Does Editing ever get you excited?

[Drakhen99]

... no, not like THAT!

Just general excited! I have been sort of in a slump the last several days. I even took a 3-day break from editing (short of some quick first-pass editing on a couple of new videos I'm working on) because I just wasn't liking what I was working with.

Well, I buckled down tonight to do some editing on some footage that's over 2 months old. I hadn't been quite happy with it, due to my mic cord coming out at one point, the general pacing, the topics discussed, etc..

The end result: I found and fixed the pacing issues in the middle of the video, actually added in a bit of blank space, ripped out some superfluous clips, changed some transitions around, removed some transitions, changed the bg music volume in certain sections, and hit Render.

OMG, I actually got my own heart rate up while watching the finished product! I went back and made a couple more edits which changed the positioning of the bg music in relation to on-screen stuff very late in the video, but it fixed some more pacing issues in the middle, which is OK by me.

I'm so pleased with it that I started uploading it to YouTube (6.4gb video file) so it's processed in a couple of days. I may even replace one of my scheduled videos for this coming week with THIS one, I'm so happy with it.

I still have to create a thumbnail and set the details & cards for it, but it's finally complete! One of my oldest non-completed projects... DONE!

Sorry for the long-windedness, but has anyone else experienced this?

-John

 

[HippoDrone]

It is nice when you watch something back and get that feeling

 

[YBGuy]

Sometimes! Especially before I start editing a video and ask my self, "Jeeze there is 60 minutes of footage..how do I make this into 3-10 minutes of exciting/usable/watchable content", then after a little or a LOT of editing, the finished product ends up not being half bad. That does feel nice. : )

 

[Drakhen99]

Sometimes! Especially before I start editing a video and ask my self, "Jeeze there is 60 minutes of footage..how do I make this into 3-10 minutes of exciting/usable/watchable content", then after a little or a LOT of editing, the finished product ends up not being half bad. That does feel nice. : )

Oh man do I feel this! I started in on my last ride... made it to 1/2 hour of editing time and shelved it to go do something else LOL. I just saw 2:08:00 at the end and was like OMG that's a ton of footage to cull through!

I'll get back on it this week sometime.

-John

 

[YBGuy]

Oh man do I feel this! I started in on my last ride... made it to 1/2 hour of editing time and shelved it to go do something else LOL. I just saw 2:08:00 at the end and was like OMG that's a ton of footage to cull through!

I'll get back on it this week sometime.

-John

HAHAHA, wow that's a really long video, I'd probably do the same (work on it in pieces).

 

[Drakhen99]

HAHAHA, wow that's a really long video, I'd probably do the same (work on it in pieces).

Yeah, my first long-ish ride (130 miles), recorded on 2 cameras simultaneously... so lots of footage. Heck, I even stopped recording once I got on the highway and then - WHILE RIDING - started both cameras back up and started recording.

THAT was fun, trying to line it up in Resolve... but lo and behold, I did it! And it's really close, probably within 2 frames or so of each other.

Luckily for me, GoPro announced The Remote last week, so I ordered one. It's supposed to work with Hero 8 and Hero 9 cameras, which is what I have, so I should be good to go for recording snippets and stuff, although TBH, I kinda like recording a whole ride now that I have my workflow somewhat optimized. I can pick up funny things that happen and my ramblings, some of which will make it into final cuts. I may just use the remote for stuff where I know I want to record, and skip most of the highway, since I can't pick up decent audio at highway speeds anyway.

-John

 

[Moto Mengy]

That's been my biggest surprise about motovlogging: discovering how much I enjoy video editing.

Some of my videos are straightforward, just ride and talk in one straight shot, bring the GoPro clips into the editor and cut out the dead space to shorten down the run time. However, I have much more fun editing together more complicated videos where I have B-roll shots or walking around segments where I'm off the bike. I find myself really wanting to experiment creating different kinds of videos and trying out new things.

