How about a competition?

farss wrote on 6/22/2010, 6:47 AM

Something to really test us as editors.
SCS provides the footage, Sony must have plenty from real shoots with lots of coverage and angles. The task is to select the right shots/angles and cut them to the script. Cuts only.

Too easy you say?
Then you've got to cut it to tell a different story.

How do we get the footage?
You have to buy the next version of Vegas boxed. In the box is a BD disk with the footage. All you need that you might not have is a BD drive. Maybe a deal could be done to include a Sony one in the box at a good price.
First prize, something to make it all worthwhile, say a Sony camera worth around $10K.

Feel free to tell me I'm nuts, just thought a positive idea that'd promote some buzz wouldn't go astray at the moment. I know Spot and the VASST team used to run some competitions but I thought something that simply focussed on editing would be good.

Bob.

Comments

Spot|DSE wrote on 6/22/2010, 8:06 AM

Just hold your breath for a bit... wait for it.

CorTed wrote on 6/22/2010, 8:12 AM

That reminds me.

Spot, whatever happened to your 'impromptu contest' you started a couple of months ago?

http://www.sonycreativesoftware.com/forums/ShowMessage.asp?Forum=4&MessageID=706224

Never did find out who won.

Ted

Jay Gladwell wrote on 6/22/2010, 8:13 AM

"Feel free to tell me I'm nuts..."

You're nuts!

Just kidding. It's a good idea.

Douglas' comment makes it all the more intriguing.

Earl_J wrote on 6/22/2010, 8:39 AM

Bob,
okay, you're nuts ... but it is still a good idea... (grin)
I like it... perhaps narrow the field to those who purchase and "register" their Sony software ... and anyone who has ever registered, regardless of version or package (Vegas Studio or Vegas Pro) ... I'm sure there are those who can tell excellent stories without having the latest and greatest version of any Sony software...
* * *
It would be a win-win situation - Sony gets more interest and sales - the winner gets an award which s/he can then publicize him/herself as the Sony Award-winning editor - which then gets more interest and more sales for Sony...
* * *
There could be a variety of categories - SD and HD, for instance - and perhaps traditional (no alteration of the video other than editing) and creative (manipulation of the original footage to produce Gothic, black and white, or other film effects) ...
* * *
It could be a worthwhile project even without Sony. We could establish the Sony User's Group Choice Award. We collectively choose a few clips to post for downloads; those who participate must be registered owners of a Sony package; they post their final entries; and we collectively vote on the best final product.
I could work on a score sheet for each of us to use to evaluate each entry.
* * *
To keep favoritism out of it, we might need to establish a person or committee of two or three who do not want to participate, but want to help administer the competition. They get sent the video projects and encode them for posting online so the projects show up without any identifying information or logos ... in that way, the voters are not influenced by the person who created the final video, just its qualities and attributes as determined by the items on the score sheet.
* * *
It sounds like fun ...
Sony gets the credit, but we can run the competition ...
* * *
You're still nuts, Bob ... but the more I think about it, the better it becomes...

I'll help when it comes time to begin ... I couldn't possibly compete; but I do want to be involved... It'll be quite the fun project...

Until that time... Earl J.

TheHappyFriar wrote on 6/22/2010, 8:42 AM

I'd say instead of requiring to purchase you do what VASST did with Vegas 8's Protype contest: you require the new feature to be used. I for one am not paying a penny until I know 10 works for me. I don't do the preorder thing. Give me the demo first!

ritsmer wrote on 6/22/2010, 8:45 AM

Great idea.

I'm in.

I will preorder 10 as 9.0e works marvels here ...

An Ax2000 would suffice for me.

BittenByTheBug wrote on 6/23/2010, 7:07 PM

I'm not a pro, but I will be in. It'll be a great learning experience.

One should not have to buy anything to participate though. I would say not just cut, but a finished piece, to better showcase Vegas's capability for post production works. Have a judging panel with good credentials.

