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Getting hired for a videography job can be challenging. Companies can ask for wildly different styles of video, clients can be difficult to communicate with and setting up an efficient workflow to manage your video production isn't as easy as it sounds.
Let's take a good look at some of the best productivity hacks for videographers we've come across, whether you're a documentary filmmaker or a marketing video extraordinaire. Implement a couple of these and not only will you get hired for more jobs, you'll find yourself completing projects hours or days before they're due.
Repeat after us: communication is key. It's key at work, in your day-to-day life, in your relationships - it's key in almost everything. That's why improving your communication flow should always be a part of your job-grabbing strategy: no matter how great a communicator you are, there's always room to grow.
That growth can mean big boosts for productivity. Most videographers will use email as their go-to communication tool, which it works in many cases. But when work starts to get complicated, email turns into a productivity bottleneck.
To level up your digital communication skills, give these these software productivity tools a go - they'll keep your communication meaningful, efficient and organized, and ensure your clients stay well informed and happy:
' Slack speeds up communication. Say goodbye to email and hello to efficiency. Slack's powerful platform allows you to communicate with small and large organizations, create teams and integrate dozens of apps you may already be using.
' Asana and Trello keep tasks in order. These project management tools allow you to quickly and clearly keep track of tasks, maintain schedules and stay on track of project goals. Keep companies informed of your progress with these tools so they're always in the know about your progress on a project. Asana and Trello are laid out differently, so try both out and see which works better with your workflow.
Considering that the average 100-employee business wastes 17 hours a week clarifying communication (costing over $500,000 annually), you can't afford not to take these steps to add productivity and value to whatever company you're working with.
Once you've landed a video project, don't waste time setting up a storyboard from scratch. Skip old-school pen and paper: flexible digital templates are speeding up the storyboarding process.
' Canva was originally meant for web graphics, but it's turned into a powerful storyboard application. Hundreds of professional templates and thousands of premade elements make storyboarding in Canva a breeze.
' For storyboarding on-the-go, Stellar's mobile app allows you to quickly compile images, text and video into brief storyboards for projects where a more complex storyboard isn't necessary.
' If you need a more custom storyboard solution, WonderUnit's Storyboarder allows you to type out scenes and then draws them in seconds using artificial intelligence. It's fast, customizable and great for collaboration.
The benefits of efficiently producing a storyboard don't end once video creation begins. It impacts all the following stages, sometimes dramatically. Storyboarding efficiently means you you don't just save 30 minutes per project - you save hours by getting organized in the first step of the process
With the rise of watching video without sound, captions need to be added to all videos produced today. But transcribing captions manually is not only slow and inefficient, it robs you of time that could better be spent on the next stage of editing. Thanks to artificial intelligence, you no longer have to waste hours manually typing out every word.
No more play, pause, type, repeat!
Employ a team of AI bots that transcribe your video or audio files in less time than the original recording with automated transcription by Trint. The speech-to-text is among the most accurate of its kind, and it also includes a powerful, easy-to-use editor. The editor gives you the power to search and replace words that were transcribed incorrectly, highlight key quotes and search video with time-coded captions.
You'll never need to spend hours on this step again - only minutes. And with Trint's free caption/subtitle extension for video in Adobe' Premiere' Pro CC, you can automatically send your audio or video files from Premiere Pro to Trint to be transcribed, then add captions (SRT or EDL) to your project in seconds.
See how the Premiere extension works
We know just a moment ago we were talking about the benefits of software for enhancing communication. In this digital age, it's easy to stick to emails and Slack messages exclusively, but no virtual message beats a face-to-face conversation when it comes to improving productivity on video projects.
Elizabeth Grace Saunders, the author of How to Invest Your Time Like Money and the founder of Real Life E Time Coaching & Training, says, 'One-on-ones are one of the most important productivity tools you have.'
By meeting with clients in person, you show them that you truly care about the quality of video content you product - and this display of care goes a long way. Clients feel empowered and connected, and they feel like their input is meaningful to your work.
Practically, here are a few things that are accomplished with regular one-on-one meetings:
' Both sides have a chance to raise issues proactively
' Short and long-term goals can be discussed
' Feedback can be offered both ways
' Respect and rapport are generated
Even quick and informal meetings improve worker productivity.
You may get the sense your clients would rather just leave you to complete their work, but don't buy into it. Teams work better when the members are well connected.
Believe it or not, keyboard shortcuts can save hours or days, which means your clients get their videos back hours or days sooner. According to a detailed 2011 study, 'practiced users can select a command faster using a simple key sequence than by using the mouse to select the menu from a toolbar or menu.'
The study revealed that simple keyboard shortcuts can be 600'800 milliseconds faster than toolbar selections. And while that may seem small, check out how BrainScape adds it all up:
[2 wasted seconds / min] * [480 min / workday] * [240 workdays / year] = 64 wasted hours / year!
By using shortcuts, you can potentially save weeks of hours, which is a dramatic increase in productivity long-term.
These productivity tips will help you get hired for more videography jobs, complete projects faster, save money and enjoy working more. Start by adding automated transcription with Trint to your video editing workflow. Curious about the other ways Trint can help you edit video? Learn more now:
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