How To Plan, Record and Edit A High-Quality YouTube Video In One Day
Contrary to what you might have read elsewhere, creating a high-quality YouTube video doesn’t have to take days or weeks. Whether you want to make some videos in your spare time or simply speed up your content creation, we share our best strategy below.
Read on to find out how to plan, record, and edit a quality YouTube video in one day.
How long does it usually take to create a YouTube video?
Many content creators will spend days or weeks planning, editing and recording their content. Others manage to do everything in a single session.
The amount of time it takes to create a YouTube video will depend on your niche, the length of video you want to make, and your approach. This article is mostly suitable for creators who are able to film their videos quickly and from a single location, such as those in the following niches:
- Educational/instructional videos
- Reviews/unboxing videos
- Podcasts
- Gaming videos
- Home workouts
- Tutorials
- ASMR
That said, other kinds of creators should still find value in this article, as we’ll be sharing advice on how to speed up all parts of the creative process.
Planning your video
To ensure you make the most of your time, it helps to plan your video before you record. This can include creating a schedule, scripting, writing out a shot list, and setting up your recording space.
Create a schedule
It’s easy to overanalyse your video and spend days refining your edits or filming multiple takes. But ‘done is better than perfect’ is the right approach to making YouTube videos, especially if you’re just starting out or can’t commit a lot of time.
Creating a schedule and blocking out your time means you won’t get carried away with any given part of the process. It will help you stay motivated and organised throughout the day, too. You should also remember to take breaks every 20 minutes or so to ensure your concentration doesn’t dip. Focus apps like Flora are great for completing your work in productive bursts without distraction.
Depending on the kind of video you’re creating, you’ll need to assign more or less time to scripting, recording, and editing. For example, video essays will require a lot more planning and scripting, so you might want to assign at least 40% of your time to that. Gamers, on the other hand, might not be able to plan their videos but will require a lot more time to record and edit, so alter your schedule according to your niche.
Here’s an example schedule for an explainer video under 10 minutes:
- Planning and scripting: 1-2 hours
- Recording: 1 hour
- Editing: 2-3 hours
Write a script
Writing a script for your video before recording can help ensure the entire production flows well. You’ll be able to envision the end result, record your footage in fewer takes, and know the order in which everything should appear when it’s time to edit.
Here are our best tips for writing a script quickly:
- Consider how long you want your video to be: A good rate of speech is 150 words per minute, so if you’re aiming for a video of 8-12 minutes, your script should be around 1,500 words. Knowing how many words you have to work with can help you stay focused and concise, and not get carried away with any of your points.
- Use AI writing tools conservatively: AI tools like ChatGPT can be excellent for ideation and quick structuring or outlining for your video. You shouldn’t rely on them too heavily though – having an AI write your entire script can make your delivery seem unnatural or robotic.
- Use storytelling techniques to write your script: Take your viewers on a journey and keep them engaged by breaking your video up into a clear beginning, middle, and end. This will help you avoid getting sidetracked and make sure you know exactly what footage you need to get to finish the project.
- Spend time editing your script: Use free tools like ProWritingAid’s Redundant Words Checker to remove any unnecessary words from your script. The more time you spend editing your script, the less time you have to spend recording and editing the footage (which typically takes way longer).
If you don’t know where to start when writing your script, check out these 14 tips for writing video scripts.
Create a shot list
Almost every content creator should consider writing a shot list to go alongside their scripts – here’s why:
- It makes your video as visually appealing as possible: Making your video dynamic with lots of b-roll and visual elements throughout can be crucial to keeping your viewers engaged. A shot list can help you plan this out before recording and understand which parts of your script may need to be removed.
- It will speed up the editing process: You’ll already know where each clip should go – all you’ll have to do is stick it in the right place.
- It will help you save time recording: When you already know all the shots you need, you won’t be tempted to spend time creating extra footage you won’t actually use. You also won’t have to film in chronological order. In fact, you can reorder your shot list in a way that makes the most sense to film. For example, if you know you need to shoot a few different scenes with a wide angle, you can film them all at once without changing your camera setup.
You should revise your script when writing your shot list, continually asking yourself what could be shown onscreen during each talking point. For this reason, it’s sometimes easier to write out your script and shot list at the same time.
Here’s how an example shot list might look alongside your script:
[Wide angle of me taking plant down from shelf] I have over 50 plants in my apartment, and people are always asking me how I keep them all alive.
[Close-up shot of putting moisture meter into soil]
[Close up shot of pouring water into basin, then placing plant pot on top] So today I’m sharing my routine for keeping my plants healthy all year round!
You can also create a spreadsheet to format your script and shot list. This will allow you to add extra columns for things like inspiration shots or text overlays.
