Video Editing

 

 

 

 

 

Adobe Premier (in labs) or DaVinci Resolve (free download) are the two applications we’ll be using in this early training for video editing.  

  • This is a very general introduction to Premiere, with lots of details omitted so that you can get a quick overview of the application.
  • First, open and name a new project in Adobe Premiere.  It will save automatically, sometimes with the suffix   .prproj   
  • Check or reset your Window / Workspaces to “All Panels” 
    •  The labels in this example are based on the All Panels workspace. That’s the usual default. You can change it later as needed.  
  • Import (or drag in) video clips to Clips library in the lower left hand corner of your monitor.
  • Right click on any clip
    • The clip will play in the Clips preview area in the upper left of your screen. Notice there are controls under the monitor area. 
  • Drag a clip from the Clips library onto the Timeline (lower right)
    • You can play or “scrub” your project to place the playhead where you need it.  Clips will show up in the Timeline preview monitor (upper right)
  • To trim a clip on the timeline, use the selection “arrow” in Tools to highlight the edge of  the clip.  You’ll see that clip edges have red tab areas that can be dragged or nudged to trim the clip.  
  • To cut a clip on the timeline, align the playhead and then use the Tools slicing razor.  Use the selection arrow in Tools to delete or move one of clips. This will not affect your original clip in the Clips library.  
  • To create an effect, select an effect from the effects pallet and simply drag it into the location where you want it in the  timeline.  You may need to open the Effects window from the top Window menu. 
  • To create a new title,   right click on the timeline preview window to see a menu with various options;  select new title.   Or you can use the menu command at  File / New / Legacy Title.  
    • You’ll get a dialogue box that lets you write text and add effects. 
    • Use the T text tool in the Tools area to write your titles 
    • After you close the title box, you’ll see the title in the Clips library.
    • To use it,  drag it from the clips library to the timeline.  
    • You can place the title over parts of the video or you can place it in a black area on the timeline. 
  • Export media files in the appropriate size and format (See Video for Web)
  • For more about video editing, there are lots of tutorials on the web, like this one.

 

 

 

 

Create a mash-up

One way to learn to edit video is to download short public domain video from The Internet Archive (Archive.org) and to replace the sound with music (also available on the Internet Archive).  The archive has literally millions of films, TV shows, cartoons, songs, symphonies and lots more, and nearly all are in the public domain.   To download, Google Chrome browser works best. Choose mp4 formats and click on the downward pointing arrow.  (Note: It’s important to use public domain work, as YouTube and others will take down copyrighted material being used without permission).

Here are some examples of  mashups:  

How. Tim Morton created the Quarantine Chorus Video. 

Here’s some harmless fun — a mashup of a Jackie Gleason show skit from the 1950s mashed up with a Grateful Dead song.  

Here’s another one: Uptown Funk. Notice the close synchronization of video and music. That’s Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire in the key frame (below), and 7-year-old Shirley Temple and Bill Bojangles Robinson, from the 1935 film “The Little Colonel,” among the first cuts. 

And one more — a 1908 classic,  “Shine on Harvest Moon,” sung by Laurel and Hardy in their 1931 “Beau Hunks” movie,  mixed with a more or less contemporary Leon Redbone performance: