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workflow for a really long feature
hey everyone —
I’m in the middle of editing what will be a 20-hour movie (my estimate). It is being shot in DV 24p advanced.
I’m extremely concerned about keeping my system stable with the massive amount of footage that needs to be
edited (right now I’m halfway through it and my 500g LaCie is almost full).Opening up the project file now takes a minute or two so I’m getting concerned and paranoid. I just want to know
if anyone can give me any advice on how to manage all this footage, and any safety measures I may be missing out on.Right now I:
1. Keep my project files in my system drive (separate from media drive) and back it up regularly
2. Separate the film into 2-hour sequences and edit with one sequence at a time open
3. Repair permissions, verify disk, etc regularly
4. maxed out the RAM capacity in my powerbook (I have 2 gig)should I start dividing the film into separate projects (instead of sequences within the project)? the tapes have footage from all parts of the film though
so I am not sure how this is possible. Unless its okay that I open a sequence with the sequence’s media in another project?Anyway, any help would be greatly appreciated 🙂 I’m sure you guys can feel my paranoia, I just want to make sure
that I have all the bases covered.thanks in advance.
lia -
8 Replies
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First thing I’d do is GET IT ONTO A DESKTOP MACHINE.
A 20-Hour feature on a Powerbook seems a bit too much.
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haha I know. Can’t have it all though.
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1) make sure you’re on FCP 5 – 4.5 wasn’t good with huge projects
2) GET OFF THAT LACIE! You’ll find multiple threads in here about those Lacie Big disks burning out and failing on people. We’ve lost 2 of the same model you’re using.
3) Break off the film into 1 hour cuts if you can (maybe even a project file that’s just the digitized footage, and open subsequent projects for each reel. Keeping the project with the media open concurrently to pull from it). We’re working on a 1.5 hour feature, the project file is around 230 MBs, and takes 5-7 minutes to load on a maxed out G5/XRaid setup. It’s also starting to slow down (like 4 seconds to delete a clip). But it IS stable. Deleting old cuts/sequences of the reels speeds it back up. It’s almost like every little event or object needs some allocation in RAM, even if it isn’t open or being used.
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>I’m in the middle of editing what will be a 20-hour movie (my estimate).
Geez and I thought King Kong was long at just over 3 hours!
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A 20 HOUR long film? Holey moley. I saw like a 12 hour one about Jerusalem once. You had to go on 3 different days to see the whole thing.
A Keep your project lean and mean. Blow away any media you definitely will not use. You may want to have a separate project with all your selects, and then bring in only the ones you need to your main project.
Probably too late, but capturing small clips (scene and take) instead of entire tape rolls makes for a snappier timeline. Unfortunately, most people capture entire tape rolls and seek time on the drive slows.
Kevin Monahan
Take My FCP Master’s Seminar!
fcpworld.com -
hey thanks, I think I’m going to sell the lacie and buy a g-raid (if I find one over here).
I was thinking about creating a project that is all media and editing a sequence in another project but I wasn’t sure if it
would hold, but I’ll try it now since I have your testimonial.Thanks again!
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I still have half of the footage left to capture, so I’ll try that. Thanks!
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this is definitely a long one. the first 5 hours already screened in torino, italy. I’m hoping the other 15 hours dont crash and burn in my humble set-up. thanks for all the help everyone, I really appreciate it.
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