r/VideoEditingTips

I just got back from witnessing (and being part of) the most unhinged podcast editing session of my life, and I need to know if I'm losing my mind or if this is actually as insane as it feels.

The setup:
Small room. Multiple cameras (guest, host, co-host, plus a center wide). Cramped table. Host's wife also sitting there. No space to reposition anything.

The client:
Extremely specific. Wants a perfectly clean show. No "ums." No pauses. No natural conversation flow. They sat next to the editor (Caleb) for two hours, critiquing every single word, sentence, and transition live.

The moment that broke me:
The guest uses his hands when he talks. At one point, his hand briefly covered part of his face. I didn't flag it as a distraction because... it's a human being gesturing naturally.

The client pulled me aside and said I should have stopped the live recording, interrupted the conversation, and told the guest to use his left hand instead of his right. That way, the hand wouldn't block his face.

I asked, "How is he supposed to know that?"
Their answer: "That's your job to catch and correct in the moment."

The kicker:
Caleb and I agree the only real fix is moving the cameras. But the room is too small. We suggested alternatives (higher tripods, digital crops, losing the dedicated guest cam). Client shot down every single one because they're "very specific" about their shots.

So instead of accepting physics, they blame me for not babysitting the guest's handedness.

Am I crazy for thinking this is insane?
Editors, have you ever had a client this deep in the perfectionism rabbit hole? How do you handle it without getting fired? And seriously — do I need a "Left Hand Only" clause in my next contract, or should I just run?

Been editing for about five years now, worked with clients across the board, and watched a lot of talented editors price themselves out of the game or just burn out. Here's what actually matters if you want a long career in this.

1. Keep upskilling. Always.

You are never done upskilling and gaining new insights. Recreate cool videos that you see. Stay on top of your game. This will compound drastically over the years.

2. Network, network, network.

Talk to more people, interact with more people, ask people for advice, figure out how they make stuff. Talk to the actual creators behind work you admire. Keep networking. You'll never know the strength of your network until the day it actually starts paying your bills. Speaking from experience.

3. Don't undersell yourself.

Just because you don't have the confidence to talk to a client doesn't mean your product isn't worth it. Get paid for your work. Never do free work, even for family and friends. Family and friends pay full price. If you want to charge strangers extra, power to you.

4. AI is not something to be afraid of.

AI is your new tool. It might look scary at first but it's not going to replace you. It's just going to enhance you. Learn how to use it, learn cool ways to involve it in your workflow and scale up. People do not pay for your ability to push buttons on software. People pay for your ability to look at a piece of content and make it better. Great editing will never be replaced by cutting and adding text because that is not what editing is. The same way great writers will never be replaced by AI.

5. Niche down and sell results, not skills.

The more AI slop there is out there, the more real content and real creative output will be valued. If you want to start a career and actually get clients, start in a niche. Do not be a general video editor. Pick a niche you feel comfortable in and have experience editing. Find out their problems, pick the ones you can solve using video editing and content, and do it enough times where you're comfortable selling them a result. People do not pay for pushing buttons. People pay for results. They don't really care about you editing a video. They care about what that video edit will bring them. Is it fame? Is it wealth? Is it investment? Is it reputation? Whatever it is, sell results, not skills.

I've been doing this for five plus years, and thanks to God, I've been able to make a living out of it. If any one of you has questions related to this, I'm always happy to answer.

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So, i JUST started learning video editing today because I wanna make money from it. I'm from india and i only have an android mobile, no laptop. Is there anyway I can learn editing only with mobile and earn usd?

I am a beginner. I am just bored so I am trying to start learning video editing so will you suggest me some apps?

been working with a lot of video content lately, both short form stuff and longer interviews, and I’m realizing manual subtitles are just eating way too much time.

i’ve tried a few tools here and there but it’s usually the same problem, accuracy drops when people talk fast, or there’s an accent, or background noise, and then I still end up fixing half of it anyway.

just curious what everyone is using these days for generating subtitles that are actually clean and usable without spending forever editing them after. ideally something fast and reliable that works well with real world audio.

would love to hear what’s actually working for people right now