If you look at the timeline of a professional documentary editor during the first four hours of a project, you will notice something weird. The video track is empty.

There are no visuals. No B-Roll. No graphics. Just a waveform.

Most beginners try to edit everything at once—cutting the video, fixing the color, and adding music simultaneously. This is why you get stuck. This is why your pacing feels off. You are trying to build the roof before you’ve poured the foundation.

Here is the hierarchy of a Pro Workflow.

1. Step One: The Radio Edit

• The Rule: If the video doesn't work as a podcast, it won't work as a movie.

• The Method: dragging your A-Roll (interviews/talking head) onto the timeline. Close your eyes. Listen.

  • Cut out the "Ums." Rearrange the sentences. Change the order of the story.

  • Do not look at the video. It doesn't matter if the jump cuts look ugly. It doesn't matter if the video glitches.

  • Does the story make sense to your ears? If yes, you are 80% done.

2. Step Two: The Wallpaper (B-Roll)

• The Rule: Video exists to hide the audio cuts.

• The Method: Now that your audio is locked, you open your eyes. You will see a mess of jump cuts.

  • This is where B-Roll comes in. You don't use B-Roll because it looks "cool." You use it as "Wallpaper" to cover the holes you punched in the wall during the Radio Edit.

3. Step Three: The Polish (The "Candy")

• The Rule: Effects and Color come last.

• The Method: Only after the story works (Audio) and the cuts are hidden (Video) do you add the "YouTube" stuff. The zooms. The text pop-ups. The sound effects.

  • Beginners start here. Pros end here.

The Verdict: Stop editing with your eyes. Edit with your ears. The audience will forgive a bad camera angle. They will never forgive a boring story. Build the radio show first.