Editing, Day ??: I’ve lost

Editing, Day ??: I’ve lost count. Is it as tedious to read about editing day-to-day as it is to experience editing day-to-day? Since it consumes every one of my 20 waking hours/day, I’m left with little else to write about, though…

Jonah locked almost all the CD (formerly Mini-Disc) audio tracks to the clips used in the rough cut. This, after a long night and early mornings searching for an automatic way to synch up the video and CD audio. Basically, I think it comes down to this: If you have a lot of media, synch AFTER you make a rough cut, and then just synch the clips you use in the cut. If you have a lot of edits in that rough cut, though (and with the kids and the MTV, who doesn’t have a lot of quickfire edits these days?), take a pass through your raw material, whittle it down to a small-medium sized batch that you’re likely to use, and SYNCH IT BEFORE YOU EDIT.

Some metrics for you schedule-building filmmakers out there:

  • it took about 3 hours to cross-reference and capture 35 CD tracks into Final Cut Pro.
  • we missed another 6 tracks, which we captured ad hoc as we found out we missed them.
  • it took film school grad and intermediate/advanced FCP user Jonah about 5 hours to match up the CD audio to the 12 video clips (which you accomplish by making a new sequence, fyi, which doesn’t include ANY of the in/out, subclip, speed, filter, sizing, or other editing data that you may have already spent a couple of weeks putting together).
  • it’s taken novice “Can I borrow your user manual?” FCP user Greg 4 hours to re-place the CD-laden clips throughout the intricately woven rough cut. That, for about 25-30 individual cuts and subclips.
  • Even so, it’s only about 75-80% done.

    Wednesday is the last 20%, tightening the edit down (gotta get down from 20 min. to 15, remember?), and sound editing/effects (i.e., taking out extraneous sounds, laying down background noise, adding phone rings, Charlie’s Angels-style speakerphone effects, etc.)[note: that Angels link is about the movie, not the TV show, and it’s slow to download. Oh, and it’s in Vietnamese. Hey, Google, recommended it. What can I do?]

    Other: On a positive scheduling note, the Cannes Film Selection Committee said it’ll be alright if our tape arrives Tuesday, since Monday is a holiday. No need to bring the tape to the office in person, then (the seemingly excessive backup plan). We now have until Friday, and I save $1700 or 80,000 frequent flyer miles. But I was looking forward to that 6-hour sleep on the plane, though…