AS Film 2015-16

The Art of Compositing in Video

Thinking of creating a cool effect in your film?  Take it from these guys, it can be a punishingly painstaking task.  Have a good think about what it is you are trying to achieve in your film, and the skills it may take to get there.


VFX Games - The Art of Compositing from Roy Peker on Vimeo.

The Secret Life of Foley (Short Film)

Watch foley artists Sue Harding and Peter Burgis at work in the studio.

For those interested, check out the Story of Sound workshop this weekend in Brighton (Nov 19th, 2016) with Sue Harding herself.

Ingesting Video into FCP

If you've used one of our cameras to shoot your film, you will use the following workflow:

Here's a reminder of how to connect the camera and transfer your footage to your FCP project:

DSLR Workflow

 

You will need to follow these steps when editing in Final Cut Pro 7:

1. Make a new folder on the desktop.

2. Insert the SD card into the card reader slot in the side of the mac.  An icon will appear on the desktop.

3. Copy your videos from the SD card to the folder you created on the desktop.

4. Launch Compressor from the dock at the bottom of the screen.

5. Drag your videos from your folder (on the desktop) into the top left window in Compressor.

6. Once they've loaded drag the Apple Pro Res 422(LT) preset onto your clips.  It may take a minute to load.  Click on Submit.

7. You will see the status and time estimate of your conversion jobs in the bottom right window of Compressor.

8. Your converted files will automatically save to the folder that you created on the desktop.

Be sure to copy your folder from the desktop to the Network to back them up.  

STAY ORGANISED!!

9. Now you can import your converted movie files into Final Cut Pro from the network OR the desktop**

**If from the desktop:  a) you will need to return to that machine each time you edit  b) others can access and mess around with your folder... you could relocate that folder to a more secure partition on the machine - ask Sophie.

**If from the network:  a) you can move around to other machines and access your footage  b) it may be a slower connection and footage may stutter or lag.

10)  The first clip that you drag down into the timeline will set your project to THAT format and size.

11)  When FCP asks if you want to set the project to the settings of the clip, click YES.

If in doubt, ask Sophie  :)

Slugline

Here's a free trial for some really useful software!  You simply type in your content and it will do all of the formatting to turn it into a screenplay.  Amazing! 

 slugline.co

Creating Your Animatic

 Once you have a complete storyboard put together and the rough timing for each shot figured out, you can then create a simple mock-up of your film.  

1)  Photograph each frame of your storyboard.

You may use your phone for this or you can borrow a camera if needed.  *It is very helpful to number each scene to identify later in editing.  

2)  Upload the photos to the computer, making sure they are in your folder on the network.  Put them in a folder that is clearly labeled.

 3)  Import your images from the network into Final Cut Pro.

*After you have saved the new FCP project to your network space, of course! 

*Note:  as a default, still images are set to around 10 seconds in FCP.  You can adjust the length of a still image by dragging the endpoint in the timeline...

 ...this is often a bit fiddly.

Alternatively, you can change the duration of a still image in the Viewer beforehand.

1) Double click on your image in the Browser to load it into the Viewer...

 2) At the top left of the Viewer, change the duration from 00:00:10:00

3) ... to 00:00:05:00!  Presto!  This clip is now exactly 5 seconds long!

Now when you drag your image down into the timeline, it will already be set to the exact time you require.  Do this for all of your images beforehand and you're basically done!