Richard Herd
Forum Replies Created
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[Aindreas Gallagher] “really?”
Really.
[Aindreas Gallagher] “aren’t these people maybe going to hit an issue when they approach narrative, doco corpo and the rest of the stuff? “
No. X handles those just fine.
[Aindreas Gallagher] “How long are they supposed to hit the market like FCPX lemmings/salmon?”
Editors “in the market” are good (or bad) because they can (or cannot) tell a story in moving pictures. Once the movie is exported, no one cares about the software. True, there are some folks claiming editing software is akin to a Hollywood fashion industry. But if the reels from my students are good, then they will get into programs and internships. It’s at that point, where I’m certain the industry will shift, five to ten years (depending on depreciation schedule). Imagine you’ve been cutting dialogue scenes in X (like I teach) and then a boss says, “Okay, now use Avid.” I’m sure my students will work hard to get it finished; then, they will sneak the footage home and cut it on their $1200 iMac.
[Aindreas Gallagher] “they made a complete mess of editing for untold numbers of people.”
As a set theory problem, you have it backwards; that is, the set of people for whom Apple made editing a complete mess is less than the set of people for whom editing is now a complete not-mess. The former number, and the context of “the old editors,” is a fixed sum that decreases with every one who passes on to the next life or changes to X. The latter number is infinite (n+1), assuming X remains static.
There’s a few other interesting observations for educators:
1. We use the iMac’s built-in mic for recording voice over in the timeline (in the first level course); in the second level course we use an audio I/O and a microphone — but the quality is very similar after CMD-8.
2. My editing lab has 2 iMacs and 5 Win7pro64 running Premiere. The RAM from the Windows was stolen. iMacs are closed up tight.
3. I really don’t know how I’m going to afford Premiere.
4. Although AVID is a great price for educators ($300), and I’m waiting for grant money to buy it, I cannot imagine forcing my students to use it. It’s comparatively clunky and while I haven’t used Avid since 2003, from the point of view of a 14 – 18 year old high school student who has cut maybe 2 things total, I can already hear their pleas: “Mr. Herd, please can I just do this in X?”
What will I say? “No. You need to learn this software so you can be employable.” Which is actually an argument I disagree with, that schools are there for training workers to get jobs, so I’m finding it difficult to teach obsolescence. And by obsolescence I mean what took 2 weeks takes 1 day. I’m sure the snooty editors trumpeting “but I work in the 2% and there are no jobs in X” will no doubt comfort themselves by thinking “but that’s high school and I’m a pro.” Yep. 2 weeks turned to 1 day, for kids who knew nothing, not even where Apple hides the on-button. I would not install X in a bona fide big studio environment till 10.1 and mac pro arrives, but that’s a different issue than efficiency of turning 2 weeks into 1 day. Avoiding X has to do with “Mr. Herd, why is the screen green?”
“I don’t know. Let’s reboot and see if that fixes it.”
-Rich
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[Bill Davis] “Since he’s not here, allow me.”
Thanks!
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[tony west] “They might not have tried it even if they heard it was great because of the learning curve. (“
I teach my students to edit in X. They’re High Schoolers. Sometimes we use premiere, but for them X is just too intuitive. Very interesting to watch. For example, we do an assignment called “Pass the Salt,” which is two actors reciting meaningless dialogue that they have to use their voices to bring meaning. We cover the scene in WS, MS, CU-1, CU-2, OTS-1, OTS-2. When we used Premiere to edit, I planned for two weeks of instruction. Now, no kidding, it is ONE DAY. So I taught them how to j-cut, l-cut, add effects, color effects, audio edit, foley, sound effects — curriculum I did not have time to get to using Premiere. When it’s exported and on youtube or facebook, no one even comes close to caring about the editing program debates.
My question is when these kids (now 14-18) get into a “big studio,” what are they going to say? When they are bosses making business decisions in 15 years, what are they going to buy?
When I first worked at a studio, the old-dude was super stoked on his $5,000 ATTO RAID 0, for cutting NTSC/DV footage 720×480. I showed him firewire.
Now it appears I’m the old dude.
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[David Eaks] “Sorry if I’m off track from what your saying.”
This is trackless. (drum roll crash cymbal)
Thanks for the tip. I tried that, actually. It was weird. I’ll try it again with a bit more gusto.
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[Charlie Austin] “”track tetris””
^Classic!
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Thanks!
Got an agent, needed the right question.
Thanks again!
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[Jeremy Garchow] “especially having something that is bondable and recognized by insurance companies”
Can you explain more about this (or post a link)? thanks!
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X proved recently to be a pain in the ass. It was a simple job: just cut some graduation footage as a pop tune played it’s catchy chorus. I wanted to simply drop edited footage into the chorus, at minute 1 or so. Not perfect editing conditions. In tracks based editing it’s simple as can be. Even cutting film is straightforward there. You clip out the feet you want for the chorus and you save it over there in that bin, right there, that you can touch and pick up and tape when you’re ready. So that’s what I did sorta; I used key words and had to make a compound…it was weird. In tracks, I mark where the chorus begins and ends, and I cut a bit, and then put it on track 1 or maybe track 2 or maybe 99 — who cares! Then I can 4-point edit stuff as I need. X is definitely for me at its best cutting narrative. J-cuts and L-cuts are so fast as to be mesmerizingly simple. But simple montage–a real pain, for me. I must be doing something wrong here.
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[Marcus Hardy] “This is the problem I discovered and will lead me to NOT use compound clips as often in the future for feature work. Compound clips being virtual clips and not actual physical clips, results in anything in FCPX that was in a compound clip and associated and located in that event becomes unreachable. You are unable to open the compound clip and peer inside, and because their is no physical media as far as FCPX is concerned, you cannot relink it to an event that DOES have all the media.”
Sorry you had to learn the lesson, but thanks for sharing!
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[Aaron Sheffield] “Is there any kind of form that I can make them sign that holds their company liable for any content and gets me legally off the hook?”
YES!
I quoted a case over there –>
You want to be sure the contract states “WORK FOR HIRE” in big bold letters, and you might want to reword appropriately the specific language from the case:
the producers were responsible for choreography, directorial duties, final decisionmaking in the editing process, and creation of the concept underlying the exercise videos, the videographer could not be considered the author or the co-author of the videos for copyright purposes.
You could probably get even more complex by mentioning “current market conditions” because it was an important consideration in a few briefs I read, ‘though I can’t find them now. The idea is something akin to “current technology makes sharing media part of the market conditions for being a video producer/editor. If you do not comply with the client wishes, then you will lose business.” It appears the current Court is sensitive to business interests. In the cases where you do use copyrighted material for work for hire at the client’s direction, then also be sure to attribute who owns the work — vis-a-vis “the origin of goods.” It’s not so bad to have the client sign another form “My video editor explained that using copyrighted material is an infringement, but they think it is worth the risk.”
I’m not a lawyer, just a curious kind-of-guy — and I’m not sure I’d do any of this stuff, but it’s hard to avoid a client’s needs. I totally understand that. The other weird point is all of this is about money. On one hand you can’t ignore clients, on the other you can’t expose yourself to risk. So what are you going to do?
Have you read this? https://daredreamermag.com/2011/12/07/the-music-licensing-chickens-have-come-home-to-roost-in-wedding-and-event-videography/
The important detail is poor Joe Simon is the author. You’re trying to waive that. And the case didn’t go to trial, so there’s no mention of it in Lexis Nexis.