We live in an unprecedented time for “remote working” or working from home in the field of video and post-production. We finally have machines powerful enough, internet connections fast enough, and a slew of communications tools available to make it unnecessary to be sitting next to a client or employer for something like an edit session.
And there are many other pluses like freedom of schedule and lower costs that make remote work even more appealing to many employers. This means if you are a video editor, you too have the opportunity to work from home and make a good living.
But there are some important key factors to being successful at working from home as a video editor. Today we’ll discuss just what it takes to help you set up shop in the comfort of your own home office and maybe make good money while wearing pajamas (if you are into that sort of thing).
Environment
Perhaps the most important part of setting up a home or remote studio is the proper work environment. When we go into an office to work, we are generally in a good environment to get things done. We have all of our tools available without distractions. Sure, some studios are bustling and chaotic, but generally, they serve one purpose, and that’s to get work done.
On the other hand, a home is filled with many “non-work” distractions. Setting yourself up at the kitchen table where the kids are doing homework and the dog is constantly trying to lick your face, will very quickly become a bigger problem than you think.
Start by carving out a little quiet space where you can just focus on the work at hand without distractions from the outside world. Give yourself a buffer from a family with a door, and get yourself some decent headphones to drown out the noise.
If your house just isn’t right, you can always set up shop at a coffee house as long as it’s quiet enough and you can keep yourself from people watching all day.
You just need a place that represents work and no outside responsibilities. Too many distractions will slow you down and make clients think you are not capable of getting the job done.
Equipment
The beauty of today’s post-production world is that most modern (well-stocked) computers can handle just about anything you throw at them.
If you want to set up a full tower machine with 2 or even 3 monitors, a good set of speakers, a Wacom style tablet, and full keyboard, you certainly can. And you can do it for under $10,000. But you can also get most any editing job done on a good-sized laptop with a load of RAM, SSD hard drive, and external drives running through Thunderbolt or USB 3 ports.
What’s key is not that you have loads of gear, but that you have quality gear. Get a computer that is no more than a couple of years old. If it doesn’t have at least 16 GB of RAM, update it. This can be done for under $300 in most cases. Consider a solid-state hard drive for at least running your applications, and make sure to have plenty of external hard drive space for footage and file storage. A laptop with all of the essentials can be built out for under $5,000. And it can go anywhere you want or need to go.
Job Sources
There are plenty of editing jobs that can be done remotely. Sometimes remote editors can find long term contract work, and sometimes it’s just a one-off, but either way, there is no shortage of opportunities.
Check out our post called Find Video Editing Jobs Online for tips on locating work remotely. You can also check out more wide-reaching freelance marketplaces like UpWork for individual opportunities.
Portfolio
In order to find the work you want in a remote setting, you need to have a good presence online. This will help potential clients and employers find you. Consider putting up a good demo reel on sites like Vimeo and work samples on Behance and other creative portfolio sites.
If you have the skills or know someone who does, build out a simple website with links to your work, information about you, and a contact form. This will help you come across as more professional and make it easier for people to trust your skills.
Services like SquareSpace and Strikingly make it super easy to build a professional site on a budget.
Admin
When working from home, you have to be extra careful about tracking your time, budgets, and invoices. The biggest hurdle to working remotely with clients is gaining trust. A client who isn’t sitting next to you wants to know that you are working on their edit and not your fantasy football draft.
So, you need to be very meticulous about your time and your billing. Consider one of the many time tracking tools available on the web and for mobile, like TickSpot or Toggl. Or take it a step further with an app like Harvest or similar apps that not only track time but handle invoicing as well.
With these tools, you can set up clients, projects, and tasks. Then simply click to start and stop a timer. With hourly rates and budgets, you can keep track of how you are doing on a project, and then generate a detailed invoice for all of your time spent.
By working efficiently and showing how your time was spent, you can give clients peace of mind that your home or remote setup is worthwhile and that you are an organized worker.
Resources
One other important thing you need with working remotely is a good set of creative assets at your disposal. When you aren’t in a studio setting, you are often on your own to find assets you need to get a job done.
Make a list of all of the possible asset types you might need and bookmark relevant sites. These may include paid and free stock images or video, sound effects and stock music, or even templates like we offer here at Motion Array.
Having a long list of resources for creative assets will save you tons of time in the middle of a deadline and will also help to make it easier to budget projects from the start.
You also need a good way to backup files and share previews.
For backups, external hard drives are key, but off-site storage is also essential. With a fast internet connection, you can backup your projects and files to services like Dropbox or Google Drive with ease. You may even find it helpful to keep your project files inside of one of these services’ folders on your machine so that backups are constant.
For file previews, there are also lots of options. In the most simple form, you can use Dropbox or Google Drive to share previews with clients. This is cheap and easy. You can also use Vimeo to create private links for preview sharing. Or you can go a step further with a dedicated video hosting and previewing services like LookAt or Wipster. These services have extra features for client feedback and versioning that will make clients feel more involved and make communication easier throughout the project.
It really doesn’t take a huge amount of money to set yourself up at home or remotely for editing work, but it does take a certain amount of organization and dedication. With the right tools and a professional attitude, the days of getting stuck on a long commute and wasting time in long meetings can be left behind and replaced with the comforts of home and flexible schedules.
