I am planning to shoot and edit a music video, and could use some tips on editing.

I can use either Vegas Video 3 or Premiere to do the edit (although I am leaning towards Premiere for this project)

We plan to tape four different scenes for the full length of the song, as well as miscellaneous clips. My thoughts are to put each of the four clips on different tracks, and switch between the different scenes.

The misc. clips will be on other tracks, and inserted where appropriate.

Anyone have some good tips on the easiest way to switch between these four scenes?

Do I need to identify the edit point, slice all four scenes with a razor cut, then set the opacity on each of the four tracks to show the desired clip?

Or is there a way to keyframe edit that would be easier?

I know there must be an easier way, I just can't think of it!

Other tips regarding a project like this are also welcome!

In Vegas, I would add a Master track (initially blank) at the top and then, do as you said, and split wherever I wanted to changed scenes. Then, just move the desired scene to the Master track.

You might be interested in these two threads:

http://new.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?s=&threadid=4053
http://new.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?s=&threadid=3390

Good luck.

One tip I have (and please, anyone contradict me if it's not recommended) is to record the sound while you shoot, even though you don't plan to use it. Use a directional boom or the camera's mic, and record your boombox or what have you that the music is playing from for you singers to sing to. I did this, and it helped me sync it up much faster because I could hear what was being sung, instead of just looking at lips. You might already know this, and want to hurt me for suggesting you don't. In that case, you may not have my address.

Time to contradict :) A much better way to do it is to get the audio directly from the PA/stereo system you are using as a audio reference for the talent to sing/play to. This way you will get much clearer audio to sync to than by using a mic. ESPECIALLY when filming drummers :)

I learned that lesson the hard way =)

/Henrik

Good tip on the sound sync... I was thinking about a simple reference from a boombox, etc through the mike on the camera. The talent will actually sing (versus lip sync) so I will have that reference as well... the boombox is so the talent will have a reference. (The audio will be produced before the video)

Since all four scenes will be continuous, once I've set sync at the beginning of each clip, it should hold pretty good for 3 or 4 minutes. If not, I can always tweak a clip in the timeline.

Another analogy to this shoot might be that of a project where there is four cameras shooting the same scene from different angles. Is there an easier way than the razor cuts and moving the selected clip to the master track? I am just thinking that razor cuts may be extreme if I want to go back and tweak them later.

Since each of these clips will have different timecodes, any suggestions on dealing with that, as well? Is that an issue? Or do I just deal with the time on the timeline once the clips are inserted in sync on the timeline?

Again, thanks for the input!!!

Well, im not sure how your editing app handles it, but usually a razor cut doesnt actually cut the source material (such as when you do it in real life with film). It just changes the in and out points of the current reference. Thus if you need to tweak it you will still have all the source materials availible, just to drag and move the end and beginning (and not the actual clip as you will loose sync).

This is a technique i used extensively in the Beseech video. I had 4-5 different shots from different angels all synced to the audio on different tracks. Then used razor to cut them up into rough edits and after that added transitions and effects. A lot of tweaking was done to make the edits look good and that was done with moving the in/out points manually.

/Henrik

Thanks, Henrik...

I feel stupid on that one... of course the material is still there...

I just dawned on me that once I've dropped them into the master timeline, I can use a rolling edit to tweak the clip.

Vegas Video 3 allows very easy compositing. Just load each clip into a different track on the timeline, then adjust the "transparency" envelope depending on your position in the timeline. there is no cutting, pasting, or editing involved other than switching which track is visible at which part of the timeline. Cuts, fades, or dissolves are a function of how you drag and define the transparency envelope. Music is synced to the video or visa versa acording to a technique described by Douglas Spotted Eagle in a tutorial he posted online.

Voila!!

Thank you Bill!

Douglas Spotted Eagle does have just the tutorial I was hoping for!

I knew there was a better, more unconventional way!

Thanks again!