Best Shark Dives of 2008

[Drewski]

Hi All:

As I sit huddled in my living room with snow outside, I long for the hot days of summer, the clear blue water of North Carolina and the sound of a Detroit Marine Diesel engine turbocharger at high RPM. Ah, to be diving again.

I hate February.

So, looking through my old files, I decided to reprocess some of my earlier video from iMovie using Final Cut Pro. Throw some filters and smoothing routines in along with a little cool music and BAM... The Best Shark Dives of 2008 - Remix Version!

ENJOY....

Andy

[vimeo]3168545[/vimeo]

 

[Wil]

Andy,

Wendy and I like your video. AND, I see you use Final Cut Pro....

I've been trying to teach myself FCP and am near going crazy. Got any advice? A book? A source? Anything? I mean, we purchased a killer Apple system, took our Sony HVR-V1U, amphibico housing w/twin 250HID floods and ran away to Truk lagoon for two weeks, shot 16 hours of HD digital video, the weather sucks, boat needs some maintenance, and I can't figure out FCP.

Need help!

Will

 

[D1v1n]

Andy,
Awesome video! Thanks for sharing!

 

[Drewski]

Hi Ya Wil!

Yep your right, you'll never figure out FCP and you wasted big bucks on all that stuff. I'll give you $500 for it?

HA! Just joking!

First, if you haven't used a Mac before (like me) the operating system and application controls are the first challenge. Remember the old HP calculators with "reverse Polish?" It's kinda like that, not bad but just different.

FCP is hard to learn. I've been working my way through the manuals, but it's just not something that's intuitive. That's because it's been around so long and used by so many video professionals that Apple doesn't want to change the control routines and make everyone relearn the software. So, intuitive improvements that might make it easier to use and learn are not incorporated into upgrades. Instead, they improve features, processing speeds and little stuff to improve work flow. Fine for the guys that produce TV shows, but not us.

From what I've experienced with the software, everything is treated in layers and pieces. Read the book for how to import your video. Use the drop down menus across the top for everything. Import you clips into a "logging bin" and then drag and drop the clips to the timeline. Remember, everything is manual, nothing automatic.

I'm using this product to learn the software:

Ripple Training

So far, I haven't been disappointed.

Good Luck!

Andy

BTW, just using SD video, I'm rapidly filling drives. You need RAID terabyte drives for any long HD projects!

 

[Wil]

Andy,

Thanks, it helps. I bought the terabyte drives with the Apple, the two LED monitors, the works! It's an incredible system and our first Mac. Takes a bit of getting used to...

Glad to hear FCP (I got the Final Cut Studio 7 ver) is challenging to others. Have worked my way through importing to the HD. I just ordered a FCP book online and hopefully it'll help the learning curve.

OBTW, I still have my old HP calculator and a few slide rules around...

The video from Truk is incredible and I'm dying to start editing and producing something - anything. Got plenty of more blank tapes and want to head offshore to start recording our local wrecks. Perhaps we should start planning our offshore trip for March now? if the weather doesn't start improving, I'm towing the boat south to Morehead.

Will

 

[Md Spear]

very real film, I have dove the Proteus and Arrow many times.

your film brings those wrecks ALIVE!!