Xixax Film Forum

Creative Corner => Filmmakers' Workshop => Topic started by: El Duderino on March 24, 2004, 10:03:54 PM

Title: non-digital camcorder editing
Post by: El Duderino on March 24, 2004, 10:03:54 PM
how do i edit my movie if it's shot on a regular camcorder? i'm new to this, so anything would help.
Title: non-digital camcorder editing
Post by: Ghostboy on March 25, 2004, 01:59:21 AM
By regular I assume you mean VHS or possibly hi8? In that case, you have two options:

1. Buy a video capture card with RCA inputs and edit on your computer.

2. Cut you short with the classic camera-to-VCR pause-record-pause method, by which every great editor has honed their craft.
Title: non-digital camcorder editing
Post by: El Duderino on March 25, 2004, 03:34:43 PM
thanks
Title: non-digital camcorder editing
Post by: Link on April 12, 2004, 09:40:14 AM
Quote from: Ghostboy
2. Cut you short with the classic camera-to-VCR pause-record-pause method, by which every great editor has honed their craft.

Ahh, the good ol' days.  I thought I was so cool and advanced (no one else in my high school even EDITED their movies at all.  Maybe that's why)
Title: non-digital camcorder editing
Post by: El Duderino on May 04, 2004, 01:43:11 PM
will someone give me a step by step way of doing this? (by "this" i mean VCR/Camcorder editing)
Title: non-digital camcorder editing
Post by: ono on May 04, 2004, 04:08:34 PM
Well, I've never done it before, but simple understanding of audio and video input and output -- as well as reading the right books -- has given me an understanding of how it works.

* Put your footage in the camcorder, cue it up.
* Connect the camcorder's audio and video outs to a VCR's audio and video ins.
* Connect the VCR to a television, so you can see what you're doing.  VCR's audio/video outs go to a TV's audio/video ins.
* Put a blank tape in the VCR and record about 20 seconds of black (before the opening of the film only, of course).
* Find the first shot on the camcorder you want to put into your film.  Press record on your VCR, then pause.  You're going to use the pause button from this point on to write each new shot to tape.
* Press play on the camcorder and pause on the VCR at the same time.  The VCR will record whatever's coming from the camcorder onto the tape.  Stop both at the same time to finish the first shot.  That is, stop the camcorder, pause the VCR, so you won't miss a beat.  Note that VCRs usually cut off after five minutes of being paused.  So you'll have five minutes to find your next shot, or you'll have to cue up the tape in the VCR again once the automatic stop kicks in.  The automatic stop will screw up where the tape stops recording.  Be aware of this.
*Later, rinse, repeat.

Questions?  Hope this helped.
Title: non-digital camcorder editing
Post by: El Duderino on May 04, 2004, 06:01:22 PM
thanks
Title: non-digital camcorder editing
Post by: Ghostboy on May 04, 2004, 06:06:05 PM
Also, your VCR will have an approx. 1-2 second delay before it actually starts recording, so you'll have to adjust for this -- i.e. cue the footage on your camcorder a little bit before the shot you actually want. Just get used to watching the timecode display on your VCR and you'll learn all its particular quirks, and before too long you'll be a master of tape to tape editing.
Title: non-digital camcorder editing
Post by: Jeremy Blackman on May 04, 2004, 07:41:34 PM
The imprecision of this whole process disturbs me.  :brickwall:
Title: non-digital camcorder editing
Post by: pete on May 04, 2004, 07:43:02 PM
I got an ATI card for cheap and imported that way.
Title: non-digital camcorder editing
Post by: El Duderino on May 04, 2004, 07:47:48 PM
well, okay, i got two options:
1) everything we've been talking about
2) can edit using premiere, but i dont have a dvd burner and for the contest, it has to be either VHS or DVD.

advice would be lovely
Title: non-digital camcorder editing
Post by: Ghostboy on May 04, 2004, 07:55:18 PM
If you can get your VHS footage into Premiere, then you can get it back out again.

Definitely your best option.