N00b level vidding query

[lizbee]

I haven't completed a vid in aaaaages, but I have the urge. Of course, I vid rarely enough that every time I try, I find I've gone and changed operating systems, and have to start all over from scratch.

(Why isn't Sony Vegas available for Mac? It was such a NICE program. Then I found a site that said Kdenlive, the delightful Linux video editor I used a few times, was available for Mac ... and it is, but via some high-level workaround stuff. I just want to vid, dammit!

Anyway, my n00b level question -- when you real vidders talk about clipping, what do you mean? And what software do you use?

What I THINK you mean is that, before the vidding begins, you go through and cut out the clips you want to use, so you're not sitting there with ENTIRE EPISODES or ENTIRE MOVIES in your video editor when you're making the actual vid. Is that the case? Because it certainly seems like an easier way to go about it. But what software do you use if you're on a Mac? Or am I heading off in the wrong direction all together?

Comments

[sapote]

1) Yes, that's totally what it means! You cut out one shot, for example, and title it EP 3_02 TOPH STOMP GREEN BACKGROUND.avi or whatever, and save it in a folder. (This can also be in deference to the processing power of your vidding computer).

2) I have no idea what one does on a Mac, though. Possibly you use the same video editor you'd use to put the vid together later? I have this idea that there are some very high-end video editors that decompose the source shot-by-shot for you so that you don't have to do this, but I could be wrong about that.

[lizbee]

OH GOOD, THAT MAKES SO MUCH SENSE.

I guess I can do that in iMovie, then -- it's a little too basic for my vidding needs (it's a lot like Windows Movie Maker back when I first learned to vid, which is a good thing -- but these days I like my editors non-linear) but seems perfect for this.

Thank you!

[rhivolution]

Mac thoughts! You could clip in a separate program (MPEG Streamclip) or something, but it strikes me as extra work when you can just import your full video into your non-linear editor and clip in there.

The NLEs most used for Mac are Final Cut (expensive), Avid (really expensive), and Adobe Premiere (inexpensive but Adobe are all in the goddamn cloud now). I also know people who swear by Media100 but it's never been my cuppa. I use the sadly out of print Final Cut Express, a stripped down Final Cut Pro that does basically everything I need. I'm sure someone has it floating around somewhere, and I can vouch it still works in Mountain Lion plus.

I'm a Final Cut fan but I've heard Final Cut X and upwards aren't worth your time, so for vidding purposes, it's really mostly just a matter of finding an interface you don't hate.

TEAL DEER

[lizbee]

THAT'S MY UNDERSTANDING WITH MAC. I'm going to try out Lightworks once I'm done clipping -- it seems to be a lot like Vegas, and has a LOT of tutorials.

[pearwaldorf]

There are *cough* ways to get FCP and Premiere, if you're interested. I learned to vid on FCP, but the interfaces on all these things are similar enough that once you learn one you can use all the others. There is VideoPad, which looks hella barebones but may be useable. There is also this list that I have not checked out.

thingswithwings has some tutorials about how to clip for the Mac. She uses MPEG Streamclip because it has a bazillion different formats you can import to, but you could trim or export in Quicktime (Google "trim video clip in Quicktime") or iMovie.

(I also did not learn how to clip properly, because I was just working with one or two sources. Now that I am attempting to do things with episodes, I realize that importing all these giant files and scrubbing for footage in-editor is not feasible. Sadness.)

[lizbee]

I never learned proper clipping for the same reasons -- plus, Windows Movie Maker automatically broke media up into little segments anyway, so I didn't have to go searching through a whole episode to find one moment. iMovie does the same thing, but I don't have the patience for linear timelines anymore. It's turning out great for clipping, though.

(iMovie also has a wonderful "detach audio" function, which makes it a lot easier to mute stuff and thus notice talky face before it can make its way into a final vid.)

[pearwaldorf]

DETACH AUDIO IS THE BEST. (It appears to be a very Mac-specific function because FCP has it too.)

Once I forgot to do it and it was on a clip of the Winter Soldier getting wiped and it was awful. Oops.

[lizbee]

For me, the very best thing about detaching audio is that it makes me FAR less likely to get distracted actually WATCHING the original media.

I mean, I still do, but ... less. I can just mute my laptop, put on Orange is the New Black and clip.

[rhivolution]

(I also did not learn how to clip properly, because I was just working with one or two sources. Now that I am attempting to do things with episodes, I realize that importing all these giant files and scrubbing for footage in-editor is not feasible. Sadness.)

I loathe clipping and this is exactly my problem omg.

[starlady]

I would second all the recommendations for MPEG Streamclip. Clipping properly at the beginning pays huge dividends in terms of ease of editing, I've found.

[lizbee]

SO I'M LEARNING! It's like watching just the important bits!

[starlady]

Yeah, I have found that it helps me be much more analytical about the whole thing (which is helpful to me, obvs YMMV) and also much easier to realize when I don't have something clipped that I need to go back and clip again.

[skygiants]

I am a super n00b vidder -- I just finished my first! and it is terrible! -- but what I've been using for clipping (which is indeed as you describe) is VirtualDub, which sadly seems to be only available for Windows. Clipping is a GODSEND, though. I do not know how I would even function importing whole huge episodes and trying to work with them in my editor.

[lizbee]

do not know how I would even function importing whole huge episodes and trying to work with them in my editor.

How I functioned:

(1) Windows Movie Maker's regular crashes were a good excuse for tea breaks;
(2) Frequently distracted actually watching the whole episode.

[kerravonsen]

The only thing I know about Adobe Premiere is that settiai regularly curses it when getting ready for VividCon, since it always seems to misbehave when she's under time-pressure to finish a vid.

[lizbee]

My knowledge of the entire Adobe editing suite is that, for a couple of years, film students would gather in my lounge room to drink tea and shout at their laptops in between composing emails requesting extensions due to technical problems. I wouldn't touch it with a ten-foot pole.

[d_generate_girl]

Already been answered (yes, clipping is when you use a program like VDub or Streamclip and it is the bane of my existence, but very helpful to know which bits you're using and where), but I'd like to express my sincere astonished kudos for you managing to vid while only using WMM and full videos in your editor. My *goodness*, that's dedication.

[icepixie]

I vid with iMovie. Here's what I do:

1.) Rewatch source and make descriptive notes about clips I might want to use. I have libraries for entire shows and movies typed up and searchable ("Character A setting fire to a house," "Character B looking sad while the fire burns," etc.).

2.) Rip source from DVD using Handbrake. Due to an iMovie quirk re: sound not actually detaching when you tell it to if you have certain speed alterations in your vid, I import without the audio track.

3.) Scrub through mp4 file for the clips I want and use Quicktime's trim feature to get them down to manageable portions. I find iMovie takes FOREVER to deal with clips that are over about five minutes, so I keep it under that.

4.) Import. I usually keep all clips for a single episode in one of what iMovie calls "events." Movies I split up as needed to keep it easy to find what I need without scrolling forever in a single event.

This makes the process work much more smoothly for me because I have a good idea of what clips exist, thanks to my notes, and where to find them, thanks to the separation via events.

I have also hacked iMovie to be non-linear by creating some blank footage (I just stuck a book over my laptops's camera and hit "record" in Quicktime for 30 seconds) that I use to fill in space until I get where I want. I use the beat marker function to keep things where I put them. (The beat marker will stay where you put it in the music track, so if you stick your blank footage in until you get where you want, put the clip that you want in, and then put the beat marker at the front of that clip, you can add stuff in front of it, then just trim the blank footage until the front of your original non-linear clip lines up with the beat marker again. If that doesn't make sense, I can dig up a screencap.)