AV8 media provides training for professional NLEs (Non-Linear Editor) like Premiere,
FCP and
Da Vinci. Courses, I think run for 3 days. You will learn the interface, the workflow, and shortcuts. But I doubt the courses cover the aesthetics of editing.
Editing is just like cooking. No chef can do every dish. Start learning dish by dish, or genre by genre, set-piece by set-piece.
Editing is also the essential feedback loop of videography. Videographers who don't review and try to edit what they shot blindside themselves to the production mistakes they make. Just like a chef who don't taste his own cooking.
There are plenty of online instructions on Youtube and that's how you can shoestring your learning process.
The best way to learn editing is to actually have a 'deliverable'. That means, an actual project you need to get done. That way, you will seek information in a very focused manner to get from one step to the next.
Don't worry about making mistakes. NLE's are non-destructive so your rushes are safe as long as you don't delete the source files. Everything you do on your NLE is just referenced to the original clip which remains unchanged.
Before you spend money on a course , you will have to make 3 very tough decisions.
1. Choose your NLE (Non-Linear Editing) software
2. Choose the OS that will run your NLE
3. Choose the hardware that will run your OS and NLE
The tough part is : which decision to make first?
My advice is : choose the OS (WIN/OSX) that you are familiar with if you are in a time crunch. Otherwise you will have to learn the OS BEFORE you learn the NLE.
If your association can sponsor an annual subscription fee for Adobe Premiere CC, go for it. (It is easy to learn)
But,if,like me, you don't want to be held ransom by Adobe, consider FCPX for MAC, or the free iMovie or for PCs, the free Blackmagic Design Da Vinci.
Personally, I strongly recommend FCPX because:
1) I'm a biased mac user and I can't afford down time caused by viruses.
2) I'm stingy and don't want to pay thousands of dollars in Adobe subscriptions
2) I enjoy using Quicktime, million of colors+, and Prores which will not be supported by Windows in future
3) I'm a lazy 'cook' and likes to buy 'premix' and 'instant sauces' from
Pixelfilm Studios,
Motion VFX, and
Crumple Pop
4) I don't enjoy Adobe After Effects at all.
So after the wise decision to edit on FCPX has been made, just buy a secondhand mac - one with USB3.0 and thunderbolt. Anything after 2012 is fine so long as you are editing interviews in 1080p.
Now the expensive expendables - Storage. There's no way you can stay sane if you keep running out of storage.
For video editing, external storage is a must, otherwise your system will slow to a crawl.
Luckily cheap 7200rpm storage is still fine for 1080p. In the long run, the cheapest media is still internal SATA 3.5" drives. Buy the brand you can trust most. (WD Black / WD enterprise have OK track record with me ) Choose either USB3.0 enclosure or Thunderbolt enclosures but stay away from toolless ones. They will damage your hard drives.
For barebones interview lighting, get 2 Yongnuo
YN360 lightwand ($99 from Orient). This is a 1.5 foot light which is very soft if mounted horizontally and rather hard when mounted vertically. Use it horizontally as a key/fill and vertically as as a backlight. Use a reverse-folding (eg
Manfrotto 5001B) lightstand (they have a wider footprint) for better stability when mounting the light horizontally. Get the 55W Came-TV
Boltzen fresnel if you need a stronger outdoor sunfill or a harder backlight. Both the YN360 and the Boltzen uses the same generic NPF L -series batteries.
For interview audio, check your camera first for mic inputs and headphone inputs. If you have both mic and headphone ports, you will have more miking choices.
Assuming you have both ports and want a wireless setup for convenience, the Rodelink
newshooter is the best investment in that it can be used with lavalier mics, shotgun mics and cardiord handmics. This is very useful for different interview scenarios - from sit-down, walk-n-talk or voxpop. You will need to purchase your preferred mic separately.
If your camera has a mic port but no phone port, then the sony
urx-p03d will give you 2 separate channels of audio and 'restore' the missing headphone port in one sexy package.
If your camera has neither mic nor phone ports, then you have even more choices!
Conventionally, you can get a Zoom H4n/H5 recorder and a pair of Rodelink Newshooters. But after you see how unweldy this combination is, you will rather buy a camera with the two necessaary audio ports. Canon 80D is a good choice but so is the Panasonic FZ2000.
As I see it, if your interviewee is not a VIP and you can live with the psychological stress of not knowing what your mics are picking up, then why not make do with a Tascam
DR-10L lavalier recorder attached to your talent?
But if you prefer the miking flexibility of the Rode Newsshooter, minus the wireless price tag, consider also the Saramonic
SR-VRM1 XLR recorder. This fits directly to any XLR mic (lav, shotgun, cardiord) and can supply phantom power. You will need to find a sexy
money clip for it if you want to use it with a lavalier. But that's easy with
Sugru.
