[Richard Jones]

Hi everyone,

I've just joined the forum and have to say I'm impressed with both the range of subjects covered and the degree of expertise shown by so many helpful contributors.

Although I have been editing to VHS tape for many years (sufficiently experienced to be able to combine scenes from two sources and then, after editing, add and blend music from a CD and a commentary with the sound on the original recordings), I am totally new to digital editing oin a PC. Before I buy my editing software, a challenge in itself given the mixed reviews given about the various systems, I have two questions (and apologise if these seem to be very basic to most of you):-

1. Relevance and importance of Storyboard
Some of the software (e.g. Premiere Elements 2 and Sony Vegas Movie Studio) does not include a storyboard wheres systems like Pinnacle Studio Plus and Ulead do. I know you can edit from Storyboard if you wish but that fine tuning has to take place on the Timeline but how important or helpful is it to have a Storyboard as well? In short, would I miss it if it was not there?

2. Adding Commentary
Am I right in thinking that, because of the limited space available on even a 19" PC screen that the editing of a larger (e.g. 45 minutes or more) will have to be done in smaller sections? If so, is it then possible to combine the sections seamlessly and then add sound and commentary to the whole film as the last stage before rendering and burning?

Any help will be much appreciated.

Richard

[MarkE19]

Originally Posted by Richard Jones

Hi everyone,

I've just joined the forum and have to say I'm impressed with both the range of subjects covered and the degree of expertise shown by so many helpful contributors.

Great first post, you are sucking up to us already
Oh well that will soon change once you have read my reply

Originally Posted by Richard Jones

1. Relevance and importance of Storyboard
Some of the software (e.g. Premiere Elements 2 and Sony Vegas Movie Studio) does not include a storyboard wheres systems like Pinnacle Studio Plus and Ulead do. I know you can edit from Storyboard if you wish but that fine tuning has to take place on the Timeline but how important or helpful is it to have a Storyboard as well? In short, would I miss it if it was not there?

Well I've been video editing on a PC for about 4 years now and have never used the Storyboard layout. IMO it is just an option that you can use 'IF' you find it easier. If you have never used this layout then I doubt you will find a need for/miss it. As you have mentioned all programs offer the Timeline layout and that is the only way to do the accurate edits, so why bother with Storyboards? Well that is my opinion at least.

Originally Posted by Richard Jones

2. Adding Commentary
Am I right in thinking that, because of the limited space available on even a 19" PC screen that the editing of a larger (e.g. 45 minutes or more) will have to be done in smaller sections? If so, is it then possible to combine the sections seamlessly and then add sound and commentary to the whole film as the last stage before rendering and burning?

Any help will be much appreciated.

Richard

I've loaded a 2 hour project onto my PC before and worked with that. You are not limited by the size of the screen as all you need to do is adjust the setting so the timeline shows what you want. I have 2 screens on my PC as the additional space does make life a lot easier, but tend to strech the timeline accross only one screen and just have other windows showing transitions etc on the other. But you can do it on 1 screen, you just need to have smaller windows &/or overlapping windows.
You can however combine separate clips seamlessly on the timeline. This is the most common way to work as captureing short clips just makes my life easier than chopping sections out of 1 hour of continous video. I normally capture scene by scene and then remove the boring (read most of it) bits and then stich it back together to make a short and hopefully not too boring DVD.

Mark.

[redsox_mark]

I agree with Mark's responses. I've used Sony Vegas for many years and find the timeline approach suits me fine.

As to size of the display and length of length of segments, I don't really see the connection between the two. Whether you are editing a 2 minute clip or a one hour one, the windows and actions you do are the same. Larger or multiple monitors are always useful, especially for a complex edit, but you can edit fine on a single monitor (I do much of my editing on a laptop without an additional monitor).

The size of your PC monitor has no connection whatsoever with the length of video you can edit in one go - after all if you had a 10 page Word document that needed editing you would load the whole thing and work on it - video is just the same - except that in most programmes it moves from side to side instead of vertically.

I usually use the timeline for editing - but do occaisionally change to storyboard mode if I wish to re-arrange a lot of clips in a video - I find it easier to slide one large picture along instead of a length of video..

[senu]

Actually, I think most people "storyboard" one way or another. Somtimes it is just a concept in the mind.
Studio has an excellent story boarding facility which for very simple edits is easy to use.
The timeline is however so much more versatile in conceptualising the edit ( especially with multi layer effects ) that it tends to become the favoured approach of any NLE user who has access to many video/ audio "tracks".

[redsox_mark]

Yes - I write down the "storyboard" on paper.

[Richard Jones]

Hi.

Many thanks to you all.

Although I can see how you might read it this way, I did not mean to be OTT with my first post. The forum in effect acts much like an encyclopaedia except that it is a living and up-to-date thing - so don't knock what you guys are doing.

1. Like so many things, the answer about Timeline v Storyboard seems obvious once it has been spelt out to you. It means that I need not risk the stability etc. problems reported with Pinnacle (even though version 10.5 with its latest patch at 10.6 is said to have largely overcome the issue) and that, once I've analysed the comparisons and reviewed the posts, I should be able to now make a straight choice between Premiere Elements 2 and Sony Vagas Movie Studio.

2. Many thanks for your comments about the number of scenes that will appear in the Timeline when making a longer production. Even a 20 minute film may have perhaps 100 shots which may be only half of those taken and originally captured to the programme. Presumably the crowded Timeline can be enlarged in different sections if further editing is to be made and I'm guessing that the mix of music and commentary can be added to the whole production as a last step before rendering. Am I right in these two assumptions?

Many thanks and Best Wishes,

Richard Jones

[redsox_mark]

Richard,

Your assumptions are correct. My experience is mainly Vegas based, though I have used some others. You can zoom in and out on the timeline as required. E.g. one inch (horizontally) on your timeline could be 1 hour of video, 1 second, or a single frame (or anything inbetween). You can also preview the video (again in a window which can be resized).

You can add additional tracks at any time - which can include music or commentary. It is usual to do your edits of the main track(s) first, then add music and commentary later, but you aren't restricted to that.