DSE

Is this "industry standard" over there for editing tandem vids? I ask because it has nothing "special" if you can understand what i`m trying to say. It`s just clips copied from camera, some have speech audio, the others have music audio. No sync to the music, entry and exit animations are pre-rendered. Just slow-mo of exit. Plain vanilla. I could do this type of editing work in less than 2 minutes. And the rest is up to the computer speed. I guess that if you have large number of tandems, than that`s the norm... Still, I`m interested can a Production Assistant be used to automatize more custom video edit? Like the one that we currently do: 1. normal exit 2. slow-mo exit 3. freefall continued 4. slow-mo of something nice in freefall 5. freefall continued and deployment 6. slow-mo of deployment 7. whole freefall again in normal speed. Transitions are synchronized with music. Can it automate to do something like this? Or just close? It can automate *most* of what you're asking for. If markers are embedded in the music, syncs are quite possible too. However...exit shots can't be accuratedly predicted for each video, as they're all different. Yes, these are "plain vanilla" because the idea is to get the video into the hands of the customer immediately after they've removed their gear. Editing shouldn't take longer than 2 mins, burning takes approximately 3 mins, plus about 1 min to insert the customer video into the customized DVD menu that has additional media on it to encourage a return to the DZ for AFF or more tandems, and a leader for the DZ. In all, about 15 mins of video content. There are three parts to the process; Ingest Edit Deliver They are each longer than the other. If you want to deliver vids in under 6-7 mins, it's easy. You can also add complexity to the automation and/or templates (there is room for 10 in this version of the system) but bear in mind that adding more processes adds more time. For example, adding multiple slo-mo's and color correction or FX is gonna add at least 15-20% to your render time. While this is no big hit on a small DZ, it has an enormous impact on a DZ that is doing 100 vids a day. Another benefit to this system that I'd failed to mention is that it allows one editor to work on multiple videos at once. One ingesting, one rendering, one editing (or more, if the person is fast enough, sounds like you probably are). I've run as many as 22 instances of the app at one shot, but it does get kinda confusing looking at all those similar windows.

Actually, I don't. Please re-read. My company sold the software to Sony for distribution a while ago. I don't believe I said "I'm a professional and require a higher standard" but I do believe people paying for skydiving videos deserve more than raw footage stitched together. That's my opinion. Yours may differ and of course that's OK.

Premiere Pro CS4 will open MP4 files on the timeline. Older versions of Premiere will not support mp4 on the timeline, IIRC.

I thought that type of conduct was for people that don't care about their quality? That would be the first step of a 3 step process. Ingest Edit Deliver In the editing stage, which is predominantly automated, the system automatically puts in dropzone "bugs" or logos, stock content, title cards, a thank you to the student for jumping at our DZ, a customized introduction to the DZ. The only part that isn't automated is the repeat/slow-mo of the exit. We'd like to automate that too, but there are too many variables to ask the system to accurately know where the exit is on every plane across the world. I think it's great that you've got a friend who is attempting to design a software that delivers stitching for raw cuts. In *my* opinion, that's a gross disservice to people paying for video and does little to help the DZ bring in more students/customers. YMMV.

Camera-CX100, CX7, CX12, CX110 (takes longer, becasue camera has to be removed from base to extract card) Computer: Quadcore PC ssystem Software: Sony Vegas with Production Assistant From moment of ingest to finished customized DVD with student name and extra features on the DVD: 6 minutes (depending on person running the software). I've yet to meet anyone that can't do it in less than 10 after a little training. This includes a repeat/Slo-mo of the exit. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HocJS6ckLp8 This was Jumptown's first Youtube upload. Edited/created on DVD in just over 4 mins, but they also have a monster fast editing system.

The manual to use the Production Assistant system is literally less than two pages printed in size 18 point type. Lob has them posted on the wall at Elsinore. It's fully automated. The two people putting together at Elsinore are not skydivers nor video editors. The people editing video at Jumptown are not skydivers nor video editors (one of them is a computer geek tho). In other words, you need to know very little. Put in a card, type in a student's name, click "resume" and then "Process." Even those using a sound mixer and a DVD recorder are cutting together more than just raw footage, or at least those who have an interest in quality product do. A significant percentage of the posts in this fora are entirely dedicated to "how do I make my video better." Delivering a quality product that tells a short story is a very relevant and profitable pursuit as it helps draw people to our sport. edit to add: I didn't answer the question about where/how for Production Assistant. PA runs only with Sony Vegas Pro 8 or 9, not the Movie Studio or Platinum software. Production Assistant was my brainchild, but we sold the software to SonyCreative, so it's currently available only through Sony. The information page is found here. It was originally intended as an automation tool for broadcasters, but Chris Warnock and I together, discovered a great way to use PA for skydiving. Chris has been instrumental in bringing it to where it is now in the skydiving and other instant-delivery video worlds.

haven't tested them, maybe Phree has some inside info. I don't think you'd gain more than a small percentage of speed with the slightly faster proc. RAM...you gain render speed if you're using 64bit, and want to run multiple copies (ie; editing 3 things at once, burning 3 discs at once).

Womble is good for splitting. Vegas, Premiere, Edius all work. you don't want to put them on to a Flash site such as Youtube or Vimeo? They'll take your m4v and convert them to Flash.

Specs are basically any off the shelf editing system. There are a coupla dozen DZ's running our systems now, and more than a few of them are just plain ole' off the shelf systems. In other words, nothing special needed in terms of hardware.

