Video production techniques are constantly evolving and I'm positive that a majority of Final Cut Pro editors haven't even picked up the selection of manuals shipped with the software. And even if they have, there's a big difference between being able to operate a piece of editing software, and being a good editor. As such, I've come up with a few video production tips that I hope will aid your filmmaking, and be useful across every type of project that you're editing.
Digital Cinema Preview
Especially when you don't have a second (or third) display for playback, this is a really useful feature for watching back videos in full screen. First make sure to go to VIEW, then EXTERNAL FRAMES and click on ALL FRAMES. You might find that this is ticked already, but worth checking anyway as it's key to making this work.
Following this, whilst still in the VIEW drop-down menu, click on VIDEO PLAYBACK and select DIGITAL CINEMA DESKTOP PREVIEW – MAIN. Your canvas will then fill the entire space of the monitor, allowing you to watch your work back in all its glory. This is also a great thing to do before delivery/completing any piece of work, because it's very easy to miss things in the canvas that become apparent once you blow it up to full screen.
Using Dissolves and Transitions Effectively
Just because you have a large amount of transitions to throw into the mix, doesn't mean you should. The best editors allow the transitions to seamlessly move the edit along without distraction, and at the points where you do see one, it's been put there for a good reason.
Noise Industries (FX Factory) do a great mix of funky transitions and effects in their plugins, but you would really only want to use these sparingly and with purpose. The last thing you want to do is pull the audience out of the experience by 'twirl' wiping the screen, or by throwing in paint splashes that do nothing but distract.
There's a good reason that simple dissolves are still so popular (and my most used transition), especially when it comes to showing a movement of time/setting in my edited piece. Whether it's a film, a corporate video or a music video, as an editor it's important to always be thinking about the purpose and target audience of the film, and reflect that in your work; in most cases, less is more!
Camera Moves & Static Shots
A really simple trick this... It's similar to the Ken Burns effect, and will help to add steady movement to a shot, that can be impossible for a cameraman to get without the right equipment.
To dolly forward/push/zoom a shot, firstly load your clip up into the VIEWER; a good example to test with might be a wide shot of a building or a room. In the MOTION tab, under BASIC MOTION, add a keyframe (by clicking on the diamond) next to SCALE. Then within the window, move to the end of the same clip and add another keyframe. Set the scale (which by default is at 100 to most clips) to 105 or 110 (depending on the length of the clip).
If done right, your shot will slowly move forwards. You can also reverse this by putting in the numbers the opposite way around, so that the shot 'pulls back' instead. A useful little trick for any form of video production, I'm sure you'll agree!
Make a Freeze Frame Still Image, and Export (optional)
In Post-Production, chances are you'll be asked to pull still images out either to use in your edit, or to export for a client. It's really quite simple, and there's a couple of ways to do it.
The first way is through Final Cut Pro of course, and this is particularly great if you want to freeze frame a shot. The first thing to do is position your playhead at the frame you would like to turn into a still; this can be done in any of the Viewer, Canvas, or Timeline. Then go to MODIFY, and then select MAKE FREEZE FRAME.
Your freeze frame will show up in the viewer window with a default duration of 10 seconds (unless you've set it otherwise). You can adjust the in and out point here, to the duration you want. For speed I typically drag the clip straight into my TIMELINE and trim from there.
With the same clip selected, you can also choose EXPORT, then USING QUICKTIME CONVERSION, and choose STILL IMAGE from the Format drop-down. This will save a still image to your computer as a JPEG for example) to use outside of FCP.
The second way, is more for those who want a still that they can use outside of the edit specifically. So for example when your client wants a few stills from their finished video. In that case I recommend purchasing DV Kitchen, which amongst other things has a Timefreezer option where you can save a high quality still image to your hard drive, at your desired frame size. There's also a quality slider, which you can alter as per your ouput requirements.
Batch Export
A final handy tip, when you have lots of sequences/videos to export, and don't want to have to do it individually.
Highlight all the clips/sequences you need to export in your BROWSER, then right click (or CTRL+click) and choose BATCH EXPORT. Your videos will load into another window, at which point you'll want to select SETTINGS (at the foot of the window) and set the format, codec, aspect ratio as required. Once done, click EXPORT and you're away.
Worth noting that if you are exporting sequences marked with in and out points, you'll need to tick that option in the Batch Export settings.
I hope that you've found these Final Cut Pro tips useful.We formulated the story, and shot and edited it all within the space of about 10 hours, and we're really pleased with the results. It intentionally homages some well known films, and definitely had the right effect on the night, helping to scare all the visitors to the party. Following the film, all party goers were taken on a scary tour of our parents woodland, where they got to meet the aforementioned serial killer from the film who was still stalking the woods! The whole thing went down so well I expect we'll be doing it again, so keep an eye out for the sequel, which will be bigger, darker and more expensive - because that's the rule for sequels, right?
Enjoy with the lights turned off, and the sound turned up!
