Learn how to organize and store video files.
Well-organized video files are much quicker to edit. Find out how you can make your video files organized and easy to manage.
Organization is everything in video production. Neatly stored and labeled video files are easier to browse and find, which makes editing much faster. Here are some good tips on organizing videos and managing your content files.
Buy an external hard drive.
Raw video footage takes up a lot of space. Store your files on an external, labeled hard drive to keep your computer clutter-free. This will also protect your files in case your computer gets broken or lost.
Move videos off your camera.
Video files also eat up space on your camera. Import your videos as soon as you’re done shooting. You don’t want to start recording only to find out that your camera’s out of room.
Clearly date and label the files.
Use a consistent method to date and name your video files. Many professional video editors favor the YRMODA — or Year-Month-Day — format. Follow the date with a description of the footage, for example: “210312_Makeup-Tutorial.”
Create an organized folder structure.
Create sub-folders for your videos. You could create different folders for each video project, or make folders based on dates. It’s also a good idea to have separate folders for your video, audio, and picture files.
Always back up video files.
Always back up your video files. You can do this locally on a separate hard drive, or upload your videos to cloud storage, like Adobe Creative Cloud. Having up-to-date backups will save you a lot of trouble if your primary storage system breaks down.
Organize video files with tags.
A professional video editing software program, like Adobe Premiere Pro, allows you to tag your video files with relevant keywords. Tagging helps you find your files directly in the Premiere file browser. You can then easily proceed to trim clips, adjust colors, add audio, and much more.
Learn more video editing tips.
And find out what you can do with Premiere Pro.