Editing question

Jeff Price · May 19th, 2003, 01:52 PM

The problem with nature videography is no matter how careful you are you end up recording a bunch of cr$%. You just start filming and the bird flies off, etc.

So, while I wait for FCP4 and think about how to deal with old footage I'm wondering about rough cutting my footage in iMovie. Basically, import a tape, trash all I don't ever want to keep and dump back out to a new tape.

Will this cause problems when I go to bring it into FCP? Even now there can be breaks in time code. At least if I rough edit it would record onto the new tape in one unbroken act, although I don't know what it does to the time code.

Thoughts?

Ken Tanaka · May 19th, 2003, 02:04 PM

I can't quite envision what advantage you would accomplish with such an activity, Jeff. All shoots produce undesirable footage...lots of it. The biggest advantage I see in your proposal is that it will force you to look at your footage again, always a beneficial activity.

Just getting itchy, eh? <g>

Jeff Price · May 19th, 2003, 02:13 PM

Not only itchy but it will reduce the number of tapes I have footage scattered over. For example, I can probably get three tapes worth of footage from Arizona down to one. For stock footage I can start pulling all similar species together (so I pop in one tape instead of using the timecode to grab snippets off of 5 or 10).

Is there a disadvantage to doing this? I can also see going back to some completed projects, reimporting them and cleaning them up, color correcting, etc. once I have FCP4.

Ken Tanaka · May 19th, 2003, 02:55 PM

Honestly, I've never tried going back to tape from iMovie. I don't think it would hurt anything, though.

Rick Spilman · May 19th, 2003, 03:03 PM

It is all a matter of editing style. You have nothing to lose as long as you don't copy over your existing footage.

Jeff Price · May 19th, 2003, 03:07 PM

But will the time code be messed up or might cause problems in FCP? If not, then I really have nothing to loose as long as a tape doesn't get eaten. It's good practice anyway.

K. Forman · May 19th, 2003, 03:23 PM

I believe that when you export back to your cam, you will create a new timecode. Just send one stream back to the cam and go with the new timecode.

Jeff Donald · May 19th, 2003, 03:34 PM

I also do a great deal of nature and wildlife work. I never compile tapes to save a little space or to reuse tapes. I never reuse tapes, too many chances for something to go wrong and tape is cheap. I log each tape as to TC and scenes and keep a data base of all the tapes and scenes.

You never know when you'll need a background noise or obscure shot that you thought wasn't needed. There are too many risks involved and the few advantages don't out weigh the risks for me.

Chris Korrow · May 19th, 2003, 05:03 PM

Hey Jeff,
One thing that I've been doing is to have a few tapes going at once. If I Know I'm going to be shooting a lot of a specific subject I'll have a tape for say... one for flowers, insects, time laps, misc, etc. It's almost like doing what your talking about only backwards. It's cut search & downloading time in half. I thought at first that I might get the tapes mixed up but its really worked out pretty smooth.
Chris

May 19th, 2003, 01:52 PM	#1
Jeff Price Major Player Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Chico, California Posts: 357	Editing question - to rough cut or not The problem with nature videography is no matter how careful you are you end up recording a bunch of cr$%. You just start filming and the bird flies off, etc. So, while I wait for FCP4 and think about how to deal with old footage I'm wondering about rough cutting my footage in iMovie. Basically, import a tape, trash all I don't ever want to keep and dump back out to a new tape. Will this cause problems when I go to bring it into FCP? Even now there can be breaks in time code. At least if I rough edit it would record onto the new tape in one unbroken act, although I don't know what it does to the time code. Thoughts? __________________ Jeff Price Flickerflix Nature Videos flickerflix@yahoo.com

May 19th, 2003, 02:04 PM	#2
Ken Tanaka Retired DV Info Net Almunus Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Chicago, IL Posts: 6,943	I can't quite envision what advantage you would accomplish with such an activity, Jeff. All shoots produce undesirable footage...lots of it. The biggest advantage I see in your proposal is that it will force you to look at your footage again, always a beneficial activity. Just getting itchy, eh? <g> __________________ Lady X Films: A lady with a boring wardrobe...and a global mission. Hey, you don't have enough stuff! Buy with confidence from our sponsors. Hand-picked as the best in the business...Really! See some of my work one frame at a time: www.KenTanaka.com

May 19th, 2003, 02:13 PM	#3
Jeff Price Major Player Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Chico, California Posts: 357	Not only itchy but it will reduce the number of tapes I have footage scattered over. For example, I can probably get three tapes worth of footage from Arizona down to one. For stock footage I can start pulling all similar species together (so I pop in one tape instead of using the timecode to grab snippets off of 5 or 10). Is there a disadvantage to doing this? I can also see going back to some completed projects, reimporting them and cleaning them up, color correcting, etc. once I have FCP4. __________________ Jeff Price Flickerflix Nature Videos flickerflix@yahoo.com

May 19th, 2003, 02:55 PM	#4
Ken Tanaka Retired DV Info Net Almunus Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Chicago, IL Posts: 6,943	Honestly, I've never tried going back to tape from iMovie. I don't think it would hurt anything, though. __________________ Lady X Films: A lady with a boring wardrobe...and a global mission. Hey, you don't have enough stuff! Buy with confidence from our sponsors. Hand-picked as the best in the business...Really! See some of my work one frame at a time: www.KenTanaka.com

May 19th, 2003, 03:07 PM	#6
Jeff Price Major Player Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Chico, California Posts: 357	But will the time code be messed up or might cause problems in FCP? If not, then I really have nothing to loose as long as a tape doesn't get eaten. It's good practice anyway. __________________ Jeff Price Flickerflix Nature Videos flickerflix@yahoo.com

May 19th, 2003, 03:03 PM	#5
Rick Spilman Major Player Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Jersey City, NJ Posts: 366	It is all a matter of editing style. You have nothing to lose as long as you don't copy over your existing footage.

May 19th, 2003, 03:23 PM	#7
K. Forman Capt. Quirk Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Middle of the woods in Georgia Posts: 3,596	I believe that when you export back to your cam, you will create a new timecode. Just send one stream back to the cam and go with the new timecode.

May 19th, 2003, 03:34 PM	#8
Jeff Donald Warden Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Clearwater, FL Posts: 8,287	I also do a great deal of nature and wildlife work. I never compile tapes to save a little space or to reuse tapes. I never reuse tapes, too many chances for something to go wrong and tape is cheap. I log each tape as to TC and scenes and keep a data base of all the tapes and scenes. You never know when you'll need a background noise or obscure shot that you thought wasn't needed. There are too many risks involved and the few advantages don't out weigh the risks for me. __________________ Jeff Donald Carpe Diem Search DVinfo.net for quick answers \| Where to Buy? From the best in the business: DVinfo.net sponsors

May 19th, 2003, 05:03 PM	#9
Chris Korrow Major Player Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Whidbey Is, WA Posts: 326	Hey Jeff, One thing that I've been doing is to have a few tapes going at once. If I Know I'm going to be shooting a lot of a specific subject I'll have a tape for say... one for flowers, insects, time laps, misc, etc. It's almost like doing what your talking about only backwards. It's cut search & downloading time in half. I thought at first that I might get the tapes mixed up but its really worked out pretty smooth. Chris