Premiere Pro, one of the most popular cross-platform video editing programs today, offers a few different options for subtitling videos. In this article we’ll explain how to add subtitles or captions for a video using Premiere Pro on your Mac or PC. We’ll go over a few different methods to add subtitles in Premiere Pro.

Option 1: How to manually add subtitles to a video in Adobe Premiere Pro using the Title Tool

The most basic way to add subtitles to a video in Premiere Pro is to use the same Title Tool that you may have already used to create titles in a video. Here’s how it works:

1. In Premiere Pro, set up a sequence and place your video inside it (if you’ve already been editing, just make a duplicate version of your sequence so you have a backed up copy of it using the right click or control click… Duplicate option).

2. Use the text tool or press the letter T on your keyboard to get a cursor. Click where on the video you’d like to place the video and type out the text, just like you would for a normal title.

3. Double click on the title (subtitle) in your timeline and open up the Effect Controls tab (Shift+5 or Window… Effect Controls from the menu bar). From there, scroll down to the text options where you can adjust the font, color, size, stroke, drop shadow and other parameters to make your text more readable.

The next subtitle you create will also have these same attributes (you can also duplicate your subtitle in the timeline by pressing the Alt key on your keyboard, and dragging a copy over on your timeline if you wish to keep the exact text alignment intact).

Pros of this approach: You can customize just about every element of how your subtitles look using the Title Tool in Premiere Pro. Color, size, placement: it’s all up to you. And if you’re already familiar with using the Title Tool, this won’t be a new tool to learn how to use.

Cons of this approach: You’ll have to be pretty careful to make sure that each subtitle is placed in the same exact spot on the screen for consistency’s sake. And also you don’t have any option to import subtitles generated elsewhere with the Title Tool.

Option 2: How to add closed captions using Premiere Pro’s Captioning Tool

What is the difference between making subtitles using the Title Tool, and making captions using Premiere Pro’s official Captions option? Partly it’s how the text looks, and also partly how it function. Here is the subtitle tool on the left, and the caption tool being used on the right. (Both tools can look slightly different using their customization options, but these are examples.)

As you can see, the caption option allows you to put a black rectangle (with a user-selectable transparency level) behind your text for legibility. The normal Title Tool option gives you the choice to add drop shadows instead. Both options allow you to change the size, font, font color, and add a stroke outline around the text to improve legibility.

The other big difference in how these tools are set up is that the Captions tool is designed specifically for captioning or subtitling a continuous stream of video, rather than being for one-off titles like the Title Tool.

Here’s how to use Premiere Pro’s Captions tool:

1. Go to File… New… Captions. For the Standard, select Open Captions (which will allow you to determine the font options etc – closed captions are the television standard). Hit OK.

2. Drag that newly created Caption file on to one of your video tracks in the sequence containing your video. Next, double click on the sample caption it provides to open the Captions setting box. From there you can adjust font size, placement, color, etc, as well as length and timing. To create a second caption, simply hit the + button at the bottom of the captions window. You can also adjust the timing of a caption by dragging either end of it out in the timeline.

3. When it’s time to export your video, go to the Captions tab of the Export screen and choose the Export Option: Burn Captions Into Video. Otherwise, the captions won’t actually be exported in your final file.

Pros of this approach: It’s designed for captions so you can add a nice black box (of your own opacity choice) for legibility. Plus, since the tool is designed for subtitles, it has more features to automatically lock in title placement and so forth that the normal Title Tool doesn’t have.

Cons of this approach: There are occasionally bugs in the Captions tool since it’s newer than the Title Tool. Additionally, it can be time consuming to manually input all these captions and make sure their placement is perfect (especially if you have to add subtitles to a long video). Which is a problem that is solved by the next option:

Option 3: Use a cheap and fast third party captioning service to generate a captions file, then import it into Premiere Pro for burning the captions into the video

If you’ve got a long video (or even if you have a short video but don’t want to spend the time manually typing out the captions and placing them perfectly), you could use a third party captioning tool to spit out a timed transcript and then import that into Adobe PPro using its Captions tool.

Here’s how it works: A service like Rev.com can generate English captions for as little as $1/minute so a 5 minute video would cost you only $5 which is a pretty affordable rate.

Here’s how to use Rev subtitles with Premiere Pro:

1. Go to Rev.com and choose the Captions option. Upload your video (as an .mov, .mp4 or whatever file format you have) and enter your payment information. For caption format choice, choose .SRT:

2. Ater Rev emails you the subtitle file (which could take a few hours or as much as a day), import the .SRT file into Premiere Pro and drag it on top of your video in your sequence, just as you would with a Caption file. You may have to adjust the timing of the first title by dragging the full captions track over a bit, but the rest of the captions should stay synced as long as you’re moving them all together.

If you would like to change the text size, etc of all your captions at once, simply go to the Captions window and select the first caption, hold down the Shift button, and scroll to the last caption and click to select it. This should select all your captions at once, and you can now adjust the font parameters and so forth.

3. When it’s time to export your video, go to the Captions tab of the Export screen and choose the Export Option: Burn Captions Into Video. Otherwise, the captions won’t actually be exported in your final file.

Pros of this approach: Extremely efficient if you have a long video you need captioned. Reduces the amount of manual work you need to do. Also has translation options for foreign language subtitling.

Cons of this approach: Costs money (an hourlong video will cost $60 at the $1/minute caption rate for English captions).

Frequently asked questions about making captions or subtitles in Premiere Pro

How does Rev work? Rev is a captioning and subtitle service that does a first pass using advanced speech to text transcription software which is then cleaned up by humans who correct errors and add punctuation as needed. You still may need to make some corrections (especially if the people speaking in your video are mentioning specialized terms or unusually spelled names), but generally Rev works as a great first pass.

If you’re importing subtitles or captions from Rev into Premier Pro, you’ll still want to watch your video with imported subtitles as a quality control pass at the very least and to double check the timing of various titles (plus to make sure the captions don’t conflict with any on-screen elements).

How do I move caption placement so it doesn’t conflict with something important happening at the bottom of the frame? In the Captions window you can select from 9 pre-defined “title safe” placements for your captions.

Can you add a drop shadow using the captions tool? Currently, as of the time of this article is published, the closest you can get to a drop shadow is adding a dark colored stroke around the edge of your text. Of course, Premiere Pro is updated several times a year and there’s no reason Adobe couldn’t add this feature later on.

See also:

10 Ways to Make Subtitle Styles More Readable

How to get audio/video transcribed – speech recognition & manual transcription programs

What does a documentary script look like? How to write a script for a documentary film

The post How to Easily Add Subtitles/Closed Captions to Video Using Adobe Premiere Pro appeared first on Documentary Film Cameras.

How to use notecards for story plotting

First, you’re going to need to figure out what your possible story beats are. For documentary films this might be scenes (if you’re following a particular set of characters like in a cinema verite film). Or in an issue-based film, your beats might be more along the lines of “the spot where we introduce this idea or argument.” For historical documentaries, a beat might be telling a specific part of the story, or moment.

