Systemising video files

[marcin 0]

I know it may sound like a stupid question, but I'd rather ask for others' experience than waste time reinwenting the wheel.
Basically, I have hours of skydiving footage to process (in Ulead Pro) to come up with a 7-10 minute clip. With my previous projects I realised that the most time consuming part is going through the film and selecting these particular few frames that have the best camera angle, light etc. Now I have even more video to digest from so many jumps, including 2-3 camera footage from same jumps etc.
Do you have some system you use to labeling jumps, capturing them etc? So far I was not capturing jump by jump, but in 10 minute portions, then imported to Ulead and cut out the obviously unnnecessary parts, then worked with the rest further trimming it. Even with 5-6 hours of video its too easy to get lost, forget about certain parts and when I have a portion of video synchronized to the music I suddenly discover a better clip or some additional stuff I would like to insert and then have to redo the whole thing again.
Summarising, i dont think I am as efficient as could be. Any description of your own "creation process" starting from taking shots and capturing them would be very useful to me.
Thanks
m.

[skyhawk 2]

not sure what you are using but some camera and card support the abbility to have everytime you press record/stop recording it leaves a trace so you can download that rather than in sections mine doesnt :-( i think alot of the sonys do but im not sure
for the procces get you finger next to pause and alot of battery then write down on a piece of paper the time and what it is eg
Tape 1
00:00:00 - 00:02:12 Me, john, susie 3 way freefly Good
00:02:12 - 00:06:23 Footage around the dropzone Bad
00:06:23 - 00:08:12 Big Way jump 23/11/01 T-wah Excellent
etc etc do this to all your tapes while this is very time consuming it saves alot of time later becauase a. you know what you have and you dont have to go looking for it also when you bring it to the computer it takes up alot of space no point using the time and space on things you know are pointless
any other questions???
oh i just reread it
that have the best camera angle, light etc, including 2-3 camera footage from same jumps etc.
so these would be added to the list
forget about certain parts and when I have a portion of video synchronized to the music I suddenly discover a better clip or some additional stuff I would like to insert and then have to redo the whole thing again.
plan it out first of course you will no doubt change it but if you have a plan it will make you job alot easier
(o)(o)

[nacmacfeegle 0]

Dude, this is called logging, and its the editing equivalent of packing, ie its dull but necessary, there is simply no way round it. I use Premiere which has the ability to log as you capture, and attaches desrciptions to the video files, but its a pain to use.
Okay, here's what works for me... Make a wee form up as described earlier, put it on a clipboard, set the cam to display tape counter, open a beer, and just sit and plod thru it. Log descriptions, tape counts, and if required cam flier or anything else you need to reference in the future.
You can save yourself some pain by conecting two cams/decks together w firewire (assuming your using dv) and putting one master tape together with all the good shots that you may need (what I call pre filtering), you should log this as well..Its also useful as security, just in case something happens to the original 'master' tapes, its unlikley but you never know.
If you have multiple camera angles, POVs etc, this will put all the relevant footage together. I try not to capture large amount of dv to the pooter, this ends up confusing things, and wastes disc space.
This 'system' has worked for me on some very big way videos, up to 10 cameras plus POV shots.
Once captured create separate directories for each jump, plus other 'good shots' such as planes, faces, sunsets, funnies etc.
At the end of each editing session, dump the timeline to DV tape as a futher back up, losing a project mid way is a real pisser....
Happy editing
D

[marcin 0]

Thanks a lot guys. I guess there is no easy way around it. I tried marking in/out (batch processing), supported by my Sony PC and Ulead, but for some reason this did not work. I was told that leaving empty space on tape b/w clips results in disrupted timecode, thats why.
I thought about creating master file, but was scared of double work (I may start doing it with my new footage). First, scan say 10 hours of footage, then save to master tape the selected clips, then capture, then start selecting on a frame basis - I figured it would take several days. Instead I thought of rather capturing selected clips to computer, but then I'll have to do it in approx. 1 minute increments (jump lenght) and end up with like 100-200 files. Thats difficult to push around in the timeline, and if its not in the timeline its difficult to quickview, move etc. I wanna make a fast paced film, so will only use a few seconds of each jump.
"losing a project mid way is a real pisser...." - know what you mean, happened to me before, now have back up procedures in place, however I simply back up several versions of project template to a different HD.
Its a good idea with the table, detailing main features of each jump. In Excel I could then sort the clips based on their nature or certain selected attributes and easier locate several clips of similar type to select from.
Thanks
Marcin

