10 Tips On How To Edit Videos Faster [From A Full-Time Video Editor]

You’ve brainstormed your perfect video idea, spent hours filming the content, and now you have the raw footage in your hands.

What’s next? 

Here comes the video editing process.

Learning how to edit videos faster can be a game changer. I know it was for me.

You could boost your productivity as a freelance video editor and make more money editing videos.

You could cut in half the time you spend in post-production if you’re a YouTuber and spend the extra time to produce more videos instead.

Or you could simply free up valuable time and focus on something else that you are passionate about.

As you know, editing videos can take a long time.

Even the best videographers in the industry, in a perfect shooting session, might capture unwanted moments and even slip-ups. Editing allows us to polish everything to perfection.

Not to mention, editing also lets us control the rhythm and flow of your narrative, amplifying the emotional impact of your content, and adding your unique style and look.

Yet, despite the obvious importance of editing, it is often a significantly challenging process due to several reasons:

• Time-consuming process: Sifting through a huge pile of raw footage, making cuts, splicing different shots, adding transitions, etc., takes a significant chunk of time. 
• Technical skills: Video editing software and tools can be intimidating with their advanced features and complex interfaces. 
• Creative decision-making: Knowing how to structure your narrative and which cuts, as well as which transitions/effects to use, requires an artistic touch and technical understanding of the process. 

This is why busy creators and videographers are constantly on the lookout for how to edit faster. This is where this article comes in. 

In this guide on how to edit videos faster, we’ll provide practical tips on how to optimize your workflow, as well as advanced techniques you can use to tackle complex projects with newfound efficiency. 

Let us begin this journey right away.

1. Planning and preparation

Don’t underestimate the importance of pre-production planning. It’s easy to skip this step in the excitement of getting the camera rolling, but it’s very important to save you countless hours in the editing suite. 

Here’s why investing in pre-production planning is highly important to facilitate faster editing:

• A clear roadmap: By drawing a storyboard—a visual sequence of your video—, you are forced to think about the narrative you’ll shape in the video and what shots you need to weave this story. This can save you the time otherwise spent on aimless filming and unusable footage.
• An aligned vision: A well-written script or even a loose outline can help align your vision for the video. Having this can help cut down the need for retakes while providing a roadmap during editing. 
• Minimize wasted footage: Pre-planning allows you to film with intention, capturing only the essential shots rather than hours of material you might never use. This means less time spent sifting through endless clips to find the gems.

Fortunately, today, we have many tools and solutions we can use to make the planning process easier: 

• Project Management Apps: Trello, Asana, or other project management software to help you track shots, scripts, assets, and deadlines.Imagine walking into your edit session with all your materials perfectly organized – the efficiency dream!
• Mind Mapping Software: Great for fleshing out ideas and structuring complex videos.

A well-planned project is already half the editing job done. It’s a great investment of your time to cut countless hours in a streamlined editing process. 

2. Use a fast computer

Video editing requires a powerful computer.

There’s nothing more frustrating than a slow machine when you’re in a rush to finalize a video.

This is so much so important if you are working with 4K or 8K footage, or if you are using lots of effects, or maybe you’re doing animation.

The most important components that you need to pay attention to when you are buying or building a computer for video editing are:

• CPU
• Graphics card or GPU
• RAM
• Storage

With that said, you don’t need to spend a fortune on a computer if you are just starting out as a video editor or if you know you will be doing editing work that does not require a lot of computing power.

If you end up building your our computer, or want to do a RAM upgrade, we explained how much RAM you need for video editing in a previous article.

3. Work with proxies

Creating and using proxy versions of the raw shots will help with the playback of the videos on your timeline.

You should be able to play everything smoothly in real-time.

If you’re constantly pausing the timeline just to give your machine time to catch up, that’s going to slow you down a lot.

Proxies are smaller resolution and lower bitrate versions of the raw footage that can be linked to the original shots.

Then when you’re exporting the edited video, your video editing software will use the hi-resolution versions.

Nowadays, you can set up your video camera to create proxy versions as you’re recording. So that helps streamline the process.

If your video camera doesn’t do that, you can use your video editing software to create proxies.

In Premiere Pro, to create a proxy version of a video file just right click on the file and select Create Proxies and pick a Preset.

Another option is to reduce the playback quality by selecting 1/2, 1/4, or 1/8 instead of playing the footage at Full quality.

4. Use multiple monitors

Having more screen real estate will help you edit videos faster because you will have room for all the different panels/windows you need at the same time.

Even if it’s just one extra monitor it will save you valuable time.

Personally, I use a wide monitor for my timeline and a smaller vertical one for everything else basically – effects, media files, and sequences.

If you can afford it and want to go the extra mile you can use a third, dedicated monitor to show a full-screen preview of the video file you are working with.

5. Import and organize files

Regardless of how simple or complex your video editing project is, being organized will speed up the process a lot.

You will most likely work with many different assets: raw footage, still photos, graphic elements, audio recordings, music, sound effects, templates, branding elements, and the list can go on.

Organize everything in a clear folder structure on your hard drive and create a similar bin structure inside your video editing software.

Me personally like to have at least 4 different bins for the following:

1. Sequences
2. Raw footage
3. Graphic assets
4. Audio

6. Use shortcuts (keyboard or mouse)

Learning and using keyboard shortcuts is a massive video editing time saver.

The less you need to touch your mouse, the better. Unless you have a high-end mouse with programable buttons and you can assign different functions to each of them.

But, 90% of the time I keep both hands on my keyboard when I’m cutting videos, especially if I’m in a hurry.

Believe it or not, you can do almost anything using your keyboard.

Learn as many keyboard shortcuts as possible.

You don’t need to learn all of them at once.

Pay attention to the commands you’re using the most and start learning the keyboard shortcuts for those first.

