Exactly what I needed. Not a professional. Beginner. No training. I would call this photography/editing theory. Where rough edges of the process are made smooth without the hours, headache or invention. More please. :) A hundred thanks. @lucforsyth Keep 'em coming.
This works when you have plenty of time to edit. But for clients who want a quick turnaround, like 2 or 3 days. I'd rather go straight into it. I try to plan ahead while I shoot and pay attention to key moments live, so when I'm in the cutting room, I remember what to look for.
Great stuff, finally learned the meaning of a few words 😊 thanks! About the fan noise, that should be pretty easy to fix in Resolve? Voice isolation usually takes care of it
The key thing is that you get a review process going, and that you never stop organizing the clips you have. You need to watch all of your unedited footage in order to start making experimental timelines of "selects". Timelines impose a clip ordering which is crucial for story formation, but how quickly you want to move there is perhaps an individual choice. I often start like you do by cutting an initial timeline, adding "cue card" titles in between categories. The outputs of this process are that we get to review all the rushes and that we get to create small patches of a story. Then I tend to add meta-data to the clips that went into the timeline. Generally, the goal is to add a bit more meta-data every day, but keep focus on timeline creation. Typically, the cue cards ends up as a story outline. Taken in isolation, they form a representation of the rushes in distillation. As you watch your rushes, you generate more of these small cards, which you can push into a timeline for planning, or you can pull them into a non-linear text writing tool such as scrivener. This allows you to create new timelines in a one-to-one relation with the cards, selecting and editing the footage for each section. Assembly follows naturally. This workflow embraces the idea that rushes are non-linear in nature, and it works bottom-up rather than top-down. As you assemble more and more pieces, the overarching story will form. This story formation process is what imposes linearity in the content ultimately leading to a final cut.
(Rough draft of thoughts) Dope, I gotta start doing this. Usually I just start with the media page then find my first clip and go from there, then edit it how I want. I don’t use folders but I probably should because then I can categorize on my Clips. I also got a mouse with extra buttons and mapped them to davinci so I can cut, delete, copy, paste and save. The only part that takes forever is figuring out how to edit the whole video and cutting down clips. Also finding music takes forever. I’ll actually start by finding a song or already know what I’m looking for but most of the time I have to search for the best song to go with the project. Another part that stops me is creative block and being overwhelmed with a lot of footage.
FCPX has an incredible keyword and smart collection system that makes dailies making and clip search incredibly efficient. It speeds up doc film work 10 fold.
If u don't have the lovely device, totally remapping the numpad is the next option to sit and crunch for hours. I enjoyed your commentary because of the lingo, I learned a lot of terms and resolve has also saved me from the horrifying 'cloud' of Adobe.
any tips for organizing huge b-roll libraries? i end up using lots of footage from previous projects, so i'm rarely just using the new footage i shoot.
I would do exactly the same thing - make dailies of all the stuff and keep them in one project. I’d probably organize by theme and keywords rather than shoot day if it’s really big
Great post.. totally agree! Editing per say is beautiful.. but the 'organizing of the media" is the boring part & a headache! But is a MUST! I never use the "cut" page... probably I should try it! Once you ensemble the cut page with the clips you like...if you move to the "edit" page... that same organization within the edit page timeline remains? thanks!
What I found was that if I start directly on the editing timeline, like I've been doing out of habit through several systems since 2002, it's too easy for me to get tempted with editing individual clips and arranging them as a working sequence, getting ahead of myself. If I stay on the Cut page I'm focused on the task at hand so I'm much quicker. Stay on task and it's "one and done" for cutting.
This was really helpful. Sorry if this is a dumb question, but do you then just copy / paste the clips from the daily timeline into the master or is there a more efficient way to reconcile the various timelines?
Once the dailies are done I like to start my raw footage using "panckackes". I will place my raw suquence in the botton of my workspace and the other sequence(s) on top of. Idealy you want to be working with a source monitor, program monitor and you "pancakes" underneath. Once you are done with dailies,cmarked it and got familiar with your footage, it is super easy to throw the right in/out selections form the upper pancakes to your raw, scene... whatever
Oh boy the way you feel about editing reflects my own experience so we'll, it's crazy 😅 On my current projects I just do complete string outs without even setting in/out points that helps me remove decision fatigue when I just want to get started. While reviewing I just put cuts at good sections. Recently I had a shoot tho where interview and B-roll flow into each other within the same clip and I'm not quite sure how to deal with that yet .
