“Editing Against the Clock – How to Actually Finish Before the Deadline”

We’ve all been there.

You sit down to edit a “quick video”… and suddenly it’s midnight, you’ve renamed 47 clips, colour graded half of them, and still haven’t exported anything.

Deadlines don’t care how artistic you feel.

So here are a few battle-tested tricks to actually get your edit finished on time—whether it’s for YouTube, a client, or your next sailing adventure video.

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1. Start With the End in Mind

Before you even open DaVinci Resolve (or anything else):

• What’s the final length? (5 mins? 20 mins?)
• Where is it going? (YouTube, Instagram, website?)
• What’s the point of the video?

If you don’t know this, you’ll edit forever.

Rule: If it doesn’t serve the story, it goes.

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2. Rough Cut First – Always

Forget perfection.

• Dump clips in
• Cut out obvious rubbish
• Get something watchable

No colour grading.
No fancy transitions.
No “just tweaking this one bit…”

Ugly but complete beats beautiful but unfinished.

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3. Use a “Good Enough” Rule

Perfection is the enemy of publishing.

Ask yourself:

• Would a viewer notice this?
• Does it change the story?

If the answer is “no”…

Move on.

(You are not editing a Hollywood film… unless I’ve missed something.)

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4. Batch Your Tasks

Don’t jump around like a jib in a gust.

Do things in blocks:

• All cuts first
• Then audio
• Then titles
• Then colour

Your brain works faster when it stays in one mode.

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5. Audio Before Visual Polish

Viewers will forgive:

• Slightly shaky footage
• Imperfect colour

They will NOT forgive:

• Bad sound

Fix audio early. It saves time later.

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6. Set Artificial Deadlines

If your real deadline is Friday…

Set your own:

• Wednesday: rough cut done
• Thursday: final polish

Because “I’ll finish it Friday” usually means…

You’ll still be editing Friday night.

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7. Don’t Get Lost in File Chaos

We’ve all done it:

“Final_edit_v7_REAL_final_THIS_ONE.mov”

Instead:

• Use clear folders
• Name files properly
• Keep versions simple

Future you will be very grateful.

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8. Know When to Stop

At some point:

• It’s not getting better
• It’s just getting different

Export it. Publish it. Move on.

Because the next video will always be better.

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Final Thought

Editing is like sailing against the tide.

If you don’t keep moving forward, you drift…
…and before you know it, the deadline has passed you.

 

“If You Could Only Take ONE Lens on a Sailing Holiday…”

You’re standing there packing for the trip.
Space is tight. Weight matters. Salt water is waiting…

And then the big question:
Which lens do you take?

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The One-Lens Rule (Boat Edition)

On a boat, you don’t get second chances.
You can’t say:

“Hang on, I’ll just swap lenses…”

By the time you’ve opened the bag, the dolphin has gone, the gust has hit, and your crew is shouting at you for not holding the jib.

So your lens needs to be:

• Versatile
• Fast enough
• Not too bulky
• Capable of telling the whole story

The Winner: 24–70mm (Full Frame Equivalent)

If I had to take just one lens, it would be:

24–70mm (full-frame / 35mm equivalent)

Why?

24mm end:

• Wide enough for:
  • Boat interiors
  • Deck action
  • “Look where we are!” harbour shots

50mm range:

• Natural perspective
• Great for storytelling images

70mm end:

• Portraits of crew
• Picking out details
• Compressing scenes slightly

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Why Not Something Else?

❌ 16–35mm (Too Wide Only)

Great for drama…
But everything starts looking like a GoPro shot.

❌ 70–200mm (Too Long)

Brilliant from the shore…
Useless when you’re on a moving boat trying not to fall over.

❌ Prime Lens (e.g. 50mm)

Sharp? Yes.
Flexible? Not when the action is happening all around you.

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Real Boat Reality

On a yacht or dinghy:

• You’re moving
• The subject is moving
• The light is changing
• Your footing is… questionable

A 24–70mm lets you:

• React instantly
• Frame without moving (important when you can’t move)
• Capture everything from wide landscapes to close-up moments

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My Personal Take (From Experience)

From filming on the Thames and preparing for Croatia:

• Wide shots tell the story
• Mid-range captures the people
• Slight zoom gets the emotion

The 24–70mm is the “do everything without thinking” lens

And on a boat…
thinking time is limited.

Teaching Logs – I was Born BC (Before Calculators!)

 

Teaching Logs – Born BC (Before Calculators!)

There was a time—believe it or not—when doing a multiplication like 347 × 82 wasn’t a quick tap on a calculator… it was a mini project.

Yes, I was born BC – Before Calculators.

And in those days, we had two magical tools:

• Logarithm tables
• Slide rules

Both built on one brilliant idea:
Turn difficult calculations (multiplication/division) into easier ones (addition/subtraction)

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The Big Idea – Why Logs Work

The key comes from the mathematical rule:

log(a × b) = log(a) + log(b)
log(a ÷ b) = log(a) − log(b)

So instead of multiplying two awkward numbers, we:

1. Look up their logs in a table
2. Add them together
3. Convert (antilog) back to get the answer

Simple… well… eventually simple 

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📖 Logarithm Tables – The Original “Calculator App”

A book of log tables was an essential bit of kit—right up there with a pen and ruler.

To multiply numbers:

• Look up the log of each number
• Add the values (carefully!)
• Use the antilog table to convert back

Sounds straightforward… until:

• You misread a row
• Add incorrectly
• Or forget where the decimal point should go (a favourite mistake!)

But once mastered, it was fast and surprisingly accurate.

