Digital Editing

Battle Creek Area Community Television 70 West Michigan Ave., Suite 112 • Battle Creek, MI 49017 • (269) 968-3633 • http://accessvision.tv What is editing? Editing is part of the post-production process, or anything that you do to a video after recording. The goal of editing is to arrange pieces of raw footage into a context that tells a story or documents an event.

What can you do in the process of editing? The majority of editing consists of trimming clips to remove unwanted sec- tions, and re-arranging parts to put things in order. You can also remove/add sound, change the volume and mix ofmusic, narration and sound effects. You can also swap audio for video, change the video by applying special effects or adding graphics (titles, credits) and add transitions between clips. Digital or “non-linear” editing is non-destructive; you can work out of order, and edits are easy to revise.

What CAN’T you do in the process of editing? No amount of editing can make bad video footage look good. Focus, framing, under-/overexposed video and audio that is severly overdriven cannot be fixed. You cannot make bad audio good by remov- ing background noise.

Terminology

Import – process of bringing raw material into iMovie. Footage is copied over from SD cards, which shows up as Clips in the project. Photos, scans and sound files can also be imported into iMovie.

Clip - basic unit of media. A clip can be a piece of footage you’ve captured, or a still image.

Clips Pane - window that stores all of the video and still clips as they are imported into iMovie. As clips are drug into the Timeline, they disappear from the pane.

Timeline – edited assembly of audio and video clips. The Timeline is visual representation of your program, and includes tracks for video and audio. When you assemble your program, you are working on the Timeline.

Clip Viewer - an alternate view of the Timeline. It displays clips in a “slide show” layout. Icons for clips are all the same size, regardless of the clip’s length. This view works best for rearranging the order of clips.

Scrubbing - process of dragging the play head through a clip at high speed; similar to shuttling a tape. You’re able to speed through a clip to quickly search without watching the entire clip, using the play head.

Render - process of combining raw video clip media with effects, transitions or titles to produce a new video file. When effects are applied, the end product is not playable in “real time” until it has been rendered. The computer processes the necessary math to produce the effect, and writes a new file. Depending upon the complexity and length of the effect, rendering can take anywhere from a few seconds to several minutes or even hours.

B-roll - video that is not the main action that illustrates or shows examples; supplementary or back up materials. 1 Getting Started

1. Power up. Hit the space bar to wake the computer up. Or, if the computer is turned off, boot it up by pressing the power button on the front of the CPU.

When the computer has finished booting, you will see the desktop, which shows icons for the hard drive (Macintosh HD). This is called the Finder.

Please, for your own sake, for the sake of the other people working on this computer, the staff, and all of humanity, DO NOT MESS WITH ANY OF THE COMPUTER SETTINGS OR THROW ANYTHING AWAY THAT IS NOT YOURS. DO NOT TRY TO ERASE OR INSTALL ANYTHING. If you have problems or are unsure about anything, please ask for assistance.

2. Connect the Firewire Drive.

3. Start iMovie and Create a New Project. Along the bottom of the screen is a strip called the Dock. It has icons for all of the programs. Click on iMovie and the program will start.

When you open iMovie this way, you are presented with several options on the iMovie startup screen; select Create a New Project.

When you start a new Project, the first thing you must do is you tell the program where to save your files:

1. From the list on the left, select Firewire Drive. 2. Give your project a name. 3. Click on Create.

IMPORTANT! Only save projects to the Firewire Drive. Never save anything to the Macintosh HD. If you are unsure where you are saving your project, ask for help before proceeding. ANY WORK SAVED ON THE MACINTOSH HD WILL BE TRASHED.

The next time you come in to work on your movie: 1. Double-click on your Firewire Drive on the desktop 2. Double click on your project to open it.

2 3 4 Overview of the Process

1. Acquire source material. Import raw footage from SD cards, bring other graphics and video files into iMovie.

2. Assemble a “rough cut”. Drag the shots into the Timeline, in order, and trim away any unwanted portions.

3. Refine and finish. Add transitions, effects and titles; add music and sound effects and mix audio. When finished, the program must be encoded into an MPEG2 file, and may be burned to a DVD.