Set up your recording space
Creators who present their video by talking to camera will benefit from setting up their recording space in advance. You should create a filming checklist to make sure you aren’t held back by unpleasant surprises like a dead battery or full memory card.
Your filming checklist might look something like this:
- Studio is set up and tidy
- Lighting is set up correctly
- Props are set up (if using)
- Outfit changes are laid out and ready (if using)
- Camera battery is charged
- Camera settings are correct
- Camera lens is clean
- Tripod is set up and secure
- Microphone battery is charged
- Microphone is correctly positioned
- Laptop is charged
- Memory cards have enough space
- Background is free from noise
You should also test your audio, lighting and video to make sure you’re happy with the quality before recording the whole thing.
Top tip: One of the most time consuming aspects of recording YouTube videos is setting up your recording space, making sure the lighting, background and framing are correct. The easiest way to bypass hurdle is to create a dedicated recording space, where your lighting, tripod, and background can be set up permanently. This means you wont have to manually set up and check it when it’s time to record.
Recording your video
To make the most of your time, it helps to record your video in 2 stages: b-roll and talking to camera (TTC) footage.
Record your b-roll
If you’re recording your own b-roll, it’s advisable to do so before filming your talking-to-camera clips – here’s why:
- You can upload all your b-roll footage onto your computer so it’s ready to go when it’s time to edit. This allows you to clear your memory card too if you’re running low on space.
- If you aren’t able to get some of the b-roll shots you planned for, you might have to edit that part of your script. Recording your b-roll first saves you from having to rerecord this part when presenting.
- If you have limited daylight hours to work with, filming your b-roll first allows you to make the most of it. Your talking-to-camera footage can be filmed at any time so long as you have a ring light or other lighting setup.
Recording the rest of your video
You’ll want to record your video in a way that’s easy to edit – that means recording in a series of clips you can stitch together later. Cuts are very common on YouTube, so don’t feel like you have to earn your entire script off by heart and ace it in one go. You can always hide the cuts behind your b-roll – this will help keep your video visually engaging too!
Keep your script nearby so you can quickly glance at your next line, or use a free teleprompter app to record your script quickly in bigger chunks.
If you do make a mistake, it’s important to take a solid pause and restart your line at the most appropriate time. This way, you can seamlessly cut and slice your footage so that it still flows seamlessly in the end result. It’s surprisingly easy to turn a few messy clips into a polished video during editing!
Editing your video
You’ll probably spend more time editing your video than on any other aspect. You can edit your video in 4 stages:
Organising your assets
To help you put your video together in the quickest and most efficient way, you can create an assets folder within your editing software. This should include subfolders for everything that you’ll use in your video i.e. footage, presets, b-roll, overlays, graphics, music, and sound effects. You can also name each file so you can drag and drop it into your project at a glance.
Do a rough cut
A rough cut will contain all the footage you want to use in your video in chronological order, but without any detailed editing, transitions, or any other visual effects. Your aim while doing a rough cut is to see how well the structure flows. You can use this time to decide which parts you want to keep and what you might want to remove.
Do a main cut
Your main cut is when you’ll start cutting down your clips, without paying too much attention to timings. You can cut out any pauses and see how your video flows at this stage. You’ll also want to take note of where you might like to add transitions, text overlays or b-roll – you can add placeholders or shapes for these where they should appear on the video. Watch your video a couple of times the whole way through at this stage and remove anything you don’t like.
Pro tip: you should remove anything from your video that does not make a significant impact on the end result. Even if you spent a lot of time recording the footage, it’s not worth including in the video if it feels awkward or unnecessary. Being ruthless with your main cut will save you time when it comes to more detailed editing (and it will probably improve the end result, too).
Final edits
Your final edit is where you’ll start adding visual elements, sound effects, and transitions. You’ll also want to pay close attention to timings, cutting your clips until the video flows seamlessly at a good pace. Replay and tweak your video until you’re happy with the final result.
Pro tips:
- Get to know your editing software’s shortcut keys – they’re usually much quicker to use than relying solely on your cursor. Most of the tools and functions on popular programmes like Final Cut Pro can be accessed via keyboard shortcuts. You can also create your own custom keyboard shortcuts for the tools and actions you use often.
- Use presets to speed up when adding b-roll, transitions, or sound effects – this will save you having to search for them each time. You can find lots of free presets on sites like Mixkit to download and save in your assets folder for when you’re ready to edit.
- If your budget allows, you can choose a more advanced editing programme like the premium version of DaVinci Resolve. This offers features like ‘Remove Silent Portions’ to quickly cut out any pauses in your video.