]]>Working for Spectrecom has been a truly wonderful experience. We've seen huge successes in a time of economic woe and with a fun working environment, brilliant colleagues and an exciting field of emerging business, I could hardly have asked for a better place to work since April 2008. The usual mentions of having grown in many ways here must not go unsaid, and I will always treasure the opportunities provided for me here.
So, a big hello and goodbye to all of our clients, affiliate partners, freelancers, suppliers and networking buddies who have all contributed to Spectrecom's most successful year of trading so far. I will truly miss my associations here and wish the ever-growing team continued success in all their endeavours.
I'll be moving on to explore a number of freelance and consulting positions. You can find me easily on LinkedIn if you want to keep up with progress on that front.
So long, and thanks for all the fish.
Cheers,
]]>What's interesting to us is that almost a quarter (24%) of executives indicated a preference for retrieving business information via video.
Whilst Business to Consumer video marketing has been growing in line with the explosive growth of YouTube and the iPlayer, B2B - corporate - video has been going for a lot longer.
But such a strong preference amongst executives for video content also means that corporate video has come a long way from something like this. Really.
]]>You can guess why we think that's important! Most of our work expressly aims to put a human face to companies and organisations, because that's who consumers, clients and members will be working with.
The research also points to consumers increasingly putting internet research and opinion sharing online at the top of their agenda - nearly as many (78%) feel that this is a very important part of the shopping experience - even when purchases are not made online.
Food for thought when considering using video on your site and beyond!
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That means in the last 24 hours, over 3 years of video footage was posted.
Computer says yes.
]]>Read more from the Wall Street Journal here.
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In the report, we learn that:
3) Websites and Forums
Even if you're a confident user in Final Cut Pro, you might occasionally find yourself stuck with a problem that just won't go away; it might even be as simple as wanting to know what the easiest way is to perform a particular task. One way to get a quick answer is to visit a popular forum, where users are more than willing to share their knowledge with you. Creative Cow is a great place to start, as well as Apple's own discussion threads.
Further to that there are many other post production news sites/blogs that have regular videos, in various areas, that can be accessed for free. DVCreators.net and Provideocoalition.com are worth visiting, and can direct you in the way of many other communities who are willing to share their tips and advice with you.
Finally it's worth glancing over a few of the beginners videos on Apple's main site, which include some great case studies on the software in action within the industry.
4) A Certified Training Course
I can't vouch for this method of training, and my one experience with the company mentioned below was not a good one, but it does work for many people and gives you a qualification at the end of it. As such, it's a much more expensive way of learning, and might only be considered by professionals. London based Soho Editors offer courses such as these, though you should be able to find a number of companies offering these Apple certified courses in a number of places. It should certainly fastrack you towards knowing the ins and outs of the software, but many people will be turned off by the price if they are wanting to edit more as a hobby rather than a career.
Continued tomorrow...
Continued tomorrow...
Our intentions at Spectrecom over the coming months, is to fill out the website with as much video content as possible. We aim to have as many of our video productions available to view as possible, whilst producing very specific edits for the 'Budget', 'Sector' and 'Type' pages of our website. Of course, if any readers have any other suggestions on how we can improve our website please let us know.
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It was the fastest growing sub-category in all web-based advertising, easily outstripping search engine optimisation's 20% increase in the same time period.
It's a rosy report, showing that overall, web advertising in the US grew by more than 10 per cent.
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Here's a great video of comScore Chairman Gian Fulgoni saying that in studying some 2 million individuals, his organisation has detected that exposure to online video advertising can lead to a 40% increase in buying a product or service.
Find this story and more on the rapid emergence of online video and its impact on industry and society at the Beet.TV website.
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Consolidating some old files into handsome new folder hierarchies, and came across this image of Andrew and Sarah (next to camera) filming an interview with Lord Sebastian Coe, as Chairman of the London Organising Committee for the Olympic Games. It was done for a project with Sunderland University, and this photo appeared in a Guardian photoessay featuring Mr. Coe.
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Star Wars vs. Rush Hour
Movie Mashups are becoming quite a big thing on YouTube, and this is one of the funniest I've seen. The idea is essentially that two very different films are blended together, by using the visuals of one, and the audio of another.
Watchmen as a Saturday morning cartoon
I think many of us can relate to the great Saturday morning cartoons of the 80's, and this video shows very cleverly what we might have had, if Watchmen had appeared in this format.
Windertech E10
I loved this video from the Funny Or Die crew.
VCR Hack
Another VHS related viral, but equally as funny.
Ricky Gervais Meets Elmo
Out of all the videos posted today, I'd say this is my favourite.
Impressive to be sure - especially when put into context, this accounts for a full 80.1% of the total UK internet audience - but the UK has always lagged slightly behind developments in America, where everyone from used-car dealerships in the mid-West to dentists on the West Coast have been using web video to market their small and medium sized businesses online.
YouTube, the iPlayer and a myriad of other video destinations have driven much of this growth, to be sure, but as the format's popularity rages on and acclimatises Joe Bloggs to an internet full of moving pictures, what will the effect on your site be? Will you be lost in the ether of non-dynamic websites?
