Creating an EDL?

farss wrote on 12/13/2004, 11:39 PM
Here's the thing, I've got a number of projects for which I've been given a PRINTED EDL, yeah I know...

Anyway I've spent untold time entering all this stuff into Vegas but man it's mind numbing as it's just 100s of stills, all different lengths.
Now I'm thinking someone, somewhere has maybe already come up with either a spreadsheet or an Access database app that lets you enter a minimal amount, fills in the needed bits and spits out a suitable text file.
I figure I can write the thing myself but I'd hate to re-invent the wheel, I don't even need to specify in/out points as each stills in point is the out point for the last one, so all that needs to be entered is the file name and duration.
Bob.

Comments

nickle wrote on 12/13/2004, 11:48 PM
North and South America are alseep now.

Please call back later.
Grazie wrote on 12/13/2004, 11:55 PM
Awake in London!

Er m m m . . . . is is possible to do an OCR scan using tables option? This could then be implrted into anything that would recognise the Table formats: EXCEL, ACCESS or even WORD!

Only a thought . ..

Grazie
Grazie wrote on 12/13/2004, 11:59 PM
Voice activated software? I've had success using IBMs s/w.

"ZERO ZERO [TAB] ZERO ONE THREE [TAB] .. . " etc etc . .. You get to SEE the stuff as you read it off too! I've done this waaaayy ago and it worked nicley in EXCEL.

. . . another silly idea ! :)

Grazie
mark2929 wrote on 12/14/2004, 12:05 AM
Another Idea that may be silly ! Perhaps there is a Possibility they could send the File as an Email Attachment then edit it in Avid ..
farss wrote on 12/14/2004, 1:24 AM
Well,
yes they could maybe send the file, who knows, I'm sure going to ask.
However the point is, it's not uncommon to give a tape with burnt int TC to a client for them to write out an EDL. I've even had one very kindly do it as a speedsheet. But then you've got to get that onto the format the Vegas requires and so far I've found a bug in the way it exports its EDLs. Seems it uses ";" as fiedl delimiters, now that's easy, Access and Excel will read that EXCEPT in one place Vegas uses s ":" as the delimiter which trips both of them up.

Also when Vegas exports its EDL it in double intereger time format, not formatted as TC, that makes sense because that way you can convert to TC depending on if it's PAL or NTSC.

Now Vegas also includes and aweful lot of stuff that I don't need to use, like fade in / out length etc. I need to experiment to see if it'll accept a 'barebones' EDL and fill in the blanks as it were.

Anyway I've made a start.

Seems to me in this day and age someone should even have a simple app, maybe something that'll even run on a PDA that you can give to a client for them to log shots with.

Bob.
Grazie wrote on 12/14/2004, 1:36 AM
Anyway that doing the simple find and replace on the ":" for";" using anything that is totally spurious .. I've had great success in the past using "$>$" OR anything that aint a needed field delimiter series? . . . This then gives a "set" point in which I can then enter a TAB mark. Any good?

Graze
ushere wrote on 12/14/2004, 2:04 AM
what can i say - you all directed me to
http://www.peachrock.com/products.html
whenever i've asked about paper cut edls....

randall is right now at work on the edl editors dream veggie script...

the present version is not really what i wanted, but the next version, due i think in the next couple of months looks to be the answer to all our paper cut edl problems....

leslie
farss wrote on 12/14/2004, 4:02 AM
It's nearly there!
I've got it outputting an EDL, just Vegas I think wants me to specify every damn parameter, what a pain.
Bob.
farss wrote on 12/14/2004, 4:43 AM
Well. it's working. Well the hard part does anyway, writing the data out from the database into formatted text that Vegas will accept as an EDL. I'd though Vegas would be smart enough to need just enough data to specify what is needed for say a video track but it seems you have to have all the fields filled in.
Thanks to Grazie proding a few brain cells I realised the old Copy from Notepad into the code saved a LOT of typing!

I've still got a bit more to do and anyone who can use it can have it.
Please don't get too excited, it's NOT a script, you'll need Access 2000 or higher to use it. It is however totally standalone apart from that, so you can give to the wife/mistress/girlfriend/secretary to type in an EDL and when it's done this thing will spit out a text file that Vegas will read in.

Bob.



Grazie wrote on 12/14/2004, 4:49 AM
Oh yes, Bob, I'm a great "prodder" . . ;-)

Glad you got it sorted. I've used MS WORD for all sorts of . . well .. "sorts" for delminting syntaxs . . syntaxes? .. . sintax's .. oh well you know what I mean ..

Grazie
farss wrote on 12/14/2004, 5:00 AM
Actually in my other 'life' I've had all sorts of grief caused by people doing just that!
Our medical data is sent as position dependant text files, now if you open one of those files in Word (each line is about 700 chars long) and save it, good old Word reformats it to x chars long with a hard CR on the end. When that gets to the big number crunchers they have a total dummy spit.
Worse still we've found sending these kinds of files as attachments through Hotmail, it reformats them to 80 char line length. Did that cause major grief, I had various government guys blaming my software.
Bob.
Grazie wrote on 12/14/2004, 5:05 AM
Guess I'm one of those "people" . .. :)
mark2929 wrote on 12/14/2004, 5:46 AM
Bob if you or any of the other Clever People here could write a script SO that Vegas could read an EDL File ...That sure would be Excellent... I wouldnt mind betting that some Very BIG Projects Hollywood Films ect would be using that script to edit in Vegas !

Just a thought !

Added:::::
also makes a File That is suitable for EDITING Film
farss wrote on 12/14/2004, 12:41 PM
Vegas CAN read and write EDLs. Just select the EDL option when you do a Save As. Also you can select a .txt fiel for Vegas to open.
The trcik though is getting the EDL in a format that Vegas will understand. This isn't excatly rocket science stuff, it's only a formatted text file.
The issue as I understand it with film editing and neg matchback has more to do with how film TC works. There's only one 100% reliable system made by Avid exclusively for the task. Their system integrates with film readers that read the frame numers from the edge of the film using OCR. I guess this COULD be done sort of by treat the film as a still sequence where each frames file name is the frame number, but then you have to deal with the precise fps of film and holding audio sync, could be much harder than it looks.
Bob.
mark2929 wrote on 12/14/2004, 1:24 PM
Bob thanks Yes I did realise Vegas can Write an EDL Just not one Suitable for the labs... I Was in Contact with a Film lab a while ago who said that I could use FCP Or Avid... I certainly wouldnt want to risk trying to Make one out of THE Vegas EDL For them... I have bought a 16mm Projector I was hoping to make a short test film and show it on that Using Vegas to edit on...

I think with This new Sony Camcorder and a film camera like an Arri BL You could cover all the Bases... Like Great Slomo or fast action... DOP.. Anyway I bet old Film Technology and The latest Video could be Combined for a real Professional result for little Money (Compared to Pro Gear ).....But whatever results... I want to learn more about Film ....As well as The new stuff I just feel fascinated by it all....Possibly not enough to go to Film school... But enough Just to enjoy it all as a Serious Hobby/Business? Perhaps one day...