Kate Perkins
Forum Replies Created
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Hi Barbara,
Edit for the action. Fight scenes and dance scenes are difficult to edit together. The action must look like it flows from shot to shot. If they messed up the lighting, well, that’s their problem and you shouldn’t let your editing suffer for it. When you’ve finished the action edit, then you can use FCP’s color filters or put into a color correction program (like color) to see if you can help them fix the lighting issues. -
Is there a page peel transition in FCP? I’ve never used it, but assuming there is, you can place the graphic on the track above the BG video, rotate it and scale it to where you want, and then apply the transition to the beginning and end. Voila.
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How do you manage your speed?
I work very quickly, or so I’ve been told by bosses. Learning the keyboard shortcuts helps you work much faster. I use a few tricks that may help you. If you’re editing in FCP, you can use the “J,K,L” keys to reverse, play, and fast forward video, respectively. If I’m asked to go through a tape a pull selects, and it’s just an interview or B roll, I watch it on double speed until I get to a part that I’m going to select. Also, if you’re messing around with stuff in the timeline and the audio gets lost (this happens to me all the time), put the timeline selector (can’t remember what it’s called) over that clip and press “F”. This will bring the original clip back up in the browser, complete with in out point.How do you know if you’re fast enough in doing your job? My boss always gives me a To Do list and sometimes I feel it’s unrealistic. Sometimes I feel I’m falling asleep. Sometimes I get distracted.
If you think your bosses list is unrealistic, tell him. (or her.) It would be much better to come in ahead of schedule than to be late with it, so just let them know that it will take you longer ahead of time. If there is a hard deadline though, you do need to be willing to stay late and meet that deadline, as long as your boss is only asking you to do that occasionally and not twice a week.
How do you avoid distractions?
How do you avoid wasting your time on forums, facebook, email … while editing. Specially when you’re researching for something and you know how easy to spend time on this a bit more than what you should.
I don’t have this particular problem, probably because I really love editing. But, you could create a new account on your computer only for editing that didn’t include apps and sites that distract you. But if you’re feeling like this happens a lot because you don’t like what you’re doing… then maybe this isn’t the job for you.Multi-tasking:
How do you keep it organised in your mind and not lose it while multitasking (between converting, ripping, burning, …)
It’s more important to do one job correctly than many poorly. Be honest with yourself, if you can only do one or two things at a time, then focus on those things. May feel like you’re going slowly but it’s faster than re-doing those things.
How do you explain to your boss the time wasted on technical problems and computer freezing and conversion problems…
Your boss is for answering those questions. Make it his (or her) problem. They may know the answer already and you can both save time. If you don’t have anyone at your office to answer those questions, well creative cow is a start but you may also be in over your head. Not because you aren’t a good editor but because being a good editor and being a tech guru are two different jobs. Honestly, a lot of people on this website also give BAD technical advice to sound smart instead of just not answering (Sorry CC, but it’s been proven true.) We’re creatives, not techies. Find some computer geek friends or sites or chatrooms. As far as explaining to the boss, you can say “We’re having a problem, I don’t know exactly what it is yet but I will figure it out.” That is ok.
Are you ever satisfied with the final edit?
Yes, honestly I am always happy. Sometimes you have to rush something for a deadline and then I get those feelings, but I’m usually still pretty proud.What do you do when your taste is “simplicity” and don’t get so impressed with texts exploding or all the fancy effects. Even with movies I don’t get that impressed with VFX. I focus more on storytelling. How do you deal with clients who judge your work based on the principle of “the more cheesy effects you include the more work you’ve done”?
If you’re working for a client, you’re working for a client. Don’t argue with what they want. It’s your job to make their ideas happen. If you don’t like doing graphics, hire on a second hand to do that part. But if you really really hate working on those projects, find other projects or clients.How to become more technical, what to read, what softwares to use?
FCP and After Effects will get you jobs. If you’re only interested in editing, you should probably become familiar with Avid and Edius as well – I’ve been asked to edit on both of those. Read the program manuals as a start if you have not already. Wikipedia is actually a great resource for codec info.
Motion graphics ….
Can you be an editor and HATE motion graphics and graphic design in general. I just don’t have the passion, patience and creativity to animate a title from scratch. If I have a good concept, I’m willing to try but it’s always too hard for me. It’s a world in itself and I have no time to explore. How can I make up for that? Is there a software/website where I can download or use their templates? (non-cheesy ones)
You should start working with someone who does this work. Sounds like you have high standards for this and you could offer guidance to someone and the two of you together could make some really nice stuff.What’s the average hourly rate for editors in Sydney and when do I know if I deserve an increase?
