Monkeysee Filmmaker Editing Tips - Sequence Settings and Audio

David Rotan: Hi! I am David Rotan, video production manager for www.

monkeysee.

com. I am discussing the post production process and the deliverables needed for a MonkeySee video from our Filmmaker program. Right now I am going to go over some basic editing tips.

First, let's talk about sequence settings, especially if you are editing in Final Cut Pro as we are. You want to make sure that your sequence, which refers basically to your timeline down here where your edited project is going to be located. You want to make sure that the settings are all set for the exact same way that you shot your video. So we go up here to the top to Sequence and we select Settings. Now e make sure that everything matches up.

We shot this video using High Definition and it was 1080i HD, it was also 16X9. So for the Aspect Ratio here in the Frame Size, I want to select that, HD (1440X1080) (16:9). Then we want to make sure the Pixel Aspect Ratio is the same. The Editing Timebase, we are editing at the same frame rate as we shot our project, 29.

97. Finally, the QuickTime Video Settings, the Compressor, Quality, is it a 100%? It is how we shot the video the same, HDTV 1080i60. Now your Audio Settings should also be the same way as you shot it in your camera. This is 48 KHz Rate with a 16-bit Depth. If you are shooting it on a regular DV camera, you would need to make sure everything matched. Find it up here in the settings, that would be in NTSC, if it was done here in America. You would select DV for 32. One thing that is common in all MonkeySee videos, that we require in the Filmmaker program is to have a 16X9 anamorphic. This means, it is wide screen. The basic rule of thumb is whatever you shoot your video project in you need to make sure the Sequence Settings match on your editing software program.

One thing to keep in mind for your video clips for MonkeySee is the audio. We have asked to all of our www.

monkeysee.

com videos be shot with an external microphone, just because most built-in camera mics are not that good, sometimes you might need to, in post production, clean up that audio and make it work a little better. One way to do that in Final Cut at least, is to come down here to the bottom of the screen and check this little Clip Overlays. It shows, it puts a little pink line through your audio clips here, where you can change and adjust the levels. It just selected the Audio 1 channel, it didn't do this one, just because this has not been stereoed.

Sometimes if you are using an external mic when you are recording audio, its not going to do that automatically. You can correct that by going up here to Modify at the top and then down the Stereo Pair and click on it. Now your highlighted audio clips will be stereoed as a pair. So when I raise or lower the volume, both track 1 and 2 are affected by it. Also, pay a close attention here to the levels. If its getting up here to 0, its peaking. You don't want that to happen. Let's just go to this very last clip. I am going to play it. So thats how you adjust audio. Next we are going to talk about jump cuts and dissolves.