Post-Production

Whether you’re an editor, sound editor, Foley artist, compositor, VFX specialist or work in any profession related to the post-production process, this is the place to discuss, share content and offer tips and advice on your chosen craft of the business in general

I've been making hype videos for my high school football team, and the season just ended. I was compiling all my best footage to make a reel, and was having trouble just accessing it all effectively. I have each game organized into a folder, and when I make the video for that game I create a timelin...

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Hi everyone, I'm Stephen van Vuuren, an independent filmmaker and post-production specialist in Greensboro, NC. I've edited well over 200 films, music videos, commercials and promotional work including four feature length films. My documentary "In Saturn's Rings", made for IMAX and narrated by LeVar Burton, had over 7.5 million sources images and a total of 31 million files on the master project drives, consuming nearly a petabyte, that's 1,000 terabytes of storage.

It was then I was forced to be obsessive about organizing post. So today we are talking about the organization of the edit. We all start just throwing stuff in a few bins and organizing as we go, but often that ends up a big mess, especially on projects that take months or years. Add multiple collaborators and it's recipe for problems, problems I often see in film edits that are sent to me for post work or projects that have render problems when moved to other machines due to missing files, fonts, plugins etc.

To kick off the discussion about how to organize your edit, let’s start where I started my current system. I decided a few years ago to find out what the best editors were doing. I found this interview with Eddie Hamilton who recently edited Top Gun Maverick talking about how he organized a Mission Impossible edit: https://www.provideocoalition.com/art-of-the-cut-with-eddie-hamilton-of-...

My current system uses the hallmarks of this approach.

1. Numbered bins to map out your post-workflow so your bin organization matches the workflow of your edit.

2. A tight, short master bin list uncluttered by any files, everything is in a bin and a bin for everything.

3. Your master timeline is made of scenes, not individual clips. Scene bins and timelines are nested so you can edit individual scenes as complex as you want but moving scenes around with all audio and tracks is easy and instant.

4. COLOR-CODING. It’s not only pretty, I believe it is essential for speed and accuracy while cutting and mixing.

5. METADATA, I request a script supervisor always (don’t always get it) but love to have all the continuity notes for all footage in the file metadata. I start every project by watching and listening to everything (all hail Walter Murch), filling out any gaps in metadata.

I love to hear what YOU think about this approach and how YOU approach organizing. I’m always refining my tools, especially the new AI smart identification, so it would be wonderful to also learn new approaches from others here.

A big thing that is helpful is posting screenshots of your edits as Eddie did in the article above, so I will post a few below. Post yours as well!

Mike Boas

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4 people like this
6 months ago

Love this channel. I’ve watched quite a few of his videos. He has one on L-cuts that really shows their importance.

Ty Strange

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3 people like this
6 months ago

Great find, Stephen Van Vuuren. Thx for sharing.

Sam Sokolow

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5 months ago

Thanks for sharing, Stephen Van Vuuren! I also LOVE the webinar you recently taught here at Stage 32 (https://www.stage32.com/webinars/How-To-Maximize-Post-Production-Before-...)...

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Sherri ZImmerman

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5 months ago

THANKS Stephen Van Vuuren will surely check it out!

Stephen Van Vuuren

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- Ty Strange
- Maurice Vaughan
5 months ago

Sam Sokolow , thanks for the kind words, I had a blast running it.

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- Ashley Renee Smith
- Maurice Vaughan
6 months ago

Thank you, Ashley Renee Smith . I am still working on editing in premiere and aspire to this kind of prowess. This is an awesome share for editors at every level.

Maurice Vaughan

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- Ashley Renee Smith
6 months ago

Great share, @Ashley Renee Smith! Darren explains things so clearly.

Great channel! I've been a subscriber for some time.

Ashley Renee Smith

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1 person likes this
- Maurice Vaughan
6 months ago

Agreed, Maurice Vaughan! He's very knowledgable and he knows how to explain things in a way that doesn't feel confusing or overwhelming.

