dumb question about file management

Kev M

Kev M

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I figured I'd give you another dumb question to brighten up your otherwise dreary Friday afternoon.

How do you cut the crap from your video files without creating a movie for each clip? With photos it's easy, I import into Lightroom and delete the crap, allowing the cream to naturally rise to the top.

I've got hours of sailing footage and most of it is tedious. For a half hour file there might be a minute or two that it is worth saving so is there a way to keep the good stuff and delete the crap without opening each file as a project, deleting all the crap or extracting the good bits into separate files for bringing together later on?

How do you ensure your hard drives aren't full of hours of footage only useful for treating insomnia?

Cheers,
Kev
 
Normally you would use an editing program to compile the clips, deleting what is not required. However it sounds like you want to keep the original files but with bits taken out, in which case if you want to keep each file seperately you would need to trim then save as a seperate file or project.

If it was me I'd take all the footage make it into something decent, save as a DVD then delete the lot, just keeping the DVD file as the backup.
 
I use Quicktime to trim out roughly the bits I want then import those into Final Cut for final trimming and assembly.
 
Kev M said:
I figured I'd give you another dumb question to brighten up your otherwise dreary Friday afternoon.

How do you cut the crap from your video files without creating a movie for each clip? With photos it's easy, I import into Lightroom and delete the crap, allowing the cream to naturally rise to the top.

I've got hours of sailing footage and most of it is tedious. For a half hour file there might be a minute or two that it is worth saving so is there a way to keep the good stuff and delete the crap without opening each file as a project, deleting all the crap or extracting the good bits into separate files for bringing together later on?

How do you ensure your hard drives aren't full of hours of footage only useful for treating insomnia?

Cheers,
Kev
Click to expand...


The joys of rush management.

The footage you describe is known in the industry as a camera rush.

These are then edited together to create a finished product.

What you do with them once you have the finished product is up to you, some people keep them all, some people keep only interesting rushes, some people keep only the finished product. (e.g. aerial shots of dogfights in dramas nearly all come from unused rushes from the Laurence Olivier film Battle of Britain - they're still selling them 40 years on)

The problem is knowing what's in each file, without having to play through every file making notes. Some modern video cameras have a webserver, which allows you to add notes as they're running via a smartphone.

For my GoPro, I've got a program that detects 5 seconds or more of near black - can put my hand over the lens when sailing or skiing - and creates an FCP7 XML file which marks all the clips in any given file.

Alternatively, you note the files/times where good things happen as you go.

Then import the files of interest in an editor, checking the bits you're interested in, adding details and markers when you see a good bit and making notes of which scenes you'd like to use.

These markers then allow you to 3 point edit the footage into a usable output file.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yFk2jKxqa2s

You may need some cutaways (sequences that aren't part of the narrative), to cover bad sequences, camera dropouts, etc.
 
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Yeah, I didn't word that very well did I. Just goes to show how little I know about the whole video thing.

I suppose what I want to do is not import everything and create a finished film there and then, deleting bits as I go. What I want to be able to do is get rid of all the crap, keep all the good bits and then come back to them later on when I want to put things together. In the mean time I've saved loads of hard disk space by not hoarding the rubbish.

I've got a copy of Premiere Elements which to be honest I haven't spent much time with due to the arrival of our newborn. If I import a video into it and drag it onto the timeline and then cut chunks out is it deleting it from the original file (thus saving me space) or is it just remembering the bits of the original file that I want to use and thus leaving it in place until I finish the project, kind of how lightroom does adjustments to a sepereate file and not the original.

Cheers for your help so far. Sooooooooo much to learn, so little time to do it!
 
Kev M said:
Yeah, I didn't word that very well did I. Just goes to show how little I know about the whole video thing.

I suppose what I want to do is not import everything and create a finished film there and then, deleting bits as I go. What I want to be able to do is get rid of all the crap, keep all the good bits and then come back to them later on when I want to put things together. In the mean time I've saved loads of hard disk space by not hoarding the rubbish.

I've got a copy of Premiere Elements which to be honest I haven't spent much time with due to the arrival of our newborn. If I import a video into it and drag it onto the timeline and then cut chunks out is it deleting it from the original file (thus saving me space) or is it just remembering the bits of the original file that I want to use and thus leaving it in place until I finish the project, kind of how lightroom does adjustments to a sepereate file and not the original.

Cheers for your help so far. Sooooooooo much to learn, so little time to do it!
Click to expand...

No, premiere won't delete the originals. It will create a project file that lists which files (and which parts of files) are where on the timeline and what effects etc. are being used.

You can then export the video to a new file.

You'll still have the original rushes though.
 
Thought that might be the case, do all editing programs (at my budget end of the market) work in the same way?

Would it work if I was to cut out the rubbish, exports the good clips as a new file and then when I'm ready to use them re-import that video file into a new project? Then I could delete all the rubbish.
 
By far the easiest way is just make sure you have enough storage - until you are ready to edit. Storage is cheap - a 1TB drive is under £50. Even better, learn to shoot smarter so you have less to edit.
 
Kev M said:
Thought that might be the case, do all editing programs (at my budget end of the market) work in the same way?

Would it work if I was to cut out the rubbish, exports the good clips as a new file and then when I'm ready to use them re-import that video file into a new project? Then I could delete all the rubbish.
Click to expand...

You could do that - but:
  1. Check that the format you export to can be imported by the editor
  2. Use quite a high bitrate codec to make these intermediate files, otherwise you may notice some degredation
 
Milkfloat said:
By far the easiest way is just make sure you have enough storage - until you are ready to edit. Storage is cheap - a 1TB drive is under £50. Even better, learn to shoot smarter so you have less to edit.
Click to expand...

It's not really a case of shooting smarter, I can't stop mid race to turn on, turn off, or reposition the camera. It gets switched on, I go racing, come in three hours later and switch it off.

st599 said:
You could do that - but:
  1. Check that the format you export to can be imported by the editor
  2. Use quite a high bitrate codec to make these intermediate files, otherwise you may notice some degredation
Click to expand...

Cheers for your help with this. It's nice to know not everyone in this part of TP is a condescending smart arse.
 
OK, some other options, seeing as you only now disclose the fact that you have no way of controlling the camera whilst shooting:
1.) Depending on what camera you have, you may be able to setup a maximum file size before the camera will start another file. If you can do this, then set it at a sensible split so that you can just delete those files.
2.) Use something like VirtualDub which can split video files with reencoding http://www.afterdawn.com/guides/archive/cut_avi_with_virtualdub.cfm
3.) Get a remote control to start and stop the camera when required.
4.) Back to what I think is best - more storage until you have time to edit properly.

Although, I am not sure why I am helping you if the condescending smart arse comment was aimed at me.
 
In premiere elements you have a archive. When you create a project bring all your footage into the timeline, trim cut make your story. Then when finished burn to DVD or to computer. Then archive the whole project to the archive preset which prompts you to archive the whole footage you brought to the timeline or just the bits used. Then go to your original footage on computer and delete knowing that it is archived in premiere anyways. But be careful that you don't delete the copied to archive version or its gone unless you bring back from recycle bin of course. If you have a external hard drive you could archive the footage again different name
 
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