Next, write those beats down (each on a separate notecard). Use shorthand if you need to, like “the locker room prep scene before the race,” “packing montage,” “motion graphics segment explaining Sally’s round-the-world travel route” or “Interview – Joane tells the story about finding out who her real father was.” Another notecard might be for “end credits sequence.”

Browse notecards on Amazon.

Tip: For some types of films you might want to notecards of different colors to denote different types of scenes. For instance, a blue index card might signify an interview, a white notecard might be for verite scenes, etc. Browse colored notecards on Amazon.

Next, try putting them in an order that makes sense. You might be doing this on a large empty table or you might have a big cork board with pins or on a wall with masking tape. In a way, this is almost like a re-order-able documentary paper edit.

Why notecards can be especially useful for story plotting

Now that you have your notecards written out, you can step back and read them in the order you’ve laid them out in. Do you see any possible problems with what you’ve got? Can your story do without a card or two– meaning you might be able to eliminate certain material you had earlier thought was crucial? Shorter and tighter storytelling is usually better.

The key part of using index cards or notecards for story outlines is that you can easily re-organize the story order and experiment with different orders. Using notecards allows you to conceptualize the order of exposition in your story in a way that’s much easier to capture rather than having it all in your head. Getting it down on paper may help you see problems like missing elements or better possible sequences.

As you edit your story and experiment with re-ordering scenes, you can refer to and re-order your notecards. One way to “back-up” your old note card configurations is to take a photo of their order and save it (make sure your handwriting is large enough to be legible!).

Notecards can also be useful when you’re considering a dramatic re-order of the story and want to think it through before you spend all the time and effort before you open up your editing program.

Frequently asked questions about using notecards for story outlines

When should you use notecards for story plot work?

You can use them at any stage of the process, from pre-production and research right up through editing. Some filmmakers will use notecards part-way through filming and use a certain color card to denote material they haven’t shot yet but anticipate gathering before they finish shooting.

Do you have to use index cards specifically?

No! Here are some alternatives to using notecards: In the writers rooms of television shows, writing teams will often use a white board to plot ideas and beats out with so they’re large enough for everyone in the room to see. Some storytellers use sticky notes to experiment with story beat order instead of index cards.

If you prefer to work on a computer, you might consider using a program like Scrivener (available for Mac, PC, and iOS mobile devices) which allows you to simulate a digital corkboard. Additionally you can write a script in various formats in Scrivener too. You can check out Scrivener’s features below:

See also:

What are the steps to make a documentary film? How to make a documentary

What does a documentary script look like? How to write a script for a documentary film

The post How to use notecards for story outlines (documentary filmmaking tips) appeared first on Documentary Film Cameras.

Options to get audio/video transcribed

DIY transcription tools to transcribe video/audio quickly

InqScribe – Inqscribe is a professional video/audio transcription tool available for both Mac and Windows computers. It allows you to load in a piece of video or audio on one side of the screen and type a transcript of what’s said on the other half of the window.

Inqscribe has a lot of creature comforts to help transcribe audio quickly:

• Allows you to customize play/rewind/insert a person’s name and other shortcut keys
• Allows for insertion of time stamps very easily so you know when an item is said in a long transcript
• Allows for variable speed playback (i.e. play back at half speed so you can type faster, etc)
• Multiple transcript format export options

Inqscribe is one of the most common professional transcription software tools used for a variety of tasks: medical transcription, transcription of video for documentary filmmakers, speech transcription, and so forth.

You can also get a transcription foot pedal for use with Inqscribe to make your transcription even faster. This foot pedal can control play, fast forward and rewind options.

Video/text transcription services

Rev – Rev is a full service transcription company that offers several options.

Rev offers: transcription, closed captions, foreign subtitles, and translation for a very competitive fee. You can get your subtitles done in many, many different formats. If you’re looking for closed captions for television or just about any format of subtitles, they’re able to do it at a reasonable price. Here are some of the formats they offer:

SubRip (.srt)
Scenarist (.scc) 29.97 fps
MacCaption (.mcc)
Timed Text (.ttml)
Quicktime Timed Text (.qt.txt)
Transcript (.txt)
WebVTT (.vtt)
DFXP (.dfxp)
Cheetah .CAP (.cap)
Spruce Subtitle File (.stl)
Avid DS Subtitle File (.txt)
Avid DVD Subtitle File (.txt)
Facebook ready SubRip (.srt)
XML (.xml) is interchangeable with Timed Text => please order .ttml
Want something else? Email us.

Rev’s turnaround is pretty fast and they offer rush transcription and translation services as well (and you can select time stamp options too). If you need captions for YouTube, Facebook etc, Rev is a great service for that. Our experience with Rev transcription has been great.

Automated audio transcription tools

Scribie – Automated or human-assisted transcription services can transcribe text faster than any human is able to and because they’re operated by computer they’re available at even lower prices than human-assisted transcription. Because it’s automated in the cloud, a service like Scribie can offer the cheapest transcription service.

Scribie offers:

• Discount transcription and rush transcription
• Recording and transcription of conference calls
• Speaker tracking (the name or initials of the person speaking can appear before the transcript of the paragraph of them speaking)
• Time stamping
• Subtitle files
• Various transcript format options
• 99% accuracy rate

Scribie even offers team accounts if you’re a business and you’ve got multiple people managing transcription orders.

Otter is another new up and coming voice to text transcription program that has various options and is worth checking out too.

Frequently asked questions about transcription

What is the fastest way to get transcription done?

The fastest way to get audio or video transcribed is by hiring a service like Scribie and uploading your files there and selecing rush turnaround. You will be able to get audio transcribed within a couple of hours at a reasonable rate.

What are the pros/cons of transcribing footage yourself vs paying to get it transcribed professionally?

Pros of transcribing yourself: You probably know the people’s names and you know any special lingo or terms they’re using so you won’t make those types of mistakes that a service might make (although you can sometimes tell them some terms or the spellings of people’s names that they’ll encounter in advance). You also have full control of your material if you’re transcribing something sensitive with privacy concerns so that peace of mind can be important. Depending on how much audio you have to transcribe, it might be cheaper to transcribe yourself rather than farming it out to a pro service.

Pros of hiring a transcription service: The turnaround time with transcription services is typically very fast these days, with rush transcription available for even faster delivery. Professional transcription will also give you options for various file formats, some of which are harder to make on your own. Hiring a transcription service will also free you up to work on other things as opposed to working on transcription yourself because it can be quite time consuming and tiring. Pro transcriptionists can usually type much faster than you can, with better software too.

What format should transcripts be in for YouTube? What is the Facebook transcription format?

Here’s a Facebook ready SubRip format (.srt) example which can be created as a plain text file in many text editing programs:

1
00:00:00,187 –> 00:00:02,958
(airplane jet engine)

2
00:00:02,958 –> 00:00:07,474
(bright music plays)

3
00:00:09,474 –> 00:00:11,120
– Really just stumbled
on them through a website

YouTube can also accept SRT files as well as a variety of other subtitle file formats.

What are some common reasons for transcribing audio?

