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Editing Setup

Welcome to the world of editing lived-reality documentary films. Our editing modules focus on editing techniques, Scene construction and story structure, but they don’t provide in-depth software training.

While we demonstrate editing techniques using Adobe Premiere Pro, you can apply these techniques to most of the editing programs that you may already have access to or know. Whichever editing software you use, check the manufacturer’s website to make sure that your computer meets their minimum requirements.

Online resources like LinkedIn Learning and YouTube offer tutorials on the nuts and bolts of editing software. Use these resources to learn the technical aspects of the software, but not necessarily the approach to or the art of editing a lived-reality documentary story.

Some filmmakers want to edit their own films – from shaping the story to operating the software – while others seek to understand the language of editing to collaborate effectively with an editor. As you progress through these editing modules, you’ll discover whether you prefer hands-on editing or working alongside an editor. Be patient with the process – editing is complex, and you’re learning a new language. Over time, you can decide how fluent you want to be in Scene construction and software operation.

As discussed in the Media Storage module, it’s important to consider where and how you’ll store and back up your editing projects and media before you begin editing. Staying organized from the start helps prevent data loss and workflow disruptions. In most editing software, the project file – which contains all the edit information – is stored separately from the original, unedited media files, referred to as ‘footage’. Ideally, store the project file on your computer’s internal drive and store the media on an external editing drive.

Video Transcript:

  1. To store my editing project files, I navigate to my computer’s internal hard drive and create a folder named “LLL Project Files.”
  2. Next, I navigate to my external Editing Drive and open the LLL Media folder. I create two subfolders: “Demo Media” for the editing demo media that I’ll download and “Premiere Media” for the files that Premiere automatically generates during the editing process. 

Now I have two main folders: LLL Project Files on my computer’s internal drive and LLL Media on my external Editing Drive. The LLL Media folder contains three subfolders: Demo Media, Premiere Media, and Skill-Builder Media (which we created in the Media Storage module).

Throughout this and future editing modules, we’ll demonstrate a set of steps and then suggest when you should stop and implement those steps yourself. The text for each training video is provided on this webpage as a valuable reference for the many tools and steps we cover.

Follow the steps above to set up your project and media folders. Even if you’re using different software, it’s best to store media on external hard drives and the editing software’s project files on your computer. Once you’re done, return here to continue.

Video Transcript:

Now we’re going to launch the software and create a new project. 

To launch Adobe Premiere Pro:

  1. I click or double-click on the software icon. When the program loads, the Welcome window appears. 
  2. I start a new project by selecting ‘New Project’ in the upper left corner. The project dialogue window opens. 
  3. In the upper left corner, I name the project “Editing Exercises.” 
  4. To set the Project Location, I click on the pathname text and select ‘Choose Location’ from the dropdown menu.  
  5. I navigate to the LLL Project Files folder that I recently created on my computer’s internal hard drive, double-click to open it and click ‘Select Folder’.
  6. I then click on ‘Create’ in the bottom right to finalize the setup and launch the project.
  7. We’ll be working in the Editing Workspace. Go to the menu bar at the top of the screen, click on ‘Window’ and from the pulldown menu select ‘Workspaces’ and then ‘Editing.’

Now I have to set the storage location for the media files that Premiere will generate: 

  1. In the menu bar, I click on ‘File’, scroll down to ‘Project Settings’ and select ‘Scratch Disks’. This refers to the various types of media that Premiere automatically generates while you edit. 
  2. The ‘Project Settings’ dialogue window opens. I click the first ‘Browse’ button and navigate to the Premiere Media folder on my external hard drive, double-click to open it and click ‘Select Folder’. I repeat this action for each media type in the list by clicking on each Browse button in the window. 
  3. When I’m done, I click ‘OK’.

Regardless of the editing software you use, it’s important to establish a clear system for storing your project files and media.

Follow the previous steps to launch your software and set up your project. Once you’re done, return here to continue.

Next, follow these steps to download the demo footage that we’ll use for this and the next several Editing modules:
1. Click on this link to access the Craft Making Media.
     a. If you don’t have a Google account or are not signed in: Click on ‘Download All’ in the upper right corner of the newly opened window.
     b. If you’re signed in to your Google account: Right click on “Craft Making Media” and select ‘Download’ from the pop-up menu.
2. Google creates a “zip file” and downloads it to your computer. Navigate to this location.
3. Select this new folder to highlight it.
4. Click on the ‘Extract’ menu tab at the top of the browser window and click on ‘Extract All’.
5. In the “Select a Destination and Extract Files” dialogue window that opens, navigate to your Editing Drive and open the folder LLL Media and then Demo Media.
6. Click Extract.
The folder will contain seven media files.

