Module 56

Updated: 03/15/2008

Video Editing,  Part VII

Dedicated and

Software-Based Editors

A dedicated editor is designed to do only one thing: video editing.

Dedicated editing equipment was the norm until desktop computer software started to become available in the late 1980s.

Software-based editors use desktop and laptop computers as a base. Video editing is just one of the tasks they can perform; it all depends on the software you load.

It was in the early 1990s that sophisticated video editing hardware and software became available for desktop computers. By 2000, the best laptop computers had become  powerful enough to handle sophisticated editing programs.

Historically, the Video Toaster system for the Amiga computer was the first widely used system. The basic screen for that system is shown here. The Toaster was both a video switcher and an editing system.

Thereafter, several software companies introduced computer-based editing systems for the Apple and Windows operating systems. Today's desktop and laptop computers can rival the capabilities of  dedicated editing systems. 

The simplified illustration below shows a basic representation of how scenes, transitions, and audio sources are represented on the timeline of an editing screen.  A mouse is used to drag the elements into different positions.

Although different editing systems use different approaches, note that in this case one video segment series is represented in the dark blue area at the top of the illustration and another in dark blue below that.  In between, transition effects, filters, and special effects are represented.

The audio elements are shown in a similar way. In the illustration below three audio tracks are shown: music, narration, and special effects. Relative levels and transitions are controlled by a mouse.

The Avid editing screen shown below more accurately depicts how this arrangement would look on one of today's editing systems. This particular editing system allows you to mix standard-definition and high-definition video in the same project -- an important consideration during this period of analog-to-digital transition.

Although you can edit audio on a machine like the one above (note the two tracks of audio on the time-line at the bottom of the screen) for more demanding audio editing you will want to consider a sophisticated audio editing system like this one.

With sophisticate editing systems there are a variety of video filters and plug-ins (software additions that add various effect options to the original editing program). 

Examples are various types of blur, color corrections, cropping, sharpening, fog effects, geometric distortions, and even image stabilization.

The latter attempts to lock onto a central element in a scene and keep it from moving, thus canceling moderate camera shake. More on that later.

Laptop Editing Systems

As we've noted, there are dedicated and software based laptop editing systems.

An example of a dedicated system is this Panasonic field editing unit, primarily used in news work. Note that the controls designed exclusively for video and audio editing.

With computer-based systems, such as the one shown below, you have the advantage of a wide variety of "off the shelf" laptop computers, plus the software can be readily switched and upgraded.

In addition to editing, computer-based systems can accommodate other computer programs, such as those used to write news scripts.

Computer-based editing used to be confined to especially modified (souped up) desktop computers.  However, in recent years "high end" laptop computers can do most anything desktop systems can.

These computers typically use a FireWire, IEEE 1394, USB-2, or i.Link cable connection to download the video from the camcorder to the computer's hard drive.

Because video information takes up a lot of digital space, these computers need a high-capacity hard-drive. (One minute of uncompressed video requires about one gigabyte (GB) of disk space.)

One of the best ways to learn how a nonlinear editor works is simply to play with one for several hours.

One popular nonlinear editing program, Adobe Premiere, is available on the Internet for download. This demo version—if it's still available when you read this—does everything but save files. If you are interested, click on Premiere.

You may have already discovered that simple video editors come with the Windows and Apple computer operating systems and are probably already on your computer. Most of these programs have built-in tutorials that take you through the editing process.

If you have a need for more sophisticated editing options -- which you eventually will if you are serious about editing -- you will want to equip your computer with one of the more advanced editing software programs discussed here.

Even though most computer-based editing systems today are non-linear, at this point we need to point out the difference between linear and non-linear systems.

Linear and Non-Linear Editing Systems

Working on a non-linear editing system is like working with a sophisticated word processor. Using a computer screen and a mouse you can randomly cut and past segments and move them around until you are satisfied with the result. Working on a linear editing system is a bit like using a typewriter to type a term paper; you need to assemble everything in the proper sequence as you go along. After it's all on paper (or in this case recorded), adding, deleting or rearranging things can be a major problem.

With nonlinear editing the video and audio segments are not permanently recorded as you go along as they are in linear editing. The edit decisions exist in computer memory as a series of internal digital markers that tell the computer where to look for segments on the hard disk.

This means that at any point you can instantly check your work and make adjustments. It also means that you can easily (and maybe endlessly!) experiment with audio and video possibilities.

Sony's complete high-definition NLE (non-linear editing, or random access editing) system is shown below. This editing system compliments Sony's line of XDCAM cameras.

Although a sophisticated nonlinear (random access) editing system such as the one above may take a while to learn, once you figure one out, you can  transfer the basic skills to other editing programs.

Once you finalize your edit decisions most editing systems allow you to save your EDL (edit decision list) — preferable on some removable media that you can take with you in case you need it again. This will save you from having to start from scratch if you later want to come back to the original footage to make revisions.

The final edited video and audio output can be handled in two ways.

It can be "printed" (transferred) in final, linear form to videotape or a DVD or it can remain on a computer drive to be recalled and modified as needed. The latter approach, which is often used for segments in newscasts, requires high-capacity storage devices such as....  

File Servers

Video and audio segments—especially HDTV—take up a great amount of hard disk storage space.

Instead of trying to replicate the needed storage in each desktop computer, many  facilities use a centralized mass storage device called a file server, sometimes called a media server or video server (shown here.)

These were introduced in an earlier module.  Even the editing software can be run from a server rather than having to take up disk space in a desktop or laptop computer.

A centralized video server not only gives all of the computer editing stations the advantage of having access to large amounts of storage, but it means that segments can be reviewed, edited, or played back from any of the editing workstations (desktop or laptop computers equipped with a network connection) within the facility.

As high-speed, Internet connections become commonplace, you will be able to link to a media server from any location — even your home — and edit and re-edit pieces. In fact, many professionals are doing that now.