make assets before editing video question

[offbeatbryce]

Hello,

I have heard that some editors who have to remove background noise, enhance audio, stabilize footage, resize photos etc for video do all this before they import the footage and edit.

Is this really needed or should I do all this as a post production phase?

 

[joema]

Hello,

I have heard that some editors who have to remove background noise, enhance audio, stabilize footage, resize photos etc for video do all this before they import the footage and edit.

Is this really needed or should I do all this as a post production phase?

On documentaries I definitely don't do that before importing. Our shooting ratio is over 100:1, that would be a huge wasted effort.

Once imported if I'm making a multicam clip in FCPX I will color correct the entire "parent" clip of any multicam clip chosen for the sequence. That way as I cut between camera angles I don't have to repetitively match each shot. But that's a small amount of material relative to the total amount shot.

Video noise reduction, stabilization, and certain 3rd party effects like Digital Anarchy Flicker Free and Imagenomic Portraiture are extremely compute-intensive so it doesn't make sense to run those on rushes, just on the final edited timeline.

Similarly, extensive audio noise reduction using a spectral editor like iZotope RX6 can be meticulous and labor intensive so it doesn't make sense to spend that time and effort on material before it's selected.

There can be exceptions, such as a multi-person editorial team where the assistant editor syncs the multicams and selects the proper audio channel -- for all multicam clips -- before it reaches the lead editor. However beyond the bare minimum necessary, the goal is avoid wasted work, so you normally would not stabilize or color correct material like that. If it's log profile video, you might add a camera LUT to "de-flatten" it, but that's all.

Another exception might be if a daily or demo reel is required to show producers or financial backers. This would receive at least some color and audio work, even if that material was never used in the final product.

 

[David Jimerson]

Typically, it makes more sense to do all that after you've done at least a rough edit. There's no point in doing all that work on assets you're not going to use.