Overview of the role
An edit assistant's main purpose is to support and ensure the smooth running of the edit suites. This could be multiple edits across multiple projects or just one edit and project. Although an edit assistant is primarily a technical role, knowledge of the entire editing process and creative thought and initiative is important.
Edit assistant roles are generally part of the offline support or machine room team within a post-production facility.
Core responsibilities
These core responsibilities are provided as a guide and are not exhaustive. The exact responsibilities in a particular job will vary depending on the scale / budget band / genre of the production.
- Media management of raw footage
- Data wrangling from production
- Managing ingested media and workspaces
- Updating and storing correlating paperwork
- Tailoring workflows to projects
- Understanding and implementing naming conventions and project structure
- Organising projects
- Managing paperwork
- Media archiving, creating LTO’s
The editing responsibilities for the assistant are broad, from technical and organisational to the use of creative thought and action. Here are examples:
- Ingest of rushes
- Organisation of the project and rushes
- Organising archive to ensure it’s named and organised correctly
- Syncing rushes with sound and possible multi cam situations
- Setting up remote edits where needed with the appropriate software
- Creating and applying luts
- Exports for various members of production
- Archive replacement
- Conforming the final project for online
- Supplying various turnovers due to the specifications needed
- QT responsibilities
- Troubleshooting with final post
- Keep all edit systems and suites operating throughout production
- Tech and edit support when needed
- Upkeep an organised and efficient media management system
- Ensuring that final post has all necessary deliverables needed for final online edit.
Skills
Check out role specific skills, transferable skills, and attributes for the role of edit assistant.
- Communication: communication skills are vital to the role. Interpreting and fixing problems that occur as well as handing over to other members of staff quickly and succinctly is important in maintaining an efficient edit.
- Troubleshooting: a large part of the edit assistant role involves troubleshooting problems that are flagged by the editor within the edit project or that occur at the point of ingest or export. There are endless variables that will be presented on each project that quick logical thinking will be required to solve.
- Software: edit assistants are the main technical support to the edit. In depth knowledge of how multiple edit packages work and how they interact with both Microsoft and Apple operating systems is needed. A good understanding of Avid, Adobe Creative Suite and DaVinci Resolve are needed along with Nexis, EditShare and other media sharing workspace software and hardware systems. You will need to learn new software as is needed.
- Hardware: you will be responsible for the running of all the edit hardware. Mics, speakers, data storage, servers and edit suite machines will come under that umbrella. This will include setting up and troubleshooting any errors or problems with hardware that is needed to run a successful edit. You will also need to understand possible conflicts created by production equipment with the edit facilities equipment and how to work around these problems.
- A good edit assistant is cooperative and works well within a team environment, but is used to operating under own initiative and for long periods alone.
- Organised and able to manufacture transparent organisational systems.
- Attention to detail
- Effective communication skills
- Honest and candid
- Effective deduction skills and problem solving
- Able to take direction and advice
- Remain cool under pressure
- Have a technical and logical thought process
Discover more checklists
Take a look at additional editor skills checklists