Make sure you watch all of your footage. If you’re digitising from tape then watch as it’s being imported. If you’re importing digital files from discs or cards then build in time before you start editing to review your footage. Take note of any thing that makes an impact. It’s amazing how this first viewing can be invaluable, as ultimately your audience is going to viewing for the first time too. You will tire of your footage and never view things in quite the same way again.
DV cameras connect to your computer using a firewire. Like an extremely fast USB cable, it transfers the digital information held on your tape straight onto your hard drive.
Edit programs such as imovie (mac) or Pinnacle (PC) will recognise your camera as soon as you plug in the firewire (provided it's all connected correctly & switched on). You can then control the camera through the computer: just press record or capture when you reach the bits on the tape you need. Once you get more advanced, you may want to start using timecode. Take in everything that might be usable - it’s amazing how footage that you thought was useless ends up getting you out of a sticky situation. For instance, the camera might be on before action has been called and the actor gives a certain look, which is exactly what you are looking for in the edit. So take in all the footage - you never know how it might be used.
There is a new generation of hard disc and removable cards. New versions of edit software will recognise your camera when you plug it in, and getting the footage off is very easy.
The dvd cameras can be a little more tricky, the key thing is to remember that although you are recording onto disc - this disc might not easily load into a domestic deck.DVD cameras are not really recommended for editing but are useful if you want to shoot and review quickly.
Anything that is already digital (cd music, sound-effects, graphics, stills) is quite simply imported. In most programs, choose: 'File>Import'. The program should tell you if your file is compatible.
Still images don't have to be very large, so even stills 2mg camera can be usable. Most computers can deal with .bmp and .jpg image files
For audio wav and aif are the files computers like best. Other file formats such as mp3 can be tricky and you may need to use more software to convert your files. If you have the choice use .aiff on the mac and .wav on the pc.
If you are printing an image from your film - the resolution is surprisingly bad. If you need a photographic record, use a stills camera on set
Another way you might be getting source material is off the net. Remember you have to actually 'download' any files you want to work with. It's strange because you can sit and watch the whole clip, but you might not have it stored on your computer. You might have just 'streamed' the file rather than downloaded it. Normally when you actually 'download' a file you are asked to choose a place to save it to.
Unfortunately one place it is very tricky to get film from is a regular DVD. This is due to copyright protection issues, and even if you have created the dvd yourself it is still very difficult. This is partly why we recommend backing up your movie to another format as well as dvd when you finish.
When working with other artists, get them to save their work in a number of different formats, this way you are more likely to have success when importing
Give clips clear descriptive names that help your clips fall into order ie "beach-sandcastleseq-cu-jimmy01" Think about the first word in the name - when you sort your clips in a browser this will become important. Don’t use numbers first, unless scene numbers are important for file management.