Luc, two questions: 1. In this video, you've used 5 seconds of those b-roll shots as clips you lay down in the timeline. But cataloging the "magic moment" shots from an interview is a different thing. You wouldn't just shoot a few seconds of an interview and call it good. You'd actually clip key pieces of each interview and string those on the timeline, right? In some ways, it might have been a bit more compelling to show how you handle that process rather than clips of largely static b-roll shots. Even in those b-roll shots, what probably should end up on the timeline might include key camera moves or other parts of those shots, not just the first 5 seconds. Do I have this right? 2. My section question is about the use of transcripts, notably transcripts now created easily within Premiere Pro. It seems like the new tools available enable you to produce an organizational component to these dailies that transcends just the visual, but meaty content from interviews and other shots that include speaking. I remember working on a huge corporate project and taking key interview bits and jotting them down on 3x5 cards. I would then pin these in sequence on the wall so I could start virtually assembling the cut. Can you discuss your process in this regard?
I make markers wnd text to all interview Questions so i can go thru my index and puzzle it together or i can get fast feedback from my customers for specific parts 😊
Would love to see you strap a Gopro on and talk us through a live POV b-roll capture in the field. These shots you have look great, even in Log you can tell the compositions are great.
Welcome to the world of the speed editor! It obviously makes the process of cutting faster but its also just fun once you get into the flow with it. I picked mine up a while back when I also switched to resolve. Also, didn't get a chance to chat at AOD's film fest but I'm sure we'll cross paths on set at some point 🤙
I think the most important thing to do, is to understand the structure of your film/doco. Then you can work out how to organise your rushes. Ultimately it’s going to be organised in to bins that represent the structure of the documentary itself. And you can reorganise as you go… after, all the programme will change as it forms! Just organising in a way that helps you to remember where footage is. I’m not sure B-roll on timelines is a better way to know your rushes in itself, but it’s another way. The key here, is to train your memory and know how to manage a jigsaw puzzle in your mind.
I learned to edit video on a Sony RM-440 (yes, connected to a VO-5800 and a VO-5850). Then I switched to Avid (our University operation was one of the first to use Xpress DV running on specialized IBM/Windows NT hardware) and quickly learned how to wear out the JKL keys. But when my ancient computer finally died on my personal system my editing came to a screeching halt. I can’t justify the cost of an Avid license for my current hardware. But that Speed Editor would be a literal return home for me; I just need to figure out how to get Resolve to quit dropping frames…
I like to use a lot of bins! This is because I like to edit with thumbnails/story board mode. I keyword my footage generally so I can also use the search function. I can golden flag any gold clips, and green flag clips I’m not too interested in but could be good for story reasons. For clips that have different shots in them (can’t tap the record button for example) I can set in and out points and just use subclips. Any problems with my method / tips for improvement? Are there things the timeline method is better at? I feel good about this so far, but maybe I’m just scratching the surface?
How do you charge for editing? I imagine you sometimes had only to do the shooting and someone else done the editing or other way around. I find that I can’t really charge a lot for it per hour. Because I feel like it’s not really worth it but what do I know…
I suppose keyboards are like brownies: some of us like’em chunky, others like it smooth. I enjoy keys of quiescence, but totally get the appeal of the audible response to each action.
I use fcpx.. and o think it’s easier for me to just folders outside fcpx and just grab me to the fcpx and they will appear as you wanted, all organised.
Thanks for another great video, Luc. Have you ever explored any of the many editing peripherals for Premiere Pro (e.g. Loupedeck and TourBox) that provide functionality similar to Speed Editor?
You're welcome! I have seen a lot of them advertised and some of them look great. My main gripes with premiere are about the subscription plan and sluggishness, so the speed editor is only a bonus - not the main reason I'm thinking of jumping ship
Great video Luc! I am a hobbyist and been using Vegas Pro for my personal projects. In the last few weeks I started dabbling with FCP and Davinci, and liking both of them as well. Planning to get the Blackmagic Speed Editor hardware to make it a very tactile, fun experience to edit! In Davinci, would it have been easier to use the "Source tape" for your use case? Or did you think it is far more easier and precise to work with each different shot separately? Also, my other thought was, if I have whole bunch of B-roll and a lot of Primary footage, I was wondering: 1) I use what you did here to clean up my B-roll to the essential shots 2) In my primary timeline where I have my A-roll (say, and interview with a business owner), what is a good technique to use these cleaned up B-roll elements to put on top of my A-roll timeline for quick overlays? (As the business owner speaks, I may want to show a cut away of the railway tanks ).
When I say "Source tape", I meant the "Source tape" feature in the "Cut" screens, where all of your source will line up next to each other, to enable the editor to quickly go over the entirety of all the shots with iN and OUT points as one scrubs along, and adding/appending them to the timeline!
I'm just learning resolve myself, so the source tape thing is new for me - and I'm 100% going to do that next time! I would lay the a-roll first, then when it's in the right order I'd open up the b-roll timeline and just start layers shots where they make sense.
after 20 yrs of doing documentaries, I can confidently say that a real documentary filmmaker’s place is in the toilet crying under the shower for your regularly scheduled existential despair. That and realizing that you should’ve done a travel series instead of doing an investigative documentary. (rant) Then after doing that travel series after that investigative docu, u work on human interest stories for a a news channel so that u’ll leave the office at 6pm and not am but then u win an award for an action short film because u got bored in between human interest stories.
