Why I Track Editing Hours

Preface

Back in the dial-up internet days, my house had two phone lines. My dad worked for IBM and would do some of that work from home. One phone line was specifically for the internet, and the other for the telephone. Because of this, I could never relate to others my age about fighting over the telephone line for the internet. Also because of this, I was on the internet a lot.

I used to be super outdoorsy. But once I discovered chat rooms, it was all over. I became addicted to chat-based roleplaying, and would be on the computer from morning to night. It became such an issue that in an effort to curb it, my parents gave me a "computer time limit."

The problem was the allotted hours were for the whole week - not per day. So, obviously, I'd burn all my weekly hours in a couple days, then do something else for the rest of the week. My parents weren't happy about this, but at least they did not alter the deal.

This weekly computer time limit influenced my life for years to come. I never got into computer games, for instance.
Console games didn't count toward my time limit, so I'd play those instead. I was always keeping track of how many hours I was online. Mostly because I had to, so I could prove to my parents that despite being on the computer from morning to night again, I still had some weekly hours left!

It's no surprise that habit bled into keeping track of how long it took to edit an AMV.

Why I Track Editing Hours

I started tracking editing hours due to the weekly computer limit. Once I discovered AMVs, I had to somehow manage my time between them and my true love of chat-based roleplay. Tracking my editing hours had the side effect of noticing trends in my AMVs.

When I first started editing in 2002, I found that I really did not want to spend more than 10 hours on a video. In 2003, YCSTR had challenged me to make a video that synced to everything. The resulting video, Jealousy was the video I spent the most effort on up to that date, and had only taken approximately 15 hours.

Later on, the next most-effort video I made, Sword of Schizophrenia, took 18 hours.

Generally speaking, somewhere around the 10 - 15 hour mark of editing a video zapped all of the fun out of it for me. Around that point I just wanted to finish and be done with it. But still, as the years passed, the editing hours trended up.

Part of the problem in my early editing years was that I tended to edit a video in a day or two. Obviously you'll get sick of an activity if you don't stop doing it for 10 hours straight! Once I finally started splitting up the work, my videos would take "months" but I would not have an actual hour amount to connect with them.


When I ask others how long it takes for them to make an AMV, they also usually say "months." But the problem with saying this is... What does that actually MEAN?

Do you work on your video every single day after work in those months? Or do you only open up the file once in a blue moon? "Months" really says nothing about how long someone spends on a video. Hours really are the standard, here.

Growing up, I was told I was fast. A fast learner, a fast editor, etc., etc. After I outgrew the computer time limit, I always felt the need to compare myself to others- was I still fast at doing things? Without others keeping track of their editing hours, I'll never know how I compare.


Around 2008, I took a few years-long hiatus from editing. I tried to make one video a year, but sometimes it didn't happen. During that time, I didn't keep track of hours. Once I came back from the hiatus in 2018, however, my interest in keeping track of them renewed. I found a program called Procrastitracker, which was unique in that it kept track of the window titles. This meant I could track of hours spent on specific projects, instead of just overall hours in Adobe Premiere.

Let's not talk about my overall Premiere hours.

With Procrastitracker installed, I was able to track literally all of my projects. I still struggle with the question of whether I am fast or slow in comparison to other editors (and why that honestly shouldn't matter), but I also enjoy finding patterns. What videos took longer than others to edit? Why was that? Is there a specific time when I stop having fun?

These days, I'm starting at 15 hours with any project I am actually putting effort into. Somewhere after 30 hours is when it stops being fun for me.
I also found that my time spent editing has almost nothing to do with how long the video is. Using a source I'm unfamiliar with, or don't have a clear idea for, will vastly increase the amount of hours it takes to finish it. Meanwhile, if I get the inspiration and/or use video footage I've used several times before, I can make a 4 minute video in 15 hours or less.

It still astounds me that hours spent also has no clear tie to quality of the edit, either. Two (2) Millennials only took 8 hours but practically everyone whose seen it has enjoyed it. I spent nearly 47 hours on Avant Garde, but it completely misses the mark for me. Stockholm Syndrome, a 1 minute video, took 15 hours to make. Meanwhile, Vengeance, a video I started with the intend of finishing in less than 15 hours turned into a 44 hour project.

When I talk to others about tracking their editing time, it seems most people don't want to know. I guess there might be some shame involved with how long they spend on a relatively obscure hobby (all things considered). I've honestly never felt that way. I keep track of the hours out of pure curiosity, in an ever-continuing experiment to figure out when "fun" becomes "work" (a blog entry for another time).

How long do you typically take to edit videos? If you keep track of it, why?
If you don't keep track of it... also why? 😂

Thanks for reading~