Post-production Workflow

TheBeastman13 said:

I just captured 57GB of video this weekend for my friend's wedding.

I shot with two cameras: Nikon d7100, Sanyo Xacti fh1a. The Nikon files are .mov, the two Sanyo clips are .mp4

I've loaded all the footage on to my HDD, and have begun naming all the footage according the type of shot/subject. I'm only a fifth of the way through in naming the shot files; roughly 220 files of video clips to sort(it's overwhelming!).

I plan to edit with Final Cut Express 4.

What should my plan of action be after my files are renamed?

All suggestions are welcome.

I'm editing on a MacBook 4,1 2.4 ghz C2D with 4GB of RAM. Media files are on my external HDD, FCE4 app is on the internal drive.

Any information I've left out that would be beneficial in knowing?


EDIT: my two Sanyo clips, when previewed in Finder, have wobbly motion to subjects moving within the frame? Any guess of what could be causing this jitter, corrections to be made?

Click to expand...

firstly, hook up a bigger screen if possible. you eyes will go coucou on that 13 incher halfway through the project. also, use a mouse.
secondly, instead of renaming which is a feat on it's own, I would just jot in an excel file the name of the file, and the time range/ranges that interests me and what is that interests me. this way you will have already cleared out the good shots. this will also help you have some continuity or develop the "storyline" instead of having random shots, or connected shots between the two cameras (if applicable)
thirdly, save often or set an automated save every minute or two. also set it to make increments so you can roll back.
fourth, wobbly motion potentially means jelly effects. there are definitely various methods to take care of that. just google jelly effect fix or something relevant.
fifth, make sure to stabilize your footage if needed. again, google it

will follow up if anything else hits me

edit

external HDD doesn't sound too promising, especially of we are talking about a usb 2 device.

TheBeastman13 said:

....

What should my plan of action be after my files are renamed?

All suggestions are welcome.....the frame? Any guess of what could be causing this jitter, corrections to be made?

Click to expand...

FCPX makes logging the clips so much easier. If you plan on doing videos all the time it is worth it to get FCPX.

Your method of renaming files has some problems in that each files can only have one name. OK you can make two component file names like "subject-shottype" but still you only get one file name and it take "forever". Most peole use a log sheet and take notes. This is faster and allows you to log one clip user multiple categories.

Editing will be slow with your equipment but not impossible and you have no deadline. If you are planning an upgrade to the RAM of internal HD now is the time.

OK, what to do after logging the clips? First think of the story. Pretend you are telling the story of what happened to someone who was not there

Do you know anything about film making and cut in long shots to establish the scene and other simple "rules". If you don't know anything plase take time out to read up on the very basics. Read about film making NOT about Final Cut.

What do you want to say about the wedding? you can't start until you know what you want the end product to be.

Rememebr the quality of the result improves every time to don't use some footage that does not contribute to the show. DOn't just leave in footage because it is clear and in focus. It has to contribute to the purpose of the video.

Most of all do read up on the theory of editing.

ChrisA said:

FCPX makes logging the clips so much easier. If you plan on doing videos all the time it is worth it to get FCPX.

Your method of renaming files has some problems in that each files can only have one name. OK you can make two component file names like "subject-shottype" but still you only get one file name and it take "forever". Most peole use a log sheet and take notes. This is faster and allows you to log one clip user multiple categories.

Editing will be slow with your equipment but not impossible and you have no deadline. If you are planning an upgrade to the RAM of internal HD now is the time.

OK, what to do after logging the clips? First think of the story. Pretend you are telling the story of what happened to someone who was not there

Do you know anything about film making and cut in long shots to establish the scene and other simple "rules". If you don't know anything plase take time out to read up on the very basics. Read about film making NOT about Final Cut.

What do you want to say about the wedding? you can't start until you know what you want the end product to be.

Rememebr the quality of the result improves every time to don't use some footage that does not contribute to the show. DOn't just leave in footage because it is clear and in focus. It has to contribute to the purpose of the video.

Most of all do read up on the theory of editing.

Click to expand...

nicely said