27 Live Music Edits in 3 1/2 Days, I love Veg

MUTTLEY wrote on 3/19/2007, 2:50 PM

So just before South by Southwest here in Austin got a call from a company looking for a Final Cut Pro editor to pump out live music vids for playback on Verizon phones on their Vcast. I let em know that while I don't use Final Cut if he wants fast editing I can knock that stuff out all day long using Vegas, he say's he'll talk to his higher-ups and he'll call me back. They call back an hour later and I get the gig. Originally I was just going to be tweaking line edits so that they work on a phones tiny screen, taking out wide shots and what not that when scaled down would be unwatchable and censoring cursing and the like. Somewhere along the line the deal changes and I'm suddenly importing tapes from their 3 HDV camera shoots and hafta edit and render em out in avi, flash, and wmv. Just thrilled to say that Vegas on my laptop rocked it out and hopefully opened the eyes of some of the folks who brought me onboard and others that were involved in the production. Like the title of the thread says, 27 live music vids in just 3 1/2 days, I'm sure its not a world record but it's deffinatly more than I thought I could do. =)

And a huge thanks to Spot and this forum for the tips. I hadn't worked with HDV at all before and had to do a little diggin here on the forums to figure out the best way to make it 4:3 standard rez as well as hittin Spot up for some last second insight.

Had a blast and never ever never wanna learn FCP, I got what I need right here!

- Ray

www.undergroundplanet.com

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totally lost wrote on 3/21/2007, 3:01 PM

jaydeeee,
I am just wondering why you think it is important to know so many apps/nles? Is it because some of them do a better job at certain task? Is it because one should know " a little about everything" and therefore get more jobs? Or do you think it is to make oneself well rounded? Or something else? Just curious?

I'm an audio guy by trade (mastering) and back in the day Sonic Solutions was the only game in town if you were a "serious" mastering engineer. A SS system WAS a propritary dsp platform and was very stable. it ran about $80k ten years ago. (Anyone seeing a parallel with Avid?) From an elitist standpoint, back then, Protools was for wanna be losers and quite frankly had a "sound" which is a big no-no in mastering. This is probably how Hollywood/NYC Avid users feel about FCP. Of course the same guys probably feel that Vegas is a big joke. I say laugh it up guys, in 5 years you better change your ways or you'll be a dinasour talking about the "good ol' days". Sorry I digress.

Then Cakewalk and all the other native stuff that many others and I considered garbage or "toys" started coming out at a fraction of the cost. None of the upper end guys "got it", they just would tout "I've got Sonic Solutions, therefore I am superior." And all the clueless clients that didn't know any better believed this hype that if something costs $80k it must be better than something that cost $8k.

Well Sonic spun off it's audio division, which is limping along at best and native programs like Sequioa have made their way into top big city mastering houses like Sterling Sound.

The big difference here is Avid sees the writing on the wall and wisely bought Pinnicle.

I don't know what the hell I am trying to say here! lol!

Basically imho I think Vegas is a breakthrough product. I think Avid and FCP still have a lot of cache but is losing ground and the brand name game will soon be over and clients will simply ask can you do this?

At the end of the day, and I think we all agree on this, it comes down to talent.

I'd take Muttley on a stripped down version of a consumer NLE over me on a super high end Avid system any day of the week. Talent rules supreme, all the rest is just bs.

edit ps big recording studios and mastering houses are dropping like flies. Imho we are in the age of equal access and the playing field is leveling. In the audio world this has already taken place and continues to keep leveling out. In video land I think the leveling out has been going on for quite some time now and in the next 3 years imho will change dramatically. The game is no longer, "what do you use?", imho it's all about how you use it.

MUTTLEY wrote on 3/21/2007, 3:41 PM

I do find it ironic that it was first implied that I have to learn other programs to be a pro but when I point out what I'm making using Vegas instead of "wow, guess I was wrong and you can do okay with just Vegas" I get "you even begin to charge anyone I know $1200 a day for vegas post-production on your laptop screen - you'd soon be snorkeling for that laptop." So your telling me with all of your knowledge and skill you don't command anything near that much? And I'm the one that has to learn more? ROFLMAO, okay, I get it now. I better hit the books and start learning so I can make what you make doing porn. I got hit up from a pretty well known in the porn biz wanting me to edit, I turned em down because, well, it was porn, and beyond that they don't pay their editors near enough.

Whelp, I'm off to go look up some clases so I can grow up to be as successful as jaydeee one of these days ... if I'm lucky.

- Ray

www.undergroundplanet.com

Paul_Holmes wrote on 3/22/2007, 9:18 AM

Muttley, I haven't even looked at your website, but I remember something you posted on Vegas Users 3 or 4 years ago and I loved it. I haven't kept up with you but congratulations on continuing to advance your skills and knowledge. I'm just a hobbyist, but I think I love editing video in Vegas as much as you. I used Premiere for several years, discovered Vegas 3 and never looked back. When I look at how far this inexpensive NLE has come since that time I'm astonished by what I can now produce with it. Not only have my skills increased considerably (mostly thanks to the great contributors like DSE, John Meyer, Johnny Roy, Glenn Chan et al) but the NLE has continued to improve to make getting what you really want quicker and easier.

I think the reactions to Jaydeeee's post have been because of the slightly snobbish tone he took to your exuberance about the NLE this forum is all about. And then it becomes obvious it's all about snobbery when he finds it necessary to defend himself by inferring that DSE's work isn't as good as yours when DSE defends you.

Personally I'm excited when I see someone has come so far with Vegas. Yes I'm a fanatic and not a professional. For those who are, like Jaydeeeee, you need to exersize some discretion and common sense and realize your audience. Your prescription may be perfect for you and other professionals, but certainly not for every professional -- for example, Muttley!