[wildblue 7]

Little tip for the code-code PITA - before you use a tape, put it in your camera, put the lense cap on, and hit record. It'll put down the time code for your tape. When you go back and re-record, you don't have to worry about breaking the time code. Makes life much easier.
And logging - just setup an excel spreadsheet and log each tape, make sure you include the time code start and stop points of clips (doesn't have to be exact) should only take you 1/2 hour or less (you can fast forward though stuff ya know)
When I make a movie, I take all the good clips and put them on one tape. It's easy to do when you have a friend with a similar camera, and you just firewire all the good clips onto one tape. Then just capture that one tape. I have studio 7, and can just let it capture according to shooting date/time. Hit capture and walk away for an hour. Seems to work for me. There are programs out there that will help you catalog your tapes. If I ever find one again, I"ll let you know.
I ain't happy, I'm feeling glad
I got sunshine, in a bag

[nacmacfeegle 0]

To make batch capture easy, just black each tape before you use it. IE put a brand new tape in the cam, start recording, go to the pub or whatever, then rewind the tape and use as normal, works every time......Then you just select all the in and out points, make it happen and sit back letting the pooter and the cam do their thing. First time you see it its cool, second time has you reaching for the beer. Saves a load of head wear.
"Thats difficult to push around in the timeline, " not in Premiere its not....Ulead should have something similar, but not sure.
If you are keen on this edit malarky try out www.computervideo.net they have a cool board, but it is UK based so watch out for any PAL/NTSC issues.
Cya
D

[marcin 0]

Blacking the tape - useful tip, thx. I assume it does not afect the reliability/quality of the second recording.
If I have, say, a 100 1 minute clips in the timeline I can only move one clip until it hits the next one, or I have to highlight the entire 100 and move in one block if I need more space. I could be me, not Ulead though (I still cant figure out everything and the manual is not always useful). I thought about giving Premiere a shot but was told that it has fewer options then Ulead (which I can use with Boris FX - plenty of effects).
m.

[nacmacfeegle 0]

Hey Marcin,
Nope. blacking the tape shouldn't have any effect on sound recording whatsoever.
Premiere is arguably the most popular 'prosumer' level software, I've tried a demo version of MSP6 and didn't like it as I was already working fluidly with Premiere. Boris works with my copy just fine, i love playing with the cubes, and spheres.
You can download a free 30 day trial version here....
http://www.adobe.com/products/premiere/demoreg.html
Premiere certainly lets me move any amount of clips around, no problems at all, with a click of one 'tool'. Its called 'insert editing' and I'm pretty sure Ulead will have this function as its a pretty basic requirement for non linear editing.

[skyhawk 2]

to move them is pretty easy
look for a button called track selection (its next to the crosasfade button in my version (little music note with an arrow goen up and one going down)
click multiple track ripple (arrow pointing to 3 little blue lines)
now you can move them prob easiest move them alot add you new footage then bring them back
:-) have fun lets us know if it works
(o)(o)

[marcin 0]

click, click, click... miracle! I does work. How sad after few months there's still so much to discover. Wonder how many embedded things are there that could make my life easier?
Thanks!
m.

[nacmacfeegle 0]

There are loads of cool things about his type of software, it took me nearly a year to fully master Premiere.....

[skyhawk 2]

yer there are heaps of shortcuts its finding them that takes the time lol im still finding new stuff
(o)(o)

[mccordia 74]

You can also (if you have a second DV deck or a second camera you can borrow) just copy your DV tape to a new one DV tape.
This will (if I remember correctly) write a new uninterupted timecode on the new tape, with the same footedge (without quality loss)

[nacmacfeegle 0]

yeah that works...same thing as 'blacking' the tape.