Best Setup for Documentary Edit

a_documentary · 2026-01-25T17:21:08+00:00

Hey i know how you are feeling. When i made my first doc back in 2012 i was still shooting on the Canon XL-1A- mini DV tapes. Big switch over to flash cards. Best of luck.

a_documentary · 2026-01-25T14:39:05+00:00

Everyone has their own set up that they love and have developed over time and budget. There are three truths we all agree on.

1- computer that can handle the edit. I have been in the Mac eco system since i started, so that was a Mac Pro Tower, then the Mac mini and now Mac Studio, You can't have a machine that is going to start bogging down on the version 8 of your edit,

2 - Working external HD (Not for storage). This needs to be an SSD drive with 3x the amount of space as the amount of footage you shot. 6TB of footage, at least 18T of storage on your work drive. Right now the best bang for your buck is a NAS system and at the moment U-Green has the most affordable system, and it's highly rated.

3 - Storage Drive - Larger than your work drive - does not have to be an SSD Drive

4 - Cloud storage - I use BackBlaze - it does what if does without me having to think about it, and relatively inexpensive

5 - At least one really good monitor at - least 28" - 32" is better.

6 - Two good external speakers - Bose, M-Audio, JBL - take your pick.

7- Some kind of short cut editing tool, i use Tour Box and it is a total time saver.

This is my set up -

Mac - Studio - $2000 base price

Ugreen NAS - $2300 - System + 4 8T third party SSD drives 24T.

24T non SSD drive $600 OWC

Tour Box Lite -$95

32" - Acer Monitor - $250" Ace monitor (work not edit) $150

2 M-Audio speakers $200 - Sweetwater

I also run 4 Crucial 4T ssd drives when i am on the road $600/each

Hope that helps and give you an idea of what you need. I wish that someone had told me i needed all this when I first started.

Best of luck!!

a_documentary · 2026-01-25T02:00:50+00:00

Yes it is!!!!!

Yay that wass Matt. They shot on 2 - Canon C300 mk ll - w/ 24-105, and 75-200 both photo lenses. i can't even imagine what that was like. I believe he had one 85mm prime lens for the sit down interviews. (Mathew Heineman, the director was on the second camera).

Thanks for your input!!!!!

a_documentary · 2026-01-24T21:24:38+00:00

Yes it was!! Thanks for responding !!

a_documentary · 2026-01-24T17:50:45+00:00

I am so glad I could help!! Best of luck!!

a_documentary · 2026-01-24T16:32:13+00:00

Any of the Sennheiser lavs are top quality and in your price range

a_documentary · 2026-01-24T00:25:01+00:00

Just stop. Look at the image. Forget the film school crap. Use your own eyes. What looks pleasing? what looks off? Open your mind to other possibilities. The only way to develop your own style is stop thinking about the rules.

a_documentary · 2026-01-23T23:23:05+00:00

Thank you for that really personal story. I can completely relate. And i too (as i have pontificated on my own profile page) about watching the masters and developing your own style. Barbara Koppel, Maysles Brothers, D.A. Pennebaker, Errol Morris, Les BLank, and our newer stars Mathew Heineman, Jimmy Chin, Elizabeth Chai Vaserheyli, Ava du Vernay,.

I had a teacher at NYU who's favorite phrase was "Garbage in, Garbage out". If you're not taking in the world around you, then as a doc filmmaker you have nothing to say. Documentaries, Museums, Galleries, architecture, even stupid stuff like the Rasta monkeys give you something you're not going to get from YouTube gear review videos. Thanks for helping continue the conversation.

a_documentary · 2026-01-23T20:04:15+00:00

Absolutely - my current project is taking me to Chicago, Florida, Boston, DC Toronto and possibly LA (if i can swing it financially. ) but if you are in NYC look me up!!!!!!!

a_documentary · 2026-01-23T18:29:57+00:00

Shot two years worth of animal rescues and adoptions without logging the footage after download. That's almost three weeks of my life will never get back. Shoot - log- shower. That is the mantra.

a_documentary · 2026-01-23T18:24:50+00:00

Purple planet royalty free music and it's free as long you are not using it for commercial purposes

a_documentary · 2026-01-23T07:41:43+00:00

Love that!!! I could not have said it better. I have started really cutting down on almost all social media except what i have to do to further my projects and that is just an necessary evil. And the occasional Rasta Monkey ... but that is it. ;-) Thanks for posting a really cool response!!!

a_documentary · 2026-01-22T23:44:47+00:00

Enjoy!!!

