Trimming |

I’ve decided to take some time and create some tutorials in video editing. Video Editing 101 is a 25-minute video tutorial. The rundown of this video is below.

:28-Recording media on a memory card and not editing off your memory card

1:00-Never edit video off a memory stick

1:55-Folder hierarchy

3:25-Naming conventions

4:04-External Hard Drives

5:21-Setting up Scratch Disk

8:30-buried preview files

9:28-Workspaces

10:04-Import into the project

11:11-Importing pointer not actual files

11:44- (~) key expanding a panel full frame

12:16-Project panels list view and icon view

12:35-Scrubbing video in the icon view in project panel

13:01-Naming convention of raw clips

13:56-Putting clips in the source monitor

14:34-J, K, L keyboards shortcuts

15:16-Playhead

15:20-Timecode

16:12-Mark IN

16:41-Mark OUT

16:57-Dragging 1st edit to New Item Icon

17:38-Labeling sequence

19:44-Up and down arrow keyboard shortcuts

20:11-Adjusting Mark IN and Mark OUT in the source panel

20:52-Dragging edit to timeline or insert function

21:45-Patch panel

23:44-Match-action edit

After you watch the 101 video, you are ready to edit a VO/SOT in Premiere Pro. The rundown of this video is below.

:30 – Making sure scratch disk is set

1:00 – Changing autosave

1:54 – Going through labeling of clips in the Project panel

3:55 – S.W.A.P – Synchronize Words and Pictures

4:30 – Writing the script and editing the VO simultaneously

5:58 – Starting a new sequence with the new item icon

6:12 – Title your VO sequence

6:46 – Zooming in on the timeline

7:17 – Going through my process of reading script and editing VO

7:25 – Using match action to for a cut

8:06 – (.) key – keyboard command to insert video

10:15 – Using into the frame to decide an edit

11:56 – Using motion to select and IN point

12:05 – 10 seconds of pad on your VO

13:31 – Editing the SOT

13:50 – Using timecode to set IN point

14:23 – Drag SOT to new item icon to create a new sequence

15:07 – Modify a stereo pair to dual mono in your raw video

16:51 – Using solo to listen to one audio track

17:20 – Using the option key to eliminate one channel

17:45 – Auto Gain function for audio

18:33 – Pad at beginning of SOT using ripple tool

20:27 – Pad at end of SOT using ripple tool

21:00 – Export VO & SOT using H.264

I’ve been editing on non-linear systems for nearly 20 years. I edited on Avid, Final Cut Pro and Adobe Premiere. Each time I learned the process of editing on these platforms, I somehow skipped trimming. It wasn’t until I re-learned each NLE that I started to grasp trimming. Once you get clips marked and into the timeline, you should never go back to the original clip. All adjustments should be made in the timeline. Other than undo, mark in and mark out, your next most used Tool in your NLE arsenal should be ALL trim tools.

What is trimming? I took this definition from Final Cut Pro HD Hands-On Training by Larry Jordan. “Trimming is the process of removing, or adding, frames to the beginning and end of your shots so that the edits flow naturally, maintaining your story, without calling attention to your editing.”

The first Tool in your NLE trim arsenal is the Ripple Tool (Rool Tool in Avid). In both Avid and Final Cut, the Tool removes or adds frames to one side of an edit. The Tool allows you to adjust just one side of an edit. How about a video explanation for this?

Watch the clip below, 5 Minute Lesson The Ripple Tool

This is a lesson in Final Cut. Ordinarily, I don’t like to focus on one NLE in this blog, but the Tool is an essential tool in editing. Plus, the fact that in Avid and Final Cut the Tool operates, in the same manner, I thought you could grasp no matter what your NLE is.