This evening has been spent repeating the video creation process for each of the twenty-four @JustSpices Seasoning Blends I have in my collection. Thanks to the template I made this has been a relatively smooth process. More a matter of making sure I had things aligned properly and then going through the export process.
About a third of the way through I began wondering if I should change the soundtrack for each video. After much consternation I decided that would be ridiculous. Quite a bit of busy work and another way to distract me from having everything finished in a timely manner.
So I resisted the urge to dive headfirst into Garage Band and waste four or five hours trying to come up with differing soundtracks. I have confined myself to the task at hand and now possess twenty-four individual blog intros.
It may not seem like a great accomplishment, but trust me, it is.
Now all I need to do are the reviews.
I also need another idea to work on with Final Cut Pro.
Mark Twain once said: “The secret of getting started is breaking your complex overwhelming tasks into small manageable tasks, and starting on the first one.”
That’s what this feels like.
I have a complex overwhelming task. My brain keeps playing the same old tapes. Why am I even trying to do this. I won’t succeed. There is no way I will ever become proficient with Final Cut Pro. No one cares. And that is where I am right now.
I am still plugging away. I worked on refining the intro. It was much quicker the second time around. I had a clear idea of what I wanted and a better understanding of how I needed to do it.
Importing the pictures was a snap and then scrubbing through them to make each the proper length took very little time.
To save time I exported the video before I added a soundtrack then imported it into a different project and adjusted the playback speed until I had it where I wanted it to be.
I wanted something that would move quickly but not be too short and go by in a blur. Nine seconds felt about right and adding a place holder for the subject of the review would allow me to make subsequent videos easily.
The hardest part was getting the soundtrack to be the length that I needed. I ended up having to add a filler to the beginning of the timeline and adjust the soundtrack so it began and ended where I wanted it to. The I exported it and airdropped it to my phone. I trimmed the video on my phone and airdropped it back to my iPad. There may be an easier way to do this, but I do not know it.
I made a new project, imported the video, and named it “Template” so I remember to not delete it.
I am going to make all of the intro videos I need and save them to an external hard drive, so I have them in a safe place to grab them from when I need them.
I am hoping it will be as easy as that sounds.
That is about it for tonight. I hope all of you are well.
Well Moo has been particularly needy tonight and has insisted on sitting in my lap or on my laptop.
I prefer that he not sit on my laptop so he has to settle for my lap. This has led to an endless amount of paw taps and nose boops and has made typing almost impossible.
Sorry, but nothing new to report on the Final Cut Pro front.
I had to figure out a way to hold the @JustSpices containers in the same spot for each picture without being complex or visible in the pictures. I also had to anchor the camera so it didn’t move throughout the process.
The containers have a plastic top and bottom. Both have a cavity. I couldn’t use the top to anchor the container without it being visible. I would need to put something under them. It needed to hold each in place but at the same time allow the containers to be switched easily.
I decided that a disc, slightly smaller than the inside diameter of the cavity would be the best solution. Each container would end up in the same relative spot in relation to the camera and the backdrop. It would also allow the containers to be switched out easily. Using a small piece of modeling clay would keep the disk in place but not have the potential to damage my backdrop.
I used some modeling clay to anchor the camera stand and to make sure the camera didn’t move I used my watch to trigger the shutter.
After everything was set up I took all of the photos that I would need. The amount of time it required was much shorter than previously. I would like to think the ease was at least in part a result of my planning but can’t swear to it.
I did not have time today to research making a short video in Final Cut Pro to see if there was an easier way to string the pictures together and sync the soundtrack to such a short video.
That’s all for tonight. I hope that you all are well.
So yeah, this turned out to be harder than I thought.
I wanted to make an introduction that would quickly showcase all of the @JustSpices seasoning blends that I am going to review with the final frame landing on the blend that I would be using for the review.
I thought I had been spot on with all of the pictures and, only looking at them through the camera display, they looked right. After importing them to Final Cut Pro and running through the video I quickly saw that was not the case. If you watch the video you too can experience what it’s like to film a video during an earthquake.
I need to figure out how to place each seasoning container in the same place for each shot. I also need to rely on a tripod instead of holding the camera with my hands.
I thought it would be simple but it is not.
Lesson learned.
I will do a little brainstorming, figure it out, and do a reshoot.
Problem solved.
Another thing I discovered about Final Cut Pro is that it is not set up to easily edit a collection of photos into a quick, short duration video. I had to trim each picture down after importing them into my timeline.
The soundtracks also allow only so much trimming. I could not figure out how to trim the soundtrack down to the duration I needed. I ended up having to export the video (thank you Airdrop) to my iPhone, trim the video so it ended where I wanted without the extra soundtrack playing to a blank screen, and then Airdrop it back to my iPad. I am going to see if I can find an easier solution.
Or it could be that I don’t know what I am doing.
I have a bit of work ahead of me, but I also think I have a good idea about what’s needed to accomplish it.
