Tag: video editor

Edit Day At UCI

Shaunt's Edit BayTuesday was an edit day for my project at UC Irvine. It’s a training video for distance learning instructors.

A project like this has three stages: writing, shooting, editing. You try and follow a roadmap, but ideas change, things are fluid.

Editing is where stories are made or lost. It’s critically important, but functionally unknown to most outsiders. Video editors often work alone in windowless closet sized rooms with video monitors and the constant whir of computer fans.

Shaunt Kouyoumdjian, who shot our video, is editing. All the clips are in a server. Sony Vegas is running, mathematically pasting together snippets of video. Shaunt commands an arsenal of electronic wizardry which treats video like Photoshop treats stills! Even for this simple production, some sections have a half dozen simultaneously overlapping layers of video.

Video editing is one of the few computer applications where faster processing power really matters. The calculations necessary to edit HD video are mind boggling, but easily within the reach of modern high end PCs.

We pick it up Thursday morning. I love this stuff. It’s just in my blood.

The Job My Computer Was Built For

editing-screen

Back in Connecticut my friend Peter Sachs has become infatuated with a utility quadcopter. It has an onboard camera. Really cool video (see below).

He’s in on the ground floor.

I though the video was a little shaky, so I asked him send it to me.

Here’s the power of the net. He sent me this high quality, full HD video in just a few minutes. That’s when my computer took over.

This PC was built specifically to edit video. It has a fast and powerful CPU with a video card chosen to make it even speedier.

I fired up Premier, Adobe’s video editor and dragged in Peter’s video. A couple of clicks later I’d installed a filter which dampened movement. Very math intensive. It worked in the background as I moved on.

On a separate channel I brought in the original video. Diagonal wipe. Font. Render. Lather. Rinse.

I sat back like the chief engineer on a large ship. My feet were up on the desk. On screen graphs showed my CPU working at 100% on all four cores. 11.5Gb of RAM, the max I allow for Premier, was fully in use.

You should be awed by this technology. I am awed by it. Video production has been democratized. Anyone who wants to make video can make video. The cost barrier has been shattered.

In the late 80s Channel 8 put in a room that could do most of what I’m doing today, but in standard def and on video tape. It cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. This setup is a hundredth the price with the ability to render work at today’s professional standards.

It’s just crazy. My career in TV started as film was moving out. Tape beat film for ease, but today’s technology blows away everything that came before.

Don’t be confused. I can’t edit like a professional editor. I don’t have the chops. The equipment itself only takes you so far.

I’d like to get more involved with video production. I’m fully equipped.

It’s The Best Toy Ever

The iPhone is transformational technology. It will change your life.

apple-iphone-3g.jpg“It’s the best toy ever,” was what my secretive friend in the San Fernando Valley said right after he got his iPhone. He kept saying it and saying it and saying it until I too broke down. You know what? He was right.

I complained originally about the keyboard and inconsistencies regarding when or which apps allow you to turn the screen to the landscape position. Still true. Horrendous battery life. Also true. I have chargers or cables at home, work and in the car.

The iPhone is transformational technology. It will change your life.

More than likely what I’m saying also applies to the new phones running the Android operating system, like the Droid and the soon to be unveiled (but already widely seen) phone from Google itself!

If you just count hours I used the iPhone more when I first got it . Now I go for value and utility. I answer email and check Facebook and Twitter. I don’t update my blog with it… well I did once and it wasn’t fun!

I have added apps. I’ve added enough that every once in a while I clean things out and reclaim a little space.

I have been blown away by some of these little programs like the amazing ReelDirector video editor. That was $4.99 well spent! Everyone is astounded I can shoot and edit video in the phone and the quality is very good.

Tonight my friend Bob showed me Glympse, which will allow a friend to track you for a set period of time. If I was driving to your house I’d send a private url which would allow you to track me and know when I’d be there.

Sometimes I use the iPhone instead of my car radio to listen to shows on NPR. I flew cross country using it to watch movies. I keep France24, a 24-hour English language all-news TV network from France, as my live TV demo–though I seldom actually watch it otherwise.

Yes, it’s a phone. It’s also a computer which leverages special hardware, like a GPS receiver, compass, accelerometer and touch screen. That makes it a computer that knows exactly where it is and what’s nearby.

Every time a new app arrives the phone does a little more. That’s not going away any time soon.

Apple is a little controlling. I wish I could see a little more of the inner digital workings.

I’m sure my California friend is reading this and taking some satisfaction that he ‘made the sale.’

Video Editing Magic On My iPhone

It resides on the iPhone, so you edit with your fingers!

reeldirector-screen.jpgOK, this is very cool. No, more than cool it’s groundbreaking. The video attached to this entry is astounding for the mere fact it’s here–shot and edited on my iPhone. This isn’t a small incremental technological step–it’s a leap!

First let’s talk camera. The iPhone will never be confused for my DSLR, but it’s capable of photos meant to be used as Internet illustrators. The still and video camera performance is very good, especially when you consider the size.

Apple wisely put a wide angle lens on the iPhone. It is nearly the perfect focal length for a tiny camera because it allows you to be close while capturing a wide field. A wide angle lens also reduces shake.

Lots of phones have cameras. No need to be impressed yet.

The amazing part is an app I bought for $4.99. It is a video editor called ReelDirector. This is a simple editor with transitions and a font generator for titles. It resides on the iPhone, so you edit with your fingers!

One of our photographers at work said, “Ok, you can shoot and edit video on your phone…virtually putting me out of work!!”

It has not been easy to trim the source video. Whether that’s an acquired trait remains to be seen. It can be done.

This editor doesn’t support b-roll, so no covering long sound bites. It also won’t pull music from your iPod library–a missing feature the developer blames on Apple and their iron fisted control over the entire iPhone experience.

The titling feature is only available for opening and closing credits. You can’t “font” someone speaking on-camera.

I can’t believe I’m finding fault because this app is magical. No one has ever considered so daunting a task in so small a box. Video editing is usually a sophisticated challenge with some software suites running many hundreds of dollars per copy and demanding “heavy iron” computers.

This video is hosted on Youtube, meaning the quality has been reduced a little. You can see a higher quality Youtube version here. It’s still not too bad. See for yourself.