Video to critique! Anyone else unsatisfied with their work shortly after?

Norm Sanders

Norm Sanders

Script Wrangler
-- Something for you to view & critique at the bottom of this rant --

Maybe the problem is that I'm completely self taught ... I've never even sat down & watched others edit, so as such I feel like I'm missing a LOT. Other than through the internet, I don't even know anyone else that uses Vegas, so those I know who do edit as well, use Avid, Final Cut, Premiere, etc ... so to them, Vegas us unprofessional & a joke.

With that said, I've looked at the other programs & can't make heads or tailes out of them. Vegas though, I picked up & at least quickly could do some basic stuff ... then everyonce in a while I'll learn something new ... like yesterday I FINALLY learned was a mask was about, & how to kind of do it within Vegas' Pan/Crop ... yeah, and I've been using it for about a year now. Sad, huh?

I almost feel like a fraud for having people pay me to edit for them, put projects together, etc., because EVERY time I finish one the high quickly wares off, and I look back & think "Sheesh, I could have done better". Especially after a month or two later when I pick up something new.

For example, my family just went on a trip to Disneyland for spring break, so when we got back I cut the following video over the weekend. At first I was jazzed about it, now after watching it several times I'm not as pleased ... like a sick freakin' addiction that I constantly want to do better, more, etc.

Any other artists feel this way out there? Too hard on themselves, etc.? So, here's the clip of the vacation I shot on a cheap little JVC I actually bought just to rewind & upload tapes I shot on my DVX (didn't want to lug the DVX around). All effects were in Vegas, with the Polaroid mask & green box/cross hairs in photoshop & two Artbeat clips (sparkler & fire).

For PC's
www.eefilm.com/impact/video/disneyland2005.wmv

For Mac's
www.eefilm.com/impact/video/disneyland2005.mov

I'm hoping Vegas 6 will have more toys & effects/transitions to work with as well, not that it doesn't already have an abundance anyway.
 
I actually thought that was pretty cool. I think home movies are always hard to edit because the cast isn't catering their performances toward the final product. They're just out having fun and you have to work with whatever footage you can get. Plus, you yourself have to split your brainpower between having fun and getting good video. Earlier this year I went snowboarding for my first time and brought my cheapo Sony handycam on the mountain. In putting it together I thought of a million shots I wanted but would remind myself that I was trying to make something out of virtually nothing. In the end I'm just extremely happy to have the footage I do have.

I also have a project I shot while in school that I've re-edited quite a few times. Everyone seems to like it ok, but I think it's crap. I'm sure I'll edit it again someday.

As for the satisfaction thing - I think most of us feel that way, even the big boys. Look at the Special Editions!
 
I think you did a fine job. Very nice graphics, good music, very high energy. I think everything we edit can always be changed. The key is to say "done" and move on. Of course if editing is your hobby or your art and not your career, you can spend a ton of time on endless revisions. But I know really talented musicians and songwriters that never could record anything because they felt it was a work in progress and didn't want to commit. The best measure of your editing is what other people think of it. And you have self-taught yourself way more than I have.

Next time you are in Orlando, stop on by for coffee. :)
 
Envision said:
"Sheesh, I could have done better".
Click to expand...
That's a curse of every artist, and it's a good thing. Even some professional pilots will tell you - if you don't have butterflies in your stomach every time you are taking off, something's wrong. A reasonable amount of self-doubt is healthy.

I thought the video was cool. I wish I could edit like that.
 
Thanks for the feedback people, and appreciate you all feel the same way about wanting to do better, looking back on older work, etc. Probably that constant struggle of always finding someone else who can do it better, so you want to raise the bar. Even if it's not better, it's different than what you do, so therefore refreshing, edgy, etc.

Kind of like life ... not that the grass is "better" on the other side of the fence ... it's just different, so we want it.

Ordering Vegas 6 & DVDA 3 this week!
 
I think George Lucas said "Movies are never finished. There just comes a time when you have to give up".
 
My .02 is too many 'Fade/Trans'

One after the other; gotta mix that up and change the pacing. Other than that? A nice little Family Disneyland trip. Well done. I enjoyed the Green Crosshairs.
 
John_Hudson said:
My .02 is too many 'Fade/Trans'

One after the other; gotta mix that up and change the pacing.
Click to expand...


Thanks for the .02, John. To keep a more professional look, I typically only use straight/smash cuts, Fade/Trans, or Fade to Black/White. What else would you suggest to mix it up?

Duh, never mind. I just watched the video again, and now through new eyes can see what you're talking about. If I put a little more time into it, to time the straight/smash cuts to a music beat, etc., it would have been a little less monotonous (sp?).

Funny, now unless the situation really calls for it (slow song videos, etc.), I'm going to feel that the Fade/Trans is the lazy-man's approach to editing. It sure does take a lot less time though not having to perfectly time the cuts (a major thing I look for on video's sync'd to music) when using Fade/Trans.

Thanks again.
 
Reading a book called Transitions as I have time. Every editor should read it, and Amazon has it cheap ($4?) . Lots of top editors just use straight cuts, unless there is a specific reason for doing something else (passage of time, etc).
 
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