Importing footage files

1. In the Dock, click on the Finder. Insert the SD card into the card reader. The card will show up on the Desktop as CAM_SD

2. Navigate to the VIDEO folder to find your footage. The VIDEO folder is located in: PRIVATE > MEIGROUP > SBGDVSD folders on CAM_SD. Video clips will have .AVI on the end of the file names.

3. Drag and drop the AVI files onto the Clips Pane to copy the files into your project.

4. When copying is finished, right-click on the CAM_SD icon on the desktop and choose EJECT. DO NOT REMOVE THE CARD FROM THE READER UNLESS THE CARD HAS BEEN EJECTED FIRST!

IMPORTANT!

* DO NOT EVER PULL A CARD FROM THE READER OR CAMERA WHILE THE ACCESS LIGHT IS FLASHING! DOING SO WILL RUIN THE CARD AND MAKE FILES UNUSABLE!!

* RESPECT THE SD CARDS! All of your hard work put in to shooting resides only on these little cards. If you mis-manage, lose or accidentally delete your files, your footage is GONE for good. There is no getting it back!

5 iMovie can also import several other types of multimedia files that can be used in your video. These include (but are not limited to): • Graphics files: JPEG, GIF, PICT, BMP, Photoshop • Video files: Quicktime, AVI, MP4, DV stream • Audio files: AIFF, WAV, mp3, Audio CD tracks

Simply drag files from the Finder into the Clips Pane to import. Or, you can go to the File menu and select Import... to select the file you want to import. Imported video or graphics files will show up as a clip in the Clips Pane, and can be treated the same as any other video clips. Once a file has been imported, iMovie no longer needs the original file.

When files are imported, iMovie makes its own version of the files by copying them into the project. This process makes the iMovie project self- contained, but also doubles the amount of space used if the original files already reside on the same drive prior to importing. This can be cumbersome if you are working with long clips. You can avoid duplicating large media files this way by simply moving the media files into iMovie’s hidden MEDIA folder, instead of importing:

1. Close the project or quit iMovie.

2. In the Finder, right-click on your iMovie project file and select “Show Package Contents”. Find the MEDIA folder.

3. Double-click on your hard drive to open a new window for it. Drag all of the .AVI files into the MEDIA folder.

4. Double-click your iMovie project to open it. It will warn you that some stray files were found in the trash; select View Trash.

5. In iMovie, drag the files from the Trash into the Clips Pane, Timeline or Clip Viewer and edit as usual.

It can be helpful to give clips meaningful names after importing. To rename a clip, click on its name to highlight it, then type the new name and hit ENTER or RETURN on the keyboard.

Saving Your Work

It’s a good habit to get into saving your work often. In the event of a crash, you will lose all of your recent edits unless you have saved. To save your project, go to the File menu and select Save Project. Note that each time a project is saved, iMovie forgets all of the Undos.

6 Editing and Trimming Clips iMovie provides more than one way to perform most tasks. You have many options to edit clips: you can either trim clips first, and then put them in the Timeline, or you can drag everything into the Timeline and then trim each clip. Whichever method you choose is entirely up to you, but there are five main ways to trim clips in iMovie.

You can trim clips either from the Clips Pane or the Timeline. Click once on a clip to load it into the Monitor window. Press the spacebar to play the clip, or drag the Playhead to scrub through it. Once you’ve decided which footage to use or to cut, do one of the following:

Trimming Method #1: Press the Delete key • Click and drag under the blue Scrubber Bar to select the range of footage you want to cut out. White Trim Handles will appear on either side of the yellow portion you have selected. • Drag these Trim Handles to further adjust the edit, or use the arrow keys on the keyboard to move the nearest handle frame by frame. • Press the DELETE key on the keyboard.

Trimming Method #2: Choose “Crop” from the Edit menu • Click and drag under the blue Scrubber Bar to select the range of footage that you want keep (usually the middle portion of the clip). • Drag the white Trim Handles to adjust how much footage to keep (in yellow). • Go to the Edit menu and select Crop. This cuts off the unselected (blue) portions of the clip.

Trimming Method #3: Copy and Paste • Click once on a clip in the Shelf to load it into the Monitor window. • Click and drag under the blue Scrubber Bar to select the range of footage that you want to keep (usually the middle portion of the clip). • Drag the white Trim Handles to adjust the edit. • Go to the Edit menu and select Copy. • Click on the Timeline and position the playhead where you want the new clip to be placed. • Go to the Edit menu and select Paste.

