How to Optimize Your Workflow When Editing Large Volumes of Footage

A Nice Workflow for Photo and Video Editing

Working in audiovisual production often means dealing with thousands of files — photos, videos, clips, project folders, backups… Keeping all of that organized is just as essential as being creative.

In our case, we work with a Sony A7IV, a hybrid camera that allows us to capture both video and photography within the same production. We edit on a MacBook Pro, so having a clear and efficient workflow isn’t just about staying organized — it’s about working calmly, efficiently, and without unnecessary stress.

Production wrapped. Now it’s you versus terabytes of footage. Here’s how to survive it.

Production wrapped. Now it’s you versus terabytes of footage. Here’s how to survive it.

1. Organising and Naming Files

Nothing helps us more than starting with a clear structure from the very beginning. We use Renamer4Mac to automatically rename all files.

For photos, we always separate them into two folders:

• One for .jpg files

• Another for .arw (Sony RAW files)

Our naming format looks like this: 251003_BrandName_01

Where “25” stands for the year, “10” for the month, and “03” for the day. This way everything sorts numerically, and it’s easy to find any session later.

We follow the same structure for videos (.mp4) and delete the .xml files generated by the camera (since we don’t need them).

In the end, our base structure looks like this:

📁 ARW

📁 MP4

2. Backups and Safety

We always work with two identical hard drives. If we buy a 4TB drive, we buy two.

The main one is marked with a green sticker, and the backup one has a yellow label or the letter B.

We use Carbon Copy Cloner (CCC). Every time we plug in both drives, it automatically creates an exact mirror copy.

More than once, a drive has suddenly stopped working. Luckily, we’ve never lost any data thanks to this system.

When that happens, we simply reformat the damaged drive and swap the roles: the backup becomes the new master, and the freshly formatted one becomes the new backup.

(Important note: always create a new “Task” in CCC. Otherwise, the backup may be wiped since the newly formatted disk is empty.)

📌 Golden rule: Never delete anything. You never know when a photo or clip might become useful again.

3. Archiving Projects

We also keep a Google Sheets document where we list every project, its folder name, and which drive it’s stored on.

Sometimes we remember a sunset timelapse from Mallorca or a beautiful deserted beach shot that could work perfectly as an intro for a new project — and thanks to that sheet, we can find it in seconds.

Even for our Final Cut Pro projects, we always export an .fcpxml file.

An FCPXML file saves the project’s entire structure — cuts, effects, audio, and color correction — without taking up much space.

It’s a lightweight and safe way to reopen an edit in the future or on another computer, even if the software version has changed.

4. Photo Workflow

Once everything is properly archived and backed up, only then do we format the SD cards for the next shoot.

For photo editing, we use Lightroom.

We start by rating images with stars ⭐:

1 star = maybe

2 stars = good

3 stars = better

4 stars = almost there

5 stars = final

Then we adjust color, exposure, and contrast. We call this step color correction (CC) — it helps us instantly see which images have already been processed.

To share previews with clients, we export web-size images (1920px wide) and name them like this: 251003_ClientName_01_cc_web

We upload them to Pixieset, a platform that allows us to create online galleries (free up to a certain limit).

Clients can view their gallery, mark their favorites ❤️, and send us their selection. Pixieset notifies us automatically, and from there we narrow down our final working set.

When everything is finalized, we export the high-resolution images and rename them ending only with _cc (no “web”).

5. Video Workflow

Video is a different process.

We create a project named after the client with _ALL at the end — that’s where we import all the footage. We go through each clip, select the best parts, and start building a long timeline.

A useful trick in Final Cut Pro:to prevent clips from snapping together magnetically, we use the P tool to move them up to a secondary timeline (a grey bar). This allows us to group clips, and with the B tool, we can cut that grey bar and move entire sections freely.

We usually deliver three versions of every project:

(1st cut) – First draft

(2nd cut) – With client feedback

(3rd cut) – More feedback

(final) – Final version

Sometimes there’s a 4th cut, but rarely more.

We upload all versions to Vimeo as unlisted links, so clients can review the video securely without it being public.

A well-structured workflow doesn’t just save time — it brings peace of mind.

Knowing your files are safe, organized, and easy to find allows you to focus on what truly matters: creating.

Because, as we’ve learned over the years:

✨ Creativity flows better when chaos is under control.

✨ See more of our work at alairefilms.com