There are lots of reasons why you might need a text transcription of audio or video. Here are some examples:

• Transcriptions of footage for documentary filmmaking and editing
• Courtroom transcriptions for legal purposes
• Transcripts of conference calls
• Medical instruction transcripts for doctors and other hospital personnel
• Transcripts of board meetings
• Transcripts of interviews by journalists
• Podcast transcription to make your content findable via search engines like Google
• Transcription for subtitle purposes for foreign language material
• Transcription for subtitle purposes for people with hearing impairments

Related:

What are the steps to make a documentary film? How to make a documentary

What does a documentary script look like? How to write a script for a documentary film

How to Easily Add Subtitles/Closed Captions to Video Using Adobe Premiere Pro

The post How to get audio/video transcribed – speech recognition & manual transcription programs appeared first on Documentary Film Cameras.

How to license TV news footage for a documentary film

To begin with, you’ll need to actually find the footage you want to license. Or, if you’ve already downloaded it from YouTube or recorded it off TV yourself, you’ll need permission to actually use it (or to obtain a higher quality version of it from the source). To get this you’ll first want to contact the television network’s licensing branch or archive department if they have one. Major national and international television networks sometimes have specialized repositories that are set up specifically to license footage to other organizations or documentary filmmakers. For instance, some well-known news footage archives are:

• BBC Motion Gallery
• Associated Press Archive
• NBC Universal Archives
• Getty Video

Some of these archives may have a way to search for and preview footage online, others may provide their own in-house research staff for your use (either for free or for a fee). Some services may charge for a screener download of temp footage you can use in your edit to preview how you might use it. This screener will often have a watermark or timecode burned in to discourage you from using the footage in your edit without paying a license fee.

Related: What is the difference between royalty free and rights managed stock photo/film/music licensing?

You can find many other tv news footage licensing bodies here. Not every news network has a licensing office or is “set up” to license their footage. Most local TV news stations, for instance, do not have any formal mechanism to license footage but if you contact the news director of the station they may be able to work out a licensing agreement with you.

How much does it cost to license TV news footage in a documentary film?

Licensing costs vary from outlet to outlet but here are some example costs. News outlets will often require you to license a minimum of, say, 30 seconds of footage, whether or not you’re actually using the full 30 seconds in the edit of your film. If you have to pay for 30 seconds you might end up choosing to use 15 seconds of one clip and 15 seconds of another just to get your money’s worth since you’ll be paying the same minimum license fee anyway.

Example TV news license fee for a documentary (b-roll only): $80-$100/second @ 30 second minimum = $2,400-$3,000

Licensing fees will differ based on which organization you’re trying to license footage from, and what kind of project you’re working on. If you’re working on a documentary that you want theatrical distribution rights, it might be more expensive than a licensing fee for just film festivals and DVDs/streaming on demand. An all-rights in perpetuity (no expiration) deal will cost even more.

And if the footage you want to license includes a reporter speaking or on camera, it might cost you substantially more. For instance:

Example TV news license fee for footage including a reporter: $100-$150/second @ 30 second minimum = $3,000-$4,500.

Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 9/11 (2004) was famously, at the time, the most expensive documentary ever made with a budget of $6 million. A substantial amount of the film’s costs went straight to licensing the huge amounts of television news footage used in the documentary.

If all of these costs are sounding like a lot, you’re not wrong! Licensing television news footage can get quite expensive pretty fast! But there’s a loophole you might be able to use in some circumstances.

The fair use exemption in television news licensing for documentaries

US Copyright law includes a provision called fair use which provides for the use of copyrighted material without licensing it– under a specific set of special circumstances. Some documentary filmmakers have been able to exploit this loophole by editing carefully so that their use of copyrighted material (like TV news footage) falls under a fair use exemption.

Broadly speaking to use copyrighted materials in a documentary film legally under the fair use doctrine, you’ll need to do two things:

1. Make sure that your use of the material is transformative— that is to say that you’re re-contextualizing it and not just using it in the same way that the original media was used. For instance, you probably wouldn’t be able to use a clip of TV news footage reporting the facts that Nixon went to China in 1972. But you might be able to use a montage of TV news footage from 1972 in a way that comments on how his trip to China was perceived by reporters at the time (perhaps showing a bias one way or another).

2. Ideally try not to use too much of the copyrighted work, such that it eliminates the market for the original work itself. There are no hard and set rules about “using just 30 seconds for free” (please ignore anyone who says you can do that!). But judges evaluating fair use claims will generally expect you to use no more of the material than was needed to make your point.

The Center for Media & Social Impact at American University has published a fair use guide for documentary filmmakers best use practices that goes into much more detail. The guide suggests four primary fair use cases for documentary filmmakers:

ONE: Employing copyrighted material as the object of social, political, or cultural critique

This class of uses involves situations in which documentarians engage in media critique, whether of text, image, or sound works. In these cases, documentarians hold the specific copyrighted work up for critical analysis.
[…]
TWO: Quoting copyrighted works of popular culture to illustrate an argument or point
Here the concern is with material (again of whatever kind) that is quoted not because it is, in itself, the object of critique but because it aptly illustrates some argument or point that a filmmaker is developing—as clips from fiction films might be used (for example) to demonstrate changing American attitudes toward race.
[…]
THREE: Capturing copyrighted media content in the process of filming something else
Documentarians often record copyrighted sounds and images when they are filming sequences in real-life settings. Common examples are the text of a poster on a wall, music playing on a radio, and television programming heard (perhaps seen) in the background. In the context of the documentary, the incidentally captured material is an integral part of the ordinary reality being documented. Only by altering and thus falsifying the reality they film— such as telling subjects to turn off the radio, take down a poster, or turn off the TV—could documentarians avoid this.
[…]
FOUR: Using copyrighted material in a historical sequence
In many cases, the best (or even the only) effective way to tell a particular historical story or make a historical point is to make selective use of words that were spoken during the events in question, music that was associated with the events, or photographs and films that were taken at that time. In many cases, such material is available, on reasonable terms, under license. On occasion, however, the licensing system breaks down.

Be sure to check out the fair use best practices guide for documentary filmmakers for more. To actually leverage a fair use claim in a documentary that gets distributed you’ll probably want to hire an entertainment lawyer to write you a fair use justification letter which will detail each use of unlicensed copyrighted works in your film and write from a legal perspective why each one is justified. This detailed fair use letter will be helpful in obtaining errors and ommissions insurance which is often required for broadcast.

Closing thoughts & more documentary film licensing resources

Clearly, properly licensing television news footage is not as easy as just grabbing a clip from YouTube and incorporating it in your edit. In some cases, copyright can feel almost oppressive to people creating new works. And we would argue that copyright reform is sorely needed to reduce copyright term length and more clearly formalize the fair use exemption. Mandating license fee schemes take into account profit would also help indie creators (if you’re making a short documentary on YouTube and not making any money off it, does it really hurt CNN to use a clip of theirs?).

Extra resources

If you’re making a documentary film that uses substantial archival footage from television or movies however there’s another ally you should consider adding to your team. An archival researcher can help you navigate the complicated landscape of licensing and sometimes save you money overall.

There’s also a fantastic book on archival researching called Archival Storytelling: A Filmmaker’s Guide to Finding, Using, and Licensing Third-Party Visuals and Music. It’s written by archival researchers and it provides you with a wealth of information about how the process works and several resources you can use to make it go more smoothly.

