Advice: Getting started in the digital editing

Question

What advice would you give someone with very limited experience, who wants to get started as an (paid) editor? (Other than don't do it.)
My budget is $14K.
What equipment?
Groups?

Answer 1

Go crazy searching the internet for tutorials, advice, sample videos, etc. You can find tons of free stuff. Look at websites dedicated to DV editors, and see what it's about.
Find someone you know who is a DV editor, or search for one through your contacts. Ask them about what they do and if they think it's right for you. They may be wrong, but it's a good start to see what people think.
Also, start editing some video with what you have. Work a little in iMovie for now, even though it's nothing like the "real thing," it's a great place to start toying around.
I would definitely start with Final Cut Express. You can't do almost everything you will need to do for a long time using just that, especially if you're testing the waters. Do you really want to spend 14K and found out that you don't really like doing it? It's worth spending the cash on FCE right now, even if you end up moving up to Final Cut Studio. Why? Cause it could save you over $13,000 of wasted money if you aren't sure you want to do it!
Do you have a camera? If not, find a good MiniDV cam (avoid hard drives, and DVD camcorders are a joke). I recommend the Canon HV20 for an amateur who wants decent quality. What's your computer like? Buying a Mac Pro can be expensive, but for starts you should be able to do the majority of all necessary editing on an iMac, unless you're a true "professional." I imagine by that time, you'll have earned some spare cash to buy a Mac Pro, and then you have the luxury of using two computers. You can have your Mac Pro chugging away at rendering while you do other things on your iMac, like edit smaller projects. Imagine how nice it'd be to be able to leave your big machine going on a serious project, and then work on small projects for friends/family on your iMac.
Also, decide what you're looking for in terms of a job. Getting a position as a professional working for a company isn't easy, because every employer wants the same thing: highly skilled, proof of training (education), lots of experience on the job, etc. How the heck do you get that experience without first being hired, when everyone who hires wants you to have the experience first? Yeah, that's a big complaint for people getting out of college looking for jobs. Basically, you gotta do stuff for free or next-to-nothing for people to get a foot in the door. You can also do private jobs, like weddings, graduations, parties, etc.
Speaking of which, is that what you'd like? Your own private videography company? If so, you have to know a lot about running a business, including people skills. Slow starts are the norm, and years of "is this really worth it?" are not unusual. Also, lots of family/friends asking for favors. "Can you do my wedding, we can pay you the $10 for the tapes, and then give you $50 for your time." Your family and friends won't realize how expensive and exhausting video work is! One camera alone can easily cost over $2000, and they think that their $50 or $100 is worth it for you? That's how you start, but you can't survive doing that.
BTW, expect the problem that many encounter: after doing free work for a while, you'll be called on again and again by those people to do another free or nearly-free job. You'll have to just be firm (and polite) about the fact that you've stepped up a level, and now because of your experience and professional quality, you rightfully deserve much more for your services. If they can't understand that, ask them to perform their job for you for free, and then tell them that you have to encounter that several times a month, devouring hours of time that would have been paid jobs.
Video work is kind of like acting: a lot of people get into it because they want to be like the big guys, but they never make it. Lots of years at acting schools and lots of auditions later, many wannabe-actors and actresses are working as waitresses and department store clerks because it just didn't work out. Also, a lot of video editing jobs are pretty gosh-darn-boring. Honestly, my friend who graduated with an degree in broadcast communication ended up interning at a popular company that was well-known in his circle, and although he made money, and there was nothing horrible about it, he said it was just plain "blah." He spent most of his time just trimming up and cleaning up clips for use in documentaries, educational material, and advertising. The complete lack of any sense of connection with the material made it a very labor-intensive task. At least working privately, you are using your own footage and feel a sense of connection with the events you taped.
Consider it well before investing a lot of money. My advice: grab a Canon HV20 and purchase Final Cut Express, and use primarily the web, a good book, and maybe a few tutorial DVDs to teach yourself for a couple months. Make some videos between 10-30 minutes long, and if you love it, start diving in deeper. Take some classes, get Final Cut Studio, and explore more of your options.