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Learning video editing

Apple fanboy

Apple fanboy

macrumors Ivy Bridge
Original poster
Feb 21, 2012
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56,602
Behind the Lens, UK
So Mrs AFB has asked me to shoot some video for her. These will be craft tutorial videos as she is a card maker.
I'll be using my Nikon D750.

So there is a glut of tutorials out there, but anybody found any particular good ones on the editing side.

I was originally going to use Davinci Resolve (free version) but tbh my 2012 iMac just doesn't have the GPU.

So switched to iMovie which is okay (if a bit glitchy).
Just going to do basic video with stills and titles etc. Will be adding separate music and voiceover.

I'm a complete novice on the video side, but reasonably competent on the stills side.
 
You need to add ram. That iMac is just fine. I do HD on the 27" version. But you need at least 16GB of ram and internal or external ssd drive. At least get the ram and some external drive.
 
That particular iMac, if is the 27" is a good computer. I was using one for 4 years until 3 weeks ago when I left that job. You would need video ram (GPU) if you are going to do extensive render but I used to work in After Effects with that machine just fine. The Davinci is a very pro software. Try using Premiere Pro, I believe the first month is free. Still, iMovie would do. It is more about experience than software for the kind of job you want to do. I ended up doing promos basically in Quicktime but I knew how to put together a good story line.
 
Apple fanboy said:
So Mrs AFB has asked me to shoot some video for her. These will be craft tutorial videos as she is a card maker.
I'll be using my Nikon D750.

So there is a glut of tutorials out there, but anybody found any particular good ones on the editing side.

I was originally going to use Davinci Resolve (free version) but tbh my 2012 iMac just doesn't have the GPU.

So switched to iMovie which is okay (if a bit glitchy).
Just going to do basic video with stills and titles etc. Will be adding separate music and voiceover.

I'm a complete novice on the video side, but reasonably competent on the stills side.
Click to expand...

People confuse learning to edit video with learning to use the tools. Not the something at all.

Back to tools: One of the things that surprise people getting into this is that one of the hardest things to get right is audio. Viewers will put up with video that is not perfect but th slightest audio defect makes the entire production seem amateurish and cheap. And it is hard to get it right. Live on-camera sound requires a microphone right on the person. A fav mic clipped to the shirt works For voice over a large diaphragm condenser a few inches away with a opo filter works well too. the key step in all cases i stetting the microphone as close as possible

There are some pretty important rules about editing. Any basic book will cover them and they apply no matter what tools you use or even to film. Cuts "work" because of some quirks of human perception but you. Many beginners don't know this and it shows. even if you just skim through any decent book about cutting film you will be miles ahead of most You Tubers.

I use FPCX and it has the ability to create "proxy" files. These are lower quality version of the view that allow you to work on a slower computer. You cut the show together then when you ar done you "render" the final product using the high quality original files. So you can cut 1080p video on a 10 year old notebook and it is quick as it needs to be. I don't know about iMovie but if it has that feature use it.
 
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Apple fanboy said:
I have 16GB of RAM. It's the GPU that's the issue.
Click to expand...

What is exactly the issue? Are you getting an error, a warning, or some odd behavior you are attributing the GPU, or what?

iMovie is a good program and should be able to edit H264 1080p content from a D750 on a MacBook Air or a 2012 iMac.

Even if you were using FCPX (which has the ability to create proxy files), you normally don't need that for 1080p content, even on a somewhat older machine.
 
ChrisA said:
People confuse learning to edit video with learning to use the tools. Not the something at all.

Back to tools: One of the things that surprise people getting into this is that one of the hardest things to get right is audio. Viewers will put up with video that is not perfect but th slightest audio defect makes the entire production seem amateurish and cheap. And it is hard to get it right. Live on-camera sound requires a microphone right on the person. A fav mic clipped to the shirt works For voice over a large diaphragm condenser a few inches away with a opo filter works well too. the key step in all cases i stetting the microphone as close as possible

There are some pretty important rules about editing. Any basic book will cover them and they apply no matter what tools you use or even to film. Cuts "work" because of some quirks of human perception but you. Many beginners don't know this and it shows. even if you just skim through any decent book about cutting film you will be miles ahead of most You Tubers.

I use FPCX and it has the ability to create "proxy" files. These are lower quality version of the view that allow you to work on a slower computer. You cut the show together then when you ar done you "render" the final product using the high quality original files. So you can cut 1080p video on a 10 year old notebook and it is quick as it needs to be. I don't know about iMovie but if it has that feature use it.
Click to expand...
I won't be using any sound that isn't created off camera. The video will be shot then the voice over and music added at the end.