      Video Transcript:

      Before we import the media files that we just downloaded, let’s do a quick housekeeping step to keep our project organized. Premiere is easier to work with when folders open-in-place rather than in a new window or tab. 

      1. From the menu bar at the top of the screen, select ‘Edit’, then ‘Preferences’ and then ‘General’ (If you’re on a Mac go to: ‘Premiere Pro’ then ‘Settings’ and then ‘General’). 
      2. Under the ‘Bins’ section of the dialogue window, click the dropdown menu next to ‘Double-click’ and select ‘Open in place’. 
      3. Click ‘OK’ when finished.

      Now we’re ready to import media into Premiere. 

      1. In the lower left of the Premiere interface, I click on the ‘Project’ panel, which activates it – as indicated by the blue outline. The Project panel is where we manage the elements used in our edit. 
      2. In the bottom right-hand corner of the Project panel, I click on the folder icon. Folders are referred to as “Bins” in film terminology. 
      3. I name this Bin “Media.”
      4. I double click to open it. In the upper left-hand corner of the Project panel, the folder labeled “Bin: Media” is now highlighted. 
      5. Inside this Bin, I create a sub-Bin by clicking on the folder icon again.
      6. I label it “Editing Demo Craft Making Media.” This is where I’ll import the demo footage that I downloaded.
      7. I double-click on this Bin to open it.
      8. Next, I click on the Media Browser tab at the top of the Project panel.
      9. I press the Tilde key (~) on the keyboard to maximize the panel size. This makes it easier to see what I’m doing. 
      10. I then navigate to the “Craft Making Media” folder on my external Editing Drive where I saved the demo footage for this exercise.
      11. Double click on the folder to open it.
      12. I select all the “Clips,” right-click on them and from the small pop-up menu that appears, choose ‘Import’. Once done, Premiere automatically returns to the Bin where the imported Clips now reside. 
      13. In my system, Premiere defaults to ‘Icon View’ which shows the first frame of each Clip. In the lower left corner of the Project panel, there’s a button to activate ‘List View’ where I can see a list of the Clips by their names.
      14. Here, I see many columns of information about the Clips. I can sort the Clips by any one of these columns by clicking on the column header.
      15. Press the Tilde key to restore the Project panel to its original position.

      I’ve now successfully imported media into Premiere. Go ahead and replicate what I did to set Bins to open-in-place and then import the media.

      The Clips we imported are all the Shots we need to edit a Scene of Mr. Poole working on a craft project. Keep in mind that this footage is only one Scene of many in Mr. Poole’s story.

          Video Transcript:

          Before I start editing, I have to log the footage. As you can see from this Craft Making Shot Log, logging is the process of reviewing, organizing, and labeling footage with important details like Timecode, Shot Types, Clip Numbers and Descriptions. Logging is essential for an organized and efficient editing process. An editor must be able to quickly find any Shot in the hours – or even hundreds of hours – of footage.

          The first Clip number listed in the log is “138_5373.” This Clip contains three Shots. The first Shot, starting at 26 seconds, is a Medium Full Shot (MFS) described as “Mr. Poole enters Shot left, sits at table and begins work on craft project.”

          1. In Premiere, I find Clip 5373 in the Bin and double-click on it so that it automatically opens in the “Source” monitor. 

          The Source Monitor is where you view all original media. I can see the Clip’s “Timecode” in the lower left corner of the monitor. Every frame of video has a Timecode that includes hours, minutes, seconds and frames. We don’t include frames in our logs.

          1. In the Source monitor, I scroll through the Clip by clicking-and-dragging on the “Timebar” under the screen until I reach the beginning of the logged Shot at 26 seconds. 
          2. I can review the Shot by clicking the “Play-Stop” button at the bottom of the Source monitor.

          The next Shot, a Medium Close Shot (MCS), begins at 50 seconds, as detailed in the log. The log continues with information about all the remaining Shots for this Scene.

          Logs are not only essential for organization, they are also a great time saver. Because logs describe the content of each numbered Clip, I don’t have to go through all the clips that are imported into my editing software and relabel them in the Bins.   

           To finish up this module, I’ll save and close the project:

          1. From the File pulldown menu at the top, click ‘Save’.
          2. To close the project, click on the ‘X’ in the upper right corner.

          Take some time to familiarize yourself with the Craft Making Shot Log and footage. When done, save and close your project and then take a break. In the next module, we’ll further familiarize ourselves with the editing interface and make our first edit.

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