[sonicularulus]

Okay, i've got a power mac dp 2.0ghz, everything stock, but i just recently installed a 320gb hdd. As a new video editor, hoping to go to the top working in hollywood, i wanna know what are some good necessary equipment to have.
this is my equipment so far:
-dv cam
-dv cable
-stock apple keyboard/mouse (i want to get one of those shuttle xpresses and a 2 button mouse)
-external hard drive (300gb, actually a company drive, but i use it cuz i need the space)
-17 inch monitor (i want to save up for the 23 inch apple or something similar)
that is basically it. i can easily save up money because i have nothing else to spend it on.
can you recommend what other stuff i should get to improve my setup.
please dont tell me to upgrade ram. i plan to upgrade that once i can afford to buy all the ram. i am using final cut pro 5 as my video editing software. please respond.

[mojo2]

Originally Posted by sonicularulus

Okay, i've got a power mac dp 2.0ghz, everything stock, but i just recently installed a 320gb hdd. As a new video editor, hoping to go to the top working in hollywood, i wanna know what are some good necessary equipment to have.
this is my equipment so far:
-dv cam
-dv cable
-stock apple keyboard/mouse (i want to get one of those shuttle xpresses and a 2 button mouse)
-external hard drive (300gb, actually a company drive, but i use it cuz i need the space)
-17 inch monitor (i want to save up for the 23 inch apple or something similar)
that is basically it. i can easily save up money because i have nothing else to spend it on.
can you recommend what other stuff i should get to improve my setup.
please dont tell me to upgrade ram. i plan to upgrade that once i can afford to buy all the ram. i am using final cut pro 5 as my video editing software. please respond.

Well, your goal is admirable and exciting and you have the basic equipment that should enable you to go far.

My thoughts first tend toward sound.

What kind of camera? Do you have external mics for it? Do you have the equipment in your editing area or anywhere in your environment for a V.O. set up? Mic & stand, pop filter, headphones, mixer, condenser, recorder, audio monitors? Is your room soundproof?

Can you capture audio (digitally) from the TV/VCR/DVD and Radio as well as from CD's and Mp3's with a variety of cables, plugs and mics.

I'd read about sound needs for an editor, which may overlap but is different than sound for on location recording and which is also different for the dj or recording studio engineer.

[sonicularulus]

well, im just going towards a video editor. the cameras used for recording are mid professional panasonics (dvx100 and similar units).
i dont have a soundproof room. i think its more reasonable to get noise cancelling headphones. i can capture audio digitally because powermacs have the optical inputs. audio mixers are really important in multicam editing, but i dont think its one of the first goals i should have.
but thanks for your output. looking forward for more from other members.

[MovieCutter]

Well...you seem to have much of the equipment needed to edit video, but if you're really going to be a "video editor" that wants to go to the top in Hollywood...you REALLY need to learn the craft of editing if you haven't already done so. Read books, watch old movies and watch the editing (pacing, cutaways, continuity, etc). I have the same ambitions as you do (editing for Hollywood directors and even directing myself someday) but to learn to edit I had to spend the last 6 years watching, studying, and reading about the craft. Anyone can punch buttons, but editing is also storytelling through carefully chosen shots, edits to control pacing, flow, and intensity of emotions through the shots you choose. Just a little side advice and my 2 cents.

As far as equipment is concerned, if you don't want to kill the heads on your camera, get a deck. Sony has a new one that plays back DVCAM, DV, and HDV (in my market, DVCAM is the format of choice. LA seems to prefer DVCPRO from Panasonic from what some of my LA friends say as far as a prosumer DV format goes, 35mm and DigiBeta or BetaSP are the primary weapons of choice.) But spending $3000 on a camera and capturing your tapes from there is going to put twice the wear on the heads. I know I would never capture tapes from my XL-2, so until I can put down another $3k on a deck, I bought a cheap $100 MiniDV video camera and use the DVCAM deck from school for DVCAM based client work.

[sonicularulus]

do you still get the same capture quality (from dv to mac) from a cheap minidv cam compared to a high end cam?
currently, i use my personal cam, a jvc, to capture and the company provides cameras to record events.

[MovieCutter]

Originally Posted by sonicularulus

do you still get the same capture quality (from dv to mac) from a cheap minidv cam compared to a high end cam?
currently, i use my personal cam, a jvc, to capture and the company provides cameras to record events.

It's all the same 0's and 1's as far as I'm concerned, I've never noticed any problems. I'm getting a deck soon. But at my production company one of my decks is a DVCAM deck which gives me the same results visually anyway.

[sonicularulus]

why are decks so expensive, the cheapest (stand alone) deck i found was for 1500
i found a dual deck, dv (mini and regular) and a vhs deck): http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/cont...goryNavigation
its 800, or 600 used....
i am really considering buying one, but i am really short on cash...

[mojo2]

www.dvxuser.com for more info.

[k_munic]

get a tripod for your camera
get minimum 3 (three) books about using the software
get FinalCutExpress
get second monitor for dual-monitor set-up
get a Sensai teaching you skills (not the neighbour who has done "it" before)
get 5 years of experience…

get back here then and post your developement. ;-)

[sonicularulus]

i've got a tripod for my camera, but i dont use my camera to record events.
i've got one book so far: Apple Pro Training Series: Final Cut Pro 5.
I plan to get the advanced color correcting book and advanced editing book later on when they come out
i will get a second monitor once i get the money
i've got a sensai/boss who paid a lot of money to get trained to do it...
once im 20 years old, ill have my 5 years...only 15 right now...

