---
title: "The clip bank"
description: "One long recording turned into a bank of short clips, each mapped beat by beat and handed to an editor as a ticket."
canonical: https://tomsharman.com/playbooks/how-i-work/the-clip-bank/
updated: 2026-10-25
---

# The clip bank

> One long recording turned into a bank of short clips, each mapped beat by beat and handed to an editor as a ticket.

Playbook 5, How I work. Animation: /playbooks/how-i-work/the-clip-bank.mp4

When I get a talk back, I watch the whole thing and map who said what before I pick anything. Every clip is one idea, 40 to 75 seconds. The sign of a weak editor is the inability to trim down. So I build each clip as beats with timecodes on both angles, hook first, and each one becomes a ticket titled after the question being asked.

## How do I use it?

1. Sync the camera angles on their audio and pick the master: the one that starts earliest, runs to the end and carries the questions clearly.
2. Write the source page with every speaker and timestamp before choosing a single clip.
3. Keep only moments that stand alone, carry one of Hormozi's seven and are clip shaped: a contrarian take, a number, tactical advice, a candid admission or a real question.
4. Hold every clip to one idea and 40 to 75 seconds; two ideas become two clips.
5. Give each clip a 3 to 5 word hook with a number or a name in it, and put the hook first even if it was said later.
6. List the beats in the order they play, with in and out points on every angle.
7. Cut on the waveform, then re-cut every boundary on a second pass and check no clip starts on a clipped word.
8. Flag swearing, personal details and caption corrections that need sign-off before anything posts.
9. Make one ticket per clip, titled from the question asked, with the timestamps, the words and the footage linked.

## Questions

### What does "The clip bank" mean?

Watch the whole talk, map who said what, then cut one idea per clip at 40 to 75 seconds. Every beat carries its timecodes on every angle, so the editor knows exactly what goes in and in what order.

### How do I put "The clip bank" into practice?

Sync the camera angles on their audio and pick the master: the one that starts earliest, runs to the end and carries the questions clearly. Write the source page with every speaker and timestamp before choosing a single clip. Keep only moments that stand alone, carry one of Hormozi's seven and are clip shaped: a contrarian take, a number, tactical advice, a candid admission or a real question.

### Why does "The clip bank" matter?

When I get a talk back, I watch the whole thing and map who said what before I pick anything. Every clip is one idea, 40 to 75 seconds.