Web browser video editing solution?

[BGARK]

Hello, I am not a professional but we need a way to collaborate with our team working remotely for video content.

Ideally, a basic way to patch clips and comments together browser / cloud-based, in a crude sort of way, mainly to agree on the storyline and content, mostly for short social media posts on a regular basis.

Then when drafted pass it to a professional editing person to make it all shiny and nice.

Special effects and laser beams are not needed, just the basics will do.

Could anyone recommend a web-based solution for such a thing, I am open to all suggestions.

Thanks

[StevieBee]

Have a look at Vimeo - the pro option. I've not used it myself but appears to have the functions you're after.

It would also be worth speaking to the professional you intend to use as they may have a preferred means of receiving your edit or even a platform that you can access.

[Simpo Two]

Call me old-fashioned but I don't see the need for a 'cloud'.

Write a script, and/or draw a storyboard, then shoot the clips, then send them to all to your editor.

www.wetransfer.com is free up to 2Gb.

[StevieBee]

Simpo Two said:

Call me old-fashioned but I don't see the need for a 'cloud'.

It can be very useful.

If you're collaborating with others - colour graders, sound, etc, you can centralise production and retain a single working file. This saves memory space, time and avoids issues with incorrect formatting that needs correcting. Clients can mark amends directly onto the time line which makes for efficient adjustment.

Also, some content requires added oversight of the author. We worked on a series of high-level academic type training videos last year on a subject I knew nothing about so having the author/client position the clips in the right order and adding the text that was needed made life easy. Could have done it off cloud but would have taken much longer and required investment in a battery of external SSDs.

[Fordo]

Simpo Two said:

Call me old-fashioned but I don't see the need for a 'cloud'.

Write a script, and/or draw a storyboard, then shoot the clips, then send them to all to your editor.

www.wetransfer.com is free up to 2Gb.

Im with you, in the old fashioned camp.

That said, very occasionally I've had occasions where a producer needed just a simple change to some text - had the whole edit been taking place on a cloud platform, would mean they could have jumped in and actioned the change themselves, instead of waiting till i'm free.

Solutions that allow editing entirely in the cloud are quite a technical feat, and is usually spendy because;

- All the footage has to sit on the cloud, therefore a lot of server space is required
- The footage will need to be speedily transcoded to smaller proxy files to make realtime playback of footage possible. (unlike playing back just one video file like watching youtube, editing requires the computer to have alsmot instant access to any moment when the editor wants to jump around on the timeline)
- A lot of server computing power is needed, to run the edit program

https://www.frame.io/. is a service I've heard good things about, but havent used myself

To the OP - is cloud based editing definitely what you need? Or are you more after a system of review for each version of the edit, where people can make comments at certain points in the timeline, as a way of providing feedback?

There aren't a huge amount of times where an actual online edit system is really needed (news is one though). Most of the time, theres only one person driving the edit - the editor. (It can get messy if multiple people, start messing about with the same edit).

Often it can be better to have an editor send out a version for review, collate feedback, and send back to editor for actioning. (vimeo, as mentioned, also has a good facility for this, for adding notes at certain points in the timeline).

Or consider a live review with the editor, screen sharing via zoom. - i do a lot of work with producers this way, when i'm editing. We'll go through interviews rushes together, so they can select the key messages, i generally then get left alone to build the edit itself, then we review together at the edit of the day, making minor tweaks and changes together.

[Turtle Shed]

Video editor here.

I’d want the script, guide or actual commentary, notes from whoever is in charge and the rushes. I’d hack a rough cut together, share with your team via your preferred file sharing service, then produce a fine cut for final comment and associated changes before delivering the job.

I would strongly recommend against someone else doing a rough cut, let the pro do it.

[Simpo Two]

StevieBee said:

Also, some content requires added oversight of the author.

When I was in the video production business I actually, like, went over to the edit suite and like sat with the editor? What an outrageous yet brutally effective concept - producer and editor sharing the same area in 3D space with instant interactive line-of-sight visual comms and realtime audio streaming in full quality. Imagine that!

Plus you can swap sandwiches.

[Fordo]

Simpo Two said:

When I was in the video production business I actually, like, went over to the edit suite and like sat with the editor? What an outrageous yet brutally effective concept - producer and editor sharing the same area in 3D space with instant interactive line-of-sight visual comms and realtime audio streaming in full quality. Imagine that!

Plus you can swap sandwiches.

Even with a producer with you in reality, I still found there could often be quite a bit of lag.....

[Fordo]

Turtle Shed said:

I would strongly recommend against someone else doing a rough cut, let the pro do it.

Nail on head there. Theres such a difference between an actual editor, and someone who can just mash clips together in FCP. I've had to pickup projects where a directors done the rough cut, and the project is a mess, and takes you half the first day, just to find everything, organise the footage, sync up audio correctly etc

[BGARK]

Turtle Shed said:

Video editor here.

