migliore 0 #1 October 9, 2006 I have been borrowing the use of a linear editing station for a while (I work occasionally on weekends), and I'm trying to get self sufficient. I have a nice MacBook Pro that I have setup to do pictures and an nice set-top DVD burner. I would really like to keep my entire setup pretty portable, so I'd like to do my editing on the laptop, but I am well aware that nonlinear editing and burning DVDs on a laptop is a killer if you're trying to make 20 min calls. My thought is to connect both the camcorder and the DVD recorder to the laptop and to use a program (maybe FinalCut or AVIDFreeDV) to do linear editing on the laptop. Basically, I just want the laptop to act as the titler, sound board, and monitor so I don't have to deal with the other pieces of hardware (plus connections). I'm positive this is physically possible, but I'm not sure if this software (or other packages) will do what I need. Any thoughts or suggestions? Shane Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
velocityphoto 0 #2 October 9, 2006 Mail the video's to them .I do a much nicer job on them at home during the week. Give them the photo's on disk and make a print for them on the spot , so they have something to go and brag about after the jump . My 2 cents... A friend will bail you out of jail , a REAL friend will be sitting next to you in the cell slapping your hand saying "DUDE THAT WAS AWSUM " ................ Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
migliore 0 #3 October 9, 2006 I agree that a nonlinear edited video can be made to a very high quality standard, but mailing videos/pics is not an option at the places I work. Plus I get some satisfaction when they get to watch the video with their family/friends before they leave. Shane Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
goobersnuftda 0 #4 October 9, 2006 I must agree. Shoot your video on the weekends then edit it later at home on a POWERFULL desktop computer. In one day I can shoot 8 tandem videos. I have no time to do editing at the DZ and if I did, the quality would really suck. Taking 30min to do a real quality job is well worth it. Even have a $79 color printer to do the disk labels. BTW, it costs $1.65 to mail out the DVD case in an envelope. Done it many times and know the exact cost. Tuesday always take the dog for a walk and mail out all the videos at the corner mail box. The thrill of watching them watch the DVD isn't that great. It will take the normal tandem student 6 hours to come down from their high anyways. You want the lasting memory of a quality product especially when they show 50 of their friends your DVD. You want an awesome stand alone product not some 3rd rate video edit to show your video talents and try to recruit more tandem jumpers. Send me a PM and I will give you a link to my server and you can see what one of my finished videos looks like. We can discuss your missgotten path of going down the Apple road in a later discussion:) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bob.dino 0 #5 October 9, 2006 QuoteThe thrill of watching them watch the DVD isn't that great. I have to strongly disagree with this. Putting the DVD on a 50"+ screen in the DZ canteen with all the family and friends watching and squealing is pretty damn cool. Sometimes also persuades some of the other members of the party to do jumps. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ltdiver 3 #6 October 9, 2006 QuoteI have to strongly disagree with this. Putting the DVD on a 50"+ screen in the DZ canteen with all the family and friends watching and squealing is pretty damn cool. Sometimes also persuades some of the other members of the party to do jumps. This bears repeating. Very true. ltdiver Don't tell me the sky's the limit when there are footprints on the moon Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dragon2 0 #7 October 9, 2006 QuoteQuoteI have to strongly disagree with this. Putting the DVD on a 50"+ screen in the DZ canteen with all the family and friends watching and squealing is pretty damn cool. Sometimes also persuades some of the other members of the party to do jumps. This bears repeating. Very true. ltdiver It may also entice some of the other tandem jumpers present to get video when they weren't planning on it ciel bleu, Saskia Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
velocityphoto 0 #8 October 9, 2006 I have a big screen hooked up while i'm loading the video to hard drive. And that is usually enough to have the rest of the tandems wanting it too. Another really good selling tool is letting them know in advance how i will interact with them in freefall ,i like to have fun while i'm filming too. I sold video's just for this reason yesterday . A friend will bail you out of jail , a REAL friend will be sitting next to you in the cell slapping your hand saying "DUDE THAT WAS AWSUM " ................ Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
