Tutorials

Turning Lights ON/OFF

Please use the lights preset panel situated on stage left, near the green room. Always remember to turn everything off when you are done! 🙏

Screenshot exemplifying lights tutorial steps.

“HOUSE” and “OFF” presets will always work. “PRE CONCERT” and “CONCERT” presets will only work if you have a confirmed reservation, and the technical director knows about your booking.

Use of the Margo Jones Performance Hall requires a reservation scheduled through the Manager of Music Events and Operations.

Video Editing Tutorial

Q: I received the full video of my concert as an mp4 file; how can I extract only a certain piece or movement from the video?

A:
To accomplish this task, we will use Blackmagic Design's "DaVinci Resolve," which is a professional program that is FREE to download and use. Learning how to do this yourself will equip you with essential video editing skills for future projects.

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Step 1: Download and Install DaVinci Resolve

  1. Go to the official DaVinci Resolve website.
  2. Choose the free version (simply DaVinci Resolve, not the "studio" or "beta" versions), register your info, and download it.
  3. Install the software following the on-screen instructions.

Step 2: Import Your Full Concert Video

  1. Open DaVinci Resolve.
  2. Create a new project by clicking on "File," then “New Project” and giving it a name.
    Screenshot exemplifying tutorial steps.
  3. In the Media Pool area, right-click and import your full concert video. (Keyboard shortcut is Mac: Cmd+I / Windows: Ctrl+I)
    Screenshot exemplifying tutorial steps.
  4. You might be asked if you want to change the project frame rate. Choose "Change."
    Screenshot exemplifying tutorial steps.

Step 3: Set In and Out Points

  1. Double-click the clip to open the preview window.
  2. Play the video in the preview window on the right.
  3. Pause at the beginning of the segment you want to extract.
  4. Press the “I” key to set the In point (start) of your selection.
  5. Play to the end of the segment.
  6. Press the “O” key to set the Out point (end) of your selection. Now you have a rough clip ready to be imported into the timeline.

    You can always skip to a specific time by clicking in the audio waveform area above the Stop and Play buttons. Press “I” or "O" keys to set your starting and ending points.
    Screenshot exemplifying tutorial steps.

Step 4: Insert the clip into the Timeline

  1. Click on the "EDIT" tab at the bottom. (See circled green tab at the bottom; In v.18, this is located between "CUT" and "FUSION" tabs.)
  2. Right-click the clip and select "Insert selected clips to Timeline." You will be prompted to create a new Timeline, simply select "Create."
    Screenshot exemplifying tutorial steps.
  3. If you have followed all the steps, your timeline should look similar to the screenshot below.
    Screenshot exemplifying tutorial steps.

Step 5: Further Edits

  1. Click the "Full Extent Zoom" icon to see the full length of the clip imported. Remember that this is not the entire video, but only the range between your IN and OUT points which you determined in the previous steps.
    Screenshot exemplifying tutorial steps.
  2. Next, let's refine our clip's start and end points. You will notice that your cursor icon changes depending on where it is hovering in your timeline. 
    • Hover the cursor over the green areas, then click and drag to shorten or lengthen the clip.
      Screenshot exemplifying tutorial steps.

    • If you want to extend your video further left, you can move the entire clip to the right by clicking and dragging the entire clip, as a block, to the right (blue arrow motion). This creates enough space on the left to extend your video.
      Screenshot exemplifying tutorial steps.
      After you are done, move the entire clip, again as a block, back to the left so it starts without any empty "gaps" in the timeline. You can always fix the "gap" in later steps, but it makes the process easier to do it here.

  3. OPTIONAL STEP: Apply a fade-in or fade-out for a more professional look. Note that at the very top left and right corner of the video and audio clip you will see a marker icon. These are highlighted in green in the screenshot below; They will only show once you hover with the cursor over the clip.
    Screenshot exemplifying tutorial steps.

    You can click and drag those markers to apply a fade-in and fade-out to your clips. Apply fades to your audio so that the audio starts from silence and ends in silence. You can also apply them to the video, which will make it so the video transitions from black when it starts, or to black when it ends. Below is an example of fades applied to both video and audio.
    Screenshot exemplifying tutorial steps.
    IMPORTANT! Don't apply any fade-ins or fade-outs if you are submitting for a competition or application that is requesting unedited material.

Step 6: Export Your Segment

  1. Go to the Deliver tab.
  2. Choose your desired export settings. Select "YouTube 1080p" for a quick preset setting.
  3. Name your file and choose a location/destination where your file will be exported.
  4. Click “Add to Render Queue.”
  5. Click “Render All"
    Screenshot exemplifying tutorial steps.

Tips:

  • Save your project regularly to avoid losing progress.

And that’s it! You’ve successfully extracted a specific piece from your concert video using DaVinci Resolve. You can also click here to search for DaVinci Resolve beginner tutorials on YouTube. Happy editing!

Page last updated 3:47 PM, May 1, 2024