I’d want the script, guide or actual commentary, notes from whoever is in charge and the rushes. I’d hack a rough cut together, share with your team via your preferred file sharing service, then produce a fine cut for final comment and associated changes before delivering the job.

I would strongly recommend against someone else doing a rough cut, let the pro do it.

Please explain, how would the pro know what we want, what shot, what product for example is more important than another, would you just make things up with no direction from the client?

I suppose what I am after is a way to get creative, mash a few ideas and some content, create a storyboard of sorts.

The cloud process does work well for so many other things. see google docs for a start.

[BGARK]

Simpo Two said:

Call me old-fashioned but I don't see the need for a 'cloud'.

Write a script, and/or draw a storyboard, then shoot the clips, then send them to all to your editor.

www.wetransfer.com is free up to 2Gb.

Your old fashioned, we work with several TB of data in dropbox, be that for graphics, CAD, docs or spreadsheets. Since covid, no one needs to be in the same building any longer (for office-related tasks).

[BGARK]

StevieBee said:

Have a look at Vimeo - the pro option. I've not used it myself but appears to have the functions you're after.

It would also be worth speaking to the professional you intend to use as they may have a preferred means of receiving your edit or even a platform that you can access.

I spoke to a consultant at Vimeo today, they claim it will do what we need, thanks for the tip!

[Simpo Two]

BGARK said:

Turtle Shed said:

Video editor here.

I’d want the script, guide or actual commentary, notes from whoever is in charge and the rushes. I’d hack a rough cut together, share with your team via your preferred file sharing service, then produce a fine cut for final comment and associated changes before delivering the job.

I would strongly recommend against someone else doing a rough cut, let the pro do it.

Please explain, how would the pro know what we want, what shot, what product for example is more important than another, would you just make things up with no direction from the client?

You tell them - ie give them the script and ideally sit with them throughout. You know where every clip is because you logged them during shooting. They know how shots work best together and how to work the kit, you don't.You're the Producer. A producer is to a film what an architect is to a house. They don't stick the bricks together, but they see the whole picture and make sure it comes out exactly right.

BGARK said:

I suppose what I am after is a way to get creative, mash a few ideas and some content, create a storyboard of sorts.

Planning is the key. Don't just go out, shoot miles of stuff then try to mash it together. Decide what you want, then film it.

So first, write a script, and/or draw a storyboard if it helps and if you have the skill (personally for corporate stuff I found them a bit restrictive and just put the cost up). I liked to write the script in two columns - left column for everything you hear, eg a voiceover (VO), right column for everything you see - ie a brief description of each shot. As you film each section, cross them off.

If you're going to have a VO, use a professional one; there's nothing worse than an MD bigging up his company badly. Record the VO first and put it on the timeline. Then with every shot just right (because you worked to a plan), pop them on the timeline, music if required, add any transitions and effects and you're done

[tonyvid]

Simpo Two said:

BGARK said:

Turtle Shed said:

Video editor here.

I’d want the script, guide or actual commentary, notes from whoever is in charge and the rushes. I’d hack a rough cut together, share with your team via your preferred file sharing service, then produce a fine cut for final comment and associated changes before delivering the job.

I would strongly recommend against someone else doing a rough cut, let the pro do it.

Please explain, how would the pro know what we want, what shot, what product for example is more important than another, would you just make things up with no direction from the client?

You tell them - ie give them the script and ideally sit with them throughout. You know where every clip is because you logged them during shooting. They know how shots work best together and how to work the kit, you don't.You're the Producer. A producer is to a film what an architect is to a house. They don't stick the bricks together, but they see the whole picture and make sure it comes out exactly right.

Another Video Editor here - totally agree.

OP - fair enough if you want to get creative yourself, that's you and your team's choice. From an editors point of view it is very time consuming to recreate someone else's timeline unless you can provide a time coded copy or an exported editing project of everything you did to create your rough cut. We have to input all the footage, understand what came from where and then frame match every shot by eye and if you have split the audio under any cutaways it's even more of a pain. You are the client and have your message, we add the creativity, the flow and the visual impact.

If I was a freelancer of course I'd say yes to anyone paying me, as an employee I hate what is essentially turd-polishing someone else's project as I know I could've done a much nicer job if we did it "the normal way". I have an internal client who loves a dabble on FCP to produce short promos and they are awful with bad cutting, terrible captions that are unreadable, multiple replays of stuff that bores visually etc - there is a reason he is in Sales and me in editing...

Professionally, I think you can do this with Adobe CC for Teams but it's expensive and you all need to have some experience as editors or graphic artists so you might as well sit with a pro to start with.

I understand you wanting to do this collaboratively(I would say rarely are things better when edited by committee), and will be really interested to see how you get on with the Vimeo option, please feedback on this.