Thursday, December 08, 2005

What to do with all that footage?

You have boxes, draws and shelves full of video tape, old film and now DVDs and CDs ... family memories, favorite TV shows and images you just don't want to throw away but now what do you do with them? Video tape that's 20 years old should be a concern, as the tape gets brittle and the mechanics of the tape housing itself may fail. It's time to get them transferred and edited into something that won't put your relatives to sleep!
But where do you start? Ten years ago this discussion wouldn't have been possible. A professional video editing system for just one type of format...VHS, DVC Pro, Beta or 3/4 inch would have been at a minimum $25,000. Today, my editing system is Adobe's Premier Pro, in the third bedroom of my house on a PC with a lot of Ram and hard drive space but low on cost. Most media computers, or PCs with enough space can accommodate current editing systems like Adobe Premier Elements which is a popular, simple editing system for the novice or the professional. But the system isn't the important part, it's the process of editing. And that's what this blog is all about, tips, tricks and an easy to understand explanation of how to turn those hours of vacation footage into a snappy music video that will impress your friends and family!