How do you manage video projects with large volumes of raw footage, and what is your process for organizing and prioritizing the content to create a coherent final product?

When managing video projects with large volumes of raw footage, I focus on staying organized and breaking the process into manageable steps.

First, I create a well-structured folder system with categories like raw footage, audio, B-roll, and project files to keep everything easy to find. Then, I review all the footage to get a clear idea of the story or key points, marking the best clips using tags or color labels.

I prioritize content that aligns with the project’s main objective or narrative, focusing on the most impactful or visually appealing shots. My timeline is built in stages, starting with a rough cut to lay out the story structure, followed by refining transitions, adding B-roll, and syncing audio. This step-by-step approach keeps the workflow smooth, ensures nothing important gets overlooked, and helps me stay on track even with a large volume of footage.

First, make sure you have dedicated hard drive that only contain raw footage or files needed for a project. Never put your personal files and project files in 1 hard drive.

Second, if you had slow internet connection, upgrade it. Wasting 1 day just to download is the same as wasting money.

Third, Folder Structure > Years > Month > Date > Buyer Name, why buyer name? I have use order number before and believe me is a headache when I have to go back and find project files for revision.

Fourth, name folder with the extension, like RAW FOOTAGE, SOUND EFFECT, MUSIC, MOTION GRAPHIC.

If you working 4K footage, always create a proxies, it will takes some time to create the proxies but it will make your editing faster and smoother without any issue.

Then if you use Adobe Premiere Pro, always make new sequence for every progress you make, like "ROUGH CUT", "ONLINE EDITING", "OFFLINE EDITING"

Folder Structure: Create organized folders (e.g., "Video," "Audio," "GFX," "Exports"...).

File Naming: Use consistent naming conventions for easy identification and never leave files from cameras as is (C001, C002 etc). There is a chance that you overwrite them or fail with relinking. I rename files like: Date-Original-Filename.mp4

Tagging and Rating (mark with colors): Review and tag footage to prioritize the best clips.

Editing Workflow: Use a rough cut to establish a narrative, then refine to create a coherent final product.