Great advice, Cotty--especially for us novices. Rest assured I'll be saving this to my how-to archives. Thanks! Much appreciated. Cheers, Christine
On Jan 5, 2013, at 4:59 AM, Steve Cottrell <[email protected]> wrote: > On 4/1/13, Derby Chang, discombobulated, unleashed: > >> Retinstated files up now. Durrr, I realised VLC does OGG encoding - all >> this time I thought it was just a player >> >> http://members.iinet.net.au/~derbyc/13/01/intimate_show/index.html > > If I may. > > Rather than selecting a constant value in seconds between each mix > (picture mix - dissolve if you like) why not select the transition point > by feel. This is very hard to do because sometimes one gets so close to > it one loses the plot. the trick is to go with gut reaction then leave > it and look later. My gut reaction is that the individual stills are far > too short. Four seconds is simply not enough time to see the still. If > this means only including the strongest pictures to maintain overall > length, that can be a good thing. > > Actual transition length should also come from the heart. And it is > quite possible that some images will mix through in shorter duration, > some even longer - depends on the images. When I use a mix, I look to > where my eye goes first as it leaves the outgoing shot. > > As for estimating length of a shot and how long the transition takes to > the next - I do it by feel. That is, I will watch a shot in real time > (obviously my shots are usually moving and not still, but not always so) > and then as I feel the transition point approaching, where I would like > the mix to happen, I close my eyes slightly, almost like squinting (as > if that is the transition happening) for the duration of the transition > - eg say a 3 second mix. With my finger hovering over the stop button I > pause it. (most editing software is known as 'JKL' because the K key is > stop, the 'J' key is backwards at X1 [eg real time] and the 'L' key is > forwards at X1 speed [real time] and the more you press J and L the > faster you go in each direction. So I can alternate between J K and L to > go forward, stop, then if I'm not certain I go backwards a bit, stop, > then forwards again to have another 'imaginary transition'. This is just > as you would do it on a film editing Steenbeck machine. > > Once the transition is visualised in the mind, it's just a case of > finding the middle of it. I do this in real time, eyes dimmed, and smack > the K key (although I always go back 2 frames as I've discovered over > the years that from the moment your brain tells your finger to stop the > player and actually hits the button to do it, it always seems to be 2 > frames further on than thought. So in filming terms the hand is 2 frames > late ;-) > > This system works for cuts also - in fact cuts especially. And to music. > > As an editor I always say to people that there is no rule it - the true > test is that if it looks right then it is right. And always go for your > gut reaction to anything. You will put two shots next to each other and > watch them in juxtaposition, feel it's not quite right but leave it > anyway for now, arse about moving the in points and out points about, > then screw about with this and that, think it will do fine. Then much > later when you look through again and it will be startlingly obvious > that it doesn't work at all and you end up redoing the lot! Go with your > heart ;-) > > BTW the audio, in this case the music, is much better - and as you have > discovered is crucial to the look and feel. I think it works well. Just > need a little longer on the pics :) > > HTH > > > > -- > > > Cheers, > Cotty > > > ___/\__ Broadcast, Corporate, > || (O) | Web Video Producion > ---------- <www.seeingeye.tv> > _____________________________ > > > > -- > PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List > [email protected] > http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net > to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow > the directions. > -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