For me, the top 10 keyboard shortcuts I use in Premiere Pro to edit videos faster are:

• Q/W to ripple trim delete
• J/K/L to play, pause and reverse
• E/R to move the play head one frame forward or back
• (Shift)+Z to zoom in or out on the timeline
• D to select the clip
• CTRL+M to export
• CTRL+K to cut
• B/V to switch between different cutting tools
• M for markers

Pro Tip: Double or triple tap on L to double or triple the playback speed if you want to go through a clip faster.

There are tons of other keyboard shortcuts that you can learn or customize yourself.

Mastering keyboard shortcuts is one of the best ways to dramatically improve video editing speed due to three main reasons:

1. Speed: Replace endless mouse clicks and time-consuming hunts for menu options and tools. Even if it will only save a few seconds from each edit, those seconds will add up to hours saved over the course of a project. 
2. Focus: Spend less time messing with the mouse so your eyes and mental focus can stay fixed on the most important creative task and make those important editing decisions. 
3. Reducing hand fatigue: Less repetitive mouse strain makes those marathon editing sessions more manageable.

Ready to up your game even further? Macros let you take keyboard shortcuts to the next level. Here’s a quick introduction:

• Macros = Automation Power: Macros allow you to record a sequence of actions (cuts, effects, transitions, etc.) and assign them to a single keystroke.
• Combat Repetition: A macro is your savior if you frequently perform the same multi-step task. Do it once, record it, and replay it with a single button press.
• Customization: Advanced editing software usually offers the ability to create and save custom macros. This gives you complete control over streamlining those actions unique to your editing style.

How to find and learn shortcuts?

• Within Your Software: Most editing programs have a dedicated keyboard shortcut reference section within their settings or help menus.
• Online Resources: Search for “[Your Software Name] + Keyboard Shortcuts” to find lists and printable cheat sheets.
• Start Small: Don’t try to memorize everything at once. Focus on the most common actions (cut, copy, paste, undo) and gradually expand your repertoire.

Investing the time to learn keyboard shortcuts and create macros is an investment in your long-term editing speed and efficiency. It might feel challenging and awkward at first, but soon, you’ll feel the difference.

7. Break up your edit into stages

I found it to be much more effective to focus on a single task at a time.

So instead of doing it all at once, here is how I break up an entire edit in easier-to-chew bits:

1. Currate the raw footage
2. Create the storyline
3. Add b-roll and inserts
4. Add music
5. Color grading
6. Add graphics
7. Review and export

Moving down the list above as you complete each step will speed up the entire process and will make the large project more manageable, as you are editing the video in separate standalone stages, instead of doing everything all at once, which can be overwhelming and frustrating at some point.

8. Use markers

Using markers can be a great tool when you are editing your video in stages.

Each time you get an idea about something that you need to do at a particular point into the video (like insert a b-roll), make a note of that by using markers (hit M inside Premiere to create a marker).

So if you’re working on currating the footage and you found a section where you need to add b-roll, instead of stopping what you’re doing and start sourcing for b-roll just put a marker for it and continue currating the footage.

You can then take care of all the b-roll you need in one shot.

9. Use auto-sync (for audio and video)

You will often have to work with footage and separate external audio recordings.

Maybe you’re also working with two or more cameras.

Instead of manually syncing all the different audio and video sources, use your video editing software to do that for you automatically.

This way you will cut a multicamera project so much faster.

Inside Premiere Pro you can do that by creating a multicamera sequence.

10. Create libraries

If you end A LOT you will probably end up using many of the same Premiere Pro templates, plugins, and presets over and over again.

Create a digital assets library with all of them on your hard drive and make that your go-to place for anything that you need:

• fonts
• lower thirds
• title templates
• end screens
• call to action buttons
• social media call-outs

This way you don’t have to spend time searching for the same thing over and over again each time you edit a new video.

That’s a quick and easy tip you can implement right away and start editing your video faster.

Creating and harnessing templates

Templates are pre-designed presets for commonly used elements in videos.

If you often use similar elements like branded intros (or outros), specific visual styles, lower thirds, etc., consider creating templates for these elements. 

Reusing templates across multiple projects can significantly save editing time.

These templates can be customized to fit the specific needs of each project (i.e., adjust colors, fonts, etc.), so you don’t need to recreate the elements from scratch each time.

Consider building a library of templates for elements you commonly use.

This allows you to access and apply templates as needed quickly. Doing so can further streamline the editing process. 

Conclusion

Editing videos can be a time-consuming process, but there are many ways to make it faster and more efficient.

To recap:

Use keyboard shortcuts: Keyboard shortcuts can help you navigate the editing software faster and save you time. Get familiar with the shortcuts and use them whenever possible.

Cut out unnecessary footage: Don’t waste time editing footage that won’t make it into the final video. Delete any shots that don’t contribute to the overall message or story.

Take advantage of presets and templates: Many video editing software come with presets and templates that can help you create a polished final product in a fraction of the time.

Invest in good hardware: A slow computer can slow down the editing process. Invest in a high-performance computer and graphics card to speed up the process.

Plan and edit in stages: Before starting the editing process, take the time to plan out your shots and decide what you want to include in the final video. This will help you stay focused and avoid spending time on unnecessary shots.

Editing videos faster has a ton of benefits.

Faster editing allows you to focus on creating more content, experimenting with new ideas, and, ultimately, getting better results with your videos.

It saves time and allows you to work on more projects.

It can improve the quality of your work as you can focus more on creative elements rather than technical ones.

By implementing these tips, you can edit videos more efficiently and achieve the results you want.

Ready to explore how Veedyou can transform your video workflow? Visit Veedyou’s website for more information, to get a free quote, or to chat with their friendly team.

Remember, editing faster means creating more – and that’s a win for any content creator.