Related: List: Top Books About Documentary Filmmaking

The post How to license TV news footage for a documentary: How much does TV news footage cost to license? appeared first on Documentary Film Cameras.

The most obvious idea is probably to throw it up on YouTube or Vimeo, post the link on Facebook and hope it goes viral. But we’ve got some more sophisticated ideas. Check out our short documentary distribution guide below.

Submit Your Short Film to Film Festivals

The festival circuit may not be a good fit for every short documentary but with so many film fests out there these days you can probably find a few venues for a mini-doc on just about any topic.

Festivals will typically program shorts either as companion pieces for short feature films (showing them as an appetizer before a thematically related feature-length film) or in blocks of shorts in which a handful of shorts are programmed together to fill up a normal film’s time-slot.

Knowing what types of films a festival is looking for will radically improve your chances of acceptance. Film festivals can be grouped into roughly these categories:

• Top tier prestige festivals (e.g. Sundance, TIFF, etc)
• Local film festivals (Chicago International Film Festival, San Diego Film Festival, etc)
• Thematically programmed film festivals (Bay Area International Children’s Film Fest, Austin Music Video Festival, etc)

There are also film festivals that program documentaries primarily or exclusively, and even specific sub-genres of documentary (like music films). Choosing fests that are either thematically or location-wise relevant to your film will often improve your chances of getting programmed. Getting your film accepted into some film festivals (and maybe even winning an award or two) can help market your film and also help market yourself as a filmmaker for future projects.

What length is your short film?

In addition, it’s worth considering what length of films fests are looking for. It’s easy for a programmer to find slots for short docs that are 1-5 minutes long. It’s a tiny bit harder to find room for films that are up to about 10 or 12 minutes long. After you get past 15 minutes it becomes increasingly difficult to find time-slots to program your short in. If your documentary doesn’t fit into these time-slots, you may have difficulty getting selected unless your subject matter is extremely relevant to the festival. Each fest will have a different cutoff for how long a short film is but it may be worth shaving down your film to fit into an easily-programmed lot.

Resources for finding appropriate fests and submitting your film to festivals: Film Freeway, Withoutabox.

Submit Your Short Documentary to Broadcasters

Many short documentaries may not be a good fit for broadcast because of their length but if you have a film that’s too long for many film festivals, you might consider trying to get it broadcast in a half-hour time-slot. For documentaries, local PBS affiliate stations may be a natural fit, especially if the subject of your film is location-based in the same area as the broadcast (i.e. a half-hour documentary that explores housing issues in Miami might be a good fit for WPBT, South Florida PBS). You can generally find information for the programming director of PBS affiliates by searching or using the Contact Us page on their website. If all else fails, you can call them up and ask for the email address of the person you can submit to. If you can get a local broadcast, you might end up with tens of thousands of people watching depending on the size of the market and the number of times the program is repeated– many times more than any film festival can accommodate.

PBS does also occasionally gives national broadcasts to truly exceptional short documentaries through its POV strand.

Submit Your Short Documentary to Online Outlets

There are several online outlets for short films. Depending on the style of your film, one or more of these might be worth submitting to. Here is a selection of a handful though you may find others by searching.

New York Times Op-Docs – The NYT pays a license fee for exclusive short documentaries, typically under 10 minutes. These can also be part of a longer work, cut down to fit their length requirements, although films should also work as a stand-alone film without any other context required. Submission information is available here.

Upworthy – A venue for short uplifting videos that get shared on various media platforms. They are looking for “original stories that support our mission of creating a better world.” Submission information available here.

Field of Vision – A clearinghouse for short documentaries with a global focus (although US-based films are welcome too). Submission information is available here.

Al Jazeera and its video-only site AJ+ – Provides visitors on multiple platforms with newsy topical short documentaries and news pieces. Submission information available here.

Subject specific websites – Depending on what your short documentary is about, you may be able to find a great home on a website that’s about that topic. For instance you could imagine a short film about a soccer player might earn ESPN.com‘s interest.

Depending on the style and content of your short doc, you might also have luck pitching the film to outlets that don’t normally accept solicit video submissions like BuzzFeed, Vox, Vice, NowThis, or The Guardian. Local newspaper websites in your area might also be receptive to your pitch depending on how “newsy” or “current” it feels if the topic is a local focus.

Upload the film to YouTube, etc

Once you’ve researched, submitted and perhaps exhausted all other outlets first, you should consider uploading your film to YouTube. Some outlets like the NYT’s Op-Docs have exclusive submission policies, meaning if you upload your film publicly to YouTube first they won’t consider it. So you may want to save posting the film to YouTube for last. But when the time does come to post the documentary online for everyone to watch for free, here are some ideas for success:

1. For general distribution, YouTube videos are more easily shared than Vimeo videos. Most non-filmmaker people aren’t quite as familiar with Vimeo but everybody knows how to share a YouTube video. As a result, videos posted to YouTube have a higher chance of going viral than ones posted to Vimeo. Of course, you can always post to both as well, but the YouTube version is the one we’d use to share on social media.

2. Speaking of that, share it to social media! Be sure to give it appropriate tags and a nice long text description to help search engines find it. Post the video on Facebook and other social media accounts and invite your friends to share it too. Email a batch of your friends, colleagues, and family and ask them to help you share it with others. You may also have luck submitting to various communities on sites like Reddit which feature niche forum boards who may be interested in your film. Posting your video to topic-related Facebook groups may also be a good idea. (Be careful to avoid the appearance of shameless self-promotion, however.)

3. Make sure your description or the end of the video gives people an opportunity to learn more about your work or subscribe for future videos of yours. If your goal is to build a following for your future work (and we’d argue that should be your goal even if it isn’t yet), offering viewers an opportunity to subscribe or visit your website or join your newsletter is a great idea. Your fans can help fund your future films through crowd-funding campaigns and they can help share them as well.

The post How to Distribute Your Short Documentary: The Ultimate Short Doc Film Distribution Guide appeared first on Documentary Film Cameras.

The subtitles in the image above aren’t very easy to read at all. This is a common problem and it almost always occurs because the background (whatever the subtitles are being laid on top of) is too close to the subtitles itself, making the text difficult for our eyes to distinguish. With light colored subtitles, light colored backgrounds can be especially difficult. Similarly, if you have a particularly busy background with lots of small details, it can be difficult to read subtitles too.

Many of these subtitling tricks can be done in just about any video program, so the software you’re using isn’t as important as the style you use with which to apply the subtitles. Without further ado, here are 10 ways to make subtitles more easily readable.

1. Give the text a thin outline or stroke

Many video editing programs provide you with the ability to add a stroke or outline to text. In this case we’ve added a 2 pixel black stroke around our text, making it more legible. Pros: Makes the text more legible no matter what your background is or how bright it is. Cons: Depending on how thick your font is, your stroke may look chunky or ugly.

2. Make the subtitle text bold

This is one of the easiest changes you can make to try and make subtitle text more legible. By making the subtitle font (in this case Avenir 28 point) bold, you can often easily make your subtitles more readable. Depending on the background, this may not be enough to do the trick however.

