Video Editing Basics and Final Cut

1
Video Editing Basics and Final Cut

• By Serena Carpenter
• http//serenacarpenter.com

2
Nonlinear Editing

• Linear
• Edit sequentially
• http//www.scottsimmons.tv/blog/2007/10/01/editing
  -video-in-the-past/
• Nonlinear, nondestructive
• Edit shots in different orders, while underlying
  media is untouched (changes never affect the
  media)
• Deciding what elements to retain, delete, or
  combine in a logical manner

3

• Adobe Premiere Pro 699
• Adobe Premiere Elements 99
• Final Cut Pro/Studio 999/1299
• Final Cut Express 249
• Avid NewsCutter
• Avid Xpress 495
• Sony Vegas Pro 585
• Vegas Movie Studio 80
• Pinnacle Ultimate 130
• Pinnacle Studio 11 50
• Windows Movie Maker (Free)
• iMovie (Free)

4
vs.

• 249 vs. 999
• No batch capture
• Keyframe motions, not filters
• Timecode will not be displayed
• No three-way color corrector
• No audio/video settings

5
Video Editing Basics

• Never use the same shot twice
• Cut on breath
• Watch out for frames of black
• Audio must coincide with video
• Stick to cuts
• Shots should be related (sequences, cutaways)
• WS of room
• MS of persons body
• CU of face
• CU of paper
• Shots about 04-05 with the exception of action
• Let action complete

6
Lay down audio first!

• Assembling each shot together or trimming
• Shot 1, Shot 2, Shot 3, Interview
• Show interview first and then cover with video

7
You must save video

• Delete video in camera before shooting
• Save entire Sony AVCHD folder from Sony Handicam
  to external hard drive

8
Getting to know FCP

• Double-click FCP icon on dock to open
• Must SAVE video
• When editing, set scratch disks (4) to save
  your project to external hard drive
• Top and bottom 3
• Go to System Settings
• to later access Scratch
• Disks
• Save all of your footage from project, .mov,
  flash export

9
Bring video into FCP

• Through camera, connect camera and open FCP gt
  File gt Log and Transfer
• Via external hard drive, go to log and transfer gt
  select plus sign, select AVC_HD
  folder

10
User Interface

• Browser
• Organize the Media Project
• Viewer
• Preview and adjust clips
• Canvas
• Connected to the timeline
• Audio Meters
• Tool Palette
• Timeline

11
Active Window affects your options
12
Bin

• Folder that contains your clips and sequences
• File -gt New Bin,
• Drag Clips into Bin
• Renaming Clips/Bins
• Changing colors
• Control -gt Labels

13
Viewer

• Double-click clip to view it in Viewer
• Move yellow Arrow (playhead)
• In I, Out O, Space Bar Play

14
Canvas and Timeline

• Canvas
• Same as Viewer
• JKL - Play backward, stop, play forward
• Space bar - play
• Timeline (Sequence)
• Space bar to play
• Mute and Solo
• Control Clip Overlay
• Track Height Sequence
• Settings Track

15
Bring clip to timeline

• In the Viewer, Select In (I) and Out (O) points
• Drag the edited clip from the canvas to the
  timeline, edit it more precisely on timeline
• Drag clip to edit or use razor blade
• To delete a clip, highlight with mouse, select
  delete

16
Editing

• Insert
• Overwrite
• Fit to Fill
• Fill in Gap
• http//www.ehow.com/video_4442344_overwriting-inse
  rting-clips-final-cut.html

17
Snapping Tool Key N

• Here is vid that explains it
• http//www.ehow.com/video_4442326_assembling-clips
  -snapping-final-cut.html

18
Add different audio or video to clips

• Highlight clip
• Unlink clip
• Deselect clip
• Highlight and delete unwanted video or audio
• Drag clip and unlink that clip
• Shift, re-highlight and re-link

19
Make a mistake

• Undo Default (10), can change to 99
• User Preferences
• Save a copy

20
Editing audio in FCP

• Be careful of over-modulated audio
• Put nats for a few seconds at the beginning
• Fade nats under sound bites
• -12dB for narration and interviews
• Also for primary nats
• -42dB for secondary nats

• Select clip overlay tool or mountain
• Raise pink line to lower or raise audio
• Use pen tool to fade audio or tweak loud points

21
Titles

• Use Title Safe
• No smaller than 25 pt
• Sans Serif (Arial)
• Pop-up Menu
• Control Tab

22
Freeze Frame

• Creates a image from your video
• Place playhead on the timeline to place where you
  want the video to become a picture
• Go to Modify gt Make Freeze Frame and the freeze
  frame will appear in the Viewer window
• http//www.howcast.com/videos/16505-How-To-Create-
  a-Freeze-Frame-in-Final-Cut-Pro

