Am I doing it right ? Route 66 video ?

[grahamricho]

I have 6 tapes of video from a Route 66 trip across America.
I have captured 3 of the tapes and then clicked edit, then dragged the parts i want into edit to the bottom to edit, i have then split them scene by scene, then saved them to file, and named each file thename of the state we were in i.e Illinois. corresponding to the footage in each file.

I repeated this on each piece of footage of each state and now have 4 files each named after the first four states which the footage was shot. I have only captured half of the footage.
I am then going to open each file and edit etc each file untill im left with all the files edited.

Then would i render each file seperate then piece them together then burn them all on to disc.

How would i get the video to play smoothly with so many files joined,could i put a fade at the beggining and end of each file ? would that help it blend more from file to file ?

Also I wanted to do 2 versions of the trip a longer one with less cuts, my 6 year old daughter likes to watch every bit, and a shorter version to show friends and not bore them to death, I wanted the shorter one to last 1 hour and the longer version will be 2 hours, hows the best way to do this ?
Would it be best to edit the long version then save it, then open it again and re edit it and then "save as" so i would have 2 versions of all the files a long one and a short one..any help welcomed..many thanks graham

[joosuna]

Grahamricho...you can set up your transitions to be " cross fade" as the default transition, that way you do not have to put each transition in manually for each scene. And then when you want a special transition for effect, insert the transition of your choice.

As to the two versions. I suggest doing the long version first, and save it. Then edit it down to the short version an save it under a different name.

I hope this has assisted you in your endeavor..
signed
Joe O

[sjj1805]

The observation I made reading your work flow is that you are rendering several times. Each time you render you risk losing quality.

As an alternative (in fact it will save you time) rather than create these new video files, save each one as a separate video studio project file.

Do not touch or move your original source material otherwise these vsp files will no longer work. When you have completed all of your editing to your satisfaction and are ready to move onto the next stage - authoring a DVD - then it is time to render your mpeg2 files. If you have several vsp files to be converted then tyou can do this overnight by using the batch convert command found in the tools menu.

Some articles of interest to you.
Workflow

What is a project file?

How should I go about doing 6 tapes of editing?

[grahamricho]

Hi I was only going to render at the end once.
I was going to capture, edit, then render so in the end I would be left with 8 files that i rendered (one for each state) Then burn them onto disc.
I wanted to make 2 versions so I would edit one file then save, reopen the file and then re eit it shorter then save as, so i would have 2 files of each state (a long one and a short one) then render each one and make a dvd with the long files and one with the short files, does that make sense ?

[sjj1805]

Providing you're making the shorter one from the original file and not simply editing the longer file which itself was an edit.

The aim is to render the least number of times preferably once.

[grahamricho]

Can i not edit the long version then save it, open it up again then edit it again then save it under a different name, so i would be left with a long and short version saved , then render them both ?

[sjj1805]

The simple answer is yes you can.
If this is the best way to do things or not is something that needs careful consideration.

Doing it that way creates a second render.
At a later date you may decide to create yet another video out of that one, or even make further edits, this then causes a third render.

Perhaps it isn't as critical when working with DV which is an avi format and regarded as lossless. Do the same with an MPEG format which is lossy and after a couple of renders you will really notice degradation.

You may have a good reason to render to a fresh avi file - perhaps you wish to store the edited video on tape by sending it back to your camcorder.
Here you would need to render an avi file (for the camcorder)

Like many things in life you can do things in a number of different ways and you will soon adopt a work flow that you find comfortable to work with.

To prevent any possible loss in quality I have found from my experience and also by reading the views of several other video editors that the aim is to render the least number of times preferably once.

So here is what can be done to achieve this.
Firstly you have lets say a hours worth of video in your camcorder and you transfer it to your hard drive in DV (avi) format using an IEEE1394 (firewire) cable. You have an exact copy on your hard drive of what is on your camcorder. No loss of quality.

Lets call this Movie A.

Now you decide that you wish to create two movies from that same Movie A.
One is a main movie where you have simply cut out the unwanted bits.
This movie may last some 45 minutes. We will call this Movie B.
Once you have completed your editing and are ready to create a DVD, you then render Movie B to MPEG2 format and then enter the authoring stage. You have only rendered Movie B once.