As for being ahead of most YouTubes I'm not sure, but boy there is some rubbish content out there that I'd be ashamed to put my name to.
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joema2 said:
What is exactly the issue? Are you getting an error, a warning, or some odd behavior you are attributing the GPU, or what?

iMovie is a good program and should be able to edit H264 1080p content from a D750 on a MacBook Air or a 2012 iMac.

Even if you were using FCPX (which has the ability to create proxy files), you normally don't need that for 1080p content, even on a somewhat older machine.
Click to expand...
A warning message telling me the GPU can't cope or something like that! I'll post it when I'm back at my iMac.
 
Agree that you should be able to use iMovie to create 1080 content on that Mac. When I had a 2011 MBP (no GPU) that worked fine. That was replaced with a 2014 (integrated graphics) 15-in MBP. FCP X performed nicely, even multicam, as long a proxy was used.

But I believe you said "I want to learn video editing." As stated above, iMovie is plenty capable for lots of video editing projects. The price is right and it should export pretty well to FCP or PP if/when you manage to outgrow it.

Start here: https://support.apple.com/imovie

Note that some public libraries (like ones here in Bay Area) have access to Lynda training.
 
joema2 said:
What is exactly the issue? Are you getting an error, a warning, or some odd behavior you are attributing the GPU, or what?

iMovie is a good program and should be able to edit H264 1080p content from a D750 on a MacBook Air or a 2012 iMac.

Even if you were using FCPX (which has the ability to create proxy files), you normally don't need that for 1080p content, even on a somewhat older machine.
Click to expand...
Here is the message I get.
Screen Shot 2017-08-09 at 21.13.49.png


It's not the best card when I got it so not surprising.
NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M 512 MB
 
I was able to run resolve on the base model 2.5ghz 2012 Mac Mini with 16gb RAM. However that machine had the integrated HD4000 video chip that allocated 1.5gb system memory for graphics (IIRC). Sounds like your 2012 iMac has a discrete video card with only 500MB so that probably won't work unless you can somehow increase its memory. :(

Looks like Final Cut Pro would run on your system though: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202239

Of course, that costs $300 which may be more than you want to invest. You can download the free trial though and it's fully functional for a month, so if you can work fast, it's free. :) https://www.apple.com/final-cut-pro/trial/

I recently made the transition from legacy Final Cut Pro to FCPX and really like it. It ran fine on my old 2012 Mini and it's really nice on my current Mac, a 2012 2.6ghz quad core Mini Server.
 
I would use iMovie, with all its glitches - it runs on your machine, and you can learn all you need to put together very good videos, with voice over and separate sound (music) tracks. Resolve is excellent, but won't run on older machines - I gave up a couple of years ago, but run the latest FCPX on my 2011 iMac with no problems.
 
Apple fanboy said:
....So switched to iMovie which is okay (if a bit glitchy)....It's the GPU that's the issue.....Here is the message I get. ("Your GPU memory is full")...
Click to expand...

That is a DaVinci Resolve error, not an iMovie error. What software are you running?
 
Apple fanboy said:
So I got the error in DaVinci Resolve. So I switched to using iMovie afterwards which works fine but isn't very pro compared to DaVinci.
Click to expand...

You said iMovie was glitchy. Are you having any specific problems or errors with it?
 
I use Avid and to me it's good but it's very OSX sensitive meaning that certain versions only work well depending the OSX you are running. FCPX is your best bet since it nearly functions like iMovie for ease of use.

There's a free version of Avid called Media Composer|First if you want to try it.

Even though it has been declared EOL, FCP7 will run on 512MB of VRAM. It won't run on High Sierra since Apple wants it dead.
 
My 2c of advice, stop fannying about and sink cash...Get Final Cut Pro X, buy a couple of Ripple Training videos, or watch the twins on their channel...You cannot go wrong with FCPX, it has so many features, everything you need right there...

The "problem" with FCPX is that it is not like DAR [da vinci resolve] or Avid/Premiere, FCPX has only 1 track and everything is connected to this "primary storyline", this takes getting used to, but once you understand how it works, and why Apple went this route, and I am so thankful Apple did.. you will find the time/money spent on FCPX will be worth it.

The 3D text is super amazing, the multi-cam, and no it is so easy and offers so much, Motion [separate app] combined with FCPX, along with apps you can plug in, you will soon find that "How could I do this..." becomes.."That is so easy...It feels like I am cheating"...trust me..invest in FCPX..
 
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Msivyparrot said:
My 2c of advice, stop fannying about and sink cash...Get Final Cut Pro X, buy a couple of Ripple Training videos, or watch the twins on their channel...You cannot go wrong with FCPX, it has so many features, everything you need right there...

The "problem" with FCPX is that it is not like DAR [da vinci resolve] or Avid/Premiere, FCPX has only 1 track and everything is connected to this "primary storyline", this takes getting used to, but once you understand how it works, and why Apple went this route, and I am so thankful Apple did.. you will find the time/money spent on FCPX will be worth it.

