How to Improve your
Workflow
1. By using AI
Before doing the real editing, you first cut out the "dead space" which is typically silence. This is
known as a "first pass". Cutting these is a boring task, especially if the video is very long. You
can use a Free Python based software to completely skip this step. The Software that I’m
talking about is called Auto-Editor.
● Here is the link to that software:
https://auto-editor.com/
● And here is tutorial that will teach you how to use it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kvl6Y2dIDX0&t=447s
2. By learning Shortcuts
A lot of people tell you to learn the basic shortcuts for the software that you’re using but most of
the times learning them is not only boring but pointless because when you actually need to use
them, you end up forgetting what they were. In order to fix this, you need to re-bind your most
used functions to keys that are easily accessible to you.
Here are some of the shortcuts that I use that have helped me out tremendously:
● Timeline Zoom In - 1
● Timeline Zoom Out - 2
● Shuttle Right - Page Down (Bound to my Side Mouse Button 1)
● Shutter Stop - Page Up (Bound to my Side Mouse Button 2)
● Nest Sequence - CTRL + P (Bound to the DPI Button of my mouse)
● Delete - CTRL + D (Much Faster than using the default Delete key)
● Add Edit - S
● Ripple Delete - D (This combined with the Add Edit Shortcut make removing something
while doing revisions a lot faster)
3. By creating Presets (a LOT of them)
A lot of editors don’t realize the importance of presets. You can literally create presets for
EVERYTHING. Whenever you add an effect and feel like you’ll use it later on in the
video or in future videos, just create a preset for it. I have presets for almost every edit
that I make. All I have to do is just apply it and then customize it to my liking.
Here are a few things that I have created presets for:
Are you now starting to see what I mean? I don’t even have to think about how I’m going
to bring a certain thing on the screen. I just bring it on the screen and add a preset to it.
4. By putting your most used assets in
one place
This was honestly a game changer for me. I made my own ‘’editing pack’’ by organizing all of
my assets and then putting them into 1 big folder and sub-folders so I don’t have to spend time
scrolling through my own assets while I’m editing a video.
Here are a few very basic things that you should organize:
● Your SFX, you need to re-name your SFX to something that you can remember. This will
save you a lot of time when you’re doing the sound design for a video
● Your Overlays & Transitions. Again, rename them to something that YOU can remember
so you don’t have to spend time watching each one over and over again.
● Your most used PNGs & Backgrounds. This will save you a ton of time if you go to
Google everytime you have to look for an emoji or something
5. Finding your own Worflow
This is one of the most important, if not the most important steps to improving one’s workflow.
What I mean by this is creating a workflow that is unique to you. A workflow that you will follow
no matter what type of video you’re editing. This completely eliminates the time you spend
procrastinating and feeling overwhelmed by the short deadlines and never ending client work.
My workflow looks something like this:
1. Rough Cut (Using the A.I I mentioned above)
2. 2nd Cut. This is when I remove ALL the remaining dead space as well as footage that is
unneccessary.
3. Re-watch the cut up footage. This is when I mark all the clips that I’ll need to import into
After Effects as I usually do a lot of my animations in AE.
4. Create all the animations
5. Go back to premiere, add Zooms, Subtitles, Transitions & B-Roll
6. Do the SFX for the entire video
7. Finalize the Video
I follow this EXACT workflow for pretty much every single video that I edit. Malice
(https://www.youtube.com/@vfxmalice) has made some very good videos regarding workflow
and time saving A.I tools that I’ve found tremendously helpful and would 100% recommend
watching.
