Editing/FCP/After effects and all that jazz..

[Gonga]

I invested in Final Cut Studio 2 a wee while back and have been playing about with it over the last couple of months. Its still something that amazes me, just how powerful a tool it actually is.

Just wandered what software everyone else uses to edit, and if they had any experience with After Effects packages.

I came by a couple today and am in the process of mooching about with my last film, doing a couple of remixes if you like. ;D

So, whats your stories with regards to editing..?

Anyone hate it and get someone else to do it, or does holing up with a king size bag of quavers and a barrel of strong coffee get you excited.

Personally I enjoy it, although I find I have to be editing something I have an interest in or my mind wanders and before I know it I am googling images of Georgie Thompson again.

[wiggy]

i used to use premiere pro and thought it couldn't be beaten but then around 9 months ago i got a new imac with final cut studio 2 and it is fantastic, i can't believe how easy it is to just pick up and go, i love the editing side of things, to me that is were the films are made!
never looked at premiere since using final cut

[Dave]

Only Premiere Pro for me... because I have never tried anything else (I have an incurable hatred for the Mac).

I love editing. I agree with Wiggy, the editing is where the film is really made in some respects.
One thing that annoys me about amateur/student film-makers is that it often feels like the editing was the last thing on their mind. A kind of obstacle to rush through to get your film done. Rushing the edit always makes a film stink! haha

Out of all the film-making disciplines, I think I would like to do editing professionally. How do you get into that then? ;D

[Gonga]

I think you have to have a very certain type of mind to be able to edit on a professional level. i actually have a bit of ADD myself which makes editing a real love/hate situation. If I like what I'm editing I can get in the zone, but if it starts going wrong or I cant get my head round a certain scene then I just switch off. Quite frustrating, but then I do feel Final Cut has set its dificulty level just right.

I had never touched it when I edited my recent short and yet like Wiggy I found it really intuitive to use. I basically just sat there and toiled through for 3 weeks solid. Which for a 12 min film out of 4 hours footage is quite a mission for the uninitiated.

Dave, re student filmmakers who don't think through the editing process, I kind of wonder if thats because they had a strong enough image of their film in the first place.

[deadmansrockports]

I love using after effects and used to use premiere to edit film - its nice and simple! Ive got Final Cut but I havnt had any opportunities to use as yet. I find editing uber satisfying!

[Tom]

Editing makes the movie! I love cutting films together. Used Premiere once, was painful. FCP and even iMovie (for basics) are tremendously good. Wanna be an editor Dave? Get to Soho and knock on the doors. A friend of mine did that and ended up getting a break.

[RydCook]

I've edited everything I've done so far. I've only ever used iMovie (for about 3 videos) then the rest of my stuff is all edited on Final Cut. I love the editing process and enjoy it, although unless i have a deadline, i'm very stop and starty. But once i et into it i can go for hours. My current project has hours of footage and has been hugely demanding editing wise. I have to say though, I don't want to be a pro editor. I much prefer the shooting, and directing side of things, its much more exciting, involving, and social even! I'd love to shoot something and let someone else edit.. see what happens. But i feel once i've shot something... it feels like my baby that I have to look after in the edit! If you know what i mean. I suppose i could always supervise the edit. Which i'd definitely do if i was a pro director anyway, it's essential in my opinion. Editing can make a film. But as my teacher at college would say "You can't polish a turd" meaning if the script, the filming and everything before the edit is shit. It's gonna be a shit film, simple as! So in my ooion, Pre-production, and production are more important that post.

[Gonga]

Jun 6, 2008 21:14:28 GMT RydCook said:

I've edited everything I've done so far. I've only ever used iMovie (for about 3 videos) then the rest of my stuff is all edited on Final Cut. I love the editing process and enjoy it, although unless i have a deadline, i'm very stop and starty. But once i et into it i can go for hours. My current project has hours of footage and has been hugely demanding editing wise. I have to say though, I don't want to be a pro editor. I much prefer the shooting, and directing side of things, its much more exciting, involving, and social even! I'd love to shoot something and let someone else edit.. see what happens. But i feel once i've shot something... it feels like my baby that I have to look after in the edit! If you know what i mean. I suppose i could always supervise the edit. Which i'd definitely do if i was a pro director anyway, it's essential in my opinion. Editing can make a film. But as my teacher at college would say "You can't polish a turd" meaning if the script, the filming and everything before the edit is shit. It's gonna be a shit film, simple as! So in my ooion, Pre-production, and production are more important that post.

In the short film world I have to disagree, I would like to think I can discount myself from this but I have seen some absolute fucking tosh getting filmed, with little to no thought put in to it from the start and yet some good editing can pull it together and make something quite entertaining.

I think perhaps back with film that was the way, but with technology these days, and I think Photography is a great example, you dont need to have great talent to produce something quite impressive.

just an opinion though.

[wiggy]

as far as editing for a job goes, i think i wouldn't be able to do it, when you create your own film you have played it out over and over in your head and so know what it is going to turn out like, when doing editing for someone else (unless you have a psychic connection with the director) you are going to struggle to create exactly how they would like it to be, i understand that this may sometimes surprise a director and create something they didn't expect but love how it's turned out, but mostly they would just whinge and start to tinker with it themselves.
in the professional world you will find that most directors have a trusted DOP and they usually use the same editors on their films because they have a relationship built up over many years of work.

i had a dislike for the mac as i was a pc user for many years but when i decided to take the plunge i was gob smacked, i like most people would never go back to using a pc for editing, a mac is a dream to use, no rendering times, huge 24 inch screen, final cut is very similar to premeire as well in the layout. oh and did i mention that it is lightning fast at encoding!!

[Gareth]

I've just spent 2 and 1/2 weeks on an edit for a Firetrap promo 3mins 30secs long, my first payed film job

during the night I shot it everything that could go wrong did, I did my best but whilst capturing the footage I was shitting myself wondering how the hell I was gonna deliver what I'd promised, The sound recording of the night fucked right up so I was left having to cut the promo to one of the bands songs which I didnt antisipate whilst shooting,

the edits almost done and I'll post it up soon, shooting wise I know exactly what to do next time and how to organise myself better, but I'm well prowd so far of what I've managed to get from the poor - average footage I shot

for me its fcp all the way, I wouldnt know where to start on AVID and don't think I could adapt to it after all the practice on fcp, plus I cannot stand PC's, I've managed to do all my edits so far on a mac mini,