editing questions....

[Eee-Tee]

A couple of things I was wondering....
Whats a suitable length for video stills- ie stationary shots of buildings etc. Is there a common duration that makes the shot not too short to be over quickly, yet not too long to drag a bit?
Similarly, a suitable duration for lower thirds which have a few words of text? And what size (point) text makes them easy to read (on a standard size TV screen for eg)?

[redsox_mark]

Length of stills: There is no one answer; it depends on your subject and the feel you want to achieve. If you are doing a video about historical architecture then you may want to leave up the photo for a longer time while you describe it. Even then you don't want to stay too long on a single shot (best to use multiple shots of the same building)... but if the pace is slow you could spend 10 or 15 seconds on each still.

If your stills were say of kids at a fair, and you were showing to fast paced music, then maybe only 1 or 2 seconds per still.

Size of text: If the text is short, I'd use something like 24 or 28, and a font which is easy to read.

[Eee-Tee]

Thanx for the info- yeah, just something ive been wondering for a while.
It seems to be a fine line between a still video being on too long, and too short. I'll put your advise into practise on the next edit. I guess the aim is tho ensure its on screen for long enough to be registered, yet not so long that the audience gets bored.
Assuming its just the shots involved, ie no commentary etc, i assume a length of 4-5 sec is suitable. Thats what I'm doing ATM. Only prob is you can only see it once the project has been completed .
Thanks any way

[redsox_mark]

Yes, 4 or 5 seconds is probably good. Can you not preview the video in your editor to see if it looks the right timing?