Will someone talk with me about video editing?

"Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo" (rustyvandura)
04/07/2016 at 11:45 • Filed to: None

I need to create a mix of GoPro video, still images and some non-GoPro video. I also need to voice-over the entire thing, perhaps add some music. There is a well regarded open-source video editing platform that I’d like to use, if possible. I have a very good stereo microphone.

Anybody mind lending me some advice?

DISCUSSION (16)

Tripper > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
04/07/2016 at 11:52

What is the name of the software you want to use?

HammerheadFistpunch > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
04/07/2016 at 11:55

are you asking if there is a software? In anycase, the best free stuff is gopro studio...though I don’t know how much versatility it has in terms of stills and such. There are a few decent cheap editors out there like sony vegas studio maker (or whatever their $50 product is called) and then of course windows movie maker or its mac equiv. I think you can also “rent” premiere on a monthly basis and it wouldn’t be too costly...but it does have a bit of a learning curve.

TheOnelectronic > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
04/07/2016 at 11:59

I’ve done quite a bit of video editing, though never professionally or anything. If you just want to sequence video and do voice overs and music, windows movie maker works fine. I haven’t used gopro studio so I can’t comment on how good it is, but it should be fine too.

You can get a 30 day trial of premiere, which is what I prefer to use. It may be a bit overkill but IMO it's fairly intuitive. Drag and drop. If you go that route I can help you out along the way, too.

Xyl0c41n3 > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
04/07/2016 at 12:09

Well, your post leads to a lot of follow up questions, like... Are your different video sources all the same aspect ratio? How comfortable are you working with multiple tracks? Are you already familiar with the concept of A-roll and B-roll? Realistically, how much time do you REALLY want to spend on this (or can you afford to spend on this)?

It sounds like you’re contemplating creating a pretty layered package here. Unless you’ve got some prior experience as a tape-to-tape editor (ha! Them’s were the days, man!) or non-linear editor, it will take hours of work just to produce a couple minutes of finished product, so how long is this thing supposed to be?

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > Xyl0c41n3
04/07/2016 at 14:45

These are very helpful questions; thank you.

Regarding aspect ratio: final product I anticipate being 720p. This will require cropping and side filling, whatever the term of art is for the latter.

I am not familiar with the concept of A-roll and B-roll, but I probably need to be and I can research that, and I expect it to be somewhat intuitive.

The end product really needs to be not longer than around three minutes. And yes, especially considering some of the learning involved, I imagine spending many hours.

Layers? One visual and two sound?

I have enough applications experience that I should be able to do a pretty good job on this if I can receive some pointers.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > HammerheadFistpunch
04/07/2016 at 14:46

I can get Adobe Everything for $10/mo, but I need to check my past posts for the open-source product that an Oppo recommended many months ago. I’m going to try and use that app, if I can.

Xyl0c41n3 > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
04/07/2016 at 16:22

Multiple video and audio tracks. A good non-linear editor will let you make use of more than just a single primary video track and two audio tracks.

A-roll is your primary footage. B-roll is all the filler: cutaways, alternate angles, etc.

Your primary audio track will likely be your voice over, plus any other main audio segments, like interviews and such. Your secondary audio tracks should be all the stuff that’s layered underneath that: nat sound, music, sound effects, etc.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > Xyl0c41n3
04/07/2016 at 17:25

That sounds right. I have lots of experience with Photoshop and Lightroom, and a discerning eye when it comes to viewing video, but I’ve only dabbled minimally in actually editing any of it. Now is the time.

The subject matter is some work I did in my classroom. The kids all made 12-inch cubes out of cardboard and then we built larger cubes and solids out of the cubic-foot boxes. I want to make a video to show other teachers what we did, but I want it to look like I had some idea of what I was doing when I made it.

What is the term of art for taking a tall, skinny video from a cell phone and filling out the sides for the given aspect ratio?

Yes, you’ve summed up what I thought I might need. I need to learn some of the jargon so that I know precisely what to read up on.

Thanks for helping out.

Xyl0c41n3 > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
04/07/2016 at 17:57

It’s called pillarboxing.

Make a script of how you want the video to go. It will save you SOOOOO much time. Think of it as a video’s version of an essay outline.

Write out your narration before you try recording it. Keep in mind that writing for broadcast (or in this case, for listening among fellow teachers) is a whole different animal compared to writing that’s intended to be read silently. Writing for speech/listening should be kept conversational as much as possible (stick to third - fifth grade language. I’m not kidding).

Don’t bother trying to get all your narration in one take. Record it in chunks. If there’s a natural stopping point, then stop and let the next words be a separate file. Keep track of which takes you like and record where they can be found on your recording device so you can access them more quickly later.

You might have to go back to shoot close-ups of the projects from different angles that way you have enough filler video.

Look up crossing the plane (you want to avoid that) and cutaways and how to use them. I’m sure there’s helpful videos on YouTube.

Anyway, good luck.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > Xyl0c41n3
04/07/2016 at 19:15

Thank you. I thought I would write an essay of around 300 words and then set video to that essay. More or less.

Music is an important aspect and I have always wondered whether producers/directors know a lot of music, or whether they have crew members who know a lot of music and make suggestions. Not sure how to approach that one.

Xyl0c41n3 > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
04/07/2016 at 19:35

Three hundred words is entirely too long.

You’ll want to speak between 100-120 words per minute. That’s far slower than the speed you may use in organic conversation. But recorded speech directed at providing instruction or information has to occur at slower speeds. You’ve probably experienced that already while delivering a particularly difficult lecture to your students where you know they’ll have to consume and digest a lot of complex information all at once. You naturally slow down to give them more time to take notes and process what you’re saying.

Keep in mind, too, that you’re going to want to have several moments in the video where there’s anywhere between one second to 3-4 seconds of time where there’s no speech, but simply natural speech breaks, pauses for nat sound pops, or music segues, or other auditory elements.

Write a first draft of your VO (voice over) and a preliminary outline of how you want the package to flow, including types of shots and secondary audio elements you want to include. Then....

....reduce that by at least 25 percent. Conciseness is a skill.

And, this isn’t meant as an insult at all, but.... No one else will be quite as interested or invested in the information you’re presenting as you are, no matter what it is you’re talking about. Keep that in the back of your head as you’re putting this together. It will help you reduce or eliminate redundant information or outright unnecessary information.

As to your last paragraph.... That's exactly why you'll see 100 names listed in the credits of even some of the simplest shorts — because no one is truly a renaissance man or woman. Nobody is an expert at everything. But you're just putting together a simple package. It's perfectly doable with just one person.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > Xyl0c41n3
04/07/2016 at 19:41

It took me 7 years in the classroom to learn how to slow down my WPM rate. And I hear many teachers who just never get the concept. Part of the slowing down process, and you allude to it, is boiling off all of the water, and only experience can get you to where you know what is worth keeping.

Solid advice, all of it; thank you.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > Xyl0c41n3
04/07/2016 at 20:03

What video editing application(s) do you like to use? Someone on Oppo recommended Shortcut to me. I played with it a little.

Xyl0c41n3 > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
04/07/2016 at 20:12

It’s been years since I’ve edited anything substantial. I’ve used Premiere, Final Cut, Avid and Quantel. I’ve got a, um, not quite legitimate version of Premiere on my laptop. Heh.

I've never used (or even heard of) Shortcut. Or iMovie, or anything like that.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > Xyl0c41n3
04/07/2016 at 21:44

Would you consider critiquing it for me once I get rolling?

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > Xyl0c41n3
04/08/2016 at 11:17

Would a program like Premier record the VO for you, either laid down overtop the project, or recorded separately?