Scott Sheriff
Forum Replies Created
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[kat hayes] “1. would you recommend an even pacing throughout the video — each clip the exact same length of time?”
No. This would get old, fast. Same goes for identical, repetitive dissolve rates.
[kat hayes] “2. would it be best to use a simple fade-in-fade -out between clips, or should I just cut from one clip to the next?”
The best transition ever invented was the cut. The second best is the common dissolve. A well placed cut is usually invisible, and almost always going to be a winner. No other transition can be repeated over and over without becoming an annoying cliche’.
Without getting into ‘Zen, and the Art of Going to the Lavatory’, IMO, as an editor it is really up to you to choose a properly motivated transition based on the material, and the mood of the piece.
I would recommend not trying to cut it to the final length in one shot.
Maybe cut the 60 minutes into the best 30. Then cut that into the best 10, then the final cut.
Use all cuts to do this, and only opt for other transitions after all the cutting is done. And then only if there is a reason to use something other than a cut.
Good luck.Scott Sheriff
Director
https://www.sstdigitalmedia.com“If you think it’s expensive to hire a professional to do the job, wait until you hire an amateur.” —Red Adair
Where were you on 6/21?
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USB delivers information in bursts, so anything like video is going to be sluggish or not work at all. FW is a better choice for a scratch disc.
It doesn’t influence the response of the timeline where the project is stored. Where the renders, waveform and source is stored, yes.
If it were me, I’d use the quad, not the laptop. You could load it up with 4 drives and do a software RAID. Even having the system, scratch and render files split across non-RAID divers should beat the FW ext drive.Scott Sheriff
Director
https://www.sstdigitalmedia.com“If you think it’s expensive to hire a professional to do the job, wait until you hire an amateur.” —Red Adair
Where were you on 6/21?
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Hi,
As you have read, your MBP set-up is insufficient. Despite a lot of hype by laptop fans, they are very much a compromise. That is why apple allows two installations (one desktop and a laptop) per FCS license.
There is an old racing expression that applies here.
Speeds expensive. How fast do you want to go?
There is no magic setting that will make a USB drive work.
It doesn’t matter what size your files are. Your system drive is not the place to store your capture files. You need at least a second or more drives.
If you want desktop-like performance, you need to get a RAID or at least a FW external drive. If you don’t need portability, the best performance with the least hassle, and the ability to expand and use nice things like capture cards, a desktop with multiple drives is the way to go.Scott Sheriff
Director
https://www.sstdigitalmedia.com“If you think it’s expensive to hire a professional to do the job, wait until you hire an amateur.” —Red Adair
Where were you on 6/21?
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Sounds like a bad socket. Lowel lights are meant to be field repaired. Probably a 15 minute job once you have the part in hand.
Simple test is to check socket continuity with a known good bulb.
First test the continuity of the test bulb out of the socket. They can have hairline cracks in the filament that can’t be seen, so test before to be sure and avoid false negatives. Avoid power cycle ‘hot testing’ lamps, since this only confirms it works now. It (the filament) could open when it cools off. A continuity test with a VOM is the way to go.
Second, plug your known good bulb into the socket, and check the continuity from the power cord socket to the lamp socket. If there is no continuity or high resistance, replace the socket.
Once lamp sockets start to get loose, they arc and pit the socket contacts, which in turn causes more looseness and so on…
In an emergency sometimes it’s possible to get some life out of a dead socket by scraping the contacts with some type of improvised tool. In this case a tight fitting drill bit may work. Be sure that you are not powered up. If the socket is dead, it can’t make it worse. But it might give you a couple of hours. Maybe. Of course this is at your risk.Scott Sheriff
Director
https://www.sstdigitalmedia.com“If you think it’s expensive to hire a professional to do the job, wait until you hire an amateur.” —Red Adair
Where were you on 6/21?
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[Steve Eisen] “Depends on which codecs you are editing with. ProRes works perfectly fine. HDV or h.264 is like walking in cement.”
I have an MP octo core and at least 90% of what I do is HDV. I’m not having any issues editing HDV (native) in FCS. Perhaps it might be that the camera I use has a short GOP structure compared to the Sony. But still, no issues at all.
Scott Sheriff
Director
https://www.sstdigitalmedia.com“If you think it’s expensive to hire a professional to do the job, wait until you hire an amateur.” —Red Adair
Where were you on 6/21?
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You know there are other people out there that use the Mac Pro besides video editors. An example is the astronomy community. Many of the features that you want to see in the ‘new’ Mac Pro are not all that important to them.
Scott Sheriff
Director
https://www.sstdigitalmedia.com“If you think it’s expensive to hire a professional to do the job, wait until you hire an amateur.” —Red Adair
Where were you on 6/21?
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[Tim Wilson] “Apple isn’t in business to sell 2 million of anything over 12 years.”
2 million at between $1,300 and $999 is still a chunk of change. Plus how much in hardware sales did this generate. The 800# gorilla in the room is what would have been the total (in dollars) that would have been generated by keeping FCS alive and releasing X.
Lets not forget goodwill sales of non-editing software and devices by happy users.
How much has apple gotten from me since the roll-out of X? $0.00
I wonder how many potential new apple users were dissuaded from jumping on the apple bandwagon by the bad PR of the X roll out.Scott Sheriff
Director
https://www.sstdigitalmedia.com“If you think it’s expensive to hire a professional to do the job, wait until you hire an amateur.” —Red Adair
Where were you on 6/21?
