Entry-level video production

[muncisorul]

Indeed a interesting topic, and the field is full of producers but only a handful are really great producers and create masterpieces.A friend of mine is working at a video production New York  firm and he agrees that most movies today are such low quality compared to the old classics.

[cayenne]

Indeed a interesting topic, and the field is full of producers but only a handful are really great producers and create masterpieces.A friend of mine is working at a video production New York  firm and he agrees that most movies today are such low quality compared to the old classics.

Well, first you need to start with a good quality story....then.....

 

[DB]

They should look at buying a couple of Rebel T2i's with 50mm f1.8 mkII lens (total cost < $1,000). Remember the 9-second rule in video - never have the camera on one location/person for more than 9 secs (no matter what they're doing), use multi-cam to increase number of straight-cuts, plus looks infinitely more professional.

A Zoom H4n (<$300) 4Ch audio recorder is a necessity (or something similar), then pick up some used shotgun mics and some XLR extension cables (<$10 each).

Forget lighting for now, just too expensive for their budget, use 'daylight' its free!

Finally, they need to seriously consider what editing software they're going to use, after all, Adobe Production Premium CS6 would blow 100% of their budget, not to mention having really powerful PC/Mac to edit (need a serious graphics card either NVidia or AMD with at least 1 Gig of Video RAM to process HD video files). I spent 1.5 times their total budget on a custom-built PC that runs Adobe Premiere Pro with GPU-acceleration (utilising fully the Mercury Playback Engine). My other computer a 3Gig dual-core 64-bit Windows Professional laptop will not even playback full HD video in real-time (and it has a 17" 1600x1024 screen).

Seriously, they need to consider computer hardware + software too (unless they already have them) and I would advise doubling or trebling that budget. No point capturing great 1080p video if you cannot process or edit it.

[westr70]

Finally, they need to seriously consider what editing software they're going to use, after all, Adobe Production Premium CS6 would blow 100% of their budget, not to mention having really powerful PC/Mac to edit (need a serious graphics card either NVidia or AMD with at least 1 Gig of Video RAM to process HD video files). I spent 1.5 times their total budget on a custom-built PC that runs Adobe Premiere Pro with GPU-acceleration (utilising fully the Mercury Playback Engine). My other computer a 3Gig dual-core 64-bit Windows Professional laptop will not even playback full HD video in real-time (and it has a 17" 1600x1024 screen).

Seriously, they need to consider computer hardware + software too (unless they already have them) and I would advise doubling or trebling that budget. No point capturing great 1080p video if you cannot process or edit it.

I second DB's recommendations.  I would also recommend using lynda.com monthly subscription to learn Premiere Pro if you don't already know it.  I spend a weekend with it and got the basics down with no sweat.  Now of course I have to go back over it again and again (the tutorials) until I really get it!  It's worth the extra money to have a no nonsense tutorial you can access day or night (assumes internet connection).  You can even "rent" premiere pro from adobe if you don't want or need it full time.  Good luck and have fun.

[cayenne]

Finally, they need to seriously consider what editing software they're going to use, after all, Adobe Production Premium CS6 would blow 100% of their budget, not to mention having really powerful PC/Mac to edit (need a serious graphics card either NVidia or AMD with at least 1 Gig of Video RAM to process HD video files). I spent 1.5 times their total budget on a custom-built PC that runs Adobe Premiere Pro with GPU-acceleration (utilising fully the Mercury Playback Engine). My other computer a 3Gig dual-core 64-bit Windows Professional laptop will not even playback full HD video in real-time (and it has a 17" 1600x1024 screen).

Seriously, they need to consider computer hardware + software too (unless they already have them) and I would advise doubling or trebling that budget. No point capturing great 1080p video if you cannot process or edit it.

I second DB's recommendations.  I would also recommend using lynda.com monthly subscription to learn Premiere Pro if you don't already know it.  I spend a weekend with it and got the basics down with no sweat.  Now of course I have to go back over it again and again (the tutorials) until I really get it!  It's worth the extra money to have a no nonsense tutorial you can access day or night (assumes internet connection).  You can even "rent" premiere pro from adobe if you don't want or need it full time.  Good luck and have fun.

Can someone point out the primary differences that Adobe Premier has over Final Cut Pro X, that warrants the huge pricing difference?

Thanks,

C

[bp]

You might want to turn to Google for FCPX vs Premiere comparisons

The nutshell version of it is Apple totally revamped FCPX to cater to the amateur Uncle Bob crowd, lowering the price and leaving out a lot of pro-level features and alienating droves of professionals who've jumped ship to either Premiere or Avid.

[cayenne]

You might want to turn to Google for FCPX vs Premiere comparisons

The nutshell version of it is Apple totally revamped FCPX to cater to the amateur Uncle Bob crowd, lowering the price and leaving out a lot of pro-level features and alienating droves of professionals who've jumped ship to either Premiere or Avid.