freekflyguy 0 #9 October 9, 2006 Quote Send me a PM and I will give you a link to my server and you can see what one of my finished videos looks like. We can discuss your missgotten path of going down the Apple road in a later discussion:) Up until March this year I had a purpose built desktop editing system AMD 64, 2Gb Ram, shit loads of disk space running Vegas 6. This was/still is a good system or the intended task. I bit the bullet and made the decision to change to Apple in March and havent looked back since. I am now the proud owner of a 15.4" MacBook Pro with 100gb HDD, 2 Gb ram. I can honestly say that this machine rocks and runs Vegas 6 better than my desktop (I have a Win partition on my MBP). I was happy using iMove and iDVD to produce my tandem DVD's as it is so easy to use pretty much any PC user can work it ;-) In August I stumped up the dosh and got a copy of Final Cut Express HD 3.5, and once again I was suprised at how easy it was to use. I now hardly ever boot up into my Win partition as I have no need, all the stuff i need is either supplied with the MBP or I can get a Mac version. Funnily enough I think the Mac versions of "PC" apps actually look and feel much better than on the PC, Office, Messenger and Skype to name a few. To be fair though there are times when I miss using a PC, sorry just kidding, who needs spam, addware, viri, mal ware and random BSOD? Dude time to wake up and smell the fruit, with Intel equipped Macs running both OS's, Mac is the way to go. BuzzIt's nice to be important, but it's more important to be nice. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
migliore 0 #10 October 9, 2006 Just to keep this on track and not turn into a discussion of either the benefits/drawbacks of linear editing or a Mac vs. PC debate... Do you use Vegas or FinalCut for linear editing? I know they are great in the non-linear world but I was hoping somebody was in the know as to whether they can be used linearly. Thanks. Shane Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
freekflyguy 0 #11 October 9, 2006 I have not used either for linear editing but if you have a DVD recorder with a firewire input I cant see why you wouldnt be able to. I know for a fact both programs allow you to export the timeline to your camera. I was thinking of doing this myself early last year as I figured a standalone DVD recorder would cut down the wait time for a DVD. What Rocks - Macs What Sucks - PC's BuzzIt's nice to be important, but it's more important to be nice. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DSE 3 #12 October 9, 2006 Vegas and FCP allow for timeline export to any number of formats. My method is to capture the footage while it's being displayed on a 32" set that everyone can see, capturing to my external HDD connected to the laptop. That way, people can see the jump immediately following, but it's not edited til later. Sometimes I'll do the edit right there as well, depending on the load frequency and what I'm supposed to be doing at the moment. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Laszloimage 0 #13 October 10, 2006 I think real time editing is the way to go for tandems. Personaly I don't even use a video mixer board. All I use is an audio mixer with two sources of music plus the cameras original sound. The video editing is basicly done as I shoot. The "Time Line" is my head and I use the video camera features like (picture effect BW, and Sepia and some Negative) Also the "Flash" digital effect set to the very first bar gives a 16mm film like feel to the video. Further more the use of the zoom and proper "filming techniques" are very helfull too to make a better loking tandem video. I will upload an example vid. to my web site right away. Only the 30sec leader is computer edited which is pre-recorded to my video camera in every 6 minutes. Please check it out on www.laszloimage.com http://www.laszloimage.com/Video_page.htm Of course we can make a lot better video if we're using computers. But doe's it worth it? At the places I work normally I have 20minutes to pack (I always do) , come up with the DVD, and make it to the next load...and they prefer to have the "production" right away instead of mailing them out. Blue Skies! -Laszlo- www.laszloimage.com Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Laszloimage 0 #14 October 10, 2006 Doug, I have a question about the Video Seminar in NYC in end of October. You mentioned the avilabilty of guest passes. I'm really intersted, please let me know about the details if it's possible. Thank you very much! -Laszlo- Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DSE 3 #15 October 10, 2006 Just PM me with your actual name, and email addy, and you'll have passes at WillCall at the Javits. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
