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Somebody To Edit Films

DRthunderMD

DRthunderMD

I finished shooting my film four months ago, ever since I have been attempting to edit it. I have now given up on editing the film myself. The thing that is giving me the most trouble is the muzzle flashes. I get one in fine, then the rest automatically keep the properties of the first muzzle flash. I have spent four whole months trying to fix this, countless hours. I will now never again make a film with more than one muzzle flash neccessary. My question to you guys is are there people out there that I could send my finished work to and they could edit it? Over the internet I mean of course. I see a few problems with this however. I wouldn't want that person to steel my work, so would there have to be contracts involved? Also, how much would any of you charge if this were possible? Say for a 20 minute film with limited effects. My crew and myself worked very hard on this film and we put too many hours into it to just give up.
 
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You could have the film edited remotely by sending DVDs or even a hard drive to the editor. My editor is in Florida (I am in Tennessee). He was on set during the shoot, so he was able to take a hard drive with all the footage home with him, but we are finishing the process by him sending me low res versions of scenes via email, and sending me rough cuts of the entire film via DVD. I send him back notes, lather rinse repeat...

How much it would cost depends on the amount of work involved. Just cleaing it up, and straightening out your muzzle flashes maybe as little as a few hundred bucks. If you want my guys name (he is awesome and a pleassure to work with) let me know.
 
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If you are looking for an editor I would be interested in doing
something like this. But it seems from your post that you are
looking for someone to do special effects. I'm a good editor - I
know nothing about doing muzzle flashes.
 
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DIRECTORIK read my mind. What I'm reading about is visual FX work, not actually "editing". are the scenes already entirely cut but you need Muzzle flashes and gun effects?

Regardless, let me steer you to the best $60 you'll ever spend. ACTION MOVIE ESSENTIALS from VIDEOCOPILOT.NET -> http://www.videocopilot.net/products/action/ pre keyed muzzle flashes and all kinds of cool action effects like blood splatters and bullet holes, etc.

I forgot to mention, they also include extensive tutorials on HOW to use these and you may want to check the site for basic compositing advice and info for free...
 
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That looks like a great product. I rarely use those kinds
of effects (I have a pyro license) but I'm seriously
considering it. Have you used it sonnyboo?
 
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OH YEAH! I bought every single one of their products and I use them all, including the ACTION MOVIE ESSENTIALS. I plan on buying the HD copy of VOLUME 2 this summer when it comes out.

I wish I had had this when I did HORRORS OF WAR, as it would have saved me a TON of time and effort. Since then I have used the product on other people's shorts and features. The tutorials help in lighting and making the product sing when you add some other glows and specific colors in getting them to comp together right.
 
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Thanks, I'll go ahead and get the action movie essentials from video copilot. It looks like they are highly recommended by many people. As far as the editing goes, thank you for the offer directorik, but its not the actual editing and putting things together I need help with, it's the muzzle flashes. And as far as sending my footage to an editor, it looks like my wallet isn't deep enough for that. A few hundred bucks just for some muzzle flashes is too steep a price for me. Thanks for the suggestion though. That might be something I look to do in the future, but as of right now I really can't afford that, especially after being laid off for the summer(I work at a college, no school=no work). After I give video copilot a try I will get back to all of you with my results, as always thanks for the help.
 
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Give Craigslist a shot - you might find someone willing to do it for a token amount. Maybe even free, if it's not that big of a job.

If it's just a few seconds of footage, you don't even need to send the whole film. Just the relevant clips via RapidShare, or similar.

Since back & forth delivery can easily be done over the 'net, if you do decide to give Craigslist a shot, pick a big city. :)
 
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DRthunderMD said:
Although none of the tutorials on the videocopilot.net are useful, as they are all for after effects while I have vegas.
Click to expand...

Ah, but the principals are the same no matter what you use to comp the footage. ACTION MOVIE ESSENTIALS will provide you with Quicktime MOV files with the muzzle flashes already "keyed" (which means everything is transparent except the muzzle flash and smoke), then you can "place" them over top of the regular footage on a higher track (in Vegas, Premiere, After Effects, etc.) and you can then move it to fit where you want the muzzle flash to be.

With deductive reasoning, you can take the information and concepts and apply them to any software and new, innovative ideas.
 
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sonnyboo said:
Ah, but the principals are the same no matter what you use to comp the footage. ACTION MOVIE ESSENTIALS will provide you with Quicktime MOV files with the muzzle flashes already "keyed" (which means everything is transparent except the muzzle flash and smoke), then you can "place" them over top of the regular footage on a higher track (in Vegas, Premiere, After Effects, etc.) and you can then move it to fit where you want the muzzle flash to be.

With deductive reasoning, you can take the information and concepts and apply them to any software and new, innovative ideas.
Click to expand...

I see what you mean, and it seems basic enough I shouldn't have any trouble with it. Some of the terms and effects, however, I am unfamiliar with. I just began using vegas a few months ago so I'm not completely sure of all the terminology.
 
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Zensteve said:
Give Craigslist a shot - you might find someone willing to do it for a token amount. Maybe even free, if it's not that big of a job.
Click to expand...

I've seen a lot of success with this. But ask for a demo reel or test edit, sometimes craigslist is very hit or miss, and you may get a very inexperienced person willing to work on your stuff, and that inexperience will show in the final product. Look for film students willing to trade for building their experience level and demo.
 
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If you're looking for someone, I maybe interested. I do editing and visual effects. I don't work for free, but I am reasonable. Have a look at my site and feel free to call, email or IM.
 
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