Love my speed editor! Check out the “source tape” feature in the cut page - saves even more time because you don’t have to jump from clip to clip, you can make your dailies even faster, Resolve for life!
And this is why I haven't edited my showreel yet... because I have no idea where to start haha. Time to start making dailies for "good shots". Man, I really want to buy resolve but our currency just halved in value, so resolve doubled in price over night :(
Cannot see your subtitles during , “ shooting dailies “ because your shirt had white logo which was making it difficult to see what’s written in the caption and the subtitles is also white coloured so .. just a small feedback still i thought it would help you in improving and not making the same mistakes again
I would say have a working drive/swap drive with a fast nvme ssd 500GB-1TB for working up each edit part as you go. Start by copying over (a copy from the slower storage to the fast storage) a few days of footage at a time onto it to make your dailies, as mentioned above. Export/render those out save into a project folder on your non-fast storage. Delete the footage from the fast storage (you should have the original files still on the slower drive) and repeat the cycle until you're covered the entire 4.5 TB of the job. As Luc said, put all your dailies together into one file and review it so you can see what you have that is useable. That'll help you write your project. You'll find yourself down to a consolidated number of clips you'll use, so when it's time to edit, just copy the usable clips to the fast storage to make your project.
I just wish blackmagic would do some minor qol tweaks to keywords. I know people are used to timelines and flags, but i think in keywords to perform a similar process that endures outside of a single project.
What does your editing process look like? Have any hacks to speed up the job? Let me know!
And don't forget to grab that sweet, sweet 70% discount on Audiio's royalty free music Pro Plan using the code Luc70: audiio.com/lucforsyth
I’m a newb but cutting dailies every day takes a lot of the stress away.
20+ year editor here, this process is a must. Great video Luc! I like to take it one step further and group like clips together in my dailies and then use a track to drop a text title above those clips and name the title something related to the grouped clips instead of using the marker range. Then when you scroll through the timeline quickly you can see what the group is without needing to hover over a marker and can easily move the title with the clips if needed. I do the same thing for interviews and leave a note in the title that gives me the gist of what they said. It takes a little extra time but makes it so much easier to find what you need when you're weeks or months into a project. Any specific clips that I want to stand out I change the clip color and use the top three clip colors in Resolve (orange, apricot and yellow) as kind of a rating system. Again takes time but when you're dealing with hundreds or maybe thousands of clips, anything that makes it so you can scan through a timeline quickly and find what you need saves 10x more time during the edit.
Great tip, to add a text title for easy indexing/scanning !
That's a great tip Jay, thank you!
Specially usefull with interviews!
First time I tried this was after sorting the footage from a videoclip. Most of the footage was from the band on their studio, so I divided my daily in band members. It made my life muuuch easier.
Great suggestions, Jay! I will absolutely put these to use.
This workflow was specific to the needs of the doc style show I worked on but here was my workflow.
- Put ALL B-Roll into one timeline
- Then they are organized / grouped by scene
- As I'm doing this I delete any footage that is 100% clearly unusable but like to keep everything else.
- After all clips are grouped by scene then you order the scenes in chronological order
- The scenes are then color coded. Do this for B-Roll and the interview footage so that if the interview footage is labeled a forest green color, you can go to the b-roll and quickly identify the related footage since it's the same color.
- I never used a bright yellow/gold color for color coding scenes. I assigned that to a keyboard shortcut and used that color label to highlight the best 10/10 individual B-roll clips. These are the best shots that I know I want to use. It's also helpful for social media teaser edits since all the best shots are highlighted.
- There is sometimes overlap between shots that can be used in more than one scene. In that case you can select the clip, color code the video with the primary scene it fits best into, and color code the audio for the other scene it could potentially work in. My show had minimal overlap so I would usually just be able memorize which shots could work in other scenes.
But yeah no idea if anyone will ever even see this comment but it worked really well for me because the show was structured in a way that every scene was another location with it's own interview specific to that location and we never jumped back and forth so it was just one by one. So there was minimal overlap between B-Roll. In that case, this workflow worked beautifully.
I’ve just finished and uploaded an interview I did a couple of weeks back. In the process of editing, I was just beginning to do similar techniques in Resolve.
Because we touched on subjects in and off throughout the interview, I had to piece all of those together in separate bins and timelines.
The best thing I learned, by accident, was that you can select all the timelines and create a new timeline out of those. THEN, editing the original timelines affects the master one. This saved me so much time and stress.
I know this is an older video, but I love how it showed up just as my video went live.
Hell yes. One thing I want to add is...creating, printing and reviewing your transcripts. It's a bit old school but it's helped me a lot.
