How long does it take you guys to usually edit a project?
 

I'm just starting out switching from a basic MovieShaker (Sony) and iMovie to Vegas/Premiere Pro.... and it takes me about 3 hours just to get 1 minute down with the effects/sound/transitions I want! I guess I am slow, eh?

. . er . . took me 13 days to do a 7 minute project in November last . . Another project 30 mins long took me 3 days . . . I'm working on a project now with captrued images that aint with me yet . . some are . .I'm thinking this will take me 14 days for another 10 minute piece . . go figure David! It takes as long as it takes . . aint nothing gonna change that Pal . . you take as long as you need . .quality sometimes is hard to dig out . .keep digging ..

Best regards


Grazie

Totally depends on the project. I can do a 1 hour 3 camera mix in about 2 hours. I might spend 8 hours getting a minute or two correct. Way too many variables to give an accurate answer.

I'm doing a 30 minute edit to a wedding with 4 hours of footage. The opening sequence that runs 2 minutes took me 3 hours, the ceremony which has 2 camera coverage and runs 45 minutes took me 6 hours to cut to 9:12, I'll start the reception traditions tomorrow but I figure another 10 hours to cut that to about 15 minutes and the recap will run about 4 minutes and will take about 20 hours to edit. Does not include loadup, render or encoding times, but I'm not in a race. I take whatever time is necessary to be able to produce a finished product that my client is happy with, proud of and feels that it was worth the good money they paid for it.
Don

David . .as always, you ask interesting questions . . . ;-)

Well, there you have it - roughly edited as :-

It takes as long as it takes . .

Each project determines its edit length . .

I like Don's final comment - "I take whatever time is necessary to be able to produce a finished product that my client is happy with, proud of and feels that it was worth the good money they paid for it. " - especially the " . . proud of . . " bit . .oh yes . . .

But I guess this aint what you are asking .. hmmmm...?

1 / Are you trying to get a time "benchmark" on your edit abilities? If this is the case, don't bother. You take as long as you like. Certainly ask the question but DON'T use these figures as Gospel - yeah?

2/ If you are attempting to "gauge" the economics of this task - please tell me too! ! ! !

At the end of the day, I have to be brutally pragmatic with myself AND the client . . . Presently I don't have a dearth of ideas. I suppose I'm lucky .. ideas come at me in legions . . HOWEVER . . . Ideas and the manifestation on the timeline equate to time at the edit deck this equates to MONEY . .and not NEW money being brought in. The longer I spend "Editing=IdeaCreation" the less profitable THAT project is becoming. Think of it like a tank full of water. The longer the "tap" is left open, the less there is to service the household . . in my case service my bank balance . .hahah! . . ADD to this the various upgrades . .Sony Vegas will be top of the list in the next 1 - 3 - 6 or 10 months . .we don't know exactly when this upgrade to version 5 will happen [ but happen it will! ] - but I need to have the Pound Notes available to do it . yeah?

The way I presently "work" my economics is on a "fixed" price. This means the client doesn't get any nasty surprises . . I might . .but that's my fault. They want a service for a set price? That's what they'll get with me. I'm lucky in that my projects are fairly simple: "1 Bloke with a camera" + "1 Bloke with a NLE" . . both guys are me . . If at all possible I would want to stay like this as far as possible . . Times may change . . but at present I'm turning work down on the basis it is NOT in my scheme of things at present .. . maybe never . . HOWEVER I can broker business to others who have a wider experience and have a larger call on kit than I do . . . AND they may advise a prospective client to call me, as their demands are not sufficiently BIG enough for the larger companies . .. swings and roundabouts - yeah?

So .. this may appear some way from your original question . . . but in another sense it aint. As I said, you DO ask interesting questions. ;-)

Okay, David, what's YOUR feedback on what has been said here David? I for one would be interested to hear your comments . . more to the point what, "are going away with" . . ? ? ? ?

Best regards

Grazie

Well, I was just wondering how long people on average take, that's all because I thought I was perhaps a tad bit slower than usual. That's all. :-)

Yes, David, I realise that . . . But now you've had feedback, what do you think about your own editing timings? See, I do read your threads AND respond . . ;-)

Do YOU think you are a "tad" slow . . and, therefore, from the feedback yer got from us all, on what basis are you measuring this?

. . .hmmm .. ?

Grazie

Well, the basis of my judgement is really because I've use to edit similar projects but way faster on less-professional and more basic user-friendly applications. My friend, who also is beginning to use Vegas Video 4.0 (Him and I started at around the same time when we began investing into this program, we've just begun learning), is doing ALMOST nearly the same project.... (yup, school project), with same effects/timings, has done his way faster than mine. He says he is using the "trimmer" option rather than what I am doing, which is manually dragging the clips into the timeline, then splicing/deleting/spacing from there. But I guess each has our own ways....

Interesting David. So your comparison is against the simpler NLE deck . . well, my guess is that as you get far more proficient with Vegas . . yeah gonna come up with some truly stonkin' & Smokin' ideas . . THEN the time will escalate .. as will the obsession . .Be Warned! . . ahahaaha . .it's already happened to me .. have fun matey .. don't worry about the time . .JUST DO IT and be dammed as to the time . .work through the night .. and keeping talking here and there abouts . . . it all helps ... has helped me . . you Betcha! - There are some GREAT people to speak with . .

Grazie

Hey Graham, do you got AIM (AOL Instant Messenger)? Perhaps we can chat there sometime? I'm mostly on there whenever I go online.... I have a bunch of DV/Vegas-related questions that perhaps you can help me with.. :-)

Yup!
 

David . . .would enjoy this . .

I hang out on this one . . It's really good . .

http://gooddogproductions.com/stl-web/chat/mychat/

sign up . . and we could be talking within minutes .. yeah?

Grazie

David, also remember that your editing time will decrease as you learn Vegas better. Right now you're spending a lot of time learning the NLE instead of actual editing. I guarantee you will be faster in a few months than you are today.

It takes until the deadline.

Studio 7 is a very good---easy---NLE. Since it has been replaced, you might find a copy in a software/computer store specializing in "used."

I still don't edit at home via NLE. If you learn how to shoot with the intention of not editing, you'll save time, depending on what you want to do.