23
Trouble-shooting - I dont see my video!

• The most common problem is when you see No
  Communication when trying to capture your vid
• First, you should Log and Transfer, not Log
  and Capture, log and capture is for tapes
• Second, try restarting your computer and shutting
  off your camera gt turn on the computer and then
  turn on the camera gt open FCP
• Third, try a different computer

24
I see red lines through my clips.

• Reconnect Media
• This means that FCP cannot find your video and
  you may have not saved appropriately vid may be
  lost unless edited on your computer
• Try finding it by right-clicking clip and looking
  for it

25
I can only see part of my video and the rest is
black.

• Some clips may need rendering
• You need proper RAM to see video in real time
• Usually done with effects such as transition or
  change clip values
• Rendering is adding more info to clips
• Usually see a red line above your clip in a
  sequence

• Highlight clips with red line
• Go to Sequence gt Render selection gt Both

26
My video is still not playing.

• File gt New Sequence (your timeline)
• Double-click new sequence in bin
• Go to your other non-playing sequence tab gt
  select all gt copy
• Go to your new sequence gt paste
• Then try it

27

• Preparing Video for the Web

28
Video Search Engine Optimization

• Raise search rank by adding to text to video and
  help people find your videos
• climate_matters_video.wmv vs.
• climatetalksvideo.com or videofile.wmv
• Video hosting sites (e.g., YouTube, Vimeo)
• Add good, descriptive tags to your videos

29
Exporting from FCP

• Export gt Using QuickTime Conversion
• Rename clip to reflect content
• Save as QuickTime Movie and Broadband High
• .mov should appear on desktop
• Right-click to view it or double-click

30
Players

• Flash player - Professional
• 98 of the population has a Flash plug-in
  installed on their computer
• 59 have a Windows Media Player
• 62 have a QuickTime player
• Copy and paste players, but advertising
• YouTube
• Vimeo

31
Creating a Flash Player

• In Flash Encoder
• Open Adobe Flash CS3 Video Encoder
• Drag .mov to Encoder window gt Settings gt Flash
  High Quality gt Select Size gt Crop and Resize
  (write down the size) gt Start Queue
• In Flash
• File gt New Document
• Import video gt Continue gt Progressive download
  from a web server gt Continue gt Select skin and
  color gt Finish
• Control gt Test Movie gt Produces a .swf

32
vs.

• Compared to YouTube, Vimeo is much better in
  resolution quality.
• Geared toward people who want to post personal
  videos on their site, not material from tv or
  dvd.
• Vimeo allows a 500mb upload limit per week,
  YouTube limits 100mb per video
• However, you are limited to 1 HD video upload per
  week unless you upgrade for 60 per year. It
  accepts .mov, .avi, and .mpgs

33
Vimeo

• Upload a Video gt Choose a file to upload
• Add a title, description sentences and tags gt
• You can use tabs on the side to add more elements
  gt
• Click Go to Video gt When uploaded, click Embed gt
• Click customize at the bottom to chg size, color,
  and on-screen info

34
YouTube

• Select Upload
• Add a description in sentences, tags, category
• Select Go to my videos and select image when
  upload is complete
• To view your account, you can always click on the
  You Tube logo at the top of the page, then
  click on My Videos under your user name

35

• OTHER TIPS NOT DISCUSSED IN CLASS

36
Creating a Transition in FCP

• Stick to CUTS, rather than dissolves
• Control click on transition point (between clips)
  or go to Effects to add video transitions
• Drag transition to change length (Cross Dissolve,
  Fade In and Fade Out)
• Audio (add transition)
• Cross Fade (3dB) Volume constant through out
  fade
• Cross Fade (0dB) Fades first clip out while
  simultaneously fading in

37
Stereo Pair vs Mono Audio

• Left and right ear locate subtle differences
• For stereo, need to use two microphones
• Two different mics placed at two different
  locations to mimic ears
• 2 channels does not mean you recorded in stereo.
  If you use only one microphone to record, it is
  not stereo. It is mono.
• Mono audio takes less space

38
More Editing Video Tutorials

• Check out this series if you run into questions
• http//www.ehow.com/video_4442321_adding-clips-tim
  eline-final-cut.html
• http//www.ehow.com/video_4442331_basic-editing-fi
  nal-cut-pro.html

39
Resources

• Final Cut Pro Tutorials
• http//www.kenstone.net/fcp_homepage/fcp_homepage_
  index.html
• BBC Training
• http//www.bbctraining.com/onlineCourses.asp
• Berkeley Multimedia Reporting and Convergence
• http//journalism.berkeley.edu/multimedia/
• Cyndy Greens VideoJournalism Blog
• http//cyndygreen.wordpress.com/
• MultiMedia Shooter Blog
• http//www.multimediashooter.com/wp/
• Angela Grants News Videographer Blog
• http//newsvideographer.com/?page_id2
• Edit Foundry
• http//blogs.nppa.org/editfoundry/
• OR GOOGLE YOUR QUESTION!!!