You now have two versions of the same clip: an edited version in the Timeline, and an unedited version still on the Shelf.

Trimming Method #4: Split Video Clip at Playhead • In the Timeline, drag the playhead to section you want to remove. • From the Edit menu, select Split Video Clip at Playhead to “chop” the clip. • Click on the portion of the clip you want to remove and press the Delete key.

7 Method #5: Direct Trimming • This method of trimming only works in the Timelline. Place the cursor near one end of a clip and drag toward the center. The clip is trimmed with one move. The trimmed part of the clip is preserved but hidden, so you can drag the end of the clip in and out until you have it exactly as you want. Full clips have rounded corners, while trimmed clips have sharp corners. • Trim adjacent clips in a similar way by placing the cursor near the center of a clip and dragging. As you drag toward an adjacent clip, all the adjoining clips move (or “ripple”) along with it.

Fixing mistakes: If you trim off too much footage, you can always Undo what you just did. To undo, go to the Edit menu and select Undo. You can also Redo, which is essentially the ability to “undo an Undo”. This applies to anything you do to clips or the to Timeline, until you empty the Trash (see below).

To undo all changes made to a clip and return a clip to its original length, go to the Advanced menu and select Revert Clip to Original. You can also undo all changes made to a project since it was last saved by going to the File menu and selecting Revert To Saved...

Assembling the Timeline

Drag and Drop: Drag clips from the Shelf and drop them onto the Timeline to assemble your program. Clips must come from the Shelf -- you can’t drag clips from the Monitor window to the Timeline.

Copy/Paste: You can also assemble a program by pasting clips into the Timeline. Note that Paste never replaces anything; it only adds it to the Timeline. When you copy clips, iMovie does NOT double the media, so you don’t have to worry about filling up hard drive space by copying. If you don’t make copies of clips, they disappear from the Shelf as you drag them to the Timeline. This is useful to keep track of which clips you have used and which ones you have left to use.

If you trim a clip in the Timeline, everything after it is rippled to accommodate the clip’s new length.

Video Inserts (B-roll): To add cutaways while leaving the audio intact: • Select the cutaway clip and choose Copy from the Edit menu. • Position the playhead where you want the clip to go in the timeline. • Go to the Advanced menu and select Paste Over at Playhead. The video is replaced but the audio remains in place.

Switch between the timeline and Clip Viewer by clicking either the film frame or clock buttons. Use the Clip Viewer to rearrange the order of clips. Drag & drop clips to the new position to change the order.

8 Tra s h

If you have an extra clip that you know you won’t need, single- click on it to select it, and press Delete; this moves it to the Trash. As you delete clips, the number next to the Trash button increases. To view the contents of the Trash, click on the Trash button to open the Trash window. To remove a clip from the trash, drag it from the trash window to the Clip Shelf. To delete the clip and regain hard drive space, click on Delete Selected Clip or Emtpy Trash.

Emptying the Trash is permanent. Emptying the trash also wipes out all of your Undos and Redos. So it’s best to leave clips in the Trash until you’re absolutely certain that you want to get rid of clips and won’t need to undo any recent edits.

To be safe, you can always Copy and Paste clips and work with the copies. This leaves the original version of a clip untouched, should you ever change your mind.

Special Effects

Applying Effects to a Clip You can apply video effects to clips to change how they look. Click on the Editing button to access the Video FX pane. To apply an effect to a clip, click on the clip to select it. Then choose the effect from the list. The Monitor window then gives you a rough preview of what the effect will look like.

Each effect can be faded in and out, indicated by the Effect In / Effect Out sliders below the list. Different effects will have different parameters available to adjust, shown on the sliders beneath the list.

You can change the speed of a clip by choosing Fast / Slow / Reverse from the effects list.

Once you have chosen an effect, click the Apply button to apply it. To return a clip to its original state, select Undo from the Edit menu, or choose Revert Clip to Original from the Advanced menu.

Once you apply an effect, the clip must render. A thin red line under the clip indicates its progress in rendering. Clips automatically render in the background, so you can continue working while it renders (although it will slow down the progress of the rendering).

