How to Organize Video Clips for Editing

Organizing your video clips can often make editing a story go much faster. You won't always have time to do it, but often you can organize your editing bin while waiting on a script from the reporter or producer. Organizing it is also a good idea if you're dealing with file video or more than one editor contributing to the story.

Instructions

Difficulty: Easy

1. Scroll through the video you collected in the field. Keep your eyes open for video that stands out.
2. Thumbnail separate parts of the story to organize your clips. If you're using file video, video from today and graphics, for instance, put each one in its own thumbnail in your bin.
3. Separate any sequences you shot. This may include a shot of a man's feet walking, a medium shot of him stepping into his truck, a closeup of his fingers turning the key and a wide shot of the door closing and truck pulling away. This is a sequence.
4. Put each person you interviewed into her own thumbnail in your editing bin. This will help you organize your clips for when it's time to edit.
5. Lay down your opening video and audio clips onto the timeline. This can be done while you wait for the reporter to give you the script. Make sure to talk to the reporter about the opening shot.
6. Name each thumbnail separately to keep track of them all. Some editing systems even allow you to color-code the clips.

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