Video production workflows are essential to the success of your video project. Whether you are creating a new video or editing existing footage, a well-defined process will keep your team on track and eliminate collaboration roadblocks.
Range-based commenting makes it easy for stakeholders to leave comments or changes across a specific range of a video file, avoiding confusion and misinterpretation. Similarly, automated notifications and reminders streamline review processes and ensure that team members are on the same page.
1. Collaborate With Your Team
A video editing workflow provides a structure to help your team complete a complex task. A well-developed process helps your team understand what to do next after each step and reduces confusion and delays.
A solid workflow starts with a first pass, in which your video engineers go through and organize all the raw footage they filmed. Then, they divide that footage into two key groups: main footage and B-roll footage. The main footage is what will form the backbone of your final video. The B-roll footage is supplementary content that can be used for cutaway shots to build visual intrigue in your narrative.
Once the initial pass is complete, your team can begin the editing process. During this phase, they must ensure the audio is recorded accurately and that each shot captures your desired emotion. It’s also important to review each sequence and make adjustments where necessary.
The Youtube video editing process is a time-consuming and labor-intensive task, so it’s essential to collaborate effectively with your team. Using a creative collaboration solution like Ziflow enables your team to gather and implement feedback on new video versions, ensuring that all stakeholders are on the same page.
With features such as frame-accurate reviews, video markups, and live virtual watch parties, you can easily provide feedback and on-screen annotations in a web browser. This centralized hub allows you to track all comments and markups for each video version, so your team can respond promptly and consistently.
2. Streamline Your Workflow
Video production is a big task that can be difficult to manage. It involves many different stages, and each one takes time to complete. To keep your project on track, you need to have a clear workflow in place. A good editing workflow will break the larger video creation process down into a set of stages that can be completed in order. This creates much-needed focus during the editing phase, which in turn leads to more efficient results.
A workflow will also help you identify any potential issues before they happen, so you can avoid them or deal with them effectively. For instance, it will help you identify where to spend your time, such as making sure the main edit is finished before you start adding post-production tweaks.
You may have multiple engineers working on the same project, so a workflow will help you optimize the division of work. For example, if one engineer is better at editing B-roll footage, they can take care of this stage while the other concentrates on the main edit. This ensures the best result for the final video while keeping your team members happy and engaged in their work.
A well-defined workflow also improves the turnaround time for project review and approval. This is particularly helpful during high-volume times, when the amount of content being reviewed and approved grows exponentially. In fact, a good video production workflow can save up to 60% of the turnaround time when compared to traditional processes.
3. Automate Your Process
Video editing is a time-consuming process, especially when multiple editors are working on the same project. Automating as much of the workflow as possible can help save time and reduce frustration. This may include using tools like Postpace to securely stream work sessions in up to 4K and eliminate the challenge of file size limitations on collaborative projects, or automating the process for importing footage into an editing suite.
Once the initial edit is complete, it’s time to take a step back and evaluate the visuals. This is a great opportunity to see if the video meets the tone and story requirements laid out in pre-production. If necessary, this is also a good time to incorporate visual effects and audio elements into the final edit.
The next step in the workflow is usually color correction and grading. This process adds visual depth and highlights certain aspects of the video to further improve its overall appeal and impact. It’s important to remember that any color changes should still be in service of the storyline and message that were mapped out in pre-production.
Once the final cut is finished, it’s a good idea to use a software tool, such as Dropbox Replay, to send the video for review and approval. This can significantly decrease turnaround times for project reviews and improve the quality of the final product.
4. Make Better Decisions
During the assembly edit, it’s time to add things like graphics and titles to the video. This is also a good opportunity to make sure your audio is clear, balanced and aligned with the visuals. The average viewer won’t tolerate cheesy music, subpar sound quality or unprofessional effects and transitions – they’ll quickly become distracted by these details.
After you’ve made your way through the first draft of your video, it’s time to get some feedback from stakeholders. You can use tools like Dropbox Replay to share a work in progress with anyone and get frame-accurate markups and comments. If you want to take it a step further, you can use a service like Filestage that offers point-and-click feedback for video editors.
Color correction and grading are an important video editing workflow process because they help add a final polish to the video and create a consistent visual style. However, it’s crucial to remember that everything you add to the video should serve a purpose. Otherwise, the average viewer will be distracted by a lack of focus or a sense that the video isn’t complete.
Whether you’re an experienced video editing professional or just starting out, a well-designed workflow can help you save time and make better decisions. By collaborating with your team and automating key processes, you can streamline production, review, and approvals for faster content creation.
