Hi Dafydd,

Referring to Peter's post :-
http://forum.cyberlink.com/forum/posts/list/4194.page
"I am new to Powerdirector and, silly me, started with 40
GB of avchd (Canon hf100) from Africa safaris and I now have 2 1/2 hours of video selected (for our own use only) with more to go. Today, I discovered your forum and how helpful it is -- thank you.

But I gather that I will not get away with even editing such large files (it is getting slower and slower), much less outputing them. Is there a way to split up the file I already have (40+ hours of editing) or do I need to start over?"

It seems that a few more people are using HD and having to deal with large/multiple files and the PC/laptop resources needed to effectively deal with HD video.

I've searched the forum for posts about workflow etc but nothing really seems to offer a 'tips and tricks' guide/suggestions especially for those just getting into editing. Whilst I'm all for 'experiential learning' to use the jargon, other people's experiences are often really useful.

The forum is great for answering specific often detailed issues thrown up by PD but I wonder if a sticky post on organising workflow etc might match your other excellent guides. For example, some of Bif's posts give really good advice on techniques/issues that influence editing and production but are not confined to the guts of PD working.

So as a starter :-

My own experience with scuba videoing, which seems to produce large numbers of small clips, has led me to use the following general approach when editing.

1. I decide the overall theme/scope/whatever of the video I want to produce. Typically this is a single dive or a single location, wreck etc.

2. I review and organise my clips including copying and renaming them (with a batch renamer like ReNamer) etc into the drive and folder I will be working with in PD.

3. I review my clips because some need specific editing like color correction. Typically my dives can be divided into say, surface shot intro clips - dive centre, boat etc., deep depth clips needing a lot of colour correction, (but there may be intermediate depths as well), shallow depth clips needing less, and finally surface clips again for exit/windup etc.

4. In addition, I like to have a specific standard intro (Striking Video) and a standard rolling credits exit with acknowledgements etc.

5. I could try and do these all in one PD project but I find the whole processing side becomes too slow/flakey/difficult, and preview does not necessarily cope well with multiple transitions,colour corrections, titles, pips etc.

6. So in the illustration above, I end up with the following PD projects :-
Specific Stiking Video intro
Surface intro clips
deep clips
intermediate depth clips
shallow clips
exit surface clips
Specific Striking Video credits

7. Some may be short and others much longer/complex (and perhaps need to be sub-divided again). As Bif (I think) posted somewhere, I often (very often!) produce the sub -project I'm working on to really see what it looks like at an appropriate point rather than just carrying on until the end because I find the preview does not necessarily work adequately in complex projects.

8. When I'm happy with all the individual projects, I produce them (often in several drafts depending on how successful I've been) and set up the final project which incorporates the output files from each 'sub-project'into the final complete project.

9. Carry out final transitions, chapters whatever and run the final production.

10. Therefore I end up with several sub-projects and the main project, allowing me to revisit to a sub- project if necessary, without having to re-edit the whole thing.

11. After completing each 'sub-project' and the main project I pack/export each project to wherever my backup/storage lives - external/internal HD, Disc, etc.

12. During all parts of the process I save regularly and often and, quite often, reboot my machine if things go pear shaped/slow etc.

This system allows me the flexibility of dealing with the clips I have, but doen't mean I have to rush and invest in huge processing power to deal with huge projects. As always, it is a compromise and some things may not be ideal but....

Obviously this works well with dozens or hundreds of small clips but would also work after splitting large files into smaller ones as well.

I'm sure others have differing approaches and I'd be glad to see what others do.

Feel free to move this to wherever it sits best.

Cheers
Adrian Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated. (see below)
Confucius
AMD Phenom IIX6 1055T, win10, 5 internal drives, 7 usb drives, struggling power supply.