I'd like some opinions on video editing

[Harro]

2 seconds for most stills is way too short, it will become frustrating to watch. As suggested, pick out the very best stills and show them for 3 to 5 seconds, depending on the "information" in the still. Also vary the time from still to still as a predictable time is also a no no in my opinion. I generally get my partner to do voice overs, as she is so much easier to listen to than me.

 

[Squidinc]

To those of you who do video editing, I'd like some advice. I am about to begin the task of editing my Middle East Trip video. The trip was 4 weeks long and I accumulated a ton of assets, both still images, and videos. The trip took us to Doha,Qatar; Dubai UAE, Abu Dhabi UAE, Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Amman Jordan, Petra, Jordan, and Jerash, Jordan.

I have just finished the tasks of editing all of the assets in Photoshop, and I will edit the videos as I create the video. This alone took me 3 weeks.

The videos were a combination of iPhone, Osmo Mobile 6 (OM6), and timelapse from the Nikon DSLR. I am aiming for a show of approximately 25 minutes or less. There are no drone shots since drones are illegal and punishable by fines and jail ,where I traveled to. This will not be a 3 minute quickie.

My question is, what time duration do most of you use for still images? I usually use 3 seconds per image with a cross dissolve. But the volume of good images is overwhelming in this case, and I think I am going to have cut each image to 2 seconds. I usually do not do quick cuts (e.g.: less than a second).

All comments welcomed!

Dale
Miami

Hi Dale,
Wow! Big job ahead, but hey it’s what we do! lol. I often use still panoramas within my videos, and often try to tie their timings to beat changes in the soundtrack. If that makes them too static, I’ll add a little “Kenny Burns” to make it fit with a tad more interest. Otherwise 2 seconds sounds fine to me.

 

[Dale D]

2 seconds for most stills is way too short, it will become frustrating to watch. As suggested, pick out the very best stills and show them for 3 to 5 seconds, depending on the "information" in the still. Also vary the time from still to still as a predictable time is also a no no in my opinion. I generally get my partner to do voice overs, as she is so much easier to listen to than me.

Harro
You would be surprised how really long 3 seconds is when watching a video! I have started the project and find that I am happy with multiple images of the same subject with about 2:25 seconds per image shown with a cross dissolve. If the image has some worth, I will extend it to 3:00 seconds and if there is text on the image I will leave it on for 4 seconds. Stay tuned for the final video eventually in the next month. I'd be interested to see if you agree or not after watching it.

Dale

 

[Jack43]

My question is, what time duration do most of you use for still images? I usually use 3 seconds per image with a cross dissolve.

Hi Dale,
there is a rule of thumb for this!
The photo or clip should stand until you have captured the image content. If it is too long it will get boring and too short is of course also not good!
cheers Paul