I’m in New York so I don’t know about Sydney, but you have to include the fact that your hardware has a lifespan. On average, my drives die after 6 years, my computers last 3, and cameras are outdated after 2 years. Include replacement costs in your hourly fee. I have a lot of equipment to do things the right way, but because I’m young it’s difficult to explain this to clietns. So I started my own production company – here in America we start LLCs. (Limited Liability Companies.) If you invest in providing your clients higher security or better quality, raise your rates. Do some research on what other people are charging to see what people will pay for. Don’t invest in something that clients don’t value and therefore won’t pay for. And do charge the same rate as other people on your level – undercutting each other hurts everybody.Where can I ask my silly questions about editing without being judged? like …
Why FCP is better than iMovie? I know it gives you more control but it also makes life harder in everything. And frustrates you with rendering just to preview a simple effect that you just added.
Why does AE has no audio? and how is it possible to animate to music when you can’t hear it? And how does hollywood fit 3 hours movies on one disc?
iMovie is not for professional editing. You do not have control over it. Effects are not “simple” – if you want it to look good, you use good tools. AE does have audio – hit period, then ram preview. Compression is an art form – there are very powerful codecs out there that will allow you to compress footage down to a DVD size and it will still look pretty good.
And the most important question of all…
HOW CAN I BECOME A BETTER EDITOR?
How can I become more quick, knowledgable, creative and technical?
What do I need to read, edit, watch?
Do you really want to be an editor? It sounds like you don’t. Intern with an editor and see what their day is like. If it’s a life that doesn’t make you happy, don’t do it. I love what I do. Interning is probably also the best way to learn. -
Looks like the Twixtor plug in to me. https://www.revisionfx.com/products/twixtor/
The radiant lighting (light streaks? Not sure what you call that) can be acheived with a fun set of plug ins called “Too Much Too Soon.” https://www.mattias.nu/plugins/
The latter ones are free, Twixtor is expensive though.
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Yes I forgot Mpeg streamclip – this is also a good program for transcoding footage.
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Re the codec error:
Final Cut does not do a good job with H.264 in the timeline. H.264 is a delivery codec; it was not intended to be an acquisition codec. (But it looks good so consumer cameras started using it to record.)
One way you could work around this is to batch transcode your footage into ProRez (or another codec) BEFORE importing into FCP. Compressor will do this, and I believe Cinema Tools can also do this. If you’ve begun editing already, you can re-link your clips to the new media as though you were switching from offline to online footage.
You could be running out of memory because it’s writing a lot of render files. When you sort this out, I would trash the old render files.
Blackmagic is a company – sounds like that option is a preset for people using their hardware.
Hope this helps. -Kate
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If you want the highest quality possible for archival, select File>Export>Quicktime Movie. A dialogue box will come up asking you where to save it. Toward the bottom, select Settings>”Current Settings”, and check “Make Movie Self Contained.”
What this does is creates a new file that exactly represents what is in your timeline. Imagine it copying each clip exactly and stitching them together in order into a new file. Each clip maintains the same settings you have set in your timeline; in your case, Apple Pro Res 422 25p. This is not “uncompressed”, but it’s without further compression.
I also like to keep these for archival, even though they take up a lot of space, because you can open this file in Compressor and make anything out of it later on. Editors used to export their final cuts to tape for archival, which I still recommend as drives have a limited life span. However, in the last few years the cost of digital storage has gone down greatly and I highly suggest making a Current Settings export at the end of every project.
H.263 is popular because it looks good when highly compressed, but that is not what you want here. That is a delivery codec and it’s very compressed.
How large are the pictures in your slideshow? If you’re using high-rez photos, remember that those are much large than high-rez video and it very well could take 2 hours to render, even though it seems like simple job.
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This isn’t really an Final Cut related answer, but you should also be recording his dialogue on the exact same microphone that you recorded lines with on set. Different mics will capture different qualities of people’s voices. This will make it much, much easier to convincingly incorporate into the rest of the audio.
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To Jason: That sounds like a corrupt render file to me. If time allows, I would trash all of your audio render files and re-render. (I would also re-render in segments – seems to work better for me.) Let us know what solutions works. -Kate
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Haha you just made my day. Thanks; I’m glad that helped.