Hi,

Further to Terry's reply, it's obvious that you are just starting and that you have a lot to learn, and there is a lot to learn. I strongly suggest that you first read the "Quick start" part of the manual before continuing on. You should play around with MEP at the same time to test out what they say. Don't worry about destroying any of your original files, as Terry says, MEP is a non-destructive editor; the original files are not touched. MEP just uses the original, and applies effects, cuts, transitions, etc. within the program. When you export or burn, MEP uses all of this to create a new file or files. For example, if you trim a clip by cutting it in half on the timeline, and then deleting one half, nothing happens to the original; you don't lose half of it. MEP just remembers what to do for the final output. You can open a new project and import the same clip and you will see that it is still the original. 

You should also view the tutorials on the Magix.com site.

1. File management:

Like Terry, I too leave my original files in the locations that are set up by the import programs for my cameras. They vary. Then I may (should) move files from my secondary cameras' locations to the locations of the main files.

For example, for my main video camera, Canon HFR21, import is set to an external drive and will automatically import to:

J:\Video\Import Video Data\TVD_AVCHD\ followed by the creation date.

I then change the folder name by appending some useful information such as:

J:\Video\Import Video Data\TVD_AVCHD\20141212 Snow - yard - Angel woods

For my second video camera, a Canon 650D DSLR, it automatically copies all photos and video files into

C:\Users\John\Pictures\creation date

which I also modify to append useful information. I then move any video files to the above video files folder with the same date, but with a subfolder to indicate the camera.

Miscellaneous cameras - cell phone BB-5CD1, the files get copied to 2 places, one for photos, one for videos. I then move the files to appropriate sub-folders for Pictures or Videos, again by date. Same thing for my wife's cell phone.

Imported VHS and other files also go to appropriate named folders.

Now I have all videos and photos in their respective places. I have an external HD that backs these folders up regularly, and I also make a DVD or BD copy occasionally as a second backup.

In MEP, in the Media pool, under the import tab, I create a link for my folders so that the folder shows up in the left column under the import tab. Just navigate to the appropriate folder, click on the gear-shaped parameters icon at the top of the Media Pool window, and select "Create link for folder" or Alt+Shft+J. Just make sure that you don't delete fhe folder if you want to remove it from the list. You have to right-click on it and select "Delete link." You can rename the link by right-clicking on it.

Here is a screen shot:

2. Project files backup:

If you want to save a copy of everything that goes into a project when you are done, including video clips, images, sound files, etc., go to File, Backup copy, Copy project and media into folder, and create a folder for just this project. Then you can copy everything from that folder onto a DVD or BD for archiving purposes. Read up on this in the manual.

3. Workflow in MEP

You say "but after just two such transfers and continually zooming in and out at a longer and longer timeline wonder if anyone had a better system." Why are you zooming in and out? Yes, the timeline gets filled but this is normal. You have scroll bars at the bottom to go left and right, and at the right side to go up and down the tracks if you have more than you can see. When you drag or insert the first clip onto the timeline, the timeline will adjust to the length of the clip. When you add another one, it will be to the right. Just scroll to the right. You optimize the timeline by clicking on the double-headed arrow at the bottom right of the timeline window. You can adjust the zoom by dragging in or out one of the ends of the horizontal scroll bar, or by selecting a zoom range from the zoom pop down at the bottom right of the timeline window. I rarely have it zoomed out to 100% or the complete movie length. For example, I have a 30 minute video that contains may a hundred video clips, photos and audio files, with transitions, effects, titles, etc.I scroll along the timeline at a zoom level that is appropriate for what I want to do.

Before you bring in a clip, you can select just the part that you want by previewing it, placing the left and right brackets at the in and out points, and then dragging the image onto the timeline. Alternatively, you can trim the clip that is already on the timeline.

Thus to answer your question, if you have a project that you want to make that has a theme, say Christmas 2014, then you put everything onto the timeline in the order that you want. Edit, move things around, add transitions, photos, effects, titles, etc. Then export or burn your project. If you burn a project, you can have chapters that can be navigated to in the DVD. Chapters could be Christmas Eve, Christmas day, skiing, etc. Look this up in the manual.

If you have a multi-themed project, says Christmases 2010-2014, then the best would be to put each year into a separate movie within a project. That way when you burn, you get a menu with buttons for each year, then screens with chapters for each year. Look up managing movies in the manual, to understand projects, movies and chapters. See also this tutorial about multi-movie projects.

Below is a partial workflow list that I posted elsewhere. You will see that I do not even mention many of the things above. So as I say, you have your hands full learning about all of this, but it is fun, and the results can be very rewarding, especially for your biggest fan. We the users know that we are our own biggest fans. We spend hours creating our masterpieces, only to be seen by family and friends once.

This is a simplified work flow outline for incorporating Neat Video (NV) into a project but it covers a lot more:

1. Cut up the file into obvious parts, especially where the lighting changes, like indoors/outdoors.

2. Apply the NV to the long tracks before any further cutting. Find the best profile for each type of lighting and save each with a descriptive name. When satisfied, remove the effect to be able to continue editing quickly. The NV effects can be placed quickly on sections at the end by loading the relevant saved profile.

3. Edit the sound, unless large parts are to be removed. I use Magix Audio & Music Lab 2014 Premium and I import the original video file, clean it, and export it to a wav file. Then I import this into VPX6 and cut it at the same locations as the video and group it with the video, after replacing the original audio track.

4. Edit the video - colour correction, cutting out parts, adding effects, transitions, titles, etc.

5. Edit sound again - add effects, narration and music, if wanted.

6. When done, apply video stabilization where necessary and reapply the NV profiles to the relevant sections.

7. Finally, apply overall look from Pixelan if desired.

What did I miss? Of course there are things like chapters and burn menus, but that is minor.

Keep us posted as to your progress and any major problems that you encounter along the way. I suggest that you learn with a test project. Don't forget to save your project often, as sometimes MEP crashes.

Enjoy!

Hi

As Terry said there are many different workflows with MEP.

For short video clips I will drag them direct to the timeline then cut / trim / adjust each one.

If the video clip is very long then i change technique to using In / Out points - see the installed PDF manual on using In / Out points.

As for filing I have a totally different file structure to both Terry and JohnCB as shown in the image below:

I have individual project folders - as indicated by the red {   - which contain the video, still images, audio used in the project and any other bits I create.  As you can see each folder has subfolders for video and image folders which are subdivided by camera  The projects are saved within the project folder.

I also have a folder which contains resources such as masks, audio clips, music, animated loops, video loops etc - this is not shown in the image.

When I have finished the entire folder is backed up / archived to external hard drives.

John