MaximumPC 2005 11

EDIT
YOURVIDEO

ect only contains audio, and allows us to

export the clip as a WMA file.

STAGE 4: ADD STOCK

FOOTAGE FOR SPICE

A few well-placed stock clips can add zest

to any project, especially in the opening

and closing scenes. You can do a Google

search for royalty-free video clips, or

import still photographs to use as segues

between clips or to fill space on the video

track to maintain audio sync. You can also

use a solid black image (created in Paint)

to fill space on the video track as needed

to maintain audio sync (by stretching it in

the timeline to the proper duration); this can

always be replaced later with clips and imag-

es. We bookended our movie with colorful

clips at the beginning and end of the video.

Drop the clip or picture onto the timeline,

grab it by the trim handle and stretch it to the

duration you desire. Note that MM2 doesn’t

allow gaps in the video track of the timeline:

Clips automatically “snug up” to the adjoin-

ing clip on the left if you delete one.

Now that we’ve got all our clips in a row,

we’re ready to do some serious editing.

STAGE 5: ORGANIZE

YOUR FOOTAGE

Having skipped automatic clip-splitting

during the capture process, we’re going

to make our first manual pass at it in the

collection. There are a few reasons to split

clips in the collection area instead of in the

timeline. You can rename a clip in a col-

lection but you can’t on the timeline, and

descriptive names are easier to work with

later than “Clip 1” or “Clip 2.” For synching

the visual/audio in the project, it helps to

know the exact location of the clip in the

bigger, original file it came from, and the

“clip properties” data in the collection

includes this information. On the timeline,

the same clip’s properties change to show

just its location on the timeline.

Manually selecting your clips provides

you with an opportunity to spend quality

time with your video, getting to know each

clip individually. Some you’ll love, some

you’ll like, but others you’ll cringe at, and

they can be dispatched now. Remember, for

every minute of footage in your final movie,

there should be four (or more) left on the

editing room floor.

Because we used two sources, we’re

creating two new collections, “Analog

Clips” and “Digital Clips,” and copying

the two original source clips into them to

prevent confusion as we begin to divide

the footage. You can name your collections

anything you want though, especially if you

have multiple cameras. Keeping your col-

lection of clips organized will make it much

easier for you to find just the shot you’re

looking for when you’re editing.

STAGE 6: SPLIT YOUR CLIPS

We recommend you make a couple of

passes at splitting your raw footage into clips

that are interesting. On the first pass, con-

centrate on excising the footage you don’t

want to include. You can safely remove all

those lovely shots of the floor, the too-fast

pans, and the jittery, Blair Witch-style run-

ning-through-the-woods shots. That should

take care of the vast majority of the junk foot-

age you shot. Be sure to leave plenty of the

background footage you shot for your b-roll.

When you assemble your film, you’ll use the

b-roll to fill in gaps between cuts, set up a

scene, and give context to your film. Make

sure you give your clips descriptive names,

46 MA XIMUMPC NOVEMBER 2005

Once you’ve picked your clips, you can start editing your movie! Here are the analog clips in Thumbnail view after first-pass splitting.

Split Like an Expert

Look for changes in visual or audio content—places where splitting is logical.

Remove any fast pans or zooms (such as when a camcorder is left running when

quickly moving from one scene to the next). Another easy split point is someone

walking in front of the camera as it was shooting something else.

Look for poor footage to discard. Out-of-focus frames are obvious candidates.

As you split, rename the clips. Be descriptive and include an assessment or rat-

ing. Note your gut-level decision to keep versus scrap. If you subscribe to the

80/20 rule, look to scrap the 80 percent, not the 20 percent.

Tag the clips to discard but don’t delete them yet. If it’s someone walking past the

camera, split it when he’s in the middle of the frame. Don’t split it before he walks in

front, and after he walks in front. You don’t want a clip of some dude walking from

one side of the screen to the other. You can easily trim the clips in the timeline to

remove him from view, and those extra frames on the good clips always come in

handy when you rethink trim points.