The 3D text is super amazing, the multi-cam, and no it is so easy and offers so much, Motion [separate app] combined with FCPX, along with apps you can plug in, you will soon find that "How could I do this..." becomes.."That is so easy...It feels like I am cheating"...trust me..invest in FCPX..
Click to expand...
Hear what you are saying, but don't think my 2012 iMac will be up to that.

Mrs AFB has put the video project on the back burner for now, so will wait and see. I have some cash towards my next Mac but not sure which way to go right now.
 
Well it is simple, just factor in the costs of FCPX, Motion and a couple of tutorials..If you say budget £3000, that will more than cover a new Apple, software and tutorials, try the free version of FCPX..it might work.. I would not use imovie...

I would hold off a new mac purchase until at least December/January..things will change, software will be updated, FCPX is due for updating once Apple feel High Sierra is stable, this OS has great features [apparently..not sure myself..], so once 64bit is common...That is code for killing off old final cut..[a sad day for editors]...

Just browse over to youtube, and look up Ripple training, and have a watch of some of the new videos...Amazing stuff...And they are great at replying to questions!!
 
Msivyparrot said:
Well it is simple, just factor in the costs of FCPX, Motion and a couple of tutorials..If you say budget £3000, that will more than cover a new Apple, software and tutorials, try the free version of FCPX..it might work.. I would not use imovie...

I would hold off a new mac purchase until at least December/January..things will change, software will be updated, FCPX is due for updating once Apple feel High Sierra is stable, this OS has great features [apparently..not sure myself..], so once 64bit is common...That is code for killing off old final cut..[a sad day for editors]...

Just browse over to youtube, and look up Ripple training, and have a watch of some of the new videos...Amazing stuff...And they are great at replying to questions!!
Click to expand...
Thanks for the tip. Purchase is much likely to be later than that. I'm hoping on a decent desktop at some point that won't cripple my finances.
 
I would love an imac, but they are just too big for my tiny space...I would love so so so much a decent 17inch mac laptop with 64GB of RAM, and a 1 or 2TB super fast hard drive..I hope that Mrs okeys your budget soon...
 
Final Cut Pro is not as hard to learn as many people think it is. Granted getting creative and using advanced features takes some work, but is not that difficult. You can be up and editing basic video in no time. Watch some tutorials. Play around a bit.

The hard part is making a quality video that keeps the audience interested.
 
It is not hard, it just seems that way, 1 track, and so on... But the power of FCPX is that you dont have to worry so much about clip management, clip collisions, you can do a lot of sorting out in the browser window, use the favorite or reject range functions, set the filter, and you basically have only good stuff to use....

FCPX is heading down a great path I feel, it must have been such a tough decision to abandon old FCP for this new concept, there are parts of old FCP I miss, but after 5 years and so many updates, new Final Cut is starting to become such a wonderful tool...

Making quality video....even the professionals get this wrong all the time...it is such a hit and miss.. I have edited inserts I thought were great, we loved them, but others found them boring, that is something that cannot be taught...Editing is how you see...after all video is just moving art...it is painting, instead of using oil and canvas, you use video, audio, the way you assemble the clips in a sequence..No science...all heart and emotion!!
 
Apple fanboy said:
Hear what you are saying, but don't think my 2012 iMac will be up to that.
Click to expand...

I think the system requirements for FCPX are really quite modest, I mean it even supports HD3000 integrated graphics on machines that are older and cheaper than your iMac. See this: https://www.apple.com/final-cut-pro/specs/

I used the legacy version of FCP going back to 2002 and just recently made the switch to FCPX. It is a very nice program and a bargain for the cost. Motion is also nice, I used the legacy version(s) a lot but have not found much use for the new one yet. But for $50, why not?

Regardless, for what @Apple fanboy describes, I can't see any reason not to just use iMovie since it's free and well documented. And his original question was merely for suggestions on iMovie tutorials. How did we get to the point of telling him to spend hundreds of dollars on software and thousands on a new computer? ;)
 
Boyd01 said:
I think the system requirements for FCPX are really quite modest, I mean it even supports HD3000 integrated graphics on machines that are older and cheaper than your iMac. See this: https://www.apple.com/final-cut-pro/specs/

I used the legacy version of FCP going back to 2002 and just recently made the switch to FCPX. It is a very nice program and a bargain for the cost. Motion is also nice, I used the legacy version(s) a lot but have not found much use for the new one yet. But for $50, why not?

Regardless, for what @Apple fanboy describes, I can't see any reason not to just use iMovie since it's free and well documented. And his original question was merely for suggestions on iMovie tutorials. How did we get to the point of telling him to spend hundreds of dollars on software and thousands on a new computer? ;)
Click to expand...
He doesn't need much persuasion!
 
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