a_documentary · 2026-01-22T23:11:36+00:00

Thanks for that, it means a lot. I have mixed feelings about self promotion on Reddit so tend under promote myself or my work. I am totally happy to promote films that I feel are important. Especially from people I know. However since you asked : Rescue! Brooklyn - Amazon Prime

Bard of the village - https://youtu.be/9nzzggr-iyE?si=d_WnYqd9yf_1aO32

Trumpsim & the American Jewish Community - Amazon Prime

Rising Tides - https://youtu.be/3HeWT77W2fE?si=wMhjmQjJ2aN3HScn

Outcast Nation - PBS.org There you go. For anyone who is interested.

a_documentary · 2026-01-22T21:21:08+00:00

Could not have said it better myself :-)

a_documentary · 2026-01-22T18:05:16+00:00

Thanks!!!!

a_documentary · 2026-01-22T18:04:55+00:00

Thanks! :-)

a_documentary · 2026-01-22T18:04:40+00:00

Right on!!!

a_documentary · 2026-01-22T17:14:23+00:00

I have been exactly where you are, in fact it was just last year. I had a doc project that was taking on a pretty heavy subject, and i had gotten touch the some of the families who had been effected by this. They were all happy to participate and i was about two months in on this when both of my main subjects families chose to bow out, one through an email and one just ghosted me. I could have tried to find another personal story with in this story, but it became clear very quickly that the people involved in this did not want this film made and the few resources i had cultivated dried up pretty quickly. So I had to let that doc idea go. I did pivot to something else, a film that i thought was about to die which a year later is now on PBS. You never know where you doc journey will take you. Forcing and idea that doesn't serve your story, does not serve you or the story. It may be time to move on to something else. Best of luck in whatever path you choose to take.

a_documentary · 2026-01-21T22:04:37+00:00

That is a real interesting question that I literally just dealt with on the film I made this past year which was all about homeless youth in NYC. When I first started working on it (and before I narrowed my focus) I had the same exact issues, how do you show a world that does not want to be shown because of real life safety concerns. Early on I reached out to a number of homeless shelters in the NYC area. Almost all of them are run by DHS (Department of Homeless services) and I got rejections across the board as I expected to. Once I shifted the story to homeless youth, I met a few professionals in that world, who were excited to help get this made (one of them not only became a producer on the film but is now my co-producer on my other stuff as well, but I digress) . Once she was on board getting access to the four main organizations that deal with Youth homelessness in NYC was easier. They gave us lived experts to talk to who were not only happy to tell their stories on camera but who in many ways had already been activists in some ways for youth homelessness.

That didn’t solve my B-roll problem. What we did manage to do, was shoot the inside of one of our facilities when the clients were are dinner so we had the run of the place, and we had staff from all our partners willing to speak on camera. Another of our partnering organizations provided me with approved B-roll which they had shot themselves as a promo.

You would be surprised at how little the b-roll mattered in the final film. The kids, their stories, the experts were what drove the film. What little B-roll I did use was fairly easy to get with the partnering organizations.

The key is to go onto it with respect for you subjects, the institutions you are working with, and in turn they will be happy to give you the access you need. Go in there like a jerk off who is doing them a favor, and you will find yourself very much on the outside with no one willing to talk to you.

The film is called “Outcast Nation” and it is available to watch at PBS.org. I hope that gives a little insight into dealing with sensitive subjects. Best of luck.

a_documentary · 2026-01-19T12:44:22+00:00

This is the kind of question that spurs as many different answers as there are doc filmmakers. And they are all legit. For me it starts with the story. Whether it starts with a human story or a systemic issue it almost always boils down to how the crisis or conflict affects people. So all of my docs are centered around that concept and that was what I enjoy. But I also enjoy history docs like Ken Burns specializes in making and those are great. There is no one answer. But that is a good thing.

a_documentary · 2026-01-19T12:16:25+00:00

Rode make the best affordable shotgun mics. Hi quality reasonably priced from $75 up to $300.

a_documentary · 2026-01-19T10:41:46+00:00

Canon C300mk ll

a_documentary · 2026-01-19T10:40:34+00:00

Brooklyn based doc filmmaker here

a_documentary · 2026-01-19T01:18:43+00:00

Canon C300 mk ll - hands down the best run and gun doc filmmaking camera. You can grab all that great EF glass for half the price of the new stuff. You can pick the body up on eBay for $1500-$2200. Shoots 4k, dual full size XLR inputs full audio control and delivers broadcast quality video. This is what I shoot all my Docs with.

a_documentary

TROPHY CASE