3. Change the color of your subtitles

White is a fairly common color in video and in life so it’s not surprising that light colored backgrounds often make white subtitles hard to read. Often changing your subtitle color to yellow (another common sub color) is enough to do the trick. We recommend playing around with this.

4. Add a subtle drop shadow

Adding a slight drop shadow on your subtitle text can be less chunky or ugly looking than an outline or stroke, but it can achieve the same result in increasing legibility. If your subtitle drop shadows are too far away from the text, or they’re too hard, it can make the subtitles less readable however. Here’s an example with subtitle outlines that are too far away from the text to make a positive difference:

Making hard subtitles that are closer to your text can have a good effect on legibility however, as in this example:

5. Add a darkened box around your subs

You may have seen this approach on Netflix or YouTube’s closed captions. Adding a dark box of approximately 50 percent opacity can make your light colored subtitles pop out and suddenly become more readable. One possible drawback of this approach is that if your editing/subtitling software doesn’t have this feature built in, it can be tedious to add the correct sized boxes to each subtitle– especially if you have a lot of them.

6. Add a background stripe to your subtitles

Sometimes video editors choose to add a dark stripe to the bottom of their video (either letterboxing it or laying it over the existing video) and then they put their subtitles on top of that to ensure legibility. Besides aesthetic concerns, you may want to be careful about the title safe area of the screens that may display your content to make sure your subs won’t be cut off. For instance we would caution against this method if you plan to display your work on televisions.

7. Blur the background behind your subtitles

If your video editing software allows you to selectively apply a blur to your video, this approach can work.

8. Change the location of your subtitles

In some cases subtitles may be difficult to place at the bottom of the screen, usually because there is other important information for the viewer to be able to see down there. For instance there may be some important activity down there or lower third (chyron) titles identifying people’s names. In the example above instead of using a subtitle, we’re using a supertitle which sits at the top of the screen.

9. Darken the entire video so your white subtitles are more readable

For the example above, we’ve darkened all but the left-most sixth of the screen (so you can see the difference it makes). If you darken the video in a subtle way your viewer will probably not notice it’s not as bright as it might otherwise be, and your subtitles will pop out at the viewer.

10. Give your subtitle area a subtle gradient background

In this example we’re using a very subtle dark color gradient underneath the subtitle on top of the video. Basically if you were to imagine your video as a sandwich, the top layer would be your subtitle text. Underneath that is your subtle gradient which only overlays on the bottom of the screen where your subtitles are. Finally on the bottom video track is your video itself. Take a look at this diagram for more of an explanation:

When done subtly, this effect is often virtually impossible for the casual viewer to notice– all they notice is that your subtitles are clear and easy to ready. If you’d like to use a similar subtle gradient as the one we’re using in this example, download this 1920 x 1080 subtitle gradient here as a PNG file with transparency.

In summary

With more and more web videos getting subtitled– partially to make Facebook and twitter videos understandable without sound, as more and more viewers are starting to watch videos without sound.

Generally speaking in order to make subtitles more readable, you either need to change the subtitles or change the background of what they’re on top of. Choosing a font that isn’t too thin is part of the struggle, as well as a color that will stand out from the background. When that doesn’t work, it’s time to experiment with changing the background, either by adding an overlay of some sort or adjusting it in a different way.

Related:
How to Easily Add Subtitles/Closed Captions to Video Using Adobe Premiere Pro

The post 10 Ways to Make Subtitle Styles More Readable appeared first on Documentary Film Cameras.

Option 1: Use popular song that you don’t have the permission to use (and risk getting it taken down from places like YouTube, or getting sued)

Option 2: Use “free” Creative Commons music (which is often poor quality, of limited selection, hard to find or has lyrics making it not suitable for use as a video soundtrack)

Option 3: Buy stock music tracks one by one from various royalty free music sales websites (which can get expensive fast)

Option 4: Hire a composer to write custom music for your film or video (which can get really expensive and often overkill for a small video or client project)

I’ve done all three of those approaches in the past, so I know how much they all tend to suck in their own ways. But recently I heard about a new option that seemed too good to be true at first. Imagine a website with thousands of songs that don’t contain lyrics that you can download and use in any type of project forever by just paying a reasonable annual fee. Sort of like a royalty free stock music all you can eat buffet. Could such a service exist?

Enter Storyblocks Audio, a website with production music, sound effects and audio loops that offers a huge selection of high quality downloadable audio for your video editing. I decided to sign up for an account on Storyblocks Audio to see if it was really as good a deal as it claimed to be. Here’s my Storyblocks Audio review. At the end of this article I’ll give you a special link which you can use if you decide to sign up for a subscription. (I may receive a commission if you choose to sign up.)

How good is the Storyblocks Audio Selection?

I’ve found that Storyblocks Audio has a pretty decent selection both of sound effects and royalty free production music. Their search is decent and and includes sorting options like mood (aggressive, epic/inspiring, happy/upbeat, playful/silly, relaxing, sad, sentimental or suspenseful), as well as music genre. The music genres are split into the following categories for music:

Similarly, audio loops like drums or sound effects are organized into their own genres as well. I’ve been quite satisfied with their selection and haven’t needed to use other audio services ever since I signed up for an account with them, using a promo code (I’ll give that code at the end of this article) and haven’t looked back since. I’ve used their music in a documentary I’m working on as well as several short videos for clients. Everything has been quite well received.

How good is the Storyblocks Audio User Interface?

There are several things that I like about the Storyblocks Audio interface. First, each music track is available as both an instant MP3 download or a WAV download which is helpful because some editing software requires WAV files. Their music results pages also can be navigated using your keyboard’s arrow keys (previous/next) which is especially handy if you’re going through dozens of tracks to find the perfect one. I also like the ability to narrow down a search to sort by instrument set (show only results with an orchestra, guitar, etc).

What type of projects can I use Storyblocks Audio music in?

According to their site’s official FAQ, they say:

Our content may be used for nearly any project, commercial or otherwise, including feature films, broadcast, commercial, industrial, educational video, print projects, multimedia, games, and the internet, so long as substantial value is added to the content. (For example, incorporating a video clip into a commercial qualifies, while reposting our video clip on YouTube with no modification or incorporation does not.) Once you download a file it is yours to keep and use forever, royalty-free, even if you change your subscription or cancel your account.

Sounds pretty good, huh? I can’t think of a better terms of use for royalty free music myself. They also know that sometimes songs can incorrectly get flagged for copyright infringement on YouTube so they have a special support form for accidental YouTube copyright claims fixed (something I’ve not seen any other stock music site offer, and I’ve used several).

Is Storyblocks Audio worth it? Value for the money

When compared with free music: Earlier on in my career I tried to use a lot of free music in the videos I would edit. Although I love the idea of Creative Commons music licensing (a permissive alternative to copyright that is gaining popularity slowly), some CC licenses require you to release your finished video with the same license type as the music you use. Meaning that if they release their music for free and allow you to re-use it and you use it in your film, you have to then release your film for free and allow people to re-use your finished work as well. For some types of projects, particularly client work or anything you want to eventually sell, this is a bit of a poison pill that can taint the entire project.