Great tip!
I’ve avoided editing my personal project for several years now. I’ve been filming it for over twenty years now so it’s not just a film but rather my “ life’s work”. So, yes, I have to get past this stasis I’m stuck in or I’ll die with a lot of footage that someone will simply toss as pointless.
To not die with our art still inside us, that is the task of the artist! Get it out there, buddy!
Please do it. Find a partner to help you with that.
I cannot express to you how much I love you chill, helpful, straightforward your videos are. This one helped me immensely. I'm struggling less with gear these days, and more eith pre & post production workflow efficiency & organization. This video showed me a lot of was I could have made my current project easier!
The Cut window in Resolve was a huge mystery for me when I first got started with editing. I didn't really understand it's value, and then we started working on some bigger projects and I bought the Speed Editor (as a bundle special with the studio license) and it changed everything. Saved as days and days of work in the long run, and now we have a super slick workflow. We don't touch a project until the Speed Editor has been dragged across the full set of footage, and we have extracted a master file of highlight cuts to begin the real process of editing. Great demo Luc, I hope lots of people are going to head this advice :)
This is funny, but I've gone in the opposite direction. I used to create dailies reels but this became very time consuming. Now I edit interviews first and create a narrative. Then I look through folders of appropriate footage to find supporting visuals. This works because I'm a solo operator and have at least an idea of what has been shot. On rare occasions, I play with the dailies first and create sequences, but the story has to come first. Dropping all footage into a project eventually makes a project file unwieldy for the computer, so selecting which clip you want to include cuts down on project file size.
Amazing comment! I like this a lot. How do you sort through footage first so it’s manageable in the project file?
@@RyanRhodes90 Most jobs have a limited amount of subject material, which can be categorized according to location or activity. For example, shooting a chef doc would have footage of the interview, cooking, directing servers, maybe some market garden footage to find produce, exteriors of the restaurant or venue for establishing shots, etc. Shooting a sports team will result in a sequence of events like entering training, warm up, drills, game play, cool down, and so forth. Maybe you visit the subject at home, or out in a social event.
Each shooting location or activity gets its own folder in the hard drive. Instead of painstakingly going through the rushes to make dailies reels, just look at the thumbnails so you know what's there. Then you listen to the narrative you created in the timeline and consider what footage will match it, then you find it in the folders. Because you've looked at your dailies to put them into folders, you know what is there.
As you place footage, the visual story also takes shape. Sometimes you end up resequencing the narrative because the story flows better or you've discovered a better visual sequence that tells the story.
same here.
also some suggestions based on several years of direct experience:
1. if you have to "find the story during editing" you (as a director) are in trouble.
yes you can find unexpected gems during editing, but: you do need to work on research and putting together some kind of a story design so to have a map that will guide you through preproduction, filming and editing (and promotion + distribution actually). you need to know what the doc is about
2. if you shot 150 hours of footage to deliver a 15 min video you are a rookie filmmaker and need to hire a proper producer
if you are considering an editing career: be clear that the editor/director relationship is (almost) everything for you so find a way to say no (graciously) to any director who can't answer to "what's this doc about? what's the story?" btw: story in its essence: situation, goal, obstacles/conflicts, stakes.
you might want to read: The Practical Guide to Documentary Editing.
good luck
@@CaptainWooow Wow this was so insightful! Thank you!
Thanks Luc! 100% the way to do it. I can confirm that getting your footage out of bins and onto timelines is really the only way to handle a lot of footage.
It's the worst, but it has to be done!
I saw another editor creating all the ‘selects’ and editing from there, and I have always done that. Never knew I was already making ‘Dailies.’ It’s the best way to know your footage, and find hidden gems within that give angles to your story you might have not considered.
Luc ~ During the stringout phase I would suggest dropping markers on clips rather than the timeline. That way markers will transfer with the clips when moved to another timeline. Also taking the time to add a little metadata to 'keeper clips' along with clip markers aids searching and sorting.later. ... Another great vid.
Great tips, thanks James!
Luc, you offer some of the most helpful videos I've encountered on RUclips. I just wanted to take a moment to thank you for all the hard work you put into educating beginners like me. You're the best!
Really appreciate the thoughtful, in depth videos. Thanks for sharing, Luc!
You're very welcome, glad it was helpful!
Davinci resolve is gold! I was a regular Adobe Premier user for the longest time and switched over to DR. Man I am so glad I made that decision! Thank you for this video by the way. It helps ✌🏻 I am a speed editor user now too. I use to use Edit controllers back in the analog days back in the eighties and it jut feels good using it.
Hello from BC!!! Getting into Documentaries and Editing is the HARDEST part for me, thanks for this video!! i think this will help A LOT!