One option for Sony to use this to help marketing is to require entries to be on YouTube. Sony can also team up with YouTube to hold the event to create bigger buzz.

farss wrote on 6/23/2010, 8:54 PM

" It'll be a great learning experience. "

That was what I was hoping this competition would be.

"One should not have to buy anything to participate though"

I tried to avoid that but couldn't see any way to avoid it. To make it a reasonable challenge there's have to be a fair amount of footage. Not everyone is blessed with high speed internet connections and someone has to pay the costs of the bandwidth to serve out the data. I guess torrents could be used though.

" I would say not just cut, but a finished piece"

My reason for making it cuts only was because they're the most fundamental element of editing. There's no point in cheating here either and even with VMS you can cut as well as anyone, maybe not as fast but that isn't what this is about. Once you get into a "finished piece" then there's a whole range of other skills and tools that people could bring to bear on the project and whose to know if someone used Vegas to grade or a DaVinci suite. Same goes for compositing, titles etc.

"Have a judging panel with good credentials. "

Yes, people from the industry with serious cutting credentials, Walter Murch did come to mind :)

"One option for Sony to use this to help marketing is to require entries to be on YouTube"

Totally agree.

My problem with some of the previous competitions was that people with access to a good camera or two guys and a grips truck had a clear advantage. Another angle is being a good screenwriter can be a big leg up. I wanted to keep this as purely a competition about the very basics of editing that anyone, anywhere on the planet with the cheapest PC and Vegas had an equal shot at.

Bob.

TheHappyFriar wrote on 6/23/2010, 9:34 PM

I wanted to keep this as purely a competition about the very basics of editing that anyone, anywhere on the planet with the cheapest PC and Vegas had an equal shot at.

But one with the "cheapest PC" won't have a BD drive & most likely couldn't even edit HD video. :)

A 3 minute HDV file is ~650mb. That's more then enough footage & small enough it could be d/led via dialup in under a week (~10 hours a night). If you've got crappy internet & say you can't download that then it's assumed you don't have a newer version of Vegas because they have huge updates & you could never update. :)

Or just use stock footage from somewhere. IE Artbeats gave away all that footage, Sony could make a deal that it's allowed to be used. Or you must use only generated media, etc.

farss wrote on 6/23/2010, 10:11 PM

Fair points however:

1) Artbeats don't have footage shot from different setups and angles.
2) Resolution is irrelevant to the craft of editing, many movies even today are edited with DV proxies.

That said you could be right, 640x480 at 1Mbps means quite a lot of footage could go into 1GB and that over time would be downloadable by all.

Bob.

DrLumen wrote on 6/25/2010, 5:33 PM

Sounds like some fun.

I would suggest keeping the categories to the minimum (1?). If someone wants to do a stylized version then great. But those versions should be for entertainment purposes only or vice-versa.

Or, there could be enough categories that everyone wins and gets an AOL CD. j/k

Earl_J wrote on 7/3/2010, 9:03 AM

Hello everyone,
I've finished my rough draft of a score sheet ... anyone know how to attach a file to a post?
The sticky doesn't mention uploading files...

I have two files: one in Word (doc) format and one in Open Office (odt) format.
I've uploaded them to my WordPress site...

* * *
As an aside: perhaps we could open the competition to individuals' own video. We have this sort of thing for our local photography club... individuals are requested to submit shots of "a fence." They then go out and take a few pictures and submit it to the contest... the winner gets bragging rights.

Until that time... Earl J.

FilmingPhotoGuy wrote on 7/8/2010, 12:00 AM

Google is having a filming competition.

Here

Jazzman54 wrote on 7/8/2010, 2:28 AM

If stock footage was used as a basis, entries could be posted as .VEG files. This would ensure Vegas was used. May be issues with different versions. But .VEG files could be individually rendered and we may all learn new ways of using the tool.
Ian.

apit34356 wrote on 7/8/2010, 4:01 AM

"Feel free to tell me I'm nuts, just thought a positive idea " That sun and heat finally got Bob...... before the Mad Cow did......... BUT that doesn't mean it's not a good ideal from down-under....... ;-)