9 Freeze Frame: To create a freeze frame effect, scrub through a clip to find the frame that you want to freeze. With the Playhead set on this frame, go to the Edit menu and select Create Still Frame. Still frames are 5 seconds long by default; copy and paste still clips back to back to make them longer. You can use still frames just like any other video clip.

Adding Transitions

Transitions smooth the cuts between clips and add visual appeal. Like effects, transitions must be rendered. To add a transition:

1. Click the Transitions button in the Editing Pane.

2. Select a transition from the list. Once you click on the transition, it will preview in the Monitor window.

3. Use the Speed slider to modify the speed of the transition into or out of the clip; click an arrow to choose the transition direction, if applicable.

4. You can preview a transition by clicking the Preview button. Once you’re happy with it, drag the transition from the Transitions pane to the desired location in the Timeline.

5. To change a transition, make the necessary adjustments and then click the Update button.

A transition icon appears between the clips in the Timeline, along with the red progress bar while it renders. Again, you can continue working while it renders. Note that since a transition requires overlapping frames from two adjacent clips, iMovie automatically moves the clips closer together by the length of the transition.

10 Creating Titles

Click the Titles button in the Editing pane. Then follow these steps:

1. Choose a title effect from the list.

2. Type the text.

3. Specify the duration and timing using the Speed and Pause sliders. Speed adjusts how long the title takes to come on/go off; Pause adjusts how long it sits on the screen.

4. Choose a font.

5. Specify the size of the lettering.

6. Choose a direction, if necessary.

7. Choose a color for the lettering.

8. Drag the title from the list to the Timeline to apply it.

Titles will be keyed over whatever video is in the Timeline. Turn on the Over Black check box to make text appear over a black background.

The Preview and Update buttons work just like they do in the Transitions pane. And, just like effects and transitions, titles must be rendered.

Note that titles can only be added to the beginning of a clip. If you want a title to occur in the middle of a clip, split the clip first by using the Split Video Clip at Playhead command in the Edit menu, then place the title at the split. If a title is shorter than the clip it overlays, it will automatically split the clip at the end of the title. If the title is longer than the clip, it will give you an error message telling you to shorten the title.

11 Working with Photos

You can add photos to your movie from a digital camera or scanner on a CD/DVD data disc or USB flash drive. To bring images into iMovie, either drag the file from the Finder into the Clips Pane, or select Import from the File menu.

Still images are 5:00 long by default. To shorten them, trim just like you would a video clip; to lengthen photos, copy/paste them back to back or apply the Fast/Slow/Reverse effect. After dragging a still clip to the Timeline, click on the Media tab and select the Photos button. At the top of the Photos pane, Show Photo Settings to apply the Ken Burns Effect, which allows you to apply motion to the photo. Use the sliders to adjust the direction, size and speed of movement.

Working with Audio

When you drag video clips to the Timeline, the audio associated with the clip is included in the video track. Additionally, you have two audio tracks available for adding music, narration or sound effects.

To import music from an Audio CD:

1. Push the eject key on the top right corner of the keyboard.

2. Insert the CD onto the disc tray and push the Eject button again to close the drawer.

3. Use iTunes to play the CD. Double-click audio tracks in the list to play them and find the song you want to use.

4. To add the song to your program, double-click the CD icon on the desktop; drag the track into the iMovie Timeline.

Using Sound Effects iMovie has built-in sound effects. These can be accessed by selecting the Media tab and selecting the Audio pane. Press the Play button to hear the effects. To add sound effects to your program, simply drag them from the list to the Timeline.

iMovie can also import most other types of sound files, such as WAV, AIFF and mp3. Go to the File menu and select Import... then select the file you want to import. You cannot use copyrighted music in your program without written permission. You are free to use any of the music CDs in AccessVision’s Music Library.

12 Narration You can add narration to your program by using the microphone to record your voice: 1. Click Media, and then click the Audio button at the top of the Media pane.

2. Click the Record button and speak into the microphone. Get close to the microphone and speak clearly. While you are speaking, the input meter should be yellow. If it turns red, you are speaking too loudly.

3. Click the Record button again to stop recording. The audio clip of your voice appears in the first audio track of the timeline viewer. You can drag the audio clip to align it with the appropriate video clips.

You can also use just the sound portion of a video by importing the footage from tape the same way as you would video. Drag the clip to the Timeline, and then select Extract Audio from the Advanced menu. This will separate the audio from the video track. Now delete the video.