Super video Luc. Agree 100% with everything you said - and we learned a lot of this the hard way. The DR markers are very powerful. Love how they are customizable and you can add descriptions. I use a ton of keywords when organizing footage, which is then helpful when you bring everything on to the master. But I can see how the timeline of the dailies can be helpful as well. As you said the key is going through all of your footage, trimming away the fat, and organizing it relentlessly. Thanks for sharing your process and approach.
How come I have sat down to make my first doc edit in Resolve an hour ago. What a PERFECT timing !
haha, destiny!
In Resolve no less. Scary! Haha. Hope it's going well, m8! 🎉
You are the best Luc! Thanks for all your amazingly inspiring tips and tricks you share! I´m truly so thankful for it, everytime I watch it. You are always spot on! /Peter
Great video. I go about it a little differently with the speed editor. Sort of the opposite of you. I drop all of the footage into the dailies timeline and as I quickly scrub through I discard what I don't need using the split and ripple delete or trip in/out. Then color code scenes. It's so fast, I fly through hours of footage. Awesome tip on dropping in music.
Seems like a different approach to end up with the same thing…nice!
I make the same... Is 10x faster
Try this Luc.
Really appreciate this youtube channel. Thanks for putting the time into each video. It's fun, thoughtful and well explained to someone who might not know alot about the film world. Thank you
Thanks, I appreciate you saying that!
Thanks for the video! If you haven't already, try using the "Source Tape" function between Source Clip and Timeline in the upper left corner of your viewer in the Cut page. It aligns all the Broll within your bin end to end so you can just scrub through setting ins and outs and inserting without ever touching your mouse to change clips until the very end. Speeds things up soooo much.
so helpful! Hands off the mouse for this whole process is the goal!
OK, that explains what was happening when I was working in the cut page. I couldn't figure out why it seemed to be jumping to the next clip when I wasn't finished with the previous clip. My fat fingers. I have a little tab of velcro on my F9 key as my tactile helper so I correctly press that to put the trimmed segment at the end of the chain while keeping my eyes on the monitor. F9 is a bit of a finger stretch from JKL.
Speed Editor and Source Tape are like a super power.
LUC!!! Thank you so much! This is literally going to save me a ton of time and stress! I already have the speed editor but I spend most of my time in the edit tab in Resolve.
I never thought about making dailies and using that to organize and plan the story. I recently hired an editor because I felt soooo overwhelmed with the mountain of footage and I had no idea where to start, just as you stated in this video.
I ended up spending the same amount of time fixing the problems in the videos than I would have spent if I had edited the videos myself.
Thank you for this video. I feel like such a newb! 🤦♂️
Great approach to starting the edit - always the toughest part! Davinci Resolve makes this process even a bit easier using the Cut Page's 'Source Tape' - that lets you play through all of your footage without having to worry about advancing shot by shot... (And yes - Resolve Rules - having a single program that can do it all from edit to color and sound allows you to tweak all parts of the production without having to transfer from program to program - making tweaks and fine tuning much more seamless!)
Oh really...this is very good to know - thank you!
Editing is my favorite part it's like a build your own Jigsaw or some kind of reality bending magic
I always start at the beginning. Each step of my hike I'll take footage tell I get to where I'm hiking to. Start from the first shot tell I reach the end makes it easy
Awesome! Great job.
Exactly what I needed. Not a professional. Beginner. No training. I would call this photography/editing theory. Where rough edges of the process are made smooth without the hours, headache or invention. More please. :)
A hundred thanks. @lucforsyth
Keep 'em coming.
This works when you have plenty of time to edit. But for clients who want a quick turnaround, like 2 or 3 days. I'd rather go straight into it. I try to plan ahead while I shoot and pay attention to key moments live, so when I'm in the cutting room, I remember what to look for.
Thanks for this vid, Luc. It is critical in fortifying the foundational process before I get into my documentary. Have a stellar week.
Thank you, same to you!
Great overview of dailies! I’ll be using some of these tips for my upcoming doc!
Great stuff, finally learned the meaning of a few words 😊 thanks! About the fan noise, that should be pretty easy to fix in Resolve? Voice isolation usually takes care of it
Haha, you’re right!
The key thing is that you get a review process going, and that you never stop organizing the clips you have. You need to watch all of your unedited footage in order to start making experimental timelines of "selects". Timelines impose a clip ordering which is crucial for story formation, but how quickly you want to move there is perhaps an individual choice. I often start like you do by cutting an initial timeline, adding "cue card" titles in between categories. The outputs of this process are that we get to review all the rushes and that we get to create small patches of a story. Then I tend to add meta-data to the clips that went into the timeline. Generally, the goal is to add a bit more meta-data every day, but keep focus on timeline creation.
Typically, the cue cards ends up as a story outline. Taken in isolation, they form a representation of the rushes in distillation. As you watch your rushes, you generate more of these small cards, which you can push into a timeline for planning, or you can pull them into a non-linear text writing tool such as scrivener. This allows you to create new timelines in a one-to-one relation with the cards, selecting and editing the footage for each section. Assembly follows naturally.
