Old Habits Are Easy To Break

by Mike Buhrow,

Senior Editor, TeamWorks Media

One of the first editors I assisted could be found in the same place at the same time every day of work.  His routine was exactly the same.  From his breakfast, to his lunch and sometimes to his dinner, I would witness him eating the same thing almost every day. 

There is indeed something to be said about the value of routines.  You become efficient because you aren’t wasting your brain power on meaningless decisions when you have already found what works best for you.  However, the biggest disadvantage is that you may miss the opportunity to try new and exciting things that cross your path.

One of the most exciting things in the world of editing that I was lucky enough to learn about in the early days of non-linear editing was plug-ins.  Effects, transitions, text treatments, sound filters and many more items were added directly to the computer and within the application I was working on.  All in one place.  I didn’t have to learn a whole new machine to make a logo move.  I didn’t have to go back into the color correction room to change the brightness of a shot.  I didn’t have to reserve a studio to take out a little background noise.  And before I give any more examples, I need to make it clear, that I prefer using the talents and equipment of graphics, color and audio professionals over my own abilities at these things, however, there are budget and time constraints to consider on every project and it is nice to have the option to just get things done sometimes.

I think it is in our best interest as post-production specialists, to always try to learn new programs, new plug-ins, new panels and even new styles and tricks.  It is important to always keep an open mind when new things are presented.  I remember being in a room with six editors when one of Chicago’s biggest equipment dealers had us in to present the newest non-linear editing system.  We sat and watched an editor from L.A. show us how they were editing a television program with this new non-linear system.  Most of the room looked at the computer screen and said, this is never going to replace all of our equipment in the edit suites we have because the quality was poor.  I shared lunch with another editor who had also only been editing for about a year and we were so excited that this was going to be our future.  It took a few years before it overtook the industry, but here we are all on our computers, editing high-definition footage on our computers and laptops while sharing footage from around the world.

At TeamWorks, we just installed the new Premiere Pro panels for EditShare.  This opened a new door to our footage and A-Roll sequences that we have never had available with such ease.  There were ways to track it down and load it into our editing software, but now we can stay within our current project and drag and drop clips and sequences directly into our working project.  I realize these types of advancements come quick and often now days and that is exciting.  The more that companies offer to editors to save time and keep their media organized is what moves them to the top of the list.  Companies that offer panels for stock footage, music and templates will all get more business if they offer ease of access to their product.  If you are using a certain service for these visual and audio enhancements to our editing, please reach out to those companies.  Check their websites or call them to find out if they have a panel to add to your software.  They will help you change your routine and try some new and exciting way to enhance your creative abilities.

Mike Buhrow is the Senior Editor at TeamWorks Media and is an AsaPro Contributor. Click here to see all of Mike’s articles.