Learn
Straight answers about editing
The questions editors actually ask, answered first and explained after. Written by the people who make B/side, from years in cutting rooms.
Choosing an editor
- Can you edit video in a browser without uploading your footage?Yes.
- What do I need to edit a multicam video podcast?You need the camera files and a clean sound recording of each voice, with enough storage to hold every angle.
- What is the best video editor for short-form videos and TikTok?It depends on where your clips come from.
- What should I look for in a video editor for YouTube?Look for an editor that plays your camera’s files without a long wait and gives you real control over sound.
- What should you edit in when you outgrow CapCut?Keep CapCut for quick phone edits, and add a full editor when your videos start from long recordings or several cameras.
- What video editing software is used for reality TV and unscripted shows?Most unscripted television in the US has long been cut on Avid Media Composer, often on shared storage, because the shows involve huge amounts of multicam footage and several editors working on one episode at once.
How to
- How do I find every take of a line of dialogue when editing?Start from the script.
- How do you edit a multicam podcast?Group every camera and the separate sound recording into one multicam clip.
- How do you edit a podcast?Bring every microphone and camera into one project and line them up.
- How do you get client feedback on the exact frame of a video?Send the client a link they can play in a browser and let them write each note on the frame they are watching, so every comment carries its own timecode.
- How do you label audio tracks with the mic names from the sound recorder?Most professional sound recorders let the sound mixer name each channel, such as “Boom” or “Radio mic, Sam”, and those names are saved with the recording.
- How do you move a Premiere Pro project to another editor?If the other person also uses Premiere Pro, use its Project Manager to collect the project and every file it uses into one folder, then send them that folder.
- How do you open an Avid project without Avid Media Composer?Media Composer projects are normally opened in Media Composer, so without it you have two routes.
- How do you sync audio and video now that PluralEyes is in maintenance mode?Most editing software can now line up separate sound and picture by their audio waveforms, which is the job PluralEyes did.
- How do you turn a horizontal video into a vertical one?Make a copy of the cut on a 9:16 timeline, at 1080 by 1920 pixels.
- How do you turn over a locked cut to sound?Lock picture and organise your audio so each kind of sound sits on its own tracks.
- What is text-based video editing?Text-based video editing means using a transcript of your footage to find and choose what goes into the cut.
- Why does my OBS recording show only one audio track in my editor?Usually one of two things.
Workflow
- AAF or EDL: what should you send to sound and colour?Sound almost always wants an AAF, because it carries the audio tracks with their clips and levels in a form a sound editor can open and work from.
- How much storage do I need for video editing?Multiply the hours of footage you shoot by how much space your camera’s format uses per hour, then at least double it so every file lives on two separate drives.
- What is an EDL in video editing?An EDL, or edit decision list, is a plain text file that describes a cut as a list of events.
- What is frame-accurate editing?Frame-accurate editing means every cut lands on one exact whole frame, and that frame stays the same whether you play the cut or export it.
- What is the difference between multi-camera and single-camera editing?In multi-camera work, several cameras record the same moment at once, and the editor chooses between angles that are already in sync.
- What is three-point editing?Three-point editing is a way of placing a shot by setting three marks: usually an in and an out on the source clip, plus an in point on the timeline.
Editing as a team
- How do producers review cuts remotely?Most producers now review cuts from a link that plays in a browser, writing notes as they watch instead of sitting in the edit suite.
- How do you edit video remotely as a team?There are two main ways.
- How do you split an episode between two or more editors?Divide the episode by act or by story strand and give each editor clear ownership of their part.
- What is collaborative video editing, and how does it work?Collaborative video editing means more than one person working on the same project, either cutting it or reviewing it, without passing files back and forth.
- What video collaboration software do post-production teams use?Post-production teams usually combine several kinds of tool: review and approval for notes, shared or synced storage for footage, remote access to machines in a facility, and an editor that lets several people work on one project.