 

[Drakhen99]

That's been my biggest surprise about motovlogging: discovering how much I enjoy video editing.

Some of my videos are straightforward, just ride and talk in one straight shot, bring the GoPro clips into the editor and cut out the dead space to shorten down the run time. However, I have much more fun editing together more complicated videos where I have B-roll shots or walking around segments where I'm off the bike. I find myself really wanting to experiment creating different kinds of videos and trying out new things.

Dude, this hit me in the feels! OK, that was *way* too "millenial" sounding... anyway, yeah, I get it.

I used to hate seeing myself on camera, in pictures, whatever. But add m/c gear, and all of a sudden I'm a narcissist.

But yeah, I really do enjoy editing videos, and coming up with new effects to try out, new off-bike shots, things to make the videos more interesting. I ought to do more of what you do - pick start/end points and film off-bike shots, with the ride in the middle. Actually, I have one of those in mind for when the salt is off the roads.

My rides are generally 1-2 hours long, so it can get a bit tedious to edit, but I have a question for you since you're doing a dual cam setup like I am... Do you find your videos since you went dual cam are longer? I am editing a video right now that started with 1h 35m of footage, and I've edited to minute 14, with 1h 9m total... so I've only cut out about 25 minutes! At this rate, it'll be a 40 minute video (that's an exaggeration - there are lots of dead spots, so it'll probably be 25-30 minutes at first rough cut).

Also, I have a segment where computer (programming) nerds will probably laugh or go "yeah, been there" ... but the general public just won't get it. I'm about 90% sure I'm gonna cut that segment, but do you leave stuff like that in your videos?

-John

 

[Dewey316]

I really enjoy the editing process. For me, that is how I get to be creative and make it my own. I really never know what to talk about, so I just talk and ride and don't feel comfortable. When I edit it, is when I can make something out of footage that isn't always interesting as it is shot.

 

[scooterwuf]

It’s my favorite part of filmmaking, maybe it’s because it’s where all your planning and shooting come together. It can be challenging and sometimes overwhelming, but it comes down to a basic challenge - what can you do with the footage you have blended with all the elements of filmmaking - sound, music, color, pacing, transitions, all packaged into a total running time.

-Wolf

 

[Fool Moon]

i feel ya. i loose focus/interest if my footage is boring or repetitive. If i have iMovie problems or GB storage issues, i have stopped editing for weeks at a time. I ride great roads, but often the same roads so finding something new in the ordinary is a challenge for me.

 

[Drakhen99]

It’s my favorite part of filmmaking, maybe it’s because it’s where all your planning and shooting come together. It can be challenging and sometimes overwhelming, but it comes down to a basic challenge - what can you do with the footage you have blended with all the elements of filmmaking - sound, music, color, pacing, transitions, all packaged into a total running time.

-Wolf

No kidding - editing for a running time is nigh impossible sometimes! My Christmas Vlog went to 19 minutes. Down from 1.5 hours of footage. The first rough cut was around 30 minutes in length... way too long! I snipped and cut whole sections out that I thought were interesting to me and fellow computer nerds, but not a wider audience. (I saved that project in Resolve as a "Director's Cut" LOL)

Finally, I threw up my hands and hit Render. Added Chapters to the YT video (which finally worked - yay!) We'll see how it does.

i feel ya. i loose focus/interest if my footage is boring or repetitive. If i have iMovie problems or GB storage issues, i have stopped editing for weeks at a time. I ride great roads, but often the same roads so finding something new in the ordinary is a challenge for me.

For the same roads over and over, I find it helpful to have different topics to talk about, hit that road at a different time of day, or now that I have 2 cameras, mix in both angles while cornering and stuff.

I get it though - not all of us can go on cross-country tours and film. I have to stick relatively close to home, so it's a lot of the same roads.

-John

 

[HRMV]

The excitement of editing sometimes comes purely from how well a previous video has been received.

Also if there was a particularly good bit of footage or the trip I want to show then yeah it can become exciting.