The second movie is going to be a short preview movie of Movie B
Like the trailers of the Hollywood films.
We are going to call this Movie C.

To create Movie C you must again return to Movie A as your source.
This way when you create Movie C it will have only been rendered Once.

Hope that makes sense so far.

Just before you rendered Movie B you save a VideoStudio Project file - perhaps you called it Project B.

Just before you rendered Movie C you save another VideoStudio project file - perhaps you called it Project C.

Providing you leave the original source material untouched (Movie A)
you can re-open your VideoStudio Project file and make further adjustments or edits.

So you opened up project B and made a few more cuts, this time you create another Movie B to replace the one you made earlier.
In other words it has still only been rendered once.

[Trevor Andrew]

Can i not edit the long version then save it, open it up again then edit it again then save it under a different name, so i would be left with a long and short version saved , then render them both ?

Hi

I read this as though Graham is working with the first project, his long project..

Completing the editing and saving as a project. No rendering.

Then saving the project using a different name, his short version, editing this down.

He now has two projects a long and short one.

Both are now rendered to separate Mpeg files. (one render for each file)

No problems

Trevor

[sjj1805]

Reading again the part Trevor has just pointed out is an example of how things get confused on the forum.

All that you need to remember when editing your video is to aim to render the least number of times, preferably once. Sometimes this is not possible.
An example of some of our forum members being forced into rendering a second time is here:

Kodak MOV files

Here you will find our members are making the recommendation to convert from the MOV format to another first. A similar situation exists when dealing with the highly compressed formats DivX Xvid and MPEG4.

Perhaps it is time that I expanded the 'Workflow' post and went into a bit more detail. I was trying to keep it simple for new users but perhaps it is now too restrictive. I may need to split it from its current topic.

[Trevor Andrew]

Hi Graham

Just a thought that might interest you,

As you are creating a travelling type video, consider a travelling road map type effect.

Have a look at my guides re:-road map.

Also I am sure there was some tutorials on this forum regarding these, I tried a search, but had no luck, Steve may help here.

Trevor

[sjj1805]

I think Trevor is thinking of this link from a year ago
Please remove this useless transition feature

The poster was comparing what's built in to what you have to pay extra for and cited a program named Vasco Da Gama

There are lots of other programs around that do all sorts of things to enhance your video making experience. The problem is
1. You need to be rich to be able to buy them all.
2. Can you justify spending extra on a program for an effect you probably only use one or twice.

The moving road map is a good example of what can be done with what you have. Another method I use with travel videos is to grab a still image from a map of the area. I then begin having zoomed into where I am now. Now zoom out, move across and zoom into where you're next destination is.

All that is required is some imagination.

[Black Lab]

All that is required is some imagination.

1. Do I need to be rich to buy that?
2. Can I justify the expense if I'm only going to use it once or twice?

[sjj1805]

What I mean is that you can buy various other programs or add ons to complement what you already have. Before spending a fortune doing so you need to consider the cost implications before purchasing something that you then find you rarely use.

VideoStudio is more powerful than many of us realise.

[grahamricho]

It may be me, but what is the definition of rendering ?
When i make edits to the original video is this edits or rendering ?
Can I not make edits to one movie, then save it, then make further edits to it and save it again under a different name ? So the original is still there but I would have to edit files?
I wanted to do it this way so the text I put on the first one will be still in the movie but i would cut more of the video out ? many thanks by the way, ill get my head round it in the end !

[Ron P.]

Rendering:
Rendering is when after doing editing, you go to Share>Create Video File and create some sort of file, either DVD MPEGs, AVIs, VCDs SVCDs, etc.... VS takes the information of where you want your video clip (the original) cut, where the transitions are to be, effects, filters, audio anything that you done to your Project, which is the .VSP file and creates a new video file. Your original is not touched.

EDITING:
Edit means to alter or change. In VS you do this in a project file called a VSP. So you start a project, insert a video (which is a thumbnail link to the original video clip stored somewhere on your system), then cut it you have edited it. Then if you just Save it, (File>Save or Save as) your project file (VSP) is saved, nothing is rendered yet.

Does that help?