I have an idea for a new project. Something that will help me become more comfortable using Final Cut Pro and result in another asset for my other blog.
I spent the morning shooting some new video and taking a number of stills. Now all I need to do is combine them into something that looks good.
From what I have thought about and learned with the last project I was able to break down what I wanted to do with some bullet points. If I do this correctly I will not only have a nice video, but also introductions for twenty three reviews. I’m excited to see if I can pull this off.
So, it’s day 12 and I think this is where I’m going to say the video is finished.
I feel that it’s OK to say that.
I don’t think that it’s an amazing video. I certainly don’t think it’s a perfect video, but I believe it’s a lot better than the original. That’s what I was shooting for.
This process has taught me a lot.
I need to plan out what I’m shooting instead of hoping the footage I take will somehow allow me to piece it all back together and make a decent video from it. I don’t know if that means having a list of bullet points for the shots I would like or if it will mean doing a quick storyboard to plan the shots and sticking to that. Either way, better planning should make for better videos. It will also save me time in the editing process.
Another thing that I’ve learned is the need to keep things simple. While I was going through the final steps, I had to resist the urge to put transitions between each clip. I had to keep telling myself that each clip didn’t need some sort of effect to make it good. Prior to working on this project, I really thought every clip needed to have an effect. Before taking the time to watch the tutorials, to watch other creators, and to look at the user guide, it seemed like if an effect was available, then each clip should have one.
Simple is better.
Is this video perfect? No.
There are things I see in it I wish I had done differently. I should have taken more still photos with my drone. There are places in the video that I would have liked to have added a still shot to, but I didn’t have it available. I believe as I take more footage, I will have that thought in my head. I need to think about what I am shooting and take a few pictures, so I have them available. I may never use them, but they would be available if I needed them.
Does finishing this video make me an expert at Final Cut Pro? No.
I consider the bet I have with myself to be ongoing. I do feel more comfortable using the software, but it isn’t intuitive for me. I want to get to the point where I remember how to do things and I don’t have to look at notes or go back over a tutorial to find what I want to do. I want to develop that muscle memory.
I’m going to continue with the blog. I’m going to continue to post pictures and videos, And I’m going to continue to learn to use the app and become more comfortable with it. That’s the only way I’m going to learn.
I still have a couple of months before the new iPads are announced that gives me the time, I need to become more comfortable with the app.
On a side note, one of the things that I have come to appreciate with using an iPad, a MacBook Air, a Mac mini pro, and an iPhone is AirDrop. It was very nice being able to share things that were saved on one device with another with the touch of a couple of buttons. I don’t believe I’m an apple fanboy, but I do appreciate the ecosystem.
That’s it for tonight. I’m heading off to bed. I hope that you all have a good evening and I look forward to continuing my journey with Final Cut Pro.
I have added some stock music that @Apple provides in the app and am in the process of trying to have everything sync the way I think it should (the way other Youtubers say it should at least). That is an exercise all on its own. I have gained an appreciation for the jog wheel. It has allowed me to be very precise (I hope) in placing videos in line with the music.
It is also good to be able to use the Apple Pencil in the editing process. I like using it to scrub through videos. It seems to allow for a smoother flow than my finger does.
That said, after spending a couple of hours working to get everything just right I ended up with a video that did not quite sync with the music.
I think it may be that I imported the music but did not sync it to the end before I started tinkering with everything. When I had very thing the way I wanted it I collapsed the soundtrack to the end of the video and voila, everything was now just a smidge out of sync.
Lesson learned.
I will attempt another sync tomorrow and hopefully have the rough version that I can add some polish to.
Final Cut Pro makes it very easy to select and place videos in the timeline. Once you get the hang of it becomes intuitive to do this. I can see why a lot of people like to use this software.
Even though it’s easy to do this it made me nervous and a little excited to be working on my project. Nervous because I feel like this needs to be perfect and be the best video that I’ve ever made. Excited because I want to see how it turns out well.
The whole time I was working there was a small voice in the back of my mind telling me that I don’t know what I’m doing and that no one cares about any of this. I kept telling myself that it doesn’t matter and that I’m doing this for myself. I can’t help but wonder whether there will be improvement.
I know it’s only a small video in the grand scheme of things, but I really do want it to be good. I mean, why learn something new and spend all this time doing it for nothing. If I don’t improve, and if this project isn’t better than the original, I have wasted my time and my money.
One thing I do know is that I have put more thought and more effort into this project than I did the original. I think the preplanning turned out well. Now it’s just a matter of putting the shots in the proper order, tweaking them so they look like I want them to, and adding some final polish to it all.
It is already taking me longer to do this one compared to the original. The first attempt at this project took about two hours. I have already devoted 10 hours to this project and I still probably have 6 to 10 hours to go yet. There definitely is plenty of time and effort invested in making a decent video.
I’m going to end here for the night. My fuzzy cat wants my attention so I’m going to go play with him and scratch his head some.
My Final Cut Pro 