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[Carolynn Nguyen] “I don’t know what a proper business plan looks like, looks like I’ll need to do some more research!”
There are tons of resources for a ‘proper’ biz plan. But most of that is for when you are looking for investors, or trying to get a bank loan. I believe a person in your situation doesn’t need anything that is quite that formal in presentation. What you really want is a visualization tool to flush out all expenses and non editing tasks that go along with freelancing, examine the potential market, cash flow and then see if the rate you want to charge and the number of hours available, all work out. Some of these numbers have to be assumed, or market averages, or the so called SWAG (scientific wild-ass guess), but try to be as accurate, and realistic as possible. Many folks make a fatal error of using the most optimistic figures they run across because they are so enthusiastic about their business, but the real world rarely works in this fashion. It is better to be the pessimist when working on a business plan.
One thing to remember is that even if you have low expenses now, that won’t always be the case. It is really hard to significantly raise rates with existing clients, so you might want to work on a version that also includes what you need to make doing it full time, where it is your main income, and see how different that is from your current situation.I’m glad to hear you can do more than edit. With so many ‘editors’ entering the market every day, this will give you an advantage over the competition.
Good luck!Scott Sheriff
Director
https://www.sstdigitalmedia.com“If you think it’s expensive to hire a professional to do the job, wait until you hire an amateur.” —Red Adair
Where were you on 6/21?
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[Carolynn Nguyen] “What should I charge, since I can do basic editing? I was thinking $15 – $20 per hour…
Usually, you either charge by the hour, or flat rate (bid) for the job.[Carolynn Nguyen] “is that too little or too much based on my experience?”
Uh, 20 dollars an hour is only 800 dollars per 40 hour week. Can you live on that?
And that is assuming that you edit 40 hours per week. You still have to book, meet, bill, do maintenance, market, go the bank, etc.Honestly, what you have told us, is not enough to know any of this.
Can you cut a feature solo?
Can you cut a typical cable reality show including the heavy use of graphics, and mixed codecs?
How fast are you?
Can you color correct?
Can you output in the desired codec, and quality of the desired client?
Are you only going to edit, or are you going to do some shooting and generate some of the content?
In what market?
On your gear, or theirs?
Have you done a business plan?
Depending on the market, there are people that can do all of this, plus shoot the content as well, so if you are only going to edit, you may have some stiff competition.[Carolynn Nguyen] “I don’t have much experience with special effects though.”
It’s hard to edit anything of appreciable length without at least needing to resort to some type of VFX. Fixing production mistakes, bad frames, blow outs, etc. Part of the gig.[Carolynn Nguyen] “Do I need to make a written agreement for clients to sign? What should I include on it?”
Search this forum. Or at least go back and read the last 6-9 months. You should come across enough horror stories to make the answer clear in short order.[Carolynn Nguyen] “Where do you recommend meeting up with clients?”
Your studio, or edit bay. Where you work. Alternatively, their place of business. Next alternative, a place to eat, and your buying. The person soliciting the business traditionally buys the meal/drinks. Business people don’t usually meet at the library.[Carolynn Nguyen] “Is there anything else I need to know about freelancing?”
Freelancing is not about editing, it’s a business. You need to do a business plan. It will be a real eye opener. BTW, in the couple of weeks it takes to finish a proper business plan, there will be ten to twenty thousand additional editors in the ‘business’. And they are all trying to do the exact same thing, and compete for the same clients.I might sound like a wet blanket, but it’s time for a reality check. You need to look at the worst case scenario and see if you can still keep a roof over your head. Rates are at an all time low. There has never been so much competition, for so few jobs, coupled with the down economy. Then add the low cost production tools that are letting many clients DIY to save money, and the plethora of people willing to work for free, just to get something on their reel…
Well, I think you get the idea. Do the business plan. Be honest. Be realistic.Scott Sheriff
Director
https://www.sstdigitalmedia.com“If you think it’s expensive to hire a professional to do the job, wait until you hire an amateur.” —Red Adair
Where were you on 6/21?
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[Andrew Richards] “Do/did you know anyone else tooling around in three-decades-old light commercial vehicles as daily drivers?”
I guess it depends on the crowd you run with, or your point of reference. Owning stuff like this is mostly ‘blue collar’, and media production really isn’t. People tend to notice the familiar, and disregard the unfamiliar. I’ve met quite a few people that have vintage commercial trucks and drive them regularly. Mostly small business owners that are gearheads writing off a hobby by using the truck for advertizing. Might be a regional thing due to our lax regulations or lack of rust. I still see a lot of street rods, muscle cars, old jeeps and rovers, and military trucks and other old and ‘impracticable’ rides driven regularly. But get out from the Southwest region, and these are a rare sight. I only did it back in the day when I worked on a swing shift, was younger, and had a nice straight shot on the highway to the station to save wear and tear on my other cars. Without power steering, brakes, etc and a stiff clutch makes it pretty tough to drive in heavy traffic. Now the Grumman is just a shiny motorcycle hauler.
Scott Sheriff
Director
https://www.sstdigitalmedia.com“If you think it’s expensive to hire a professional to do the job, wait until you hire an amateur.” —Red Adair
Where were you on 6/21?