When compared with traditional royalty free stock music: After more than a year of using Storyblocks Audio and having used traditional music licensing sites for years before that, I can safely say that Storyblocks Audio has paid for itself many, many times over in just the first few months I was using it. The ability to audition tons of temp songs without making clients suffer through listening to music with audio watermarks (cough cough, Pond5) alone is worth it.

Royalty free music tracks can cost anywhere from $5 up to several hundred in my experience and Storyblocks Audio offers an all you can eat buffet of high quality tracks without words. In a recent project that I edited for a nonprofit organization client with a low budget I used more than 10 different audio tracks (it was a series of videos each with a few different music cues). If I had used a traditional stock music licensing website where you have to pay for each track that you used, we wouldn’t have been able to afford nearly that much music, and the video quality would have ultimately suffered as a result. The freedom to throw in an additional music cue here or there to mix things up in an edit without having to worry about budget is amazing.

Storyblocks Audio – where to sign up

The bottom line for me is that Storyblocks Audio has simplified my editing workflow, made me more efficient and most importantly saved me tons of money licensing music, while allowing me to be more creative with my editing choices without having to worry about budget. As a video editor I would without hesitation recommend subscribing to Storyblocks Audio for a year.

Click here to give Storyblocks Audio a try:

The post Storyblocks Audio Review – Is Storyblocks Audio Worth It? Royalty Free Stock Music Review appeared first on Documentary Film Cameras.

The Best External Hard Drives for Video Editing

Name:
LaCie Rugged Drive

Image:

Storage Capacity:
2TB

Speed & Notes:
130MB/s

Port Type:
Thunderbolt & USB 3 (USB C also available)

Price:

Name:
LaCie Rugged RAID

Image:

Storage Capacity:
4TB

Speed & Notes:
250MB/s (when set to RAID 0 mode), built in SD Card slot

Port Type:
USB C (3.0 speed)

Price:

Name:
LaCie Desktop External

Image:

Storage Capacity:
6TB

Speed & Notes:
220MB/s

Port Type:
Thunderbolt & USB 3 (SSD upgrade available)

Price:

Name:
G-Tech High Perf. Drive

Image:

Storage Capacity:
4TB-10TB (various sizes available)

Speed & Notes:
245MB/s

Port Type:
USB C (3.0 speed)

Price:

Not every hard drive is created equal. Everyone looks at price and storage capacity when they’re comparing external hard drives but video editors need to have an additional factor in mind when they’re choosing which hard drive to buy. That factor is speed. Both the speed of the drive itself and the speed of the interface with which it’s connected to their computer. Most consumer hard drives have a rotational speed rated at 5400 RPM which isn’t particularly fast when you’re editing large video files. So editors that don’t want their editing programs to be super slow when exporting and rendering footage with effects will want to stick to the faster (though more expensive) 7200 RPM hard drives. In order of fastest to slowest, today’s fastest external hard drive connection interfaces are:

As you can see, Thunderbolt (available on Macs and a few PCs) is by far the fastest protocol available today for external hard drives and RAID systems (more on RAIDs a bit later). The next fastest available is eSATA which is a somewhat obscure format that is available on a few Windows PCs but never really gained much ground (and never made it to the Mac). Closely behind is USB 3 which is pretty ubiquitous these days and is far faster than its USB 2.0 predecessor. After that comes Firewire 800, a mostly Mac interface that was about twice as fast as USB 2.0.

Today if you’re going to be editing video on a Mac we’d recommend getting an external hard drive that uses Thunderbolt to connect to your computer. If you have a PC, USB 3 is probably going to be your best option. Here are some of the best hard drives with both of these interfaces for video editing:

LaCie d2 Thunderbolt 2 USB 3.1 6TB Professional Desktop Storage (Thunderbolt & USB C)

Just about every experienced film and video editor is familiar with LaCie hard drives: they’re known for their good quality components and generally rock-solid reliability, which is exactly what you want when you’re editing video. LaCie makes a range of speedy 7200RPM hard drives that use Thunderbolt and USB 3.1 (USB C) both to connect to your computer. We have no qualms about recommending the LaCie d2 Thunderbolt + USB C hard drive to video editors whether they’re editing 4K video or just regular old HD video. This is a desktop class external hard drive for video editing, meaning it isn’t bus-powered (you’ll need to plug it into the wall for power in addition to plugging it into your computer).

One nice advantage of this external hard drive for video editors is that it has two Thunderbolt ports. Like its older predecessor Firewire, Thunderbolt is a daisy-chainable system, meaning that you can string together multiple hard drives and connect them all to your computer using a single Thunderbolt port. This can be especially handy if you’re ports-constrained or editing using a lot of hard drives at once.

Also be sure to check out the mini orange rugged drives that LaCie makes for on-set usage or for ferrying footage from one computer to another.

G-Technology G-DRIVE with Thunderbolt High-Performance Storage Solution 10TB (USB C – USB 3.0

For years Hitachi was known for making some of the best professional grade video editing hard drives around. When they sold their business the drive portion became G-Technology which has continued the Hitachi legacy of making excellent external hard drives for video editors. This G-Tech hard drive features a USB C port, allowing you connect with newer computers at blazingly fast speeds. Works with both Macs and Windows PCs.

The G-Drive spins at 7200RPM and weighs about three pounds and feels hefty in your hand– not like a cheap plastic hard drive that will topple on your desk. It also features an on/off switch, which some video editors prefer to have on their external hard drives. Available in sizes from 4 terabytes all the way up to 10 terabytes at a price so reasonable we suggest buying two of them (one to backup the first).

The Best RAID Systems for Video Editing

Name:
WD My Book Pro RAID

Image:

Storage Capacity:
6-16TB models

Speed & Notes:
350MB/s

Port Type:
Thunderbolt & USB 3

Price:

Name:
G-Tech G-RAID

Image:

Storage Capacity:
12TB

Speed & Notes:
480MB/s

Port Type:
Thunderbolt & USB 3

Price:

Name:
LaCie 12big

Image:

Storage Capacity:
48TB (various sizes)

Speed & Notes:
2600MB/s

Port Type:
Thunderbolt 3 & USB 3 C

Price:

Name:
G-Tech Shuttle XL

Image:

Storage Capacity:
64TB (various sizes)

Speed & Notes:
1350MB/s

Port Type:
Thunderbolt & USB 3

Price:

RAID systems consist of multiple hard drives bundled together. Because your computer can only read data off of a hard drive so fast, splitting a single file across two hard drives can mean your computer can read data twice as quickly. This can make the difference between unbearable sluggishness and silky smooth video playback when you’re editing 4K video. Keep in mind though that for editors, even though some RAID systems might duplicate your files for performance reasons, RAID is not a backup. So you’ll want to also have your footage backed up on a different system– perhaps a cheap but large external hard drive (consider something like this). With all that said, here are some of the best, high-performance RAID hard drive arrays for video editing:

WD 12TB My Book Pro Professional RAID Storage – Thunderbolt USB 3.0

Although RAID systems can be configured in several different ways, we recommend using them set to “RAID 0” which allows for maximum read/write speed that editors demand when they’re dealing with huge 4K and HD video files. This RAID array has two 6TB hard drives meaning its total capacity is 12TB of lightning fast storage. And you can connect it via either Thunderbolt ports (of which it sports two for daisy chaining purposes), or USB 3.0 ports.

