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< Part 16 | Intro | Part 17G | Part 18 >

The Videomaker's Journey: part seventeen
Editing Principles for Beginners

Use the links in the text to move between sections.

Supplementary Advice

Image correction

I do not have a complete understanding of this subject, but I have used it a lot to make minor corrections to Video-8 work and when transferring film to DVD.

It is only practical for amateurs to make minor correction to video work - if the video is crook (useless), dump it. In movie work we go back and shoot the scene again.

When working on film that has been transferred to video there is a lot of incentive to do something with the film you already have - you can't go back and shoot it again. In "Part 21 - Transferring Film To DVD", there will be comments on correcting the image. We have copies of film shot in Western Queensland by various people, this is where my wife grew up, I had to do some severe image correction on that film.

I notice that when dealing with photos, there is an exposure correction which works as if you are adjusting the camera exposure - it is magic, it is far better than the brightness control, unfortunately it is not available in my movie software. The computer "help line" tells me, this exposure control "adjusts shadows and highlights". If someone knows how to set the various controls to get this exposure correction - please tell me.

If a scene is a bit dark, it is possible to brighten it a bit. If the scene is too bright, it is only possible to darken it by a small fraction. My first video camera was a Sanyo Video-8 and it had auto exposure only. I did a rough edit on all this video - I played it through a video processor and archived it to S-VHS tape. On sunny days, the video shots were good, but on a cloudy day and rainy day shots - I used the video processor to good effect.

With the video processor, I could split the scene on the TV monitor and instantly view the before and after effect, side by side - I could brighten the scenes and add colour to get the landscape in the background up to a pleasant view. The video clips were adjusted as I downloaded them. This system worked so well, I also used it when downloading Hi8 Video to S-VHS tape.

Tip: These days, with a computer it is sensible to split off a few seconds of the clip - experiment with that, to get the required settings - and only then adjust the whole clip. This is useful because the rendering in the computer is so slow. Always test on a small section first.

The various controls used for image correction are listed below - I have scoured the technical books for advice on how to use them, there's nothing there - digital camera photos can be easily worked over - but not video work. My mechanical video processor worked well, but it can only be used on Video-8, VHS and Hi-8 video. The various controls are:

(a) Brightness
(b) Contrast
(c) Saturation, this adjusts the overall colour depth.
(d) Gamma, this stretches the blacks and compresses the whites. I read that the various shades of black can be made to show in more contrast.
(e) Colour control - red, green and blue have separate controls.

Brightness.

I used this a lot with the Video-8 shots, especially where the shots were taken in the rain. I increased the saturation at the same time - all this was very successful. A dark background was converted into the shades of the various trees.

Contrast.

I use this in conjunction with brightness, saturation and sometimes gamma, when trying to darken a scene. I get a satisfactory result, when I only need to darken the clip a bit - but I have no doubt that an expert would do better. There have been other times when I couldn't darken a clip to the extent I wanted.

Red, green and blue. RGB.

The rules for video colour are different from those used by artists when they mix their pigments. The artist's primary colours are red, blue and yellow. The three primary colours for video are red, green and blue, the video primary colours are generally referred to as RGB. Yellow is an equal mix of red and green. The mixing of the three video primary colours provides the following:

Green + red = yellow
Red + blue = magenta
Blue + green = cyan

When transferring film to DVD with auto exposure I am getting a brighter image and reduced colour. When I darken the image by using "spotlight" auto exposure, the darkness I get is very good, it is close to the film image, but the reds are too strong.

As a result of this, my friends prefer that I don't use "spotlight". Sometimes I increase the saturation. Adding some green only has on occasions provided a bluish cast, I then try adding some green and red. Remember, I do not have a complete understanding of this work - but this information should be of use to beginners.

I read that when transferring film to video for editing purposes, it is done with minimum colour correction - when it is transferred back to film - the image has to be corrected again.

Old Equipment

The Panasonic FS 90 S-VHS VCR.

Step 6 mentions that this VCR has a problem where the audio fails -disconnecting the wires from the key pad and reconnecting them often fixes the problem, i.e. if the connecting plug is corroded.

The Sony Digital 8 video camera, model DCR -TRV110e.

There are two things that will cause this video camera to break down regularly. Playing it a lot while editing to a VCR - an editing process that will run the camera back and forth a lot constantly will make it break down about every 5 months.

Fast forwarding and fast reversing in the play mode, will cause the camera to jam. It damaged about 15 video camera tapes. Since I have stopped doing this - the camera works flawlessly. I bought this video camera in july 1999, because it uses Hi-8 tapes - I have since had to buy a MiniDV video camera so I could archive my video onto MiniDV tapes.

I don't fast forward or fast rewind my new 3 chip Panasonic MiniDV camera in the play mode.

