Editing in Different Software

Disclaimer: Adobe didn't sponsor me to do this, these are just my honest opinions about their software. May involve terms not commonly know by the masses. So if there is any terms you don't know, don't hesitate to ask.

George Here!

   

   So as you guys know, I'm a Final Cut Pro X editor. I've used it since September of 2012, and I fell in love ever since. It's fast, easy to use, and it's relatively snappy with lots of video formats. But I've kinda been mad at FCPX for a while for a couple reasons:

1. Slow Exporting: When I have finished my movie in Final Cut Pro X and go to export it, I will normally be looking at a 6 hour export for a 10 minute movie.
2. Color Correction: I honestly don't like the color correction in the program. It isn't powerful enough for what I do. And it's not the best laid out way for me to edit colors.
3. Poor RAM Managing: On my machine with 8GB of ram, my machine can't handle more than basic cuts without needing to render. Normally it's fine, I would just render what I need then play the rest. But still, I don't want to have to do that every time I make a change.*

   I know I'm editing on a 13" MacBook Pro, which lacks a Graphics Card & a Quad-Core Processor. But the beauty of Final Cut is to have not just the people with the $10,000 computers running it. It's meant for everyone as well as the pro's. So for the next episode of Cassie & Miley, I decided to change things up a little. I decided to edit in Adobe Premiere Pro CC.

   My first impression was that the layout is very similar to Final Cut 7, which is what I was used to before X. I imported the footage from Google Drive, and created a new sequence. But every time I hit a key command, it would go to a different thing al together. I realized  that the key commands were different, so I changed them to the ones in Final Cut. Now things were getting interesting.

   After editing the show in it, I can honestly say that I fell in love with it. The speed is amazing, the color correction is fast, and it doesn't eat up all the ram I have. Here's the list of my favorite things about it:

1. Dynamic Link: This is my top favorite thing that I miss from FCP7. In Premiere, I just have to right-click a video or audio file. Then click Dynamic Link, it then loads the video file into after effects, or the audio file into Audition. This is huge for me. I don't have to export, edit, reimport, then re-export if I want to make changes outside of Premiere.
2. Fast Rendering: The rendering in Premiere is amazing. I don't know what it does to make it so fast. But it does it great
3. Color Correction: The color correction is just amazing. Very easy for me, as well as powerful.
4. Amazing RAM Managing: I don't need to render every little change I do.
5. Exporting: Exporting is pretty darn fast.

   Take a look at some screen shots of my editing:

   So overall impressions are great about it. Now the big question, will I replace FCPX with Premiere CC? The answer is... No. I love Final Cut because of what it is. I can create templates much easier in it. Multi-cam is way faster. And the file organization is far better than in Premiere. But I now have another piece of software to add to my arsenal.

   That's about it, talk to you later guys! George out!

*The one thing that I think is faster in FCPX is the Render. I think the reason it is faster is because it takes more advantage of the Mac platform. 

Editing Blues & Tips for Working With/For Others

Hey, George here! 

   I’ve been editing the web series Cassie & Miley for a while now. And I would like to give my personal... opinions about editing for other people.

   The reason I got into Photography is because I love the art of capturing life. The reason I got into Videography, is because I love telling visual stories to people. And the reason I got into Music Making is because I love the process of idea to song. And for each of these topics, I have a certain style in how I work. For video, I like to be as simple as possible. For photos, I like deep blacks and high contrast. For music, I like full sounds with minimal (if any) distortion. 

   When people want you to do work for them (paid or unpaid), 90% of the time it’s because they like your work. And that's a good sign, it means people like your style. But once you land the job with them, they most likely have an idea about what they want and just want you to create it for them... then throw in a LITTLE of your creative flare if any. This can be frustrating to the content creator/editors editing for others because they want to show what they can do. And I know that for a fact because I have dealt with it.

   Here’s a story: When I was editing their latest video Story Time with Cassie & Miley, I was having computer problems. The main drive didn’t have enough space, so I had to delete stuff like crazy. The video needed HEAVY color correction and was on the wrong settings for video compression so I had to render out of Final Cut to After Effects to grade (and even then it was hard). Then I had to reimport the videos and place them onto the timeline. Then I had to create the titles, end screen, and apply some audio corrections. Then I exported a 950 x 540 version so they can see it for approval. That took about 5 hours, because FCPX loves to take its sweet time. She specifically said that she wanted it to be 10 - 15 minutes (closer to ten if possible), and when I uploaded it, and Cassie said it was too short and it didn’t flow right. So I reedited the video, rendered out 1920 x 1080 (taking 12 hours), and she approves it. And the whole time I thought the video needed to go up by Thursday, when she really wanted it up by Tuesday. Anyways, here is the final product:
    

   The video turned out great, but still. Now let me clarify something, this isn't a rant exactly. It's what happens when there isn't great communication between people. But I found out a couple things editing for other people that will make your job easier:

1. Don't Edit in Front of People: I'm serious about this. When I used to edit in front of people, they say, "You make it look so easy... can't you just..." and then make a list longer than the paper can hold. I'm not saying that Cassie & Miley have ever said that, but I have gotten that remark before. Now, take it with a grain of salt. Yes you can edit in front of people to show them what you can do. But don't say, "It's SO easy," or "That takes no time at all," when really it does take effort/time.
2. Effective Communication: Like in the case of schedule mistakes, you can always miss hear or not get the message of what they want you to do. Always keep communication and if questions arise, don't hesitate to ask.
3. Just do What They Ask: This is something that can be applied in every aspect of life. If you do what they ask you to do, and they like it, you're on their good side. And when you're on their good side, you have more leeway with what you can do creatively.

   Before I leave, I found this great speech by a photographer in the Bay Area, Jeff Cable:



   I will be looking forward to hearing what you guys think.

   And as always, thanks for reading. George out!

Photo Contest UPDATE

Hey George here!

   Unfortunately my chances in entering this contest was 1/650, so they were very slim. And that turned out to be the case with this contest. I'm not in the top 11 he picked. But now it's our time to vote. And hey, why not. You can check out this video for more info:


I've picked the nightscape photo. But go and vote for which one you like the best.
   George out!

Photo Contests

Hey everybody, George here!

   It's been a little while since I've updated you guys on what's happening on my side of Tem.Teen Studios, so let me fill you in. I've entered in the August FroKnowsPhoto contest. The theme is "Anything but People" and here are the images I submitted:





   I pulled out a new lens that my dad gave me and I just took some images of the apple leaves in our backyard. You can check out the forum I submitted to here:
http://forums.froknowsphoto.com/viewtopic.php?f=74&t=193655&start=610#p242751

   If you're curious about the lens that I used, I will be posting a whole post about it. As well as other lenses he gave me. But that's it's for now, George out!