What Is Raw Footage and How Should You Organize It?
Raw footage is the unedited material straight from a camera, phone or audio recorder, before anyone edits it. It includes every take, every slip and all extra shots. It is best organized by source, project and subject, without changing the originals.
Raw footage is the unedited material straight from a camera, phone or recorder, before anyone works on it. It includes everything recorded on a shoot day: every take, every restart, the B-roll, the audio, and also the clips that never make it into the finished video.
What raw footage includes
Raw footage is more than the video files from the main camera. A typical project consists of:
- A-roll: the main footage, such as the talking head or an interview, see A-roll.
- B-roll: close-ups, locations, products, mood.
- Phone clips: spontaneous shots that often arrive through an app or messenger.
- Audio: files from an external microphone or recorder.
- Photos: stills from the set, product photos, behind the scenes.
- Material from the client: logos, old videos, photos from their archive.
Every source has its own file names and its own metadata. Cameras count up (C0001.MP4), phones use their own patterns (IMG_4821.MOV), and forwarded files often have no meaningful name at all.
Back up raw footage before you sort it
Before you sort raw footage, back it up. The order matters, because sorting on the memory card often ends with lost clips.
- Copy the card or phone completely to storage, without renaming files.
- Make a second copy, for example in Google Drive.
- Only then format the card.
Messaging apps often recompress photos and videos when sending, and information such as capture time or location can get lost. When a client sends footage, it is worth asking for a Drive folder or an upload of the original files.
How to organize raw footage: separate source and subject
Most problems come from one folder structure trying to answer two questions at once: where does the file come from, and what is in it?
| Question | Example | How to organize |
|---|---|---|
| Where from? | Client X, shoot day 2026-10-12, camera A | real folders with the originals |
| What? | team, workshop, product, nature | categories with shortcuts |
The originals stay in folders by project and day. To search by subject, you create categories that contain only Google Drive shortcuts. That way a clip can sit under "Team" and under "Office" at the same time without using storage twice. More in the guide on how to sort videos, the step-by-step guide on how to organize raw footage and the one on Google Drive folder structure.
For photos, also look at the EXIF data. It often contains the capture date and location, which helps when you sort by date or by location.
How Sorted organizes raw footage in Google Drive
Sorted connects to your Google Drive. You pick the folders with your raw footage, subfolders included. Gemini from Google recognizes what is in every photo and video, for videos through the thumbnail Google Drive creates. It writes a description, adds keywords and suggests a category.
Sorting creates the folder "Sortiert" with one subfolder per category, filled with shortcuts to the originals. Nothing is moved, copied or changed. The next run only sorts new footage. With Sorted Pro you also find duplicate files by checksum and group your footage into shoot days. Sorted only works with Google Drive, not with hard drives or Dropbox. Try Sorted
Conclusion
Raw footage is the raw material of every video and often the source for later clips too. Back it up first, file it by source, and only then sort it by subject, and you lose nothing while still finding every scene. How the handover to the edit works is in the guide on how to hand off footage to an editor.
Frequently asked questions
What is raw footage in video?
Raw footage is all the unedited recordings of a project, exactly as they come off the camera, phone or recorder. It includes good and bad takes, B-roll and audio. Only in the edit does it become a finished video.
Should you delete raw footage after editing?
That depends on the project. Many creators and agencies keep raw footage because Shorts, Reels or new cuts come out of it later. If you delete, first check whether the client or a contract requires you to keep it.
What is the best way to organize raw footage?
File it by project and shoot day first, then sort it by subject. Keep the originals unchanged and handle the subject order through shortcuts or categories. That keeps the source traceable while you still find the right scene fast.
What is the difference between footage and raw footage?
Footage is any recorded video material. Raw footage means the unedited recordings specifically, before any cutting or color work. In everyday use the two terms are often used interchangeably.
Is raw footage the same as RAW video?
Not necessarily. RAW video is a specific recording format with minimally processed sensor data, offered by some cameras. Raw footage simply means unedited material, no matter whether it was shot in a RAW format or as a regular MP4.