Editing equipment

The Casablanca Avio computer editor.

This machine is ideal for beginners, but it is also used by expert movie makers. It is very easy to learn how to edit on the Casablanca - it is a dream machine - it always works without failure. I only had to ask two questions from another user - the rest is easily learned from the instruction manual. The two questions:

  1. To extract the audio from a video shot, on the edit screen - go to "special", then select "scene -> sample" - this extracts the audio from the video clip.

    Now there is no problem with that - I had read this and remembered it - but later, when I was working with the audio record screen - I saw "sample -> scene" - this does something else, I did not notice the difference in the names. I was trying to use the latter to extract the audio. It is worth warning newcomers about this.
  2. The final render - the Casablanca uses the word create instead of render, when you do the first edit, you render as you go - when you select "finish", you may be instructed to do a final render before you export the movie.

    If you go back and amend the edit - and even though you render the amendments - a problem sometimes appears. To get rid of the problem - select "finish" - if another render is needed, the Casablanca tells you, a special render button is also provided - you can then return to more editing.

The iMac, iMovie HD editing software

I use this format. Editing with the HD (high definition) software is not a problem, as long as you have a basic understanding of the HD format and how it works - and as long as you are aware of what types of video camera shots might cause problems. The main trick is to make sure you do a final render. The iMac doesn't always tell you that a final render is required -the notes below will advise you on this matter.

It is not possible to correct faults or improve the shots taken by HD video cameras, but at the moment it appears possible to prevent them from getting worse - and that can happen if you don't do something about it.

The final render will fix most problems - in a couple of situations I had to go back to the original video and re-edit some of the video clips.

A beginner will not want to be bothered with all the following explanations - just go to the end and read the part about how to look for the final render instructions. These comments are about the iMac, they may help you to manage problems with other systems.


I do not have a HD video camera, but I have been feeding a lot of old Video-8 shots, various types of shots from Hi-8 and digital video into the HD software. All this video is automatically converted to high definition as it goes onto the hard drive. I can clearly see how the HD video camera shots need to be handled. All the video in the video clips, Clip1 to Clip12 were processed in the HD format.

The IAC - Film and Video Maker magazine, February 2008 issue, has a book review by Reg Lancaster, Reg comments on "Get the Most from your Digital Home Moviemaking" by Peter Cope. This article is a must-read and it includes a timely and essential piece of information about the high definition format. It includes the advice that tripods must be used so as to minimise HD artefacts.

IAC stands for the "Institute of Amateur Cinematographers" - nowadays usually called "the film and video institute". This society is over 75 years old and it provides an enormous amount of advice and assistance to amateur movie makers in the UK. I am now a member of the IAC.

Reg Lancaster's advice is spot-on - but for the benefit of Australian movie makers and others who do not have access to the magazine mentioned above, I have taken some of the following information from the Wikipedia, free encyclopedia on the internet.

Standard DV format compresses at 5:1.

DVD equipment uses MPEG-2 compression. This is a variable format - it can be set on a low compression that is used for the high quality storage of one hour of video on a DVD disc - this setting can be varied all the way up to a high compression that will record 6 hours of low quality video on a DVD disc. My iMac computer will record 2 layers on a DVD - I don't use that facility - the computer manual advises it may not replay on other equipment.

High definition video uses MPEG-2 compression. When I convert my standard DV to HD it uses approximately 12.7 Gb of space per hour of video on the computer hard drive. This is the figure for standard DV, converting it to the HD format does not increase it. But once you start editing the figure will go up to 25 to 30 Gbs per hour of edited video. I do not know what the figures are for camera recorded HD video.

When recording HD in the video camera, it is best to use "master quality" MiniDV tapes, and limit the re-use of tapes.

Editing HD video. Where rendering of complex transitions or simple scene changes is required - the affected part is decompressed - then rendered - then re-compressed. There are other HD editing systems that use a variety of methods. Repeated decompression and re-compression may cause some deterioration and unwanted problems, this is why you should plan your edit and keep amendments to a minimum.

The MPEG-2 compression is as follows - first there is an I-frame - this is followed by a series of p-frames which only store data that is different from the I-frame - then a new I-frame appears - followed by more p-frames. Ocean waves, fast flowing water and fast moving objects play havoc with this system.

One of the HD editing systems uses I-frames only, this needs a huge capacity hard drive.

Rendering in the iMovie HD software.

The iMovie software automatically renders, immediately after each effect is added to the movie. There is no render button for the editor to click on.

