Best Video Editing File Structure And Management

What if I told you that the best way to organize your files for video editing involved doing less, or even stopping for a time?

In this video, I'm going to share my best tips on file structure, management, and organization that have helped me get to a place of peace with my files after struggling with it for the better part of 20 years.

 But first, let's talk about going to the gym. Gym person one decides they want to start working out
and they want to do it perfectly, so they research all the best exercises so everything's optimized. They commit to go in seven days a week, and while they're at it, they want to overhaul their nutrition as well. So they do really great on day one. But how long do you think they last? My guess is a week tops.

Gym person two takes a different approach. They commit to two to three times a week at the gym. They cut out most of the junk food in their diet, but they aren't too stressed about it and they go on a nice long walk when they can. The key with person two is that they're consistent. While they may not become an elite athlete, by only focusing on the most important things and doing them consistently, they actually achieve most of the results they desire.

This little story of going to the gym illustrates the power of the 80/20 rule, which states that 20% of causes create 80% of the outcomes. And this has been my file organization journey in a nutshell.

So instead of trying to be perfectly organized and only achieving that a small fraction of the time, I try to focus on the top 20% of tasks that get me 80% of the way there because I can do those consistently.

 First, let's answer the question, "What should good organization help us accomplish?"  I've come up with the following four points:

• Should not impede our creative flow.

• Media should stay online in our editing software.

• Files should be easy to access for ourselves and our clients.

• All of the actions should be simple and repeatable.

Check out the video above to watch the full lesson...

Austen is an ADDY award-winning film & commercial editor with over 20 years of experience. He has worked with global brands like Meta, KPMG, SAP, and Christianity Today. His PSA work has championed causes like school safety (with Matthew McConaughey), driving safety, and anti-tobacco. A thought leader in the editing field, his online lessons quickly amassed over 100K views after launch.