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Xochi Blymyer

Stephen Van Vuuren - You have given us some great advice here and in your AMA, I'm going to have to save your posts! And learn some more about editing organization.

Xochi Blymyer you are welcome. I'm always looking to improve what I do myself.

Bryson Brownell

Stephen Van Vuuren - Wow that's awesome stuff! It certainly seems like it would be easier to have all the footage so detailed by the end of the project. I assume you would use power bins or something...

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6 months ago

Bryson Brownell I cut in Resolve and use a template for initial Bin setup but customize for each project type. I do follow the Walter Murphy school of editing. Watch everything at least once, organize...

Such great advice - you're an awesome resource, Stephen Van Vuuren! Thank you!

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2 people like this
- Geoff Hall
- Maurice Vaughan
6 months ago

Geoff Hall That's an excellent topic with compelling arguments on all sides. Some editors feel very strongly about reading the script once early, then ignoring 100% of everything that happens in pre a...

Debbie Elicksen

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2 people like this
- Stephen Van Vuuren
- Maurice Vaughan
6 months ago

Stephen Van Vuuren This thread is fascinating to me, as I have spent decades writing and editing print. I'm very pigeon at editing video and can only do it with my Descript app, but that's not what I...

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2 people like this
- Debbie Elicksen
- Maurice Vaughan
6 months ago

Debbie Elicksen Excellent question. It's definitely part of the communication I've learned to do up front before anything starts i.e.. when I'm hired instead of waiting until the pressure hits of the...

Geoff Hall

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2 people like this
- Maurice Vaughan
- Stephen Van Vuuren
6 months ago

Stephen Van Vuuren Thank you for your answer, Stephen. I will take that advice with me onto the set of my first feature. That is truly priceless. Here’s wishing you well with your endeavours in 2024....

Geoff Hall you are very welcome. Break a leg on your production!

7 months ago

Scary stuff, Ashley Renee Smith! The script I'm writing for November Write Club is a Found Footage script (Holiday Horror). It's first-person like the renders in the video.

6 months ago

Corridor Crew is staple channel for keeping up with VFX. They have done some really interesting stuff with Deep Fakes and AI tools in the last couple of years worth checking out.

Fun-ky. Not the biggest horror fan but some cool stuff here.

Agreed, Stephen Van Vuuren! I LOVE watching their videos!

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- Maurice Vaughan
7 months ago

Solved! So simple, too. Before adding the Ken Burns effect to the clips, I created a compound clip that included the special effect clip, then applied the Ken Burns effect to the compound clip. Works like a charm!

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2 people like this
- Maurice Vaughan
- Florin Şumălan
7 months ago

Thanks for the share, Florin Şumălan! I always wrestle with color grading and this is a fascinating piece.

Very cool share, Florin Şumălan! Thank you!

Florin Şumălan

Sam Sokolow , Ashley Renee Smith , you're welcome! I think they mentioned some interesting details about the SDR - HDR....

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1 person likes this
- Florin Şumălan
7 months ago

Great share, Florin Şumălan. One thing that stood out in the video is when they talked about making sure the new technology for colorists doesn't overpower or take away from the scene (starting at aro...

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2 people like this
- Ashley Renee Smith
- Maurice Vaughan
7 months ago

Maurice Vaughan , yes, maybe in this case too, like in other cases, it is important to be careful not to let us get mesmerized and carried away by the new technology that comes; see it as a tool and t...

Congratulations on giving your first webinar, Kenneth Lui! Looks like it's going to be a great one!

So cool! Thank you for sharing, Kenneth Lui!

It was awesome, Kenneth. So happy you're a part of the Stage 32 community. Everyone should learn about VFX!

Eon C. Rambally

Kenneth Lui, certainly looking forward to the webinar!

Thanks Sydney! I'm honored to present this webinar to Stage 32 and worked hard to pack it with very useful, practical and easy-to-understand information. Hopefully have a some fun too.

Post-Production

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