[Alex Elkins] "The various technical gotchas of FCP and the other NLEs are a barrier to entry. "
No...you have ALWAYS needed to know the technical part of editing. Unless you are a highly creative person who just needs to know PLAY, STOP, IN, OUT...to tell a story. Those types of editors are rare...the ONLY CREATIVE ones. That's typical Hollywood Feature world...Network TV. The rest of us are our own assistants...we need to know how things work.
Avid always had the thing "this must be converted to an Avid codec before you can even start." That's how they remain so stable. FCP gets UNSTABLE because it is so open...you can bring in footage without converting...and when you do...trip! And many people trip because they don't learn how to do things. They just buy FCP and throw stuff at it. Heck...an NLE just needs to be like that now, huh? forget learning things...make it EASY so I can just grab footage from this camera, that camera, YouTube, my cel phone...all sorts of frame rates and frame sizes...throw it all together and just WORK! Forget having to LEARN about the differences in frame rates, codecs, and all that. That's too hard...
BS. Editors....GOOD editors...who didn't have dedicated assistants at their beck and call, always knew that stuff. People today are just frickin' lazy and just want the easy app that just works. They don't want to know WHY it isn't.
[Alex Elkins] " Today's aspiring editors (and many veterans) are forced to learn how to avoid the technical issues before getting into the important part of actually editing and improving their storytelling skills. "
Nothing new. Yesterdays editors and veterans had to do the same thing. People typcially learned on the job...as assistants. or apprentices. Learn as you go up the ladder. Now, people just buy a camera, buy an NLE, and BOOM, they are professionals. Sorry...it doesn't work that way. This is a craft, just like any other. I don't just buy a hammer and nails and BOOM, I'm a carpenter. I need to know that you need to put beams at an ANGLE if you want the house to be secure and not fall over if you lean on the wall. Need to know WHY that angle helps that. Architects...the artists...DEFINATELY need to know.
Camera people...you don't just grab a camera and point and shoot...boom, done. Nope, gotta know what a shutter is, iris, how to adjust the knee...what happens when you boost the gain. Know how to light a set, that you need KEY, FILL and maybe a backlight. Throw a gobo on a light and put a neat pattern on the wall. Seen the guys who just grab a camera and shoot an interview? Flat picture, boring background...horrid lighting. OH, and AUDIO!
This is a technical field as well as creative. You need to know HOW to use the NLE before you start editing. know the limitations and work within them. If you don't...just throw crap on the timeline and hope it works...well, you get problems. And then they come here whining that it doesn't work, and what crap software this is...blah blah blah.
[Alex Elkins] "The cream rises to the top anyway, and the more competition there is the better craftsmen/women we all become."
Exactly. The more people who jump in without knowing what they are doing, the more work I get to fix it...and then to work with that client again.
Shane
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