If you Extract Audio from video clips that you intend to keep in synch, be careful! Once the audio is separated from the video, it is easy to move the clips out of sync with each other. However, Extract Audio doesn’t actually remove the audio from a video clip, it just makes a copy of it in the Timeline. The original audio is still with the video clip, but the volume is turned down. If you make a mistake after extracting audio, use the Volume Slider to turn the volume back up on the original video clip.

Notice that audio clips import directly to the Timeline, they do not appear in the Shelf or Clip Viewer. To see the audio waveform of sound clips, go to View > Show Audio Waveforms.

Audio clips can be laid on top of each other in the same track in the Timeline. Simply drag & drop to move a clip from one track to another.

To keep an audio clip synchronized to a video clip: click on the audio clip, then go to the Advanced menu and choose Lock Audio Clip at Playhead. Locked clips display yellow push pins on them.

Mixing Audio Each clip can have its volume adjusted up or down using the Volume slider at the bottom of the Timeline. You can also make fine adjustments to the volume level over parts of a clip:

1. Choose View > Show Clip Volume Levels. A volume level bar appears in each clip in the Timeline. (NOTE: Show Clip Volume Levels disables Direct Trimming in Timeline)

2. Click a point on the volume level bar where you want to adjust the volume, then drag the marker that appears up or down to make the sound louder or softer at that point. To remove a marker, select it and press Delete.

3. Click the beginning point of the marker and drag to adjust how abruptly the volume changes. This is how you make a clip fade in or out.

Double-clicking a clip will bring up the Clip Info box, which allows you to rename the clip.

13 To mute clips, select them and turn the Volume slider all the way down. To mute an entire Track in the Timeline, uncheck the check boxes at the far right end of the Timeline.

You can easily adjust the Volume of several clips at once by holding down the Shift key on the keyboard as you click to select multiple clips. Then adjust the Volume slider; it will bring the audio down the same amount for all clips selected.

Finishing Your Program and Preparing It To Air

Once you have completed editing your program, add the AccessVision disclaimer to the end: “The views and comments expressed on this program are those of the producer and not those of AccessVision, its staff and board of directors.”

The disclaimer must air for a minimum of 10 seconds, and must be readable. You can create a title for this, or select Import from the File menu, and then select any of the clips inside the Disclaimers folder.

Next, follow these steps for encoding and moving completed programs into the on-air playback sys- tem: 1. Go to the File menu > Quit iMovie after saving.

2. Locate your iMovie project on your hard drive and right-click.

3. Select Show Package Contents.

4. Inside the Cache folder, click and rename the file Timeline Movie.mov to your show title and episode number. *File names must be no more than 27 characters long and contain no spaces. Series programs need both a program title AND episode number in the file name.

5. Drag & drop the movie file (that you renamed in Step 4) onto the NEXUS droplet icon on the Desktop. Click Submit. Your movie will now be encoded to MPEG2 format and automatically sent to playback for airing.

This process will take approximately 1/3 to 1/2 of the total running time of your edited program to complete. Click on the Dock to open Batch Monitor to see time remaining. Please check with a staff person before leaving.

At the End of Your Edit Session

Now eject your Firewire Drive so that it disappears from the Desktop by clicking the eject button next to it in the Finder window, or dragging it toward the Trash on the Dock. once the drive no longer appears on the Desktop, it is safe to unplug and return it to the Equipment Room. DO NOT UNPLUG YOUR HARD DRIVE IF IT STILL APPEARS ON THE DESKTOP!

You have 60 days to complete a project; after that, your hard drive may be erased without notice.

14 Resources for Learning iMovie Help (found in the Help menu) is a great resource for learning. It is searchable and even contains step-by-step instructions. Also check out the following links for info: http://www.apple.com/ilife/imovie/ http://www.atomiclearning.com/imovie_hd_6 http://www.danslagle.com/mac/iMovie/index.shtml http://discussions.apple.com/category.jspa?categoryID=141

Advanced Tips

• Use iTunes to browse the library of over 500 Jumpbacks, animated background video clips to use in your productions. Pick a volume from the playlists on the left. Once you’ve found the right background, go to the Shared Documents folder (on the desktop) and go to the Jumpbacks folder to find the appropriate Volume folder with the clip inside. Now drag the clip into iMovie. Most Jump- backs can be seamlessly looped by copying and pasting the clip back-to-back in the timeline.

