[Neil Gowan]

[Robin S. Kurz] “No offence, but it sounds to me like you jumped into FCP X completely unprepared and are missing a lot of the basics.”

Robin, I keep coming back to this and wondering what it is that made you think this. I certainly acknowledge that I have much to learn in FCP X (I feel like one of those directors who insist on editing their own stuff but never really learn efficiencies and shortcuts so they take way longer than an editor would to perform the same edits). Cutting a feature-length doc with it as such a newbie may have been a mistake…but I’m in the middle of it now.

I just have to know if there are specific steps in my workflow that I’ve described that made you think, “this guy’s crazy…I never would have done it that way.” If there are, what am I doing wrong?

[Neil Gowan]

[James Ewart] “Can you talk me though that in more detail please?”

You mean my workflow with PluralEyes?

I described it previously…did you have specific questions beyond this? :

I sync one day’s worth of footage at a time, which is about 4-5 hours/5-6 reels/10-15 video clips, with 5-10 audio files. My workflow (which is think is typical) is to drop in raw video clips, then drop in corresponding audio clips, export xml, import in PluralEyes, sync, export xml, import back in FCP X.

[Neil Gowan]

Actually, I think this may be the heart of “my issue.” I really want to be able to re-attach an audio clip.

Say I have a b-roll shot, and want the ambient sound, but there’s a dog barking at the point where I want the visual of the clip. I want to detach audio and slip to better in/out points, but I don’t want to have that just dangle as a connected clip. Re-attach clip would be great. Cleaner, safer.

[Neil Gowan]

Not sure how PluralEyes would perform with hundreds of clips…anybody tried it? I drop in one day’s worth of footage at a time, which is about 4-5 hours/5-6 reels/10-15 video clips with 5-10 audio files. My workflow (which is think is typical) is to drop in raw video clips, followed by corresponding audio clips, export xml, import in PluralEyes, sync, export xml, import back in FCP X.

[Neil Gowan]

Gone through Izzy, Larry Jordan, and a couple from Lynda. Couldn’t find any of them addressing bulk syncing workflows.
Totally respect your time so I wouldn’t ask for a tutorial in and of itself, but can you describe for me in a nutshell what you would do to sync all of that and begin your editorial process?

[Neil Gowan]

Yeah, not really asking how to cover the video with something else…I’m wanting to turn it off. I cut a lot of doc work and being able to turn off the visuals while leaving the sound byte playing has become a useful creative tool for me over the years.

I don’t want to detach the audio from the video, and I need the ability to “undo” this…turn it back on if desired.

I looked into the roles workflow. Definitely a solution…I just created a “disabled video” role and assigned sections of clips to it. However in my current project, it’s extra complicated because of how I set up my raw media.

Which brings me to a whole different question…was this a mistake?…I have 15-20 hours of doc footage shot with external audio. Lots of syncing to do just to be able to hear the footage decently. I couldn’t find a way to “bulk sync” footage in FCP X, so I used PluralEyes. Then, to avoid having audio files sitting in timelines as attached clips, I created compound clips of all my raw synced media.
Now I’m working with ALL compound clips. A little clunky…sometimes I’m just trying to roll an edit and I click on that stupid compound clip icon in the top left corner and go there instead. Plus it complicates things like trying to setup roles for a section of a clip but not the whole clip.
Is there a better way to sync such large amounts of footage and organize them once synced?

[Neil Gowan]

Wow…lots of fantastic advice in there! Thanks guys.

This producer that I speak of “taking me under his wing” took the all-in approach when he started out – bought $15k of equipment with no clients lined up yet. Just went for it. But I tend toward the more conservative approach, and your words of advice to rent almost everything resonate well with me…even though the risky approach apparently works for some.

Yes, I’ve shot plenty of things over the years. But I’m not an expert on any camera. How were you able to deeply familiarize yourselves with equipment that you don’t own?

I can see how my post sounds like a half-cooked business plan. Basically I’m seeing this as an opportunity to get my feet wet as a producer, with the guidance of an experienced producer to fall back on (which I’m sure I will). And I will continue taking editorial work while exploring new clients as a “producer.”

[Mark Suszko] “Define in detail what “one stop shop” REALLY means

I’m hoping to start finding small projects (maybe around $3k-$5k range?) to produce from front to back. I’m gaining confidence in my organizational, creative, and managing skills and ready to take a step up. Some of the projects that I’ve edited recently (with that budget range) seem like projects that I could handle, with some learning curve of course. So one stop shop would be marketing myself as a “concept, prepare, shoot, edit, deliver” shop. Have you ever seen someone succeed at this? It’s at least my impression of how my “mentor producer” started out, and he says there’s a market for small shops who can produce good-looking stuff at smaller budgets than bigger shops.

[Todd Terry] “sometimes I’m a little touchy (probably overly) about that because cheap prices can now put a good camera in anyone’s hands… but running out and buying a camera does not make one a cinematographer.”

I can see how I might have sounded like one of those dudes that has the capital to spend and thinks that the camera that you own is what defines your business value. I’m not one of those guys though. In fact, I feel the same way about “YouTube Editors.” My cinematography skills are definitely green, but I’ve got some, and I’m hungry to gain more. So what would you do in my seat? What kind of projects/clients would you seek out at my stage? Would you go straight to agencies? Are there any other choices even?

Please keep the feedback coming!

[Neil Gowan]

I always thought that if you sent something to the trash from an external drive then ejected that drive, the trash would automatically delete those items permanently. But, after failing to find anything else to try, I ejected the drive, and to my surprise, all the files were intact when I re-mounted it.

Glad it was a false alarm.

Thank you for the response though.

[Neil Gowan]

Yeah, I guess I should have mentioned that I do almost all of my editing on external drives…either via Firewire or USB, depending on which drive I’m sent by client.
Would an eSata connection make any difference on playback reliability if I continue working on external drives? Trying to avoid transferring 300-500GB of footage to local drives for each project…but obviously I may not be able to avoid that.
Thanks for the tip…I’ll explore that option some more.

[Neil Gowan]

Thanks for the tip, John. I think I’ll take your advice.

I’ve never done any hardware upgrading myself. Just took a quick look at some of the drives that OWC offers. Any other tips or features that I should look for? I’m not a high volume burner, so I don’t need much of a work horse. Just need the availability of burning and authoring (and reading of course) from time to time.

Is this type of installation a relatively simple one?

I’ll probably go with Pioneer or LG….and red flags that you know of?

Again, thanks for the tip. I didn’t know that these drives would be so inexpensive!