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what editing application should i learn next

MovieCutter said:
Keep up with FCPX just in case.

Learn Premiere since a lot of post houses I know are moving to Premiere since Apple screwed the pooch on FCP

Learn Avid as a safety. It's a main NLE for a lot of large post houses doing long-form projects (movies, documentaries, etc). I know for a fact Discovery Channel and National Geographic use Avid.

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Avoid film school. Go to a smallish school with a solid broadcast journalism or communications department and get in with the instructors there (if you're lucky like I was, some of them will be former news directors or documentary filmmakers) and just offer to help or work for nothing to gain experience. It'll pay off later...trust me. I got into a senior level documentary production class as a freshman based on the fact that my journalism professor caught me working on a Final Cut project while he was giving a lecture on the history of radio. I thought I was in trouble, but turns out, he asked me to advise the department on how to put together a digital editing lab, and then introduced me to the professor of the documentary class, who later got me a job on a feature film set being shot in the city, which in turn got me a professional editing job on a TV series when I was just a junior in college. Amazing how the people you meet have an impact on your destiny.
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This. I chose to go to a state University with a smaller film program instead of a dedicated film school (I want to do motion graphics) and there aren't thousands of people jonesing for the same internships. I'm still in school, but I was able to get an internship/job as an animator at the planetarium producing 8K video for the massive dome. This was the result of producing a winning animation for a contest that got me noticed by the director there.
 
Power Macintosh said:
I have learned Motion, FCP X, After effects, iMovie and iPhoto in a year.
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Never say that you've fully learned something, especially after such a short amount of time. I've been using After Effects and Cinema 4D for about 4 years now, work in a professional production environment, and have won animation contests using them, but I certainly wouldn't say that I've mastered either of them, especially not Cinema 4D. Being able to get good results out of Video Copilot tutorials doesn't mean that you've learned the program. The craft isn't the software, it's how you use it as a tool to realize a vision.
 
12dylan34 said:
Never say that you've fully learned something, especially after such a short amount of time. I've been using After Effects and Cinema 4D for about 4 years now, work in a professional production environment, and have won animation contests using them, but I certainly wouldn't say that I've mastered either of them, especially not Cinema 4D. Being able to get good results out of Video Copilot tutorials doesn't mean that you've learned the program. The craft isn't the software, it's how you use it as a tool to realize a vision.
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I'm glad I'm not the only one that thought "mastered" and "learned" were getting thrown around haphazardly in this thread.


Lethal
 
Maybe you should get past trying to learn another NLE and look into filming techniques, color, audio setup and everything that goes into getting decent footage to edit. A lot of people can become familiar with a NLE to where they can cut, make transitions, add a few titles, and apply effects. I'm sure some people here would have a few good suggestions on some books to pick up and read on that would be more helpful at the moment. Learning another NLE to get by doesn't take too long, mastering it does.
 
12dylan34 said:
This. I chose to go to a state University with a smaller film program instead of a dedicated film school (I want to do motion graphics) and there aren't thousands of people jonesing for the same internships. I'm still in school, but I was able to get an internship/job as an animator at the planetarium producing 8K video for the massive dome. This was the result of producing a winning animation for a contest that got me noticed by the director there.
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I highly echo this sentiment. I am currently an assistant editor at a post house in LA that does music videos. I didn't get in because I went to film school, I got in because I showed up and wanted to do it--they never even asked where I went to school. I just picked up editing as I went along at a liberal arts school. You're really going to learn about editing at a place where you are working, not at a school.

With regards to your specific question, Avid all the way. No one I know out here uses Premiere, but if you want to be an editor you definitely need to know Avid, as you will start out as an assistant organizing projects for people, most likely in Avid or FCP. Feel free to PM me if you have any more questions.
 
I wasn't the person who edited the video, I just looked it over before posting. I just noticed that.
 
That's fine... but coming from someone who has been doing this professionally for a long time and Emmy nominated 3 times I DON'T EVEN CLAIM TO HAVE MASTERED ANY SOFTWARE.