This workflow embraces the idea that rushes are non-linear in nature, and it works bottom-up rather than top-down. As you assemble more and more pieces, the overarching story will form. This story formation process is what imposes linearity in the content ultimately leading to a final cut.
(Rough draft of thoughts)
Dope, I gotta start doing this. Usually I just start with the media page then find my first clip and go from there, then edit it how I want. I don’t use folders but I probably should because then I can categorize on my Clips. I also got a mouse with extra buttons and mapped them to davinci so I can cut, delete, copy, paste and save. The only part that takes forever is figuring out how to edit the whole video and cutting down clips. Also finding music takes forever. I’ll actually start by finding a song or already know what I’m looking for but most of the time I have to search for the best song to go with the project. Another part that stops me is creative block and being overwhelmed with a lot of footage.
That enter key though haha I dig it!
I have the loupedeck + for more than 2 years now. It speeds up my workflow about 60%. So, I completely understand your points.
I love your channel doc......very honest helpful and kool
FCPX has an incredible keyword and smart collection system that makes dailies making and clip search incredibly efficient. It speeds up doc film work 10 fold.
Nice...I know people who like it a lot as well!
informative video Thanks Luc.
You're welcome John!
If u don't have the lovely device, totally remapping the numpad is the next option to sit and crunch for hours. I enjoyed your commentary because of the lingo, I learned a lot of terms and resolve has also saved me from the horrifying 'cloud' of Adobe.
Good tip! Remapping keys is a huge help for editing for sure - maybe a topic for a future video!
Another great video! You give great context and buildup to see the potential how can this help my method too. Thank you Luc!
Thanks, very glad it helped!
any tips for organizing huge b-roll libraries? i end up using lots of footage from previous projects, so i'm rarely just using the new footage i shoot.
I would do exactly the same thing - make dailies of all the stuff and keep them in one project. I’d probably organize by theme and keywords rather than shoot day if it’s really big
Great post.. totally agree! Editing per say is beautiful.. but the 'organizing of the media" is the boring part & a headache! But is a MUST! I never use the "cut" page... probably I should try it! Once you ensemble the cut page with the clips you like...if you move to the "edit" page... that same organization within the edit page timeline remains? thanks!
yes, you just open that timeline on top of your main edit and start picking shots!
@@LucForsyth thanks! cheers!
What I found was that if I start directly on the editing timeline, like I've been doing out of habit through several systems since 2002, it's too easy for me to get tempted with editing individual clips and arranging them as a working sequence, getting ahead of myself. If I stay on the Cut page I'm focused on the task at hand so I'm much quicker. Stay on task and it's "one and done" for cutting.
Interesting video :) What mechanical keyboard are you using? It seems to have a mac layout, so I was just wondering what it is :)
This was really helpful. Sorry if this is a dumb question, but do you then just copy / paste the clips from the daily timeline into the master or is there a more efficient way to reconcile the various timelines?
Once the dailies are done I like to start my raw footage using "panckackes". I will place my raw suquence in the botton of my workspace and the other sequence(s) on top of. Idealy you want to be working with a source monitor, program monitor and you "pancakes" underneath. Once you are done with dailies,cmarked it and got familiar with your footage, it is super easy to throw the right in/out selections form the upper pancakes to your raw, scene... whatever
great tip!
Oh I am from Cambodia ❤
Oh boy the way you feel about editing reflects my own experience so we'll, it's crazy 😅
On my current projects I just do complete string outs without even setting in/out points that helps me remove decision fatigue when I just want to get started. While reviewing I just put cuts at good sections.
Recently I had a shoot tho where interview and B-roll flow into each other within the same clip and I'm not quite sure how to deal with that yet .
Haha, I guess no matter what we do it’s going to feel like that…just have to get it going and eventually it gets less painful
Bro, for a video about editing, this has A LOT of fluff that needs to be cut out. I gave up at 5:00.
Chill out
This could not have come at a better time
I'd love to hear your take on youtube editing!
Have to laugh at how cheery you are about a dark pit of existential despair 😅
Nice content luc! I thought the pen at the thumbnail was a joint! hahaha
🇨🇦🍁
Luc, two questions:
1. In this video, you've used 5 seconds of those b-roll shots as clips you lay down in the timeline. But cataloging the "magic moment" shots from an interview is a different thing. You wouldn't just shoot a few seconds of an interview and call it good. You'd actually clip key pieces of each interview and string those on the timeline, right? In some ways, it might have been a bit more compelling to show how you handle that process rather than clips of largely static b-roll shots. Even in those b-roll shots, what probably should end up on the timeline might include key camera moves or other parts of those shots, not just the first 5 seconds.
