I'm in the process of editing a video of a theatrical production. I shot it
at 8 to 1--eight takes of the show, in other words--and it's about a 90
minute program.

I'm finding that I'm able to construct about 5 minutes of finished video in
a six to eight hour day. This is using a very primitive editor, namely
iMovie.

I'm assuming that if I drop some bucks on decent editing software, my
productivity will improve.

What is a reasonable goal, given better tools--something like Final Cut or
Premiere? Never mind the learning curve, I'm really wondering what sort of
productivity to expect once I have reasonable mastery of the software.

I've seen one ballpark figure of 10 to 1--ten minutes of editing to produce
one minute of finished goods. Is that reasonable? I'm thinking that applies
just to the assembly of the clips in proper order, not to any extra
finishing work such as color correction, audio improvements, etc.

It really depends on the program. I can cut 2 1/2 hour epsodes of a TV show
that I have a template for in one day.. I've done as many as 5. Editing a
feature I will take more time, try different things and work with more
attention to detail but even there my _edited_minutes_per_day is variable.
Depends onthe show.

"Bob Bethune" <freshwaterseas@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:-7KdnR_n1upl3diiXTWJiw@comcast.com...

It really depends on how you edit. Long scenes, fewer cuts, fewer cameras,
less time. More cameras, scenes, cuts = more time. Balancing and mixing
audio = more time. Picture in picture, dissolve scene over scene, FX, color
correction between cameras, building titles and credits, rendering, all
require more time. There is no simple answer to your question. But 5 minutes
in 8 hours with the result being a quality product is well within acceptable
standards.

--
Best regards,
Craig Scheiner
Executive Producer
CPS Associates
Video Production and Publication
www.cpsvideo.net


"Bob Bethune" <freshwaterseas@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:-7KdnR_n1upl3diiXTWJiw@comcast.com...

I usually average about 1 hour per minute of finished output.
I use Vegas btw.

"Craig Scheiner" <cps@cpsvideo.net> wrote in message
news:H0g1b.14030$dk4.494287@typhoon.sonic.net...

Just remember that the reason you are getting 5 minutes done now is because
you have less options to play around with in iMovie.
"Bob Bethune" <freshwaterseas@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:LVCdnYAaAKOamtuiXTWJhA@comcast.com...

Is there any feature you need that you don't have in imovie?? If the answer
is no, then learning another program will take more time. You can speed up
by becoming more proficient in your work flow in imovie. Learn and use
keyboard shortcuts instead of a mouse. You shot the show 8 times? Getting
rid of footage you know you won't need will speed you up. Don't spend a lot
of time on decisions of what to keep or not. If it's not great you can live
without it. The people who watch your video will only know what they see.
They will never know what you threw away and didn't use. Getting rid of
stuff is one of the things editors do.
--
Best regards,
Craig Scheiner
Executive Producer
CPS Associates
Video Production and Publication
www.cpsvideo.net

"Bob Bethune" <freshwaterseas@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:LVCdnYAaAKOamtuiXTWJhA@comcast.com...

I think the biggest thing I hope for in a better editor is better clip
management. iMovie doesn't give you anything that helps you get the job
done.

Creating a 2-hour program video version of the complete stage play at an 8:1
shooting ratio with an average shot length of about 10-20 seconds means
managing a huge number of clips--theoretically, about 3,000 of them--and I
know that right now I spend probably 50% of my time manually managing clips
so that I can keep track. Also, because iMovie offers only one clip bin and
no organizational tools, I essentially can only see two segments of raw
footage from each take at a time. I'm like a person with tunnel vision
walking down a dark alley; I can only see what's right in front of me and
I've can't see what I just passed by.

In iMovie, I have to manually move clips around, relabel them, delete them
and import fresh ones constantly. I wind up doing a cycle of that after
every two finished clips, or sometimes after only one. It works like this:

I work from a line-numbered script. Each clip is labelled when I load it off
tape with a letter that tells me what tape it came from and the line numbers
the clip spans. There are eight nights of footage. I usually cannot tell in
advance where I will be able to cut. I have to find, by ear and eye, those
moments where one night's footage happens to synchronise with another
night's footage well enough to permit good continuity. That means I can't
just throw away the footage I don't like; I have to keep everything and
examine everything because I never know in advance what the need for
continuity will force me to use.

So, to begin, I line up eight lengths of source footage, one from each
night, vertically down the left side of the clip bin. I watch each length of
footage until, by ear and eye and memory, I know where i can cut. I then
split the first clip I want out and split the other seven segmenets at the
same cue point, creating a second column of segments. iMovie's labels for
new clips are useless, so I then relabel the newly created segments. Then I
watch the second column of segments until by ear and eye and memory I know
where my second split should be. Then I split the second desired clip out of
the newly created segments in the second column and again split the other
seven at the same cue points which creates a third column of segments. That
uses up the available space in the clip bin, so I then relabel the third
column with the new line numbers, move the newly created good clips to the
timeline, move the unwanted clips to the trash, move the remainding pieces
of the raw footage to the left side of the bin and start over again.
Periodically, of course, I have to empty the trash or bring in fresh
footage. I know this all sounds incredibly awkward, but it's the only way
I've found that I can keep this mass of footage under control.

In FCP or Premiere or suchlike, in a project like this, would I have to
spend so much time manually fussing with raw footage while editing? In a
better editor, wouldn't I be spared all this manual clip management?

"Craig Scheiner" <cps@cpsvideo.net> wrote in message
news:Xsw1b.14344$dk4.498303@typhoon.sonic.net...

I've never used iMovie so I don't know the limitations, but I do use FCP 3
and have done several 90 minute stage productions shot three nights in a row
and edited them to a final video. This is how I do it.
The final night I shoot the performance non-stop. I shoot from the rear of
the audience, wide and medium shots. These are professional performerances,
so I plug into the main mixer without worry for well mixed audio. This
becomes my primary video and provides the audio for the finished piece. The
previous two nights, rehearsals, I shoot close-ups and medium shots from
closer to the stage. Then for editing:
I capture each camera in a seperate folder as a single log shot.
I lay down primary AV on V-1 and A1&2. This is the full length performance.
I lay down rehearsal night 1 on V2 and A3&4. I use the audio to sync
individual camera takes with V1. These are takes of up to several minutes
each.
I lay down rehearsal night 2 on V3 and A5&6. I use the audio to sync
individual camera takes with V1. These are takes of up to several minutes
each.
Then I start at the beginning of the show and choose which video trak to use
as I go. The shots are already all in sync with the primary audio. Sometimes
I use PIP, sometimes I dissolve one V trak over another. Sometimes I just
cut between V traks. As I decide on my video cuts I delete the audio on
A3,4,5 & 6.
That's "all" there is to it.


--
Best regards,
Craig Scheiner
Executive Producer
CPS Associates
Video Production and Publication
www.cpsvideo.net


"Bob Bethune" <freshwaterseas@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:uICdnVDds-LhMtuiU-KYuA@comcast.com...

Hi! Thanks for the outline of how you use FCP for the same kind of video
work I'm doing.

There's one thing that absolutely astonishes me: that you're able to
synchronize one night's audio with another night's video, apparently for
long periods of time--as in more than a few seconds?

How on earth can you accomplish that and still maintain lipsynch?

From the way you describe the process, it sounds as if you only have to mess
with arranging the original footage once. Would that be correct? If so, that
alone would be a godsend over iMovie.

"Craig Scheiner" <cps@cpsvideo.net> wrote in message
news:ewO1b.14521$dk4.502664@typhoon.sonic.net...