Grow up.
 
WRP said:
Grow up.
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I think one thing that needs to be pointed out is that the OP is in fact only 17. Everyone makes mistakes. Maybe he feels that he has "mastered" the software in comparison to his friends who are probably using windows movie maker etc.

I don't think anyone can truly say that they have mastered anything as learning especially in this fast moving industry is always possible.
 
acearchie said:
I think one thing that needs to be pointed out is that the OP is in fact only 17. Everyone makes mistakes. Maybe he feels that he has "mastered" the software in comparison to his friends who are probably using windows movie maker etc.

I don't think anyone can truly say that they have mastered anything as learning especially in this fast moving industry is always possible.
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So go ahead and keep stroking his ego and telling him to move on. Why I got to where I am today is because people around me had the balls to call a spade a spade and tell me when my work sucked. The fact every person who can afford a computer now has an NLE isn't exactly convenient. The influx of utter crap we have had to watch the last 5 or so years (thanks youtube!) is mind boggling. Maybe I'm just cynical but when a 17 y/o says he masters something I have put my life into and posts crap videos lamenting his nonskills I get a little stabby.

But everyone is a special snowflake and there is no reason to make them feel bad right?

Our society is headed toward mediocrity and this viewpoint is the reason. Sorry OP... your work is crap and you're far from mastering anything. Truth hurts. You're just a kid and you got a life ahead of rejection. Let me be the first to welcome you.
 
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WRP said:
Why I got to where I am today is because people around me had the balls to call a spade a spade and tell me when my work sucked.
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Come on, don't be modest, your warm and hospitable personality must've played a significant part.
 
WRP said:
Grow up.
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Way to lead by example. 🙄

Why don't you take your own advice, be a mature professional and offer up constructive criticism instead of repeatedly trying to belittle the OP (a kid) who's already agreed that knowing how to the software isn't the same thing as knowing how to make a good piece.

Okay, it sucks. What do you think the OP can do to make it suck less?


Lethal
 
Learn After Effects

If you've learned NLE I'd learn After Effects. Virtually every job I've seen advertised for editing has wanted someone experienced in AE.
 
MovieCutter said:
Keep up with FCPX just in case.

Learn Premiere since a lot of post houses I know are moving to Premiere since Apple screwed the pooch on FCP

Learn Avid as a safety. It's a main NLE for a lot of large post houses doing long-form projects (movies, documentaries, etc). I know for a fact Discovery Channel and National Geographic use Avid.

----------



Avoid film school. Go to a smallish school with a solid broadcast journalism or communications department and get in with the instructors there (if you're lucky like I was, some of them will be former news directors or documentary filmmakers) and just offer to help or work for nothing to gain experience. It'll pay off later...trust me. I got into a senior level documentary production class as a freshman based on the fact that my journalism professor caught me working on a Final Cut project while he was giving a lecture on the history of radio. I thought I was in trouble, but turns out, he asked me to advise the department on how to put together a digital editing lab, and then introduced me to the professor of the documentary class, who later got me a job on a feature film set being shot in the city, which in turn got me a professional editing job on a TV series when I was just a junior in college. Amazing how the people you meet have an impact on your destiny.
Click to expand...

Check out Asbury University ( www.asbury.edu ). Great media program and lots of industry connections. And their new facilities are AMAZING!!! Disclaimer: I did attend there.

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zyr123 said:
3. i would like to switch to short films and that general area, any ideas of how to get connections.
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Check out Asbury University ( www.asbury.edu ). Great media program and lots of industry connections. And their new facilities are AMAZING!!! They also have a semester-long film studies program in LA. Disclaimer: I did attend there.
 
I second learning After Effects... but more importantly you should expand on the programs you already know. Knowing how to edit video on a program doesn't mean you've mastered it, until you're producing for Hollywood on one of those programs, don't move on from it prematurely.
 
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