It sounds like they're using an auto-stitch with background encode. No big thing, and if poorly presented video isn't a problem...it's fine. The system we developed (and are about to release the 2.0 version of) provides for color correction, auto titles, crossfades, stock media inclusion, thank you, custom DVD menu with personalized links, and a whole lot more. But..some folks are fine with raw media, and that's very easy to do in a one-click. But it's not what I'm personally (nor professionally) into delivering.

We're farther than most would think. Look at the new Canons with dual cards. Stills just aren't very good. But, we are getting closer. Data bitrate is one of the biggest challenges.

At what resolution? I'm not able to believe anything can affect xfer and conversion of any high quality bitrate to a high quality bitrate at those kinds of speeds. My opinion nothing to do with Vegas but rather limitations of USB xfers and encoding speeds. No rendering? Not possible. Any time you process a frame with anything except what is inside the frame container, it *must* be rendered. No way around that. Even if it's a crappy camera with low resolution. An editing program can put the links on YouTube, Facebook etc too. There are widgets in existence that already do this. There is even a widget now, that allows videographers to drag files to the widget, create the video final file, upload to vimeo and youtube. Eliminating fades, titles, color process would help avoid rendering, but it won't help with Xcodes, and that requires a fair amount of computer horsepower. Without fades, repeated exits, and other small party favors, it's like tandem GoPro's. It's ugly as heck, does the sport a lot more harm than it does good, and doesn't provide for very good video to the customer/student.

Some good stuff! Thanks everyone for your help so far!

Might I suggest ANNIE'S which is just across the road & slightly north of the casino. It is a wild-n-crazy eatery. And the food is quite good. JerryBaumchen I have an exwife for those moments when I wish to be insulted. I live on a dropzone that has drunken Saturday nights for when I want to hear terrible singing. Taking someone to Annies and saying "They've never been here before" is -EVIL-

*if* you run this like most people use their laptops, I'd expect that in a short while, it won't render typical tandem vids in the allotted time. It will do so off the shelf, if you set it up correctly and don't install a lot of garbage (and get rid of the garbage that comes with it). You'll want an external (SATA, preferably) HDD for rendering/processing/archiving. If speed is a serious need, then don't shoot HD. You don't mention which camera. If you're shooting with a GoPro, it'll be slower (depending on the resolution you're shooting) than a CXseries Sony will be. HTH

SD highest bitrate is for Tandems, unless they've requested HD output. I'm not using a CX100, FWIW. I have cages built for my CX12 and CX7's, so still using those for most things. I have a matched mount for CX100's, but no cage, so unless I'm playing with 3D, it's all CX12. Someday, I'll get a cage for my CX110's.

What's the best thing to do for customers? Burn it as what they want. SD DVD is the most common delivery platform. Unless a customer requests BD, I shoot, edit, deliver SD. If it's for personal use or for something else, I use HD for everything. We charge a high premium for shooting, editing, delivering HD. It's a demand market. Until the demand is there to incur a lowering of price, we charge quite a bit to deliver BD.

I shoulda made it clear for you guys to go do the record without me. A couple of those FFC's were long and hairy... But it was good. That last jump as a group into the big hole was spectacular, with Charley and JP in front of me...looking across at Rick, clouds on both sides, ocean below. I'll never forget how great it was to be flying with a large group of close friends over the blue ocean. But I do wish the weather had allowed a larger record, or that you guys had gone on without me. but i"m glad you didn't. Thanks, Zach (and Rick, Andreea) for helping keep things rolling and helping with students.

Blu-ray content on a DVD 5 is the same image quality as BD on a BD disc. The primary advantage to a BD disc is that the disc will be compatible with older systems (usually) and the menus offer a few more options. That's it.

An avi, like a mov, is just a container. An avi can contain an MPEG4 stream. Think of an avi like a brown paper sack; it can contain a number of codecs and metadata information. If your content is on a DVD, it's likely already MPG2, and you may as well keep in in that format. It's not as much as a rip as it is a file Xfer. The .vob (Video OBject file should contain audio and video from the DVD. Some apps, like Premiere, Vegas, Edius can all edit that file natively. Quade is correct; white "dots" aren't interlacing issues, they're something else. Could be an encoding issue, could be a decoding issue, could be garbage from a damaged/scratched DVD. I second the nomination for Handbrake. If you want to burn the content back to a DVD, keep it MPEG2. If you want to put it on the web via YouTube, put it into an MP4 container and YouTube will convert that to Flash.

We'd be happy to have you. We have AFF students pretty much each day, and lots of instructors here to work with you. There are several people that are at your current level, so you'd be with a "graduating" class of several. L/O's abound on the Fri/Sat/Sun, and _always_ someone to jump with on any given day. Joining a group is easy, starting one...just as easy. No cliques or closed groups, most folks are very open and friendly. C'mon over. Ask for Lob, Cesar, Mark, Misha, me, Jose, CJ, Bob, Brianna,...lots of folks here to get you going/finishing your AFF.

I didn't .Weather didn't permit for two days, and John wasn't around for the next two. But...I'll be back there very soon, and it's a first-priority.

Elsinore has a more friendly vibe, but doesn't have a terrific restaurant. Easier to meet people at S'nore, and if a new face is seen around here, they're absorbed quickly and put into organized loads. Manifest usually has pix of organizers up so you can get an LO quickly. Wingsuits, RW, Freefly organizers always here.

Have you tried the fastex release while the helmet is under stress, pulling against your chin? It does become a lot more difficult.

Hey gang, I'm looking for old batwing and wingsuit photos for a small project I'm putting together. Anyone got anything they can share?