Best Practice Long form

[Tom Wolsky]

https://store.creativecow.net/p/63/getting_organized_in_final_cut_pro

All the best,

Tom

Class on Demand DVDs “Complete Training for FCP6,” “Basic Training for FCS2” and “Final Cut Express Made Easy”
Author: “Final Cut Pro 5 Editing Essentials” and “Final Cut Express 4 Editing Workshop”

[Michael Orlansky]

Thanks Tom, but I’m a systems admin just looking for a quick rundown. Example, 20 minutes per sequence, 4 sequences per project, as many projects as it takes, nest final sequences and bring them back into a new final project for output?

That’s how I would do it but I’m looking for other opinions…

Thanks,
Mike

[Walter Biscardi]

[Michael Orlansky] “Thanks Tom, but I’m a systems admin just looking for a quick rundown. Example, 20 minutes per sequence, 4 sequences per project, as many projects as it takes, nest final sequences and bring them back into a new final project for output?
“

There’s no reason to put any sort of limits like those on a project. As Tom pointed out, Shane’s DVD covers all of this very nicely and it’s all about project management. What you call long form someone else might call short form. We’re doing three feature documentaries with almost 200 hours of raw footage. I’m following a couple of the strategies Shane shows in the DVD.

Pick up the DVD and you’ll have a good handle on how projects should be organized. It’s more than just something that can be explained in a post, it’s more for a 2 hour+ DVD to explain it.

Walter Biscardi, Jr.
Biscardi Creative Media
HD and SD Production for Broadcast and Independent Productions.

Read my Blog!

STOP STARING AND START GRADING WITH APPLE COLOR Apple Color Training DVD available now!

[Shane Ross]

Don’t nest your sequences. Nesting can get nasty.

Even though these guys are pushing my DVD hard…and I do suggest getting it for long form work, especially if you haven’t done this before, because being organized is a great way to save time…I will answer that simple question. As a sort of teaser.

Edit in shorter sequences, around 10-20 min in length. Then assemble into a master sequence when done. And do not nest.

For all other details I suggest the DVD.

Shane

GETTING ORGANIZED WITH FINAL CUT PRO DVD…don’t miss it.
Read my blog, Little Frog in High Def

[Michael Orlansky]

Thanks for the responses everyone, much appreciated.

Thanks,
Mike

[Nick Meyers]

you don’t want your Project files to get too big.
but how big is too big?

i used to keep them way small, but as systems improve (Software, Hardware, or both?) i’ve been working with larger ones, some hovering around the 100MB.

as this is something that is changing, it’d be good to hear what others recommend.

a few of my longform thoughts:

SEQUENCES are one of the things that cause projects to bloat,
so don’t keep to many old versions of timelines in your edit project,
peel them off into archive projects.

a lot depends on how big the project (not project FILE) is.
how many rushes, if they are multicam, or merged clips, etc.
the more data FCP has to keep track of the bigger the project file will be.

i tend to keep one set of rushes, plus the latest cut, in a project.

on the feature docos i’ve worked on i’ve been able to keep it all in one project.
the last drama feature i cut i had to split into 4 “Acts” and had each one in a separate project.
a bigger studio picture i worked on a while back was initially split into about TEN separate sections,
but had to be further split as it grew.

we have regular screenings, so they become “Landmark” versions of the project that get copied & dated,
then i keep working in the original project.

cheers,
nick

[Sam – senior editor]

I am just just about done editing a full length feature film that was originally over two hours long and re-edited down to one hour and forty eight minutes. Here’s what I learned from my experience. If it’s along form piece, you should talk to the person who will be doing the sound design (or audio mix) on the piece to see if their equipment can handle the entire timeline audio export or if their system can handle only 10-15 minute segments of a timeline at a time and factor that into your exports. I was also told to put 2-pops at the beginning and end of my timeline so when the audio mix is laid back to the timeline, we would have a simple way to make sure that everything synced up as it should. Make sure that when you export you audio as an OMF file that you have adequate handles on your files. I’m sure that if you glean a bit from me and the others in the post you should stay out of trouble.

BTW, you asked about project size. right now we’re at 1.8 TB and operating off an XSAN. That number should get bigger after we send it to Color and back.

Happy Editing and I hope this helps.

Sam