[MovieCutter]

Brothers in arms it seems. I started using Final Cut when I was your age, it had just come out by then and I had used Premiere <<shudders>> and started editing at age 7 with two VCRs and a camcorder (even though I didn't know what I was doing until about age 9 when I made my first movie over 5 minutes long).

Yeah, again, just shoot and edit. Try everything, different angles, different times of day, effects using natural light, movements, zip pans, etc. Then what I found useful in learning the program in my younger days is pick your favorite song and make a music video for it. Music videos have a very condensed package with a lot of editing techniques (color dips, speed variations, narrative, quick cuts, cuts on beats, rythm...basically anything) You can easily tell a narrative story with a 3 minute song through editing.

Other than that the Apple Pro Training Series is a great place to start because it hints on WHY some edits and decisions are being made. I got my certification using those books and even though I have been using the program since day one practically, I'm still learning new things...basically little shortcuts and techniques and problem solving ideas that you can only learn with years of experience. Just have fun and watch a lot of films and television and hone your eye to the editing (pacing, motive, effects, transitions, etc.)

[sonicularulus]

thanks for the advice moviecutter..
final cut pro is my first "true" editing software. before this, i used pc stuff like windvd creator and windows movie maker two *shudders*
anywas on my free time (probably not until next summer), i will try to make my own music video.
ever since i have started to edit video, movies never seemed the same. i tend to rate movies by visual effects and editing techniques, but not much by story line. and being an editor give me one more reason why my parents should take me to the movies more often

[OogaBooga]

It's good that you've seemed to find your passion early. Some aren't so lucky.

[k_munic]

the bad guy from Germany again:
Editing isn't just how to know the right knobs&switches... it's an artform.-
As a real editor, you need knowledge about this art.
Sergei Eisenstein/"Bronenosets Potyomkin" was one of the first and best known Masters of edit.... have look at his movie ( http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0015648/ ), learn, how to "montage" two sequences to get a third content/meaning.
look at the scene in Kubrik's "2001", when the ape uses a tool first time, how the bone flies into air - edit - is a spaceship - THAT is edit, the tiny black stripe between two frames of film, effecting a new content, a specific meaning. look any movie with an Oscar for editing......
now, theMTV generation believes, just do 8framer jumpcuts, do 20layer compos, do wild processing and you're done..... no, you aren't. you can FEEL the difference between glueing and editing. the difference between an operator and an editor.

but, watching "good" movies is a very good start to learn; what you urgently need is someone who EXPLAINS to you, what you have seen, not in terms of "wowy, impressive, so much action!", but in terms of skills and arts.......

good luck for your journey...... :-)

[Dakkon]

my advice to you would be, to make do with what you have for a while, some times throwing a bunch of money at somthing isnt the best way to learn. i would reccomend, on getting the second monitor, and ram, those should be your priority, in my mind. i would say for a 15 yr old, do with what you have, learn the basics, then move on from there.. cause at this point in the game that is what you should be concintrating on..

[sonicularulus]

yea, defanitly some ram...
i should have done that first before the extra hard drive...lol..
anyways,
currently i am saving up for the ram, then im going to buy a second monitor...
believe it or not, i edit video for weddings (for now...) and as i submit each wedding in, i get more tips on what i should do to be more artistic...

[sonicularulus]

Originally Posted by MovieCutter

Brothers in arms it seems. I started using Final Cut when I was your age, it had just come out by then and I had used Premiere <<shudders>> and started editing at age 7 with two VCRs and a camcorder (even though I didn't know what I was doing until about age 9 when I made my first movie over 5 minutes long).

Yeah, again, just shoot and edit. Try everything, different angles, different times of day, effects using natural light, movements, zip pans, etc. Then what I found useful in learning the program in my younger days is pick your favorite song and make a music video for it. Music videos have a very condensed package with a lot of editing techniques (color dips, speed variations, narrative, quick cuts, cuts on beats, rythm...basically anything) You can easily tell a narrative story with a 3 minute song through editing.

Other than that the Apple Pro Training Series is a great place to start because it hints on WHY some edits and decisions are being made. I got my certification using those books and even though I have been using the program since day one practically, I'm still learning new things...basically little shortcuts and techniques and problem solving ideas that you can only learn with years of experience. Just have fun and watch a lot of films and television and hone your eye to the editing (pacing, motive, effects, transitions, etc.)

Question: About how much does the test cost?

[outsiderlookingin]

Go buy these two books---->The Filmmakers Handbook (purple book at Barnes and Noble for $20) and Robert Rodriguez's book, Rebel Without a Crew ($15). Read 'em, take some color theory classes somewhere and shoot everything you can. You will learn a lot more from reading these books and making your own shorts than you will learn by reading those how to books and buying a whole bunch of stuff. Also, try to learn as much as you can about traditional editing methods with film. This will help you understand how the concepts work in the digital world. If you gain that appreciation and insight it will take you very far.

[stevesnj]

Originally Posted by sonicularulus

do you still get the same capture quality (from dv to mac) from a cheap minidv cam compared to a high end cam?
currently, i use my personal cam, a jvc, to capture and the company provides cameras to record events.

delete me please