non-linear editing help

[tsalnukt 1]

I'm making the switch. I got a mac with imovie and final cut 4 . I got a cx100 camera. I have a decent working knowledge of FC4. What is the easiest way to edit my tandem videos in the shortest amount of time. Can anyone post an example of the tandem video product that they are putting out? Are you using a lot of stock footage or are you shooting each video individually? About how long is it taking people to edit a tandme video from plugging in the camera to handing the person a DVD? I have done searches but I'm looking for more answers. Thanks for all your help.

[dragon2 2]

I think we covered this quite a few times already but here goes. I shoot every video original, finished video is 8-10 minutes long, copying to pc and into premiere pro takes a few minutes, editing time for me is close to zero (work with templates, mine include anmated intro DZ logo and extro animated logo of my own), rendering and burning takes 4-5 minutes.

This is with fast memory cards, fast card reader, icore7 pc with 6gb ram and decent graphics card, using adobe premiere pro cs4. From what i've heard, importing to a mac takes (a lot) longer.

ciel bleu,
Saskia

[YISkyDive 0]

This may not help you but my process takes me ~4 - 6 minutes + burn time.

I shot very clean footage including audio so there is not cutting, seeking or repairing when editing. Also I shoot only SD as I believe only 1 or 2 out of 300 customers a year would currently benefit from Bluray and be willing to pay what I need to make it worth it.

I use windows movie maker which very surprisingly has given me the best render quality and burn time results. PCS4 gave out lower quality footage then MM2.0. I have not used Vegas – I’m not ready to drop money on the plugins at the moment – a lot has been spent just getting a pc and camera together.

1. Download footage and organize (I wish I could do this on the camera)
2. Open “Skydive Project Template”
3. Edit students name (Double click Second Title in project)
4. Delete any previous clips that are stored in the Import bin (personal choice)
5. Important clips from sub root: Skydive Videos/date/StudentName
6. Drag and drop videos
7. drop sound to 0 on 6 clips.
8. Drop sound and Cut freefall to be as needed (I slow mo the exit, slow mo a nice section in freefall, and slow mo the opening) (if you forget to drop the sound on the freefall clip before you edit now you have a bunch of clips to kill the sound on)
9. Move songs as needed.
10. Fade out the final video clip
12. Save project as to sub root: Skydive Videos/date/StudentName/StudentName.proj
11. Export to DVD
12. Burn Stills.

Both of my Drives are DVD+-RW drives so when the stills finish I put a new DVD into that drive so windows loads the disc and I am ready to burn as I’m done editing the next project.

I use a Q6600 over clocked to 3.2 with 4GB XMS2 DDR6400 Memory. My other desktop, a 4.2 8400 Core 2 Duo cannot keep up, especially any time I have shot HD.

Using keyboard shortcuts I can do 10 - 13 edits an hour and burn stills on a separate burner.

[PharmerPhil 0]

I may be wrong but,...

If you are planning on shooting HD, I am not sure Final Cut Pro version 4 supports AVCHD. If it doesn't that would mean either upgrading your software, or shooting in SD (fcp is currently at v.6, and v.7 is right around the corner).

BTW, "a (lot) longer" is relative. When I import 5-1/2 minutes of AVCHD video, it takes me about 2-1/2 minutes to import and transfer to Final Cut Pro 6. That is still better than twice as fast as tape-based media (not counting rewinding, or plugging in cables).

[DARK 0]

Quote

I may be wrong but,...

If you are planning on shooting HD, I am not sure Final Cut Pro version 4 supports AVCHD.

we used that camera in hd mode with fce4 the other day and it seems to work fine

[howardwhite 6]

FCE4 is the latest version.Final Cut Pro 4 is old.

HW

[mnskydiver688 0]

As it has been mentioned, any Apple software is going to transcode to AIC or ProRes. This will not only dramatically increase the amount of hard drive space needed, but it will also slow the import of the footage. I currently use Premier Pro CS4 on a Macbook and it will support AVCHD natively. However, it requires a lot of processing power. Premier Elements will support AVCHD I believe and so that is a much less expensive option. If you use Premier and Encore together that can save some time also. Another option is just using Boot Camp and a copy of Vegas. I have that available to me, but I have been sticking with Premier. I am interested to see what happens when Snow Leopard and how it helps with AVC stuff. Anyway, good luck and try different things.

Sky Canyon Wingsuiters