Editing Lesson Blog

Today Stephanie and I had a lesson about camera equipment and the editing process. We first learned about the classroom procedure for checking out equipment. Then, we learned how to work the equipment which includes how to use a camera, tripod, a SD card, and SD card reader. I already have background knowledge on how to use everything except the tripod. I learned how to properly adjust a camera onto a tripod and how to adjust the tripod so the camera can capture certain angles and movements. After that, we took notes on the editing process. The editing program our teacher used to teach us was Pinnacle Studio, Stephanie and I will most likely use the same program. First learned how to dump footage from an SD card to a computer file. First, we connected the SD card reader to the computer. Second we click on the DCIM folder, where all the footage is kept, and drag our desired clips into a folder on our desktop. We were told that if we aren't able to find our footage in the DCIM folder we click the folder labelled Private instead, then click AVCHD, then click Next, and last click on Stream.

Second, we learned how to import footage from our desktop to our editing program. First we open Pinnacle Studio then click Edit then click import. Then we click the plus sign next to desktop and click our computer file where the footage is saved. After clicking start import, our teacher told us that we should wait until all the footage is uploaded so nothing gets messed up. Third, we learned how to actually edit the raw footage. AV Track 1 is used for inserting titles, AV Track 2 is for building the film and AV Track 3 is for audio. Our teacher showed us an example of how to cut a clip. First, we move the play bar on the place we want to cut the clip; after, we click the razor blade to split the clip then delete the unwanted part. Our teacher recommended that when we film we film extra parts so that when it comes to editing we won't accidentally cut out important footage.

Last our teacher showed us how to access special effects. We right click one of the clips then click special effects. In the special effects studio we are able to add things like transitions, colors, etc. The teacher demonstrated how to do voice overs. We right click on the clip then click detach audio. The audio will move down to AV Track 3. We can delete the audio to mute the scene or delete the scene the audio was extracted from to make a voice over. Last, the teacher showed how to insert titles which will appear in AV Track 1. I asked if we were able to make other inserts by using the same way we insert titles and she said we could. When we are finished with editing we can export the footage from the program to our desktop. Once our film is exported our teacher said that the editing program will automatically render the film so that all the editing runs smoothly.