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Okay, one more time this is a clip and this is a transition
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[jmf] “I mean how hard would it be for a software routine to overlap used media and make adjustments to the sequence. I mean, what is so sacred about the last 15 frames of the preceding clip and the first 15 frames of the following clip; and if they are precious then you can always click undo and recap or re-cut the clip.”
No professional NLE software that I know of does this. Media 100 didn’t do this. I don’t think Avid does this. FCP doesn’t do this. Consumer level software like iMovie does this.
If you’re a professional editor it should be second nature how all of this works. You need head and tail to make a transition, it’s a very basic concept.
Walter Biscardi, Jr.
https://www.biscardicreative.comDirector, “The Rough Cut”
https://www.theroughcutmovie.comNow Posting “Good Eats” in HD for the Food Network
“I reject your reality and substitute my own!” – Adam Savage, Mythbusters
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It appears to me that sometimes new software is degraded by adhereing to old work flow. The feature is in imovie because Apple is not concerned about catering to old habits. I mean would the pundits of editing not buy FCP if it was able to apply edits without head and tail. I mean what would be lost?
jmf
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I think the reason this feature is in i-movie and not in FCP is that higher level software does not try to figure out what the user actually intended. That is because most experienced user know what they want, and object to the software acting inconsistently.
For example, a video may be nearly finished and timed for a particular length, but then a transition is added of two seconds somewhere in the middle. If there are handles available, the piece would stay the same length. If there were no handles available, then the completed piece would be 1 second shorter, as the editing program forces a shortening to handle the transition.
I think that precise timeline positioning should takes precedence over adjustments for improperly formed transitions.
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Good point and well said. Actually, this was what I needed to understand this concept. Those of us who begin editing on a nonlinear system have a difficult time accepting linear constraints. Thanks Steven.
jmf
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[jmf] ” No matter how it is, the software should be able to accommodate such a transition. I mean how hard would it be for a software routine to overlap used media and make adjustments to the sequence. I mean, what is so sacred about the last 15 frames of the preceding clip and the first 15 frames of the following clip; and if they are precious then you can always click undo and recap or re-cut the clip.”
This is why my client’s pay me to edit. Because I’m the one that they trust to know which frames are ‘precious’, not a bunch of programers in Cupertino who’ve never seen the footage.
Arnie
https://www.arniepix.com -
[jmf] “Those of us who begin editing on a nonlinear system have a difficult time accepting linear constraints.”
Many generations of filmmakers and television professionals before you established standardized proceedures that are still used around the world and throughout the industry. These proceedures are well thought out and they work well, more importantly, because everyone in the industry uses them there is great deal of continuity in the industry, enabling collaboration between farflung groups of people around the globe who may not even speak the same language. Learn these standardized proceedures first, then feel free to adopt your own methods and proceedures.
DRW
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The old ways are to be respected, but sometimes it is vestment rather than utility that keeps them around. An example would be the qwerty keyboard.
The preciousness of every frame is a good argument, but I bet there are many who would benefit from new ways to go with new technology. The ability to choose between the established linear method and smart options would challenge the status quo. Now, not that the fields in video editing have anything to fear from teenagers and imovie, but making a car act like a horse is not always the best way to use revolutionary technology.
jmf
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…yeah, but it’s fun when the car whinnies…
right before the transmission falls out!
(just a joke, not commentary!)
debe
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um, so you are saying that iMovie is a more advanced software than FCP?
Scott Witthaus
Senior Editor/Post Production Supervisor
Greybox, LLC
Richmond, VA USA
http://www.greybox.cc -
[jmf] “The preciousness of every frame is a good argument, but I bet there are many who would benefit from new ways to go with new technology. The ability to choose between the established linear method and smart options would challenge the status quo.”
A “smart option” is NOT to allow the software to automatically insert a transition where there is not enough video. The software will then make an arbitrary decision to trim off equal amounts of video on either side of the transition. This is NEVER a good thing to an editor when every shot and transition is timed to the story and flow of the edit.
This is why editing is a craft, not something you do by rote. Editors are storytellers and the editing software has to allow for maximum flexbility to allow the flow and ebb of the story to be told correctly.
If you want very basic “no thinking” editing, go with a consumer level software such as iMovie. If you want to be a professional editor with complete flexibility go with a professional NLE.
Walter Biscardi, Jr.
https://www.biscardicreative.comDirector, “The Rough Cut”
https://www.theroughcutmovie.comNow Posting “Good Eats” in HD for the Food Network
“I reject your reality and substitute my own!” – Adam Savage, Mythbusters
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