#479 – Christmas Gifts for Editors
There's an ancient proverb that I've been thinking about a lot lately.
Better one handful with tranquillity than two handfuls with toil and chasing after the wind.
— Ecclesiastes 4:6
My thought is, it's too easy (for me at least) to slide into over working, to be chasing after “getting a little more done”, working longer and later just trying to “catch up” when actually, more is not better.
Sure, there's a cost to tranquility.
50% less handfuls, but in all honesty it looks like a net gain!
So my goal for 2026 is to slow down with nothing to gain but slowness itself.
Why am I starting with this little homily?
Well, if nothing else over the Christmas break, I hope we all get a chance to pause, stare into the ocean and think some deep thoughts about what we're doing, where we're headed and who we want to become in 2026.
Or as Arnold Schwarzenegger says:
“Create time and space every day to think, to daydream, to look around, to be present in the world, to let inspiration and ideas in.
If you can’t find what you’re looking for, at least give it a chance to find you.”
— Arnold Schwarzenegger, Be Useful: Seven Tools for Life
Now on with the show.
- Good news, you're in the Christmas giveaway
- For fun
- Take the Cut/daily quiz
- Find a local Editor's Christmas Party
- I'm offering (probably) my most useful app for $2!
- Watch Joe Walker – A Life in Frames - A free gift to editors
Win Boris FX Prizes!
A huge thank you to the good people at Boris FX for offering two annual subscriptions to the complete Boris FX Suite (worth $1495/year), in this year's Cut/daily Christmas giveaway.
Boris FX tools are relied on by VFX artists on major movies like Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol 3 and their latest AI features include auto-tracking face detection, object detection and masking, depth maps plus they've added a trio of Pro audio apps.
Boris FX Suite contains every app for every host software including:
- Sapphire VFX plugins
- Continuuum
- Mocha Pro – Industry leading tracking
- Silhouette – Rotoscoping and Paint
- Particle Illusion Pro – 3D particle physics
- SynthEyes – 3D tracking
- Samplitude – All in one audio production suite
- Much more!
As a Cut/daily reader you're automatically in with a chance to win, as I will select two random winners from our active members list.
If you know someone who might like to win, tell them to sign up. Cut/daily is free!
Do Fun Things
If you've not taken the Cut/daily Editing Personality Quiz yet, then test your technical and creative knowledge in 10 quick questions to find out what type of editor you are.
Then share your results with your friends.
Got a tough question for the quiz? Hit reply and I'll consider adding it!
Festive In-Person Events Finder
All dressed up for a Christmas party and no where to go?
Hit the Cut/daily Post Production Events Calendar to find editorial meet ups in your areas to attend now and in 2026.
Who knows who you might run into?!
The 2025 Editor Christmas Gifts Shortlist
From $$$ —> $
- Better headphones that last for years
- My favourite peripheral is 20% off
- Upgrade your webcam – Human connection matters
- Explore Cut/daily Apps and Archive Access
- Pomodoro Timer — Pace yourself
- Desktop mug warmer — No more cold tea.
- Suddenly Something Clicked — Walter Murch's new book
- Hits, Flops, and Other Illusions – Inside the movie biz
- $45 worth of ideas for $2.98 – Listen this is worth it
- $2 Teleportation — Limited time offer!
If you want to hit the full list of Christmas Gifts for Film Editors in 2025 and discover some last minute deals and discounts then jump over to the blog.
What follows are selected highlights!
#1 – Better headphones
I've been using the same pair of headphones for the last decade and having tried and tested many other contenders over those 10 years, they're still my number one recommendation to any editor looking for the three most important elements of a decent pair of headphones:
Accuracy, quality and comfort.
Invest in the Beyerdynamic DT 770 Pros, they'll last for years.
#2 My most used peripheral is 20% off
As an editor I've seen a lot of cool gizmos and gadgets come and go. My edit suite cupboards are full of them!
But the one peripheral that's earned a permanent fixture on the desktop due to its inherent daily usefulness is the Elgato Stream Deck.
15 buttons open up a world of time-saving workflow possibilities.
Right now you can save 20% on the Stream Deck Mark 2 or $45 off the Stream Deck XL (32 buttons)
You can even customise the look of yours with fancy dials for the Elgato Stream Deck + or custom face plates for the standard Stream Deck.
Their USB hub and XLR input expansion modules also look super handy, while the newest iteration - the Stream Deck Neo - looks kind of cute.
Anyway, I love mine and I highly recommend using one.
Click here to download a bundle of free Stream Deck presets I made.
Take This Further
- Using an Elgato Stream Deck for Video Editing and Colour Grading
- Using the Stream Deck+ for Video Editing and Colour Grading
- Controlling DaVinci Resolve with the Stream Deck +
- DIY & Custom Video Editing Gear
#8 – Hits, Flops, and Other Illusions
I love a good book about the movie business. This is one of them.
Director Edward Zwick's Hits, Flops, and Other Illusions – My Fortysomething Years in Hollywood is both an entertaining read and a helpful guide to the inner workings of ‘the movie business.’
Also, given how much time editors often spend alone with directors, it makes sense to get to know what makes them tick, where they feel the heat and how best to get along with them.
Everybody else on a crew goes from one director’s set to another.
A director, meanwhile, lives in a lonely world of his own devising, reinventing filmmaking according to his unique obsessions, eccentricities, and fetishes.
— Ed Zwick, Director
If you're looking for a fun book to read over Christmas that will also give you something to chew on, Hits, Flops and Other Illusions is a great option!
Here's a favourite story about Ed's long-time editor Steve Rosenblum:
Do Nothing
The director was afraid to tell the headstrong young actor his reaction shots sucked.
The editor said “Fuck it” and invited him into the cutting room.
“You look like a zombie,” he said, “I don’t care if you’re thinking about nothing, at least move your eyes.”
The actor is now a big star. The editor got nominated.
Hold Your Tongue
“I learned the painful lesson to wait a few seconds after saying “Cut!” before giving direction.
Too often, the soundman hadn’t yet turned off the machine, and for months to come, I was tortured by the sound of my wheedling, fatuous voice saying,
“That was great, but let’s go ahead, and this time…”
#10 – Teleport is stupidly useful!
Teleport might be the most useful app I've built so far*.
It sounds too simple to be so valuable, and yet even after a single session with the director, it delivers real leverage. Something that delivers far more than it should.
*Although they're all useful, this one's the most useful for this stage of my edit.
What does Teleport do?
Drop an anchor in your timeline, teleport back to it in a click.
That's all.
But this simple ability saves you so much wasted time zooming in and out, scrolling around, trying to move back and forth between different parts of your edit.
Every Cut/daily app is a one time purchase with a lifetime of updates and a two machine install license.
As a special Christmas Gift to you, my Cut/daily readers, I'm offering Teleport for $2 during December.
Or at least to the 75% of you who voted for genius and not stupid.
Use the code TWOBUCKS to secure your taste of the future.
Currently, Teleport is only supported in Adobe Premiere Pro.
So remember, slow is smooth, smooth is fast and cut daily.
Take This Further
- #427 - What the Editor in your life wants for Christmas
- #376 - Christmas Gifts Your Editor Is Wishing For
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