The truth is, since we've shed our old, static website like crackled snakeskin, we've seen a staggering surge in all sorts of metrics. The average timespend by all users on our site over the past two months has been in excess of 6 minutes (up from about 2:30)! No doubt, it is largely down to the prominent video content we have on nearly every page across the site, averaging about 2 minutes each.
What's great about this is it means eyeballs are not only watching our videos, they're paying more attention to the rest of the page - much like the increased awareness one has of the adverts on a cramped Northern line train at rushhour.
And frankly, we like to think our videos are a better prospect than being sandwiched between post-workout, sweaty City workers and a horde of French primary school students!
]]>Further reading
http://www.artofthetitle.com/
http://mmbase.submarinechannel.com/titlesequences/index.jsp
Driven by the ever-growing YouTube and an explosion of professional video content from TV networks through sites like the BBC iPlayer and Hulu in the US, the older age groups makes up a majority of the more than 10 billion video views now registering every month.
Yet more proof that internet video is probably one of the few things expected to grow in the economic downturn.
In some cases there may be a fee (payable through Google Checkout) and it's worth mentioning that there are already a number of ways of (illegally) pulling YouTube videos from the website. But it's great to see a legitimate way is being offered now to viewers of the video content, even if the appeal is (arguably) limited.
]]>It seems incredibly optimistic, and 3D televisions need to be circulated in a major way within the next couple of years. Still, it's got me all excited, especially about the prospect of having a Premiership footballer virtually smashing a football into my living room on a weekly basis.
I've just seen David Fincher's latest, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, and although I enjoyed it immensely it seemed altogether very familiar:
The Bourne Ultimatum won last year, and deservedly so. Quantum of Solace could only but try match it, and then failed to do so in what turned out to be more of a distraction than an attempt to serve the story. There’s nothing quite on par with that this year (‘Bourne’ had 37 cuts in the first minute), but it’s an interesting list.
Out of the nominees, I think any of the films could really pick up the award. Each were edited as well as you’d expect a major motion picture to be, and in the case of Frost/Nixon a potentially slow political (stage-play) drama was turned into a very exciting and intriguing story. However, I do expect this years most adored film – Slumdog Millionaire – to be the one that runs away with it. I’m sure Danny Boyle shot a lot of street footage, which would have meant that the editor was given a lot to work with. However I also know David Fincher shoots as many takes as necessary, in order to get the performance he wants for his film. That could mean that he knows what his favourite take is during shooting, or that the editor has many options in post-production. From previous reading on the (admittedly brilliant) Director, I imagine there’s an awful amount of micro managing during the entire process. ‘The Curious Case of Benjamin Button’ is a long film though, and as great as it is, could have arguably been trimmed a little to bring the running time down to something a little more manageable. I’m sure David Fincher has a lot to do with that though, so I wouldn’t want to hold it against the editor(s) too much!
Milk was a very interesting film, and clear awards bait, but it’s editing didn’t particularly resonate with me in a way that I felt it was deserving of an award. My personal favourite from the list is The Dark Knight. It's a a fantastic film, and probably the underdog in this competition. The action scenes really fizzed and the tension raised dramatically during key moments thanks to some great intercutting between the unfolding drama - particularly during the Dent/Dawes explosion scene. I’d be pleased to see this win, though I don’t see anything within the list being particularly undeserving (like when The Golden Compass won the ‘Best SFX’ Oscar over Transformers).
Who I would like to win – The Dark Knight
Who will probably win – Slumdog Millionaire
It all looks like great (albeit gory) fun, even though reviewers have said that there's no real reason to see this film outside of a 3D auditorium. You also have to wonder how successful it will be on the home video market. Indeed it's been a good while since a 3D horror hit the big screen (though I do recall trying to watch Friday the 13th: 3D at home), and it's undoubtedly going to bring in a massive audience, based on the clear novelty factor of people wanting to be in a cinema where they are able to dodge the flying blood and guts. But if cinema is to pick up 3D and run with it, it needs to be done less as a gimmick and more so as a natural progression. People didn't think that the talkie "The Jazz Singer" would catch on, and then two years later silent movies were more or less dead. Though it's not a direct comparison it clearly shows that predicting what will and won't work on the big screen isn't necessarily a science.
That said, CEO of DreamWorks Animation, Jeffrey Katzenberg, mentioned in an article in The Guardian
Well thankfully the day of dual colour lensed glasses is gone - at least outside of the home - and although you might look a little silly in the specs they give you, the effect is incredible. Having been to the IMAX and seen 3D films (like Beowulf), I have been wowed by the format. On my travels last year in Florida the technology was being used to great effect by Disney and Universal in their parks*. But again it was being used as a novelty, which is the primary reason that many think it will never catch on in cinema. The biggest problem of all however, in the fight to get 3D into our lives wholesale, is one that is affecting us all at the moment.
Further reading:
http://www.reelzchannel.com/article.aspx?articleid=816
*If you ever go, please check out the Spider-man 3D ride, with its virtual 400 foot freefall. Then collect your stomach afterwards.
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