newbie - how do I edit?
 

I just got a GL2, my first camera. I have Final Cut Pro. I'm gonna shoot stuff this weekend and I wanna be able to edit it. What mode do I shoot in (i.e., tape or card?)? Is there any other settings I need to know to be able to edit what I shoot?

Your thread could be the title of a book. Assuming you are knowledgeable in getting the clips into FCP, from there you will assemble edit adding fx, music, titles, narrative etc.
Back to the book thing. Check out your local book superstore and spend a couple hundred on learning materials and a couple of weeks with those as well as the manuals that shipped with your software.
That's the starting point. To bypass the basic learning stage will have you floundering instead of creating.

First off - WELCOME ABOARD!


"What mode do I shoot in (i.e., tape or card?)?" - The CARD MODE is for capturing what you are looking at onto the Camera's STILLS Card. It is for stills camera work. The TAPE mode is for capturing video to the camera's tape. If you are filming action and sound you need to have selected TAPE mode.


"Is there any other settings I need to know to be able to edit what I shoot?" - Not really . . . but . . while you are a beginner start with Easy Mode. This will give you beautiful and acceptable beginner's pleasure. ESAY mode is selected by flick the PROGRAMME SLECTOR to EASY RECORDING - looks like a GREEN outline of a TV screen? The next STEP up you will take is getting to grips with AUTO mode. AND THEN the dizzy heights of FULL MANUAL MODE.

So, 3 Steps to take:

1/- Easy Recording Mode

2/- Auto Mode

3/- Manual Mode.

But, experiment with any of them at anytime!

You have one Helluva' Camera there! Once you start getting to grips with the ooptions, you will be astounded at what it can do for you.

One MAJOR tip I learnt ear;y on is that a movie camera is a camera that doesn't move - it is the action within the your framing that moves!

Did you get a Users Guide with your camera? If niot the US version is downloadable.

Oh yeah . . HAVE FUN!

Best regards,

Graham "Grazie" Bernard

Listen to Graham...
 

All great stuff.
I will offer perspective on one statement however. One MAJOR tip I learnt ear;y on is that a movie camera is a camera that doesn't move - it is the action within the your framing that moves!
Watch out for absolutes. These can be paradigms that can stay with you to a fault. Do your apprenticeship covering the timeline that Graham mentioned, but keep in mind that the most cinematic works you will see utilize controlled camera motion.

Thanks for the replies - and for the welcome. I think I got it: I shoot on tape and then if I have the transfer cords I'll be able to transfer the footage over to the computer, where I can edit it?

I do have the manual. I've looked through the whole thing several times and I can't find where it says anything on this.

One of the first useful things I actually learned, is that editing starts before you start taping-

Try to have a list of the shots you want.

Give yourself some time on tape before and after the action. This gives you more opportunity for fades, dissolves, and other transitions.

Shoot, shoot, just keep on shooting. It is easier to cut out what you don't want, than it is to add in what you don't have.

Keep your mouth shut! The camera mic will always pick up what you say behind it, but never what is going on in front.

There are others on the list of Quirk's Laws, but these are at the top.