Ever stared down hours of interview footage knowing you only need three minutes for the final cut? Welcome to the editor's dilemma. This is why it's crucial to avoid mistakes when editing multicam videos.

Here’s the truth: most of what you film never makes it to the timeline. The key to finding what does? Video chunking.

This workflow trick is how pro editors cut through bloated interviews without losing their minds. Instead of scrubbing endlessly for that one golden quote, chunking helps you organize footage into meaningful segments before you even touch the blade tool. It’s like editing with a roadmap instead of wandering aimlessly.

Let’s break it down.

What is Video Chunking?

Think of it like segmenting your footage by idea instead of timestamp. Instead of trimming at random intervals or splitting your clip into equal parts, you divide it at natural topic shifts.

These chunks could be:

• A speaker answering one question

• A full anecdote or story

• A transition from background to product discussion

It’s a structure-first mindset: you’re giving your footage context and form before the edit even begins.

Why It Works So Well

Raw interviews are messy. They’re full of:

• Filler words

• Long pauses

• Tangents

• Multiple takes of the same story

Without chunking, editors spend hours scrubbing, guessing, and rewatching. With chunking, you’re navigating straight to the good parts.

This method cuts editing time in half, makes collaboration easier, and turns every edit into a highlight reel.

How To Chunk Footage in Premiere Pro (Manual Method)

1. Watch the footage at 1.5x or 2x speed.

2. Mark topic shifts using "M" on the keyboard.

3. Use the Razor Tool (C) to split at those markers.

4. Rename or color-code chunks by theme (e.g. "Founder's Origin Story", "User Pain Point", "Future Vision").

You now have digestible pieces to pull from rather than a 2-hour monster file.

The Semantic Video Chunking Advantage

Semantic chunking groups footage by meaning, not just speaker or timestamp. This is huge for:

• Interviews

• Testimonials

• Podcasts

Why? Because interview topics are rarely linear. Your guest might talk about funding in the beginning and near the end. When chunked semantically, you can quickly stack those parts together for a cohesive edit.

Example:

• Chunk 1: Personal background (0:00 - 3:45)

• Chunk 2: Pivot moment (3:46 - 9:20)

• Chunk 3: Customer success story (9:21 - 11:03)

AI Tools That Speed It Up

You don’t have to chunk manually. Tools like Cutback use speaker detection and topic segmentation to automatically group your content into chunks.

This means you can:

• Auto-detect speaker changes

• Instantly navigate to soundbites

• Highlight usable segments with one click

Best of both worlds? Use AI for the initial pass, then manually refine your chunks based on meaning and structure.

Watch Out for These Chunking Pitfalls

Chunking isn’t magic. Here are a few things to keep in mind:

• It’s front-loaded. Expect to spend more time organizing upfront.

• Chunk size takes practice. Too short? Disrupts flow. Too long? Misses specificity.

• Post-chunking, remember to flatten multicam sequences before exporting to reduce render time.

Despite this, the time you save later far outweighs the time you spend chunking upfront.

Next time you dive into a long interview, pause before the blade. Chunk it first. Your future self will thank you.

Start with one project. Use markers. Label your topics. Then watch your editing process transform.

Cut smarter. Chunk first.

For more in-depth knowledge about the ins and outs of video editing, check out our latest posts on the Cutback blog or our YouTube channel. You can also join Cutback’s Discord community of like-minded video editors.