[Chris Bové]

[Del Holford] “Del
fire*, smoke*, photoshopCS2
Charlotte Public Television”

Del – you work on Fire and Smoke systems at Charlotte Public Television? How many Big Bird tote bags and Charlie Rose mugs had to be pledged off to pay for THAT setup?!?!?

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\`(=)`/…Pixel Monkey
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A picture says 1000 words. Editors give them meaning.

[Chris Bové]

Well there’s a ton of half-ass’t ways of getting close to that look in the Avid. None are glorious, but at least it’s a start. Here’s a couple ideas:

That choppy look:
– make a motion effect of the clip at 100% speed, but with duplicated fields.
– Make a motion effect at 100% speed but add strobe motion

Additional option – a “projected” look:
– Boris effects “BCC Film Damage” looks like the image is being run through a film projector (dust, scratches, etc).

I also just upgraded my Avid Adrenaline to v2.6.2 and discovered new plug-ins in the effect palette called FluidFilm Cadence and Progressive. They look like interpolation fixers for bad pull-down problems. I haven’t looked at them closely yet, but the one called “progressive” might help achieve what you’re looking for. Not sure.

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\`(=)`/…Pixel Monkey
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A picture says 1000 words. Editors give them meaning.

[Chris Bové]

[Bill Stephan] “or do you need more colors?”

Yeah, definitely need more than the standard eight. I was the geek in school with that thick orange click-pen that had four ink colors in it.

Project color coding of clips (copied from the KEY in my journal):
dark green – EXT interview: formal, seated
light green – EXT interview: casual/man-on-street
dark brown – INT interview: formal, seated
light brown – INT interview: casual/man-on-street
red – technical problem
orange – narration: formal
yellow – narration: scratch
dark blue – 24 bit audio
light blue – camera audio
white – overmodulated audio (find different take)
black – black filler
dark gray – only use clip if last resort
light gray – do not use clip
pink – blooper (never see one of these in final timeline!)
dark purple – graphic: finished
light purple – graphic: temporary

I also match all these colors to scene cards made from color construction paper cut-outs, taped on scene boards. On each card I write vital information about each clip. This way the producer can rearrange them as a living storyboard while not messing with the Avid’s timeline. I can also look at the footage in ways the Avid can’t provide.

Sound stupid and unnecessary? After a five-month edit it ended up saving about a week’s worth of time, just looking for stuff and matching b-roll to corresponding a-roll.

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\`(=)`/…Pixel Monkey
`(___)

A picture says 1000 words. Editors give them meaning.

[Chris Bové]

We still archive all media for a project in its own banker’s box and each tape gets a small sticker on the spine. The label reads DR177 (DR = the project’s name abbreviated; 177 = tape number 177). We chase it with an Excel spreadsheet with three columns: tape name, contents, and source (really important for purchased or loaned material).

We also apply this naming process to non-tape media, so a CD with JPEGs on it is labelled in succession just like everything else.

It’s been a fool-proof process for a long time. It works seamlessly whether onlining on a DS nitris or an Ampeg linear system. It’s also been useful to have such a simple naming structure when a project switches hands to a new producer.

I doubt any new software will change it. Library-style databases require upkeep and consistency. Too much hassle sometimes.

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/-o-o-\
\`(=)`/…Pixel Monkey
`(___)

A picture says 1000 words. Editors give them meaning.

[Chris Bové]

Lots of schools and lots of books. However, best two things in my opinion:

1.) Every city has a grassroots film house where all the independent filmmakers go to drink coffee, rent cameras and use old flatbed machines. Find yours. They usually have small classes.

2.) though it sounds funny, get a part time gig as a projectionist in a movie theater. They train you on the bare-bones editing needed to fix the reel when it breaks. (Priceless.)

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/-o-o-\
\`(=)`/…Pixel Monkey
`(___)

A picture says 1000 words. Editors give them meaning.

[Chris Bové]

Tortally agree with Mark here. Also, it’ll be worth your time to go to any local TV station and offer their chief engineer fifty bucks and a free lunch to give you an hour of hands-on with a scope. He/she will have more practical “how-to” for your specific situation than any book.

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/-o-o-\
\`(=)`/…Pixel Monkey
`(___)

A picture says 1000 words. Editors give them meaning.

[Chris Bové]

[Charlie King] “Ever consider the sync loss through frame syncronizers when broadcast”

Oh yes definitely. It’s interesting after all that futzing-around that finished products are even watchable. My guess about the lag in LCDs is focused at the occasional commercial that seems more off than the rest — and is derived from witnessing first-hand a number of boutique edit shops making final editorial decisions based on the plasma they set up for clients.

Along with the warning sticker that’s wrapped around the plasma monitor’s power cable, there should be one stuck right to the screen when you buy it saying “Don’t let clients make million dollar decisions based on this monitor”.

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/-o-o-\
\`(=)`/…Pixel Monkey
`(___)

A picture says 1000 words. Editors give them meaning.

[Chris Bové]

I discovered one day while playing a loop of a countdown (yes, I have no life) that LCD’s are about 1-2 frames off video-to-audio, and plasmas are between 4 and 6. I’m convinced that using LCDs as primary editing monitors are why so many commercials and programs now-a-days have slipped sync.

Thus for me, CRT’s are still the best way to go for computer screens and an NTSC client monitor for output with scope support. Also working in Photoshop looks cruddier on LCDs – especially when viewing at 33% and 66% size.

Remember the colorfully plastic-backed monitors that came with the imac like six years ago? THAT was the best looking editing monitor ever. Bring them back, Apple!

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/-o-o-\
\`(=)`/…Pixel Monkey
`(___)

A picture says 1000 words. Editors give them meaning.

[Chris Bové]

Ooooohhh, pretty! Looks like fun.

Although I didn’t see any of the demo people actually doing anything with it. I’m picturing my worst producer standing behind me saying “Quit monkeying with the friggin’ images…”

If that is the future of editing, most editors would probably turn off the animated functions anyway. “Dude, I’m .08 seconds faster than you now!”

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/-o-o-\
\`(=)`/…Pixel Monkey
`(___)

A picture says 1000 words. Editors give them meaning.

[Chris Bové]

Haven’t shot images to tape in years. Too many changes mid-edit have made doing so obsolete. For nonlinear editing, I use https://www.stagetools.com/ (Moving Picture). Shooting pix on a stand hi-res with digital still camera, 2 lights either side (45 degree angles) looks much better than scanning, and much less scratch removal as a result. It’s also 1000X better than Avid’s pan and zoom, and can be purchased for Avid, AE, FCP, whatever.

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/-o-o-\
\`(=)`/…Pixel Monkey
`(___)

A picture says 1000 words. Editors give them meaning.