It even sports two front-facing USB 3.0 ports so you can even hook up additional peripherals like other hard drives or a USB 3.0 memory card reader. WD also sells smaller RAID arrays with less capacity and a bigger brother 16TB version for a bit more.

G-Technology G-RAID with Thunderbolt Removable Dual Drive Storage System 12TB

This G-Technology RAID system features two 6TB hard drives allowing for a total of 12 terabytes of storage in RAID 0 (“striped”) mode. It’s capable of blazingly high speeds when connected either with the included USB 3.0 cable or Thunderbolt 2 cable.

Its internal hard drives are enterprise class and rated at 7200 RPM and like all hard drives and RAID systems in this article it works with either a Mac or a PC (though you may need to format it initially using the included software). It’s also whisper-quiet so you can have it on your desk as you edit without the noise bothering you.

Lacie 2big Thunderbolt 2 Pro Dual-Disk Hardware RAID 12TB (Thunderbolt, USB 3.0)

LaCie has been making professional grade external storage and RAID systems for years, and the one of their latest RAID systems is the 2big dual disk RAID system. It sports two 6TB hard drives which can be formatted either as a RAID 0 for 12 terabytes of fast storage, or a redundant RAID level such as RAID 1 which makes an exact copy of all data for a usable size of 4TB. This particular RAID system offers a USB 3.0 port for Macs or PCs as well as two Thunderbolt 2.0 ports for Macs to connect with. Both drives that this system comes with are 7200 RPM, so they’re fast enough to read multiple uncompressed 2K 10-bit streams or a single 4K compressed video stream if you’re not doing multi-cam editing. Offers sustained read speeds of 420MB/s, enough to edit or play back several streams of normal HD video at once.

LaCie 6big Thunderbolt RAID system

Weighing 27 pounds (!) the LaCie 6big is truly a heavy duty RAID system for video editors. It features six hard drive bays, and ships with six four TB drives at 7200 RPM (depending on how you configure the RAID setup that gives you up to 24 TBs of storage to work with).

For connectivity, the LaCie 6big has two Thunderbolt 3 ports and one USB Type C port. Works with RAID level 0, 1, 5, 6, 10, and 50.

G-Technology G-SPEED Shuttle

The G-SPEED Shuttle line of high performance RAIDs for video editing is the top of the line that G-Technology offers. It comes with eight hard drive bays (!) and is available with the following storage capacities:

• 24TB
• 32TB
• 48TB
• 64TB
• 80TB

This high capacity, high-speed RAID system provides you with a ton of storage available at high speeds with RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 5, RAID 6, RAID 10, or RAID 50 configurations. Comes with dual Thunderbolt 2 ports for ultra high-speed transfers.

Frequently Asked Questions About External Hard Drives for Video Editing

Is a USB 3.0 External Drive Fast Enough for Full HD Editing?

There are several factors that influence the speed of an external hard drive. What port it uses (USB or otherwise) is certainly one factor. The speed of the storage is another (i.e. whether it’s a slow 5400 RPM hard drive, a faster 7200 RPM hard drive or an even faster solid state drive). Generally speaking, USB 3.0 hard drives are usually fast enough to edit 1080p HD video. If they’re solid state drives (SSDs), they’ll almost certainly be fast enough for 4K media as well.

What are the best backup procedures for external hard drives?

For video editors, even though an external hard drive might cost only a few hundred dollars, its true value is the amount of money which it would cost to re-create the footage that’s stored upon it. So if a hard drive contains footage that cost you $10,000 to shoot in the first place, think about the value of the hard drive as being $10,000 or more, not just the couple of hundred dollars that the hard drive cost you. Backing up your external editing hard drives is extremely important, and failing to do so can be a costly mistake.

We recommend purchasing hard drives and RAID systems for editing in sets of two: if you buy one 2TB hard drive to store your footage on, buy a second 2TB hard drive to store a complete backup of your footage as well. If your footage grows over time, make sure you either manually copy over additional footage from one hard drive to the other, or use automated drive cloning software like Super Duper to make sure both drives remain up to date. In cases where your editing system also stores render files, keeping these up to date across hard drives is generally less essential since if data loss on one hard drive occurs, you may have to re-render in your NLE no matter what.

Be sure to also back up your editing project file, be it a Final Cut Pro file, an Adobe Premiere Pro file, an Avid Media Composer file, Sony Vegas file or other project file type. For large projects, we recommend copying your project file and renaming it with the file date before each editing session, so you have a folder with all your old project files from previous days’ editing sessions backed up just in case you ever need to access them– either because you accidentally deleted an important sequence/timeline from last week, or because the project file got corrupted and is no longer usable.

What is the best peripheral interface to connect an external hard drive using?

Right now the computer industry is slowly shifting port types as part of these transitions that seem to happen every few years. Here are some of the most common professional ports used by external hard drives for editing video:

USB 2.0	An older port connection limited to about 60 megabytes per second. Enough to simultaneously edit about two streams of HD video, depending on what codec you’re using. Extremely common and cheaply available on laptops and desktops today, both Macs & PCs.
USB 3.0	Relatively common both on external hard drives & RAID systems as well as computers, USB 3 uses the same physical port as USB 2.0 so it’s backwards compatible though it’s capable of achieving a much faster transfer speed of 625 megabytes per second. This is fast enough that the bottleneck is a spinning drive (hard drive). If you’re editing multiple streams of HD video or 2K or even 4K video over USB you may want to consider spending a little extra on a solid state drive (SSD) which is faster but a bit more expensive.
USB C	USB C isn’t available on all computers just yet but it’s the next generation USB port type. It combines high speeds (3.0 or USB 3.1) with a slim port size which means it can be integrated into thinner laptops and other devices. Plus, because it’s reversible you don’t have to fiddle with plugging it in the wrong way at first– something everyone has experienced countless times with regular old USB Type A. For those that don’t have USB C ports, USB A to C adapters cables will often work. Browse USB C hard drives here.
eSATA	Some PCs have eSATA cards which allow you to use this standard which can read up to 750 MB/sec. If you’re going to be using Macs at all as part of your post-production workflow though, skip eSATA or at least choose a drive that has a Mac-friendly port in addition to eSATA. These days eSATA is not used very commonly among pro video editors.
Thunderbolt 2	While PCs can use Thunderbolt, relatively few PCs have a Thunderbolt 1 or 2 port (which uses the mini DisplayPort form factor) meaning that for most users Thunderbolt is a Mac only standard. It’s speedy: Thunderbolt 2 can read up to 2500 megabytes per second, more than enough to do a multicam edit of several streams of HD video or even multiple streams of 2K or 4K video (depending on the video codec being used). To truly take advantage of Thunderbolt’s speeds, consider a fast SSD or RAID system. Users editing video on an iMac or Macbook Pro (2012-mid 2016) will find that Thunderbolt is the fastest port they have on their computers.
Thunderbolt 3	Thunderbolt 3 uses the USB Type C port found on late 2016 and 2017 and 2018/2019 Macbook Pros as well as a small number of PCs (though this number is expected to grow). While the USB C port uses the normal USB 3 speed standard, on some computers such as new Macbook Pros it can also carry Thunderbolt 3, a new superfast standard capable of reading up to 5,000 megabytes per second (twice the previous number). While in theory, this would be the fastest protocol for editing video, there are no hard drives or SSDs that can read data at anywhere near that speed, so it’s somewhat irrelevant. However, this massive data throughput means you have enough bandwidth to drive a large high resolution 4K or 5K external display through a single Thunderbolt 3 (USB Type C) cable which you can also daisy-chain a hard drive or RAID system to.

