-
Workflow Advice
Hi all,
With a MASSIVE project looming, I’m trying to think of everything I can to streamline my processes and make this as painless as possible.
I have to do a series of about 8-10 corporate videos about various ad campaigns. The videos are voice-over driven (no talking heads) and the visuals usually consist of web sites, TV ads, print ads, and ocasionally video and stills from other sources. the videos are usually 2.5-4 minutes long each. I’ve done these before for this same client, but have never had to do so many in such a short period (about 3 weeks).
Normally I record and edit the VO in Soundtrack Pro, then do a rough edit in Final Cut – dropping in stills and titles for placement and timing. It’s the next step where I have yet to find the optimal technique:
Once the rough cut is done and then “approved” I move to after effects where I do animations, titles, etc. This usually consists of some animated backgrounds and relatively simple 3D moves. The thing is, despite my best efforts, there are ALWAYS revisions to the script AFTER the “final” edit is done. This of course means changes to timing and often materials.
In the past I have used Automatic Duck to bring my Final Cut timeline into After Effects. This has been great, allowing all of my materials to automatically be brought into my AE timeline- no need to re-import them and lay them back in. Problem is, making script changes in After Effects can be quite a headache! I know I could use Motion, but I’m so used to After Effects after using it for so many years – I never bothered to learn Motion to a level that I could be comfortable working under this kind of pressure – and there isn’t time to get up to speed before the stuff hits the fan.
So I’m looking for pointer on how to streamline this, keeping in mind that there is no way to change the way the client works – there will ALWAYS be script changes after there shouldn’t be and extensive changes will always have to be made.
For some projects it is faster for me to only bring the secitons I need into After Effects – even though I have to manually set everything up in AE this saves me time when changes come… but this isn’t practical for the projects that are very heavy on the animation – not when I have Auto Duck.
Am I missing something? Or is this just one of those things we have to deal with as editors?
Thanks in advance for any input. Please ask away if you need more details.
Scott
-
7 Replies
-
Hello Scott,
With Adobe Production Premium cs4, you can do your edit in Premeire pro, then hightlight your clips, then jump into After Effects, do your effects work then that After Efects composition which is taken from your time-line in Premiere will update with any changes you make.
I think that will be a very fast way of doing things.
I hope this helps you out a bit, sorry it’s not the Final Cut pro, Automatic Duck and After Effects route.
Leo
-
Ah right… I guess I’d tried to forget about Premiere… hehe
Anyway they just updated me to CS4 today, so I will do some testing. Thanks for the pointer- no idea how I forgot about that.
Scott
-
Let me know if you need any further assistance
-
Thanks, Leo… I just might – it’s been a while since I used Premiere… but it’s like riding a bike, right?
-
Leo’s advice is spot on so I’m not countering it at all. I just felt compelled to add a few things …
For reasons similar to what you described, I developed early on a style of working in AE that makes dealing with those issues much easier and that, despite the initial impression, I’ve found to actually be much faster in the long run. It’s hard to describe in detail, but it amounts to dedicating amounts of time appropriate to each task up front rather than on the tail end of projects when time isn’t available. I guess I’d describe it as being very deliberate in the way everything is done in AE (and in any NLE) …
It begins before even opening AE … with things like file naming and format standards that I stick to whenever possible … its much easier/faster to find and replace a 720×486 animation codec MOV named “Interview03Take01” with a same-spec file called “Interview03Take02” than it is a 640×480 AVI called “Joe”.
Once in AE, that methodical approach continues with a well organized project from the start and it continues with how I build my animations. Whenever practical, I do all my work in the timeline instead of the viewer and remain precise. For example, I type in values for layer positions (and everything else for that matter) instead of dragging things to random positions/values. Similarly, I use even numbers for not only keyframe placement, but all other values like position, scale, opacity, etc. I also use lots of precomps and adjustment layers so changing a few things doesn’t necessarily mean changing or affecting dozens, if not hundreds, of layers.
I could go on with other examples, but the basic idea is that all of those things in combination save enormous time when I inevitably have to revise or duplicate animations, replace media within them, troubleshoot animation issues, etc., etc., etc.
[… is this just one of those things we have to deal with as editors?]
Flexibility as an editor is very valuable so you’ll only benefit from finding ways to make revisions that are well beyond reasonable to any project at any stage. At the same time, if you get stuck with a job or client wherein words like “rough cut” and “final” permanently take on meanings opposite to what they really mean (as many of us have), there’s not much you can do besides whatever it takes to make the client happy … and bill for it! -
Dave, excellent points.
I am very meticulous when it comes to file and layer names. The issue is more about the complexity of the changes, and the fact that using auto duck my ENTIRE program was in AE. When changes need to be made to basic structure, especially if that change is ADDING audio/VO/soundbites it is very cumbersome to deal with in AE. I, too am more of a timeline worker than Comp window.
I think the key here is breaking down into more precomps – but still the audio remains the big problem.
My client IS one of “those” clients, no doubt. And they won’t change. I’ve sent out memos, advice on workflow, etc etc but it doesn’t matter. At the end of the day one man has “veto power” and he makes himself VERY unavailable during the process… only interested in seeing the finished product. What he fails to realize of course is that until he sees it, IT ISN’T FINAL!
As for billing, no dice – I’m a full-time employee… they’ve got me by the.. well you know! -
Scott,
Yes, precomping can be a life saver. I’m glad some bit of my ramblings may have been helpful. As is often the case, it’s very hard to speculate about what may or may not be helpful without seeing or really knowing anything of the details. Without understanding the issues more directly, I doubt I could suggest anything that would help with the audio issues.
Unfortunately, it’s true that “those” clients don’t change … ever! I feel your pain since I’m a FTimer now too, but I also spent the vast majority of my career either as a freelancer or in jobs where there was zero hesitation to politely show “those” clients the door since they always cost way more money than they’re worth. My point in mentioning that is that in an employment situation, the same issue could actually be an opportunity since the time/money being wasted is actually the “client’s” own rather than yours and everyone has to answer to someone. So if you can show the right person how they’re unnecessarily costing themselves a lot of money by forcing the process into a mold that it doesn’t fit, rather than simply accepting the tried and true methods our industry was built on, they might just be grateful and willing to share with you a portion of all that money you saved for them. ;~) It was worth a shot! Sounds like you’ve tried everything though … I do understand that some people are just unreasonable by nature (aka spoiled), which only leads back to the front door type solutions.
Reply to this Discussion! Login or Sign Up