There are many other sound effects, music tracks and backgrounds available for you to use in the Shared Documents folder. Use File > Import... to use them in your project.

• Scans: If you want to create still images from scans in an image-editing program like Photoshop, make them at least 640 x 480 pixels, RGB color; make them larger if you intend to add motion to them with the Ken Burns effect.

If there are problems with the computer itself, ask a staff member for help; DO NOT ATTEMPT TO TROUBLESHOOT THE COMPUTER YOURSELF. DO NOT ERASE ANY DRIVES. DO NOT TRASH ANYTHING FROM THE MACINTOSH HD.

Jason Augenstein, Projects Coordinator [email protected] 9/12

15 Do’s and DOH!’s of Creating Graphics for Video

Homer says...

• DON’T make lettering too small. Even though it may be readable on the computer monitor, quality is degraded when going to video tape.

• DO use contrast in lettering. Light text on a dark background or dark text on a light background will work best. Avoid using text that is similar in value/color to the background.

• DON’T use too many fonts. One or two fonts is plenty, anything more runs the risk of appearing disorganized and competing for attention. For more variety, use variations on a font: extended, condensed, bold, italics, ALL CAPS, lower case.

• DO use drop shadows and outlines to make text stand out from the background.

• DON’T place items too close to the edge of the frame. Remember to leave about 10% - 15% of empty space around the edges for the TV safe area.

• DO paraphrase or abbreviate text for the screen when appropriate. Unless you are close-captioning a program, graphical information should supplement what is being heard, not dictate it word-for-word.

• DON’T use too much color in text. Black, white or yellow is best.

• DO leave titles up on screen long enough for viewers to read. A good rule of thumb is that a title should appear for the amount of time it takes to read it out loud twice.

• DON’T use hard to read fonts. Avoid any typeface that is too thin, too fancy or too small. Bold typefaces without serifs work best.

• DO use a shape behind titles if the background is too busy. A black rectangle behind a title can help it be more readable.

• DON’T overuse capitals. TYPING EVERYTHING IN ALL CAPS IS THE VISUAL EQUIVALENT OF YELLING AT THE VIEWER.

• DO be consistent with your design. Once you develop a “look”, use the same treatment for all graphics throughout the program. Save time by creating one graphic with the look you want, then copying that page for the rest of the graphics.

• DON’T cover someone’s face with titles. Position the title in the lower third of the screen, or in empty areas of the frame. Keep this composition in mind when shooting, to leave enough room for titles.

• DO steal design ideas from other shows you see on TV, especially news.

• DON’T use heavily-saturated colors, especially reds. Saturated colors will bleed on video. Dos & Don’ts Best Practices for Editing Video

DO DON’t

4 Be creative - think visually! 4 Don’t start editing until all material has been shot. 4 Edit on paper first: log footage, transcribe interviews, write a script and 4 Don’t try to make an epic production for follow it. your first project. Start small and work your way up. 4 Start with a rough cut by getting all shots trimmed and sequenced in the right 4 Don’t bore your audience by making the order. video too long. Shorter is usually better.

4 Edit the sound track together first, 4 Don’t be afraid to cut parts out. You do then add cutaways, etc. to match the not have to use every single thing that audio. was shot.

4 Begin scenes with a wide shot to 4 Don’t cut from a moving shot to a static establish the setting, then cut in closer. one, or vice-versa.

4 Use pacing. Cut to a new shot every 4 Don’t linger on a shot longer than 3-4 seconds. Slower cutting creates a necessary. more relaxed pace; faster cutting creates more tension and excitement. 4 Don’t overuse transitions or special effects. Edits work best when they are 4 Cut on the action when possible. motivated.

4 Use B-roll/cutaways to cover up 4 Don’t try to use slide presentation jump-cuts in interviews. software to create video graphics. Use the right tool for the job. 4 Use editing to condense time. 4 Don’t make graphics/titles too small or 4 Use graphics to reinforce important too thin. facts or to cover statistical info. 4 Don’t strictly adhere to all of these rules. 4 Steal ideas from things you see on Rules are meant to be broken! TV/movies.