Situation "a". When you export a movie via the iLink cable to a digital video camera the following happens:
  • If it was a straightforward edit and you didn't change any of the effects - the export proceeds without a hitch.
  • If you change any of the effects, they would be automatically rendered as you go with the work - as soon as you proceed to export - usually a notice appears that tells you another render is required (I call this the final render), a render button is provided for you to click on.
Situation "b". If you export to a QuickTime format (in the computer) - a notice to do a final render may appear - if a notice is shown, there will be a render button - sometimes there is no notice, even when a final render is required - the computer will then render without you knowing about it. The failed DVD’s that still had faults in them, revealed this to me.
Situation "c". If you are making a DVD in the computer (a DVD project), from the movies in the computer - the computer will let you down - if a final render is required. It will go ahead and use the faulty movie without doing a final render and without warning you. You find out about this when you replay the DVD in a DVD player. I always do this check - I don' trust the DVD making.

You can make changes to the movie, it automatically renders, the movie looks correct on the computer screen - but the DVD is faulty - there was no final render.

You have to do the final render as shown in situations "a" or "b". This is the only way you can access a render button.

When I have completed a movie edit - I now make sure I archive it back to a MiniDV tape before I proceed with a DVD project.

For the last two years, I have been editing in HD iMovie and processing DVD projects in the iMac, without any of these problems.

These problems only appeared when I processed the movies in Clips 1 to 12 in iMovie. I made some changes after my initial draft - also I was dealing with some old video that is a bit shaky. On top of that, I always had a belief that transferring problem video to a MiniDV tape is a silver bullet - it fixes many problems. So I used to manage very well with the HD software. Reading Reg Lancaster's article on HD editing was a huge benefit, it helped me understand what was happening - I was getting a bit paranoid about HD editing, but I am now quite relaxed and confident with the process.

Problems that arose when editing the video Clips 1 to 12. These comments should provide an easy explanation of what to expect when editing.

Remember, during shooting you should use a tripod so as to minimise problems. You are going to see a lot of hand held shots, which did not cause me any problems at the end of the day. I am not trying to prove that hand held shots are a good practice, with HD editing - but I am able to handle old video that I have shot in the past.


Clip 1.
Problem Video &  Archiving 

The video of Oberammergau - the video shake is bad, it is only just watchable, yet the HD software loaded it and did not make it any worse … until I reversed the close-up of the murals and slowed them down a bit. All the video then shook violently. It was really bad - the effects I added are extreme effects - I removed them, a final render was needed to return to what I had in the first place.

In System 2 fix - I used ½-second cross-fades to black - these are not very good - the combination with shaky video is the problem. I have used cross-fades to black many times with good video shots, without problems.

The shots in the Lake District of Grasmere were taken on a small tripod - I used the left hand as a shock absorber. The slow pans and the ripples on the water were not a problem.

.

 
Clip 3.
The Mating Game

The cross dresser was wearing a wig that had strands of hair streaming out behind him as he walked. If you look closely behind his head at the start of the shot - you will see a trace of pixie dust - it is a slight artefact - it was always there in the DVDs, caused by the MPEG2 format. The HD did not make it any worse.

Now when the cross dresser got close to the MG car - the wig caused the trees in the background to shake and wave - this did not happen previously on the DVD, but the HD did not like it. I got rid of it by exporting to a MiniDV tape, I used the tape to make a DVD in my Pioneer recorder. I did not get a warning message to do a final render. I had not changed any effects, but I did replace the music. I later found out that I needed to export to a QuickTime format - so as to fix the problem in the computer.

.


Clip 5.
Goodbye Paddy

I had originally called this video Clip 5a. Every thing on this clip was fine - I had changed the music. There is a slow external zoom up to a window, with a cross-fade to an internal zoom -there was no problem with this. I then caused some problems - the final render would not fix them.

I changed the title to Clip 5. It looked correct on the computer screen - but the DVD still showed "Clip 5a", the window glass was now shaking and the cross-fade was not good. Apparently the cross-fade at the window was on the verge of problems. I had to go back to the original video, mute the audio and then add the new sound track, taken from my failed edit. I avoided using the "noise reducer" on the video picture, which caused the problem.

.


Clip 6.
Dressed to Kill

There were no problems here … which was surprising, there are a lot of hand held shots, the shots of Martha walking down the stairs are taken from a tripod. As she walks to the table, it is a tracking shot, hand held from a wheel chair. The two-shot on the table is from a tripod, but the rest are hand held.

All the shots in the shopping arcade are hand held - I couldn't use a tripod - it was in the way of people walking along the arcade. We had a great day there - one of the final shots was where Martha was dragged, kicking and screaming out of the arcade by our two policemen. About 50 people in the adjacent footpath restaurant watched this with great interest - when the shot was completed - they cheered and clapped.

There were no problems with the other video clips. The following is a summary of the situation:


  < Part 16 | Intro | Part 17G | Part 18 >

© copyright Arthur Bullock, 2008


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