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📏 Slide Rules – The Engineer’s Superpower

 The slide rule—a beautifully simple analogue computer.

Instead of looking up numbers, the slide rule:

• Uses logarithmic scales
• Lets you physically add lengths (which represent logs)
• Gives you the answer instantly by lining things up

No batteries. No screen. No fuss.

Engineers used them to:

• Design bridges
• Calculate trajectories
• Even help send humans to the Moon 

And all with a bit of sliding wood or plastic!

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Why Bother?

You might ask: why go through all this trouble?

Because:

• Multiplication and division are harder operations
• Addition and subtraction are much easier
• Logs convert one into the other

It’s a brilliant example of mathematics simplifying the world

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Teaching Today – What We’ve Lost (and Gained)

Today’s students:

• Have powerful calculators
• Can compute instantly
• But sometimes miss the why behind the maths

Back then, you:

• Understood place value deeply
• Estimated answers before calculating
• Developed a real “feel” for numbers

And perhaps most importantly…
You appreciated just how clever mathematics really is

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Final Thought

When I tell students today about log tables and slide rules, I usually get that look…

“Sir… you actually did maths like that?”

Yes. Yes we did.

And somehow… we survived.

 Why the 360 Camera Rules Action Video

There was a time when filming action meant strapping a camera somewhere vaguely sensible, pressing record, and hoping for the best. Hours later, you’d discover you’d filmed your elbow, your shoe, or a beautifully crisp shot of absolutely nothing useful.

Enter the 360 camera — the new kid on the block — and suddenly, everything changes.

You Don’t Miss the Shot (Ever Again)

Traditional cameras force you to choose the angle before the action happens. Get it wrong? Tough.

A 360 camera captures everything. Front, back, up, down — the lot.

• Missed the moment? No problem
• Subject moved out of frame? Doesn’t matter
• Didn’t know where the action would be? Perfect

You simply reframe afterwards in editing. It’s like having a camera operator who never blinks.

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Perfect for Sailing (and Other Chaos)

From experience on the Thames, things happen quickly:

• A sudden gust heels the boat
• The crew fumbles a tack (never happens… obviously 😄)
• Another boat appears from nowhere

With a 360 camera mounted on the mast or stern:

• You capture helm, crew, sails, and surroundings all at once
• You can cut between angles later
• You can even simulate a drone shot without getting wet (or fined)

It’s a game changer for pmrsailing-style filming.

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The “Invisible Camera Operator” Trick

One of the cleverest tricks is the invisible selfie stick.

The camera stitches two lenses together so the pole disappears, giving you:

• Floating “drone-like” shots
• Third-person tracking views
• Smooth follow shots without another person filming

It looks like magic — but it’s just very smart engineering.

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Editing Becomes Creative, Not Corrective

With normal footage, editing is often about fixing mistakes.

With 360 footage, editing becomes storytelling:

• Choose your angle after the event
• Pan smoothly between viewpoints
• Zoom into the action
• Track subjects automatically

It’s less “rescue mission” and more director’s studio.

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One Camera, Many Jobs

Instead of carrying:

• GoPro
• DSLR
• Drone

You can often get away with just one 360 camera.

For sailing, holidays, teaching demos, even lab work — it’s incredibly versatile.

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It’s Not Perfect (Yet)

Let’s be honest:

• Low light performance can struggle
• Editing takes a bit of learning
• Battery life isn’t endless

But the advantages far outweigh the downsides — especially for action.

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Final Thoughts (From the River Thames)

For me, the 360 camera isn’t just another gadget — it’s a completely different way of filming.

It removes the stress of “getting the shot” and replaces it with the freedom to enjoy the moment… and sort it out later.

And when you’re trying not to capsize, that’s quite a useful feature.

 

The Magic of 1–4–5 – Playing in Any Key Without Panic

If you’ve ever sat at a piano (or organ… or synthesiser in my case) and thought:

“This piece is in E♭… I’ll just quietly close the lid and walk away…”

…then let me introduce you to one of the most powerful shortcuts in music:

The 1–4–5 Chord Sequence

Every major key has three workhorse chords:

• 1 (I) – the home chord
• 4 (IV) – the “move away” chord
• 5 (V) – the tension builder

Together… they are responsible for half the music you’ve ever heard.

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Why This Matters

Instead of memorising dozens of chords for every key…

You just think in numbers instead of note names

Example:

• In C major → C (1), F (4), G (5)
• In D major → D (1), G (4), A (5)
• In E major → E (1), A (4), B (5)

Same pattern. Different starting point.

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What This Means in Practice

Once you understand 1–4–5:

• You can transpose instantly
• You can follow singers (who always change key at the worst moment!)
• You can improvise with confidence
• You can play along with most pop, rock, blues, and folk music

It’s a bit like sailing…

Learn how the wind works once… and you can sail anywhere on the river.

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A Simple Exercise

Try this:

1. Pick any key (start with C if you like life easy)
2. Play:
   • 1 → 4 → 5 → 1
3. Now move to another key and repeat

After a while, your brain stops thinking:
❌ “C–F–G”
and starts thinking:
✅ “1–4–5”

That’s when things get interesting.

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Bonus Thought (From the Organ Bench)

When playing my Wersi digital organ, using numbers instead of notes makes:

• Key changes effortless
• Improvisation far less terrifying
• Accompaniment much smoother

…and most importantly…

 It sounds like you actually know what you’re doing 😄

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Final Thought

The 1–4–5 sequence is not just a trick.

It’s a language.

Learn the language… and suddenly every key becomes familiar.