First (self) Edited Video

Seahorse · Jan 25, 2014

Well I had my son Neil help me with film editing today (he has been editing for about 4 years, I started this week) but I did the selecting, clicking and after about 8 test renders (arguments about quality & codecs - H.264 ftw) we appear to have the optimum settings! No stabilisation, it seemed to make video quality worse.

Anyhow, I flight with my P2V this morning was a full battery so 20 or so minutes whittled down to 6 showing my wife Jane, daughter Rachel and the dogs on the beach this morning...

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X0WpJlPmZ-I[/youtube]

Skimmer · Jan 25, 2014

Very nice Mike.

CaptainChet · Jan 25, 2014

Nice video but WAY TOO LONG.

As a photographer, you need to tell the story in 1-3 minutes max. The shorter the better! Most will watch the same shot for 15 seconds and then lose interest! I always tell people to watch a 30 sec tv commercial and see how long each shot last. Amazing how short each take is. Watch a feature film, time the average scene length. You will be amazed to find few more than 20 seconds before a cut.

Just my 2c.

ladykate · Jan 25, 2014

Well done on the editing. Congrats! It is always fun to figure out new things.

My first Phantom video was about five minutes but it was too long - but I didn't care - I was doing it for myself

I agree with keeping it short and telling the story quickly. I'm going to be doing a four day event shortly and my goal is to edit it to one minute. OK.. 1 1/2 minutes. ;-} Even then it will likely only be appealing to the aficionados who will be watching it.

After my first few full flight uploads, I started posting one minute videos. They are still boring but no one has a chance to click off the video before it is over. ;-}

Seahorse · Jan 26, 2014

Thanks for the advice, It's hard to cut some of it because you make it, and you then think "this is cool, let's keep that bit in" but clearly I need to be a bit more objective and/or brutal in the cutting!

In retrospect there is an element of duplication in there so clearly room for improvement I guess I simply need to break the footage down into the good smooth bits and then cut them together and see how much is left with the whole 1-3 minute thing.

I have read the top tips thread but there so much stuff to learn with the P2V it's a bit overwhelming with the whole and learn film editing at the same time thing and the desire to share.

Note to self:

1-3 minutes max
no shot longer than 15 seconds

Studiowise · Jan 26, 2014

Very nice, i especially like it when the dogs are running with the pan about the 1 minute mark!
You did well keeping the subjects in shot but it did seem at times a little bit 'GPS-y'. Did you try flying in S1-ATTI at all? Letting it fly with the breeze for smoother pans and then catch it with a return to S1-GPS (which you edit out anyway).

Seahorse · Jan 26, 2014

I have only had it a week, so only flying GPS until I feel more comfortable, besides I see too many horror stories about noob pilots crashing :shock:

The one where the dogs match the pan is easily my favorite too, couldn't have planned that. It does prove you don't have to be up a mountain or live somewhere exotic to capture something cool , even doing something as mundane as walking the dogs, just lucky

Studiowise · Jan 26, 2014

Seahorse said:
I have only had it a week, so only flying GPS until I feel more comfortable, besides I see too many horror stories about noob pilots crashing :shock:

Ha! I get what you're saying but trust me, on an unpopulated (deserted!) beach its well worth trying from the height you were at!
Just flick S1 into ATTI and then be gentle with the sticks, it will stop those abrupt tilts where the GPS leans back the way its just come from to try and stop dead. As soon as you're unsure, flick it back into GPS while you compose what the next composition will be.

Then once you've cracked that, gimbal purchase .... all within a fortnight! :lol:

ladykate · Jan 26, 2014

Seahorse said:
Thanks for the advice, It's hard to cut some of it because you make it, and you then think "this is cool, let's keep that bit in" but clearly I need to be a bit more objective and/or brutal in the cutting!

Trust me, I am sure we have all been there - I sure have and I still add too much in. With the Phantom, I've noticed a huge tendency (by me) to do panoramic shots by getting high and doing a full circle. I hate it when anyone else does it so I'm not sure what possesses me.

Editing is a whole different skill and can take a while (much longer than the flight!). Sometimes I realize I made a mess and just cut out the awful parts and call it done.

What is funny is that in my previous career I was on a Board that approved marketing materials and I was always nit-picking things. It is somewhat ironic that I can't make myself be as picky when it is my material. Of course, having the skill to do the job plays in it a bit... I can critique anything... can't do much. :lol:

ladykate · Feb 20, 2014

Thought I would come back to this and post an example of a short video. Just finished this one. My pyro friends like it better than the five minute versions which seem to always drag on a bit.

http://youtu.be/YHArdbgYQV8

The video embed feature doesn't seem to be working so just go to the link.