Same Day Edits Workflows

[Victor Boyko]

Hi guys

What are some of your same day edit workflows for weddings? I've never done one before and potentially will but I want to hear how this is possible. Doesn't exporting take like 5 hours even for a short clip?

[Joel Peregrine]

Hi Victor,

What editing platform and application are you using? With Final Cut Pro I have to convert to an editable format but I know many applications don't require that - they can edit natively. During every wedding day I'm copying the cards from DSLR's to my laptop and batch converting them to ProRes. The computer is working all day long on it. During long ceremonies I'll swap out cards and get those going too. Even in the car between locations footage is converting. By the time I start editing I've got most if not all of the footage ready to edit. I can start editing the clips that are converted if MPEG Streamclip is still working in the background. In terms of the time it takes: SDHC transfers move at about 1 minute per GB and the conversion from H.264 to ProRes (LT) with MPEG Streamclip has never been the bottleneck of the process - it coverts relatively quickly - quick enough for an sde and I'm only using a 2.5 GHz Core 2 Duo MacBook Pro. There is no wait to present it once its rendered - the computer is connected to the projector with a 25 ft DVI cable and the program is played right off the timeline.

[Aaron Mayberry]

Laptop Specs:
Win 7 64bit
quad-core 2GHz i7 processor
8 GB of DDR3 RAM
USB 3.0 Card reader


I use Avid 5.5 which instantly imports the canon dslr footage and I can edit right away.

The only things I have to wait on is transferring off the cards (pretty darn fast with the usb3.0 card reader), and exporting out the video (4 mins takes about 20 mins at 720p, 30 minutes at 1080p).

We also pre-plan the basics of where things will be placed and where certain shots need to be.

[Victor Boyko]

Well I am just wondering if any of you do same day edits with footage on DV tapes! I use an XH A1 and I have Premiere Pro CS5. It must be a nightmare trying to edit same day off dv tapes. I recently acquired onlocation so it might make the job easier.

[Joel Peregrine]

Hi Victor,

Originally Posted by Victor Boyko

Well I am just wondering if any of you do same day edits with footage on DV tapes! I use an XH A1 and I have Premiere Pro CS5. It must be a nightmare trying to edit same day off dv tapes. I recently acquired onlocation so it might make the job easier.

Its absolutely possible. Up until '10's season I did SDE's with XHA1's shooting HDV. I captured using a Canon HV30 all day long in the same way I ingest the SDHC cards now. HDV media edits natively so there is no conversion necessary. There is unfortunately a longer render when the program is edited, but some apps handle that much more efficiently than Final Cut Pro does.

[Johannes Soetandi]

I reckon get an assistant to do it for you. I would usually transcode (or in your case, capture) the main events in the ceremony as priority ie. entrance, vows, rings, kiss, announcement etc. I'd skip the preacher for last.

[Kelly Langerak]

Get some to do it for you. You can't shot and make sure that the video being recorded is up to your standards unless you have two people that you completely trust. I just hire someone for about $800 for the day and pocket the rest.

[John Wiley]

Kelly, if you pay $800 per wedding just for an assistant to do an SDE, I'm moving to wherever you are!

[George Kilroy]

Kelly where do I submit my CV, I'm in the queue right behind John to apply for a SDE job with you.

If you can pay someone $800 and still pocket money from the SDE charge I am definitely in the wrong location.

[Matthew Craggs]

1. Make a plan. Map out 15 sequences that would fill the SDE (i.e. bride make up, groom getting dressed, groom, park, etc) These will change throughout the day. Get to know your couple so these sequences are the most relevant to them. If they do yoga together every morning (for example - just picking an activity out of the blue) then show up early and get them each doing yoga separately. Work with your other shooters so the angles are the same. This can be one of your sequences.

2. As you're shooting, keep in mind what you're going to capture. For example, "I need six sequences from the bride's house. The make up footage is one, the dress is one, etc." Things will change throughout the day, so stay flexible.

3. Use the Log and Transfer tool to transfer just the footage you need. Go straight to the footage that fits in your gameplan, and don't bother with the rest. Don't transfer too much. If you have a 10 second clip, but you're only going to use 2 seconds of it, mark the ins and outs and only transfer the two seconds you're going to use. Make sure they're labeled properly. bride_dress_1, bride_dress_2, and so forth. This way, when you go to edit your bride dress sequence you can just grab those clips, drag them right onto the timeline, and rearrange accordingly. It's a major slow down to be looking through a list of MVI_XXXX files and wondering, "where does the dress sequence start?" You should be doing a good portion of the editing simply by labelling the clips appropriately and being shrewd with your choices.

4. Edit.

5. Export

6. Enjoy.

In the end, a SDE is just a matter of being prepared, and handling technical difficulties calmly and with grace when they come ("Why am I getting this Error message when I export?!?!?! We're showing the SDE in 40 minutes!!!"). If you make a plan, adjust when the events of the day don't unfold as expected, stay organized, and only transfer the footage you need, you'll be well on your way. The rest comes from practice.

[Art Varga]

another time saver - if your laptop has a 3.0 USB port, get a high speed card reader ($40). I just got one and benchmarked the transfer of a 16GB card at 8 minutes vs 26 minutes with my old reader going into a 2.0 USB.

[Chris Talawe]

Here's a great article I read the other day about this.

EventDV.net: The Event Videographer's Resource

[Joel Peregrine]

Hi Art,

Originally Posted by Art Varga

another time saver - if your laptop has a 3.0 USB port, get a high speed card reader ($40). I just got one and benchmarked the transfer of a 16GB card at 8 minutes vs 26 minutes with my old reader going into a 2.0 USB.

What cards are you using? Compact Flash? Every SDHC I've seen tested has maxed out at approx. 20 MB/sec - thats about one minute per GB.