How to Organize YouTube Footage: B-roll and Clips for YouTubers
Organize YouTube footage in two layers: originals filed by video and shoot day in fixed folders, and the order by subject through categories made of shortcuts. That keeps the source clear while you find B-roll for new videos and Shorts by what it shows. Sorted handles the sorting by subject with Gemini directly in Google Drive.
Organize YouTube footage in two layers: the originals sit by video and shoot day in fixed folders, and the order by subject runs through categories that contain only shortcuts to those originals. That way you always know where a clip came from, and you still find the B-roll you need for the next video or a Short in seconds.
Why YouTube footage gets messy so fast
A YouTube channel produces footage in layers. Every video has its A-roll, usually a talking head with several takes. On top come close-ups of the setup, screen recordings, phone clips from on the road, photos for thumbnails and footage shot on the side because the light happened to be good.
After a year, the folder often looks like this:
- Camera files from
C0001.MP4toC3400.MP4, spread across folders like "Video 34 final" and "New". - Phone clips named like
IMG_4821.MOV, some twice because they were uploaded from both phone and laptop. - B-roll shot for one specific video that has lived in its folder ever since, although it would fit others too.
- Thumbnail photos mixed in with the raw footage.
The real problem: folders by video or date answer the question "where is it?". In the edit, though, you ask "do I have a shot of my desk at night somewhere?". Only an order by subject helps with that.
The base structure in Google Drive
Before you sort by subject, the originals need a fixed place. A simple structure that works for most channels:
| Folder | Contents |
|---|---|
01 Upload |
everything new, straight from card and phone |
02 Videos/2026-11 V045 Camera test |
originals per video, with date and ID |
03 B-roll archive |
B-roll that doesn't belong to any video |
04 Thumbnails |
photos and finished thumbnails |
05 Finished videos |
exports |
Putting the date first as year and month keeps folders in chronological order when sorted alphabetically. More options are in the guide on Google Drive folder structure. Only one rule matters: whatever is in 02 or 03 doesn't get moved again.
Organize YouTube footage with Google Drive and Sorted
You can build the order by subject by hand with Google Drive shortcuts, meaning you look at every clip and link it into the matching category folders. With a few hundred clips that takes very long. Sorted does this step for you, directly in your Drive:
- Connect. Open Sorted and sign in with your Google account. Add your own Gemini API key from Google AI Studio. Google bills you directly, about €0.70 per 1,000 files, and Sorted shows the estimated cost before every run.
- Pick folders, for example
02 Videosand03 B-roll archive. Subfolders are included. - Let Gemini recognize the content. Gemini from Google recognizes what is in every photo and video. For videos it uses the thumbnail Google Drive creates. It writes a short description, adds keywords and suggests a category with a confidence score.
- Check the categories. Gemini also suggests categories itself. You can create your own, like "A-roll studio" or "B-roll setup", and re-sort suggestions with one click.
- Sort. Sorted creates a folder named "Sortiert" in your Drive with one subfolder per category, filled with shortcuts to your originals. Nothing is moved, copied or changed, and no extra storage is used. A clip can sit in several categories.
- Search. Through description and keywords you later find "desk at night" or "hands on keyboard" without knowing which video it was shot for.
- Catch up. Start a new run after every shoot day. Sorted then only sorts what is new.
For YouTubers, Sorted Pro mainly adds three things: shoot days, meaning grouping by capture date; top material, where Gemini rates suitability for social media from 1 to 5; and duplicate detection by checksum. Top material is especially helpful when you want to cut Shorts from a long video and look for strong shots. Plans are on the pricing page.
To be honest, there are limits too. Sorted only works with Google Drive. Very freshly uploaded videos often don't have a thumbnail yet and get recognized on the next run. Because recognition runs through the thumbnail, Gemini only describes that one moment of long clips with changing content. And each view shows up to 5,000 files.
Categories to organize YouTube footage
Which categories fit depends on the channel. These suggestions are a good start, and you can drop whatever you don't need:
| Category | What goes in |
|---|---|
| A-roll studio | talking heads at your fixed filming spot |
| A-roll on the road | vlog footage, walk and talk |
| B-roll setup | desk, camera, lights, hands on gear |
| B-roll city | streets, traffic, cafés, buildings |
| B-roll nature | landscape, sky, water, weather |
| Products | product close-ups, unboxing |
| Screen | screen recordings, software, browser |
| Thumbnail photos | portraits, faces with expression |
| Behind the scenes | setup, bloopers, teamwork |
| Drone | aerial shots |
A note on screen recordings: the thumbnail only shows the screen. Gemini is more likely to recognize "browser with a spreadsheet" than the exact topic. For those clips, a descriptive file name is worth adding.
Handing off to your editor
Many YouTubers hand off the edit. That is when the order really pays off. Share one folder per video with A-roll and audio, and give your video editor access to the categories with B-roll. Important: a shortcut grants no access to the original. Anyone who can't see the originals only sees pointers in the category folders. With Sorted Pro you share folders together with their originals with view access in one click. You can also export a shot list as CSV that the editor keeps open next to the editing software. The whole handover is described in the guide on how to hand off footage to an editor.
Everyday tips
- Upload phone clips right away, don't send them to yourself through a messenger. Messaging apps often recompress, and quality and metadata get lost.
- Avoid double uploads. If you upload from phone and laptop, you quickly have everything twice. Help is in the guide on how to find duplicate photos in Google Drive.
- Shoot B-roll for stock on purpose. If you know what you already have, you film exactly what is missing. The guide with B-roll ideas helps.
- Rediscover old videos. A good content library makes old B-roll usable for Shorts and new videos.
More methods and programs for video in general are in the guide on how to sort videos, and for supporting footage in particular in the guide on how to organize B-roll.
Conclusion
To organize YouTube footage mostly means separating two questions: where does a clip come from, and what is in it? Fixed folders answer the first, categories made of shortcuts the second. Set it up once and catch up after every shoot day, and you edit faster and use your archive for new videos and Shorts.
Frequently asked questions
How can I organize YouTube footage without rebuilding all my folders?
File the originals by video ID and shoot day and don't touch those folders afterwards. For searching by subject, create categories like A-roll, B-roll setup or city that contain only shortcuts. That way one clip can show up in several categories.
How do I find old B-roll for a new video?
With folders by date, almost only by clicking through. A description and keywords per clip that you can search work better. Sorted has Gemini do that for photos and videos in your Google Drive and makes them findable through search.
Should I keep A-roll and B-roll separate?
Yes. The A-roll belongs to exactly one video, while B-roll is often usable for many. If both sit in one folder, nobody finds the B-roll again later.
How do I hand my footage to my editor?
Share one folder per video with A-roll, audio and a list of the key clips. If you use categories with shortcuts, the editor also needs access to the originals. With Sorted Pro you share folders together with their originals with view access in one click.
Does Sorted work with footage on my hard drive?
No, Sorted only works with Google Drive. Footage on hard drives, in Dropbox or in iCloud has to be in Google Drive first. Many YouTubers upload a copy of their footage to the cloud as a backup anyway.
Can Sorted recognize screen recordings?
It recognizes what is visible on the thumbnail, so it tends to describe a screen recording as something like a browser with a spreadsheet rather than the exact topic. For screen recordings, a descriptive file name is worth adding.