Related Articles:
The Complete Documentary Filmmaking Equipment List

Cheap documentary film cameras for the money

The post Best Hard Drives & Raid Systems for Film & Video Editors in 2024 appeared first on Documentary Film Cameras.

Best Documentary Editing Software

Adobe Premiere Pro

Adobe Premiere Pro, available for both Macs and PCs is probably the most popular piece of documentary filmmaking software out there today. It’s available as a subscription service that renews annually or monthly.

Why is it popular?
It provides powerful editing features in a traditional NLE, non-linear editing program interface and accepts all kinds of footage formats. It’s a traditional NLE used by thousands of professional editors everywhere from Hollywood to indie filmmaking studios and garages across the country, plus it has unique features like the Morph Cut which allows you to silently remove the “ums” and “uhs” in documentary interviews without creating a jump cut. Training materials are also available.

Final Cut Pro X

While Final Cut Pro X is only available for Macs, it has some special documentary filmmaking features that some editors swear by, making it one of the best pieces of documentary making software.

Why is it popular?
Features like clip tagging and search, magnetic timeline, and a modern, intuitive interface are speeding up documentary film editing and reality TV editing. Final Cut Pro is available to purchase outright (no subscription service option). Especially popular among one-man-band type editors who don’t need to hand off their work to post production houses to do additional color correction or sound mixing. Training materials are also available.

Avid Media Composer

Avid’s Media Composer film editing program is available for both Macs and PCs and it is the original digital editing software that revolutionized movie editing industry, decades ago. Available either as a subscription or outright purchase.

Why is it popular?
While younger editors might consider Avid a little bit old school by today’s standards, it’s been modernizing in recent years Avid’s pro film editing suite is still the most popular software among Hollywood movie editors and some documentary film editors use it too. It provides powerful integration with other post production service programs, like sound mixing programs and color correcting programs. Training materials are also available.

Black Magic DaVinci Resolve

Black Magic’s DaVinci Resolve started out as a film color correction program that didn’t include any video editing capabilities. But today the software (available for both Macs and PCs) has evolved to include a full fledged editing features.

Why is it popular?
While DaVinci Resolve is an up and comer in the documentary filmmaking industry, Black Magic offers a surprisingly capable free version for both Macs and PCs, and an even higher powered Pro version available for purchase. It has decent video editing capabilities and great color correction abilities. Training materials are also available.

Related:
What is the best video editing software for GoPro videos?

The post What is the best documentary filmmaking software? appeared first on Documentary Film Cameras.

Here are some of our favorite resources for selling a film online:

• Gumroad – Set your own price and sell your film online. Gumroad works with either streaming or downloads and can do rentals as well. No annual fee, you only pay a tiny percentage of each sale. Quite cost effective for low budget documentary filmmakers and you can even bundle deleted scenes with your work. Integrates with your own website.
• Square Merchant – Online and in-person credit card processing for your films, whether you’re selling DVDs online or at events, even comes with a free credit card reader that plugs into your iPhone or Android device. No annual fee and a much smoother checkout experience than PayPal. Integrates with your own website.
• Amazon Createspace – Get your film in front of millions of Amazon customers. Unfortunately, you can’t quite set your own prices (Amazon sets them for you based on your request) but they can produce DVDs for you one by one and ship them to your customers, as well as video on demand streaming rental and purchases. No annual fee.
• VHX – VHX is an online streaming distribution platform that allows you to upload your films and sell them to your audience without having to create a complicated website or deal with any of the tech stuff. VHX is especially great for episodic content because it can manage branded subscription services, not just one-off films. You can set your own prices, offer rentals and purchases and even build coupon codes. You can get started and sell for free, but once you’ve uploaded more than 10 hours of content you will need to begin paying.
• Vimeo Pro – Once you pay a subscription fee of about $20/month (or a discounted flat rate for the year), a subscription to Vimeo Pro gives you tools to sell your films. You can set your own prices and upload art according to their specifications to create beautiful-looking sales pages with trailers, synopses, stills, and more. Note that unlike some other platforms with Vimeo Pro you’ll need to pay a monthly fee whether or not you actually make any sales. On the flip side, however, you also get access to expanded Vimeo video hosting features like advanced branding of color-schemes of the video embeds on your website, expanded analytics, and more.
• YouTube – If you really and truly want to get as many eyeballs for your film as possible, nothing beats putting it up for free on YouTube, which allows you to monetize it through ads (or if you meet the eligibility requirements, you can offer it as paid content on YouTube). But even if you want to sell your movie through a more traditional route, putting a great film trailer up on YouTube with a link to purchase the film is a must.

Selling a streaming or downloadable version of your film online can be a great way to get the film out there for next to nothing and also get some buzz for yourself as a filmmaker. We also recommend collecting the email addresses of your buyers (which Square and Gumroad allow you to do– but Amazon does not) so you can let them know when your next film is out.

Extra tips for how to sell your film online

Here are some additional tips to consider, regardless of what platform you choose to sell your films online with.

Upload your trailer to YouTube – Whether or not you’re hosting the film on YouTube, it’s worth uploading the trailer there and tagging it with lots of related tags and giving it a nice, long keyword-rich synopsis in the description area. You should also include a link in the description to where people can purchase/stream the full film. It’s also worth including a URL in the video itself as text on screen in case someone is watching it on a platform where they can’t see the description while they’re watching (like on a cell phone in full-screen mode or embedded in another website). Uploading your trailer to YouTube will make it much more findable.

Market your film to an email list – As you’re making your movie, keep a running list of email addresses from people who are interested in it that you interact with along the way. Send these people (along with crowd-funders or friends) regular updates on your progress as you go through the process. By the time your film is ready to be released online via streaming platforms, you may already have a built-in audience. On your website, you can also include an email signup list for people who come across your film’s website and are interested in watching it once it’s finished. Make sure you also capture people’s first names in addition to their email addresses (but don’t make the signup form too long or complicated because fewer people will fill it out!).

Make the option to purchase your film easy to find on your website(s) – If you have an official film website, make sure it’s easy to find the page where people can buy the film. This means ideally putting it in the menu/navigation and also sprinkling links to it throughout the website on all sorts of other pages where it’s relevant. If you have other websites, like a professional website as a director, consider putting links to buy the film there too. Generally speaking, the more links there are to that purchase page, the better.

Related:

How to Make a Low Budget Documentary Film

The Best Low Budget Documentary Cameras

Cheapest 4K Video Cameras for Documentary Filmmaking

What is the Best Cheap Documentary Camera for Filmmaking in 2016?

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