Do I have this right?
2. My section question is about the use of transcripts, notably transcripts now created easily within Premiere Pro. It seems like the new tools available enable you to produce an organizational component to these dailies that transcends just the visual, but meaty content from interviews and other shots that include speaking.
I remember working on a huge corporate project and taking key interview bits and jotting them down on 3x5 cards. I would then pin these in sequence on the wall so I could start virtually assembling the cut.
Can you discuss your process in this regard?
I make markers wnd text to all interview Questions so i can go thru my index and puzzle it together or i can get fast feedback from my customers for specific parts 😊
You can use dialogue isolation in resolve to easily get rid of that fan noise in one click!!
It's the best! I'm actually putting together a full resolve video just on these best features, so let me know your top favourites
@@LucForsyth tops would probably be relight, dialogue isolation, automated transcriptions, think they have false color as well!
I have the exact same edit setup. Not only the gear but the way we work. Pretty cool considering i thought it myself.
Great minds think alike!
Place on top vs Append? This process per scene? Really? This was a valuable video. Subscribed
Would love to see you strap a Gopro on and talk us through a live POV b-roll capture in the field. These shots you have look great, even in Log you can tell the compositions are great.
Great idea! I'm planning another BTS shoot in a couple months, so I'll try and keep that in mind
Liked this video after hearing Luc's first sentence. That happens to me all the time!!!
I think it happens to all of us, every time!
Welcome to the world of the speed editor! It obviously makes the process of cutting faster but its also just fun once you get into the flow with it. I picked mine up a while back when I also switched to resolve. Also, didn't get a chance to chat at AOD's film fest but I'm sure we'll cross paths on set at some point 🤙
Hey Josh, sorry we didn't meet! was a really cool event though, see you next year!
I think the most important thing to do, is to understand the structure of your film/doco. Then you can work out how to organise your rushes.
Ultimately it’s going to be organised in to bins that represent the structure of the documentary itself. And you can reorganise as you go… after, all the programme will change as it forms!
Just organising in a way that helps you to remember where footage is.
I’m not sure B-roll on timelines is a better way to know your rushes in itself, but it’s another way.
The key here, is to train your memory and know how to manage a jigsaw puzzle in your mind.
What keyboard do you use? Love the click sound of it!
I ripple edit all my footage in my timeline, pretty similar to your technique. Its all about momentum 😅😊
The Speed Editor is like a samurai sword to just slice thru footage quickly!
I learned to edit video on a Sony RM-440 (yes, connected to a VO-5800 and a VO-5850). Then I switched to Avid (our University operation was one of the first to use Xpress DV running on specialized IBM/Windows NT hardware) and quickly learned how to wear out the JKL keys.
But when my ancient computer finally died on my personal system my editing came to a screeching halt. I can’t justify the cost of an Avid license for my current hardware. But that Speed Editor would be a literal return home for me; I just need to figure out how to get Resolve to quit dropping frames…
I like to use a lot of bins! This is because I like to edit with thumbnails/story board mode. I keyword my footage generally so I can also use the search function. I can golden flag any gold clips, and green flag clips I’m not too interested in but could be good for story reasons. For clips that have different shots in them (can’t tap the record button for example) I can set in and out points and just use subclips.
Any problems with my method / tips for improvement? Are there things the timeline method is better at? I feel good about this so far, but maybe I’m just scratching the surface?
I do something very similar, however, I'm still new and adapting my workflow.
Today I learned that you can split a marker and have it span across multiple clips 🤯
How do you charge for editing? I imagine you sometimes had only to do the shooting and someone else done the editing or other way around.
I find that I can’t really charge a lot for it per hour. Because I feel like it’s not really worth it but what do I know…
I suppose keyboards are like brownies: some of us like’em chunky, others like it smooth. I enjoy keys of quiescence, but totally get the appeal of the audible response to each action.
it's like ASMR for me...but to each their own for sure!
I use fcpx.. and o think it’s easier for me to just folders outside fcpx and just grab me to the fcpx and they will appear as you wanted, all organised.
Wait were those clips shot in Saskatchewan?
Yep - conquest!
Where do you save your dialog ans folli sound
Might just start using DaVinci Resole
I'm liking it more and more! But the same steps apply to any editing program
So glad your switching to Resolve. You just obviously need a M2 Mac Studio 😊
Haha, definitely. Silly me getting the last intel MacBook….
Thanks for another great video, Luc. Have you ever explored any of the many editing peripherals for Premiere Pro (e.g. Loupedeck and TourBox) that provide functionality similar to Speed Editor?
You're welcome! I have seen a lot of them advertised and some of them look great. My main gripes with premiere are about the subscription plan and sluggishness, so the speed editor is only a bonus - not the main reason I'm thinking of jumping ship
Audiio charges extra for festival and commercial correct?