Well, from what I have read so far in researching this....it seemed to me that FCPX has of now..added in all the things that the pros were mad about being left out at the time of FCPX's debut.

About the only thing I can see people complaining about...was that the format of the application itself (layout, magnetic timeline) was a new paradigm in how to interact with the GUI itself.....people b!tching about having to have an old dog learn new tricks so to speak.

Since I'm new.....learning one or the other is no big deal to me.

But I was wondering if there is a serious lack of functionality that FCPX has that Adobe Premier does have...and from what I've read, it doesn't......but hoping someone with Adobe/FCPX hands on experience could tell me what else FCPX is missing in functionalty....after the updates subsequent to the debut (multi-cams, etc).

Thanks!

C

[The_Arsonist]

You might want to turn to Google for FCPX vs Premiere comparisons

The nutshell version of it is Apple totally revamped FCPX to cater to the amateur Uncle Bob crowd, lowering the price and leaving out a lot of pro-level features and alienating droves of professionals who've jumped ship to either Premiere or Avid.

There is nothing missing from FCPX that anyone with a budget of under $20k would miss. Most of the features of FC7 are there, they have just either been tweaked, moved, or vastly improved. The multi cam, audio sync, and little interface tweaks make me wonder how I ever survived in 7.

I can't speak to the differences between FCPX and Premiere, as the last time I used Premiere was 8 years ago. Rather than focus on the differences, maybe the question is, can I get professional results from FCPX/Premiere? I would say yes to both. It's kind of like the differences between Nikon and Canon

[cayenne]

You might want to turn to Google for FCPX vs Premiere comparisons

The nutshell version of it is Apple totally revamped FCPX to cater to the amateur Uncle Bob crowd, lowering the price and leaving out a lot of pro-level features and alienating droves of professionals who've jumped ship to either Premiere or Avid.

There is nothing missing from FCPX that anyone with a budget of under $20k would miss. Most of the features of FC7 are there, they have just either been tweaked, moved, or vastly improved. The multi cam, audio sync, and little interface tweaks make me wonder how I ever survived in 7.

I can't speak to the differences between FCPX and Premiere, as the last time I used Premiere was 8 years ago. Rather than focus on the differences, maybe the question is, can I get professional results from FCPX/Premiere? I would say yes to both. It's kind of like the differences between Nikon and Canon

Cool!!

Well, I think I'm gonna try the FCPX for the 30 day trial, and then likely drop the $300 on it.
From the tutorials I've been watching, it appears to be more than enough for me to get a solid start with.....and concepts like color correction, audio dub/sync, green screens...etc...etc....are common to either platform, and seems to be mostly a manner of learning where each one places the buttons to do what you want.

C

[The_Arsonist]

Yes, I highly recommend walking through everything with tutorials. My usual approach of figuring it out on my own frustrated me to the point of writing it off when it was released. Now that I've read up and watched videos, I appreciate it much more

[The_Arsonist]

Also, not sure if Premiere still has the demo, but you can try out a month of Creative Cloud for $50 and test drive the whole CS6 suite

[DB]

Also, not sure if Premiere still has the demo, but you can try out a month of Creative Cloud for $50 and test drive the whole CS6 suite

FYI, if you're a student (even part-time) or a teacher, you can purchase a complete copy of Adobe Production Premium CS6 (with After Effects/Premiere Pro/Photoshop/Illustrator etc.) for less than $350 (or perhaps someone in the family is in full-time college education, that way you get a fully licensed copy at a sensible price).

[XSHINERX]

As a video producer, I would say that if you shoot the crap out of everything,make sure its in focus and exposed  well enough,  make sure your audio is clean,then  you can work miracles in post. As far as final cut 10 and adobe premiere, go with final cut x, learn how to edit, if you outgrow FC, skip premiere and learn Avid, thats what grown ups use, to edit!

[HurtinMinorKey]

skip premiere and learn Avid, thats what grown ups use, to edit!

What can Avid do that Premiere CS6 can't do?

[Policar]

skip premiere and learn Avid, thats what grown ups use, to edit!

What can Avid do that Premiere CS6 can't do?

It's much better suited for a larger production with more editors working on the same project and with other media sourced out to other programs.

In terms of simple cutting, anything that can output an EDL will do.

It also depends who you consider to be "grown ups."  A LOT of tv, even really huge budget stuff, is edited in FCP7 and finished in Smoke, but most large films are still cut in Avid.  If you're looking to work as a movie editor, knowing Avid might be more helpful to you...  For an independent production company, Premiere Pro might be the best choice--it's very fast, integrates well with the Creative Suite, and for editing Red footage it's unparalleled--so long as you don't try to bring any non-Adobe software into the mix.