@lucforsyth may I ask which 90 degree cable you run for your Sennheiser shotgun?
So many of my scenes are difficult to decide keep/trash - ESPECIALLY if I haven't decided on the angle of the story p
Great video Luc! I am a hobbyist and been using Vegas Pro for my personal projects. In the last few weeks I started dabbling with FCP and Davinci, and liking both of them as well. Planning to get the Blackmagic Speed Editor hardware to make it a very tactile, fun experience to edit! In Davinci, would it have been easier to use the "Source tape" for your use case? Or did you think it is far more easier and precise to work with each different shot separately? Also, my other thought was, if I have whole bunch of B-roll and a lot of Primary footage, I was wondering: 1) I use what you did here to clean up my B-roll to the essential shots 2) In my primary timeline where I have my A-roll (say, and interview with a business owner), what is a good technique to use these cleaned up B-roll elements to put on top of my A-roll timeline for quick overlays? (As the business owner speaks, I may want to show a cut away of the railway tanks ).
When I say "Source tape", I meant the "Source tape" feature in the "Cut" screens, where all of your source will line up next to each other, to enable the editor to quickly go over the entirety of all the shots with iN and OUT points as one scrubs along, and adding/appending them to the timeline!
I see @GlobalShutterNY suggested the same "Source tape" feature down below!
I'm just learning resolve myself, so the source tape thing is new for me - and I'm 100% going to do that next time! I would lay the a-roll first, then when it's in the right order I'd open up the b-roll timeline and just start layers shots where they make sense.
after 20 yrs of doing documentaries, I can confidently say that a real documentary filmmaker’s place is in the toilet crying under the shower for your regularly scheduled existential despair. That and realizing that you should’ve done a travel series instead of doing an investigative documentary.
(rant)
Then after doing that travel series after that investigative docu, u work on human interest stories for a a news channel so that u’ll leave the office at 6pm and not am but then u win an award for an action short film because u got bored in between human interest stories.
A better way to do this is to compound the cut down clips then you can put them into folders based on categories
@0:14 Made me actually laugh out loud ! Thanks.
Why not final cut
Love my speed editor! Check out the “source tape” feature in the cut page - saves even more time because you don’t have to jump from clip to clip, you can make your dailies even faster, Resolve for life!
I keep hearing about this, I definitely will! Thanks!
And this is why I haven't edited my showreel yet... because I have no idea where to start haha. Time to start making dailies for "good shots". Man, I really want to buy resolve but our currency just halved in value, so resolve doubled in price over night :(
It’s free! You only have to pay for the studio version, but 95% of the functionality is free
Yeah, I know, I use resolve, but I want studio so I can export larger than 3840x2160, NR and a couple of camera tracking tools in fusion haha. 😄
That initial hurdle is definitely the hardest for even doing RUclips videos.
The worst.
THANKYOU FROM INDIA❤❤
You're welcome from 🇨🇦!
The intro is me currently 😂😂
Seems like you forgot to use the Source Tape feature, worth looking at.
Cannot see your subtitles during , “ shooting dailies “ because your shirt had white logo which was making it difficult to see what’s written in the caption and the subtitles is also white coloured so .. just a small feedback still i thought it would help you in improving and not making the same mistakes again
I have around 4.5 TB of footage in a HDD hard drive. What would be the process for editing this project in a SSD? (Dont want to buy an 5TB SSD)
I would say have a working drive/swap drive with a fast nvme ssd 500GB-1TB for working up each edit part as you go.
Start by copying over (a copy from the slower storage to the fast storage) a few days of footage at a time onto it to make your dailies, as mentioned above. Export/render those out save into a project folder on your non-fast storage. Delete the footage from the fast storage (you should have the original files still on the slower drive) and repeat the cycle until you're covered the entire 4.5 TB of the job.
As Luc said, put all your dailies together into one file and review it so you can see what you have that is useable. That'll help you write your project.
You'll find yourself down to a consolidated number of clips you'll use, so when it's time to edit, just copy the usable clips to the fast storage to make your project.
Awesome
I just wish blackmagic would do some minor qol tweaks to keywords. I know people are used to timelines and flags, but i think in keywords to perform a similar process that endures outside of a single project.
The first thing I’d think to do when shooting a documentary is the triple-back up. 😎
haha, can never go wrong with the triple back up!
You should do voice over work
Great video! And your computer will explode 🤯🔥😆
It hates me for sure...silly me getting the last Intel model of MacBook
I hate it but I have to watch most of my footage at 2x and take rough notes about each segments story.
What’s with the bear logo?
Haha, don’t really know myself anymore. Started as a joke, now it’s just sort of there!
@@LucForsyth at first I thought it was a Chicago cubs hat. It’s a cool logo, I’ve just been wondering about it
2:22 dub meme que😂
I´m at that stage: I do not know where to start. And the deadline is in three days.