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Video Viewfinder
Keith Kyker and Christopher Curchy
Nonlinear Digital Video Editing
This Video Viewfinder is an
excerpt from our Libraries Unlimited book Educator’s
Survival Guide to TV Production Equipment and Activities. One of the is
about nonlinear digital video editing. This column is a brief excerpt from that
chapter. Enjoy!
No phase of audio or video production has changed as much in recent years as video editing. Camcorders are basically the same – point the camera and push the record button. Sure, the videotape format might be different, but the process is the same. Ditto for the VCR – “play” still plays the videocassette, and “rewind” still rewinds it. Your video mixer has taken a giant step forward, with dozens of effects, and even digital chroma key. However, the concept of switching from camera 1 to camera 2 hasn’t changed. But video editing has made a fundamental change in the past few years. The entire process of arranging, adding, and deleting scenes to create a video program is nothing like it was a few years ago.
In this chapter, we’ll examine nonlinear digital video editing (called nonlinear editing for short). We’ll explore some of the advantages and disadvantages of nonlinear editing, and offer some selection criteria for purchasing a nonlinear editing system. Finally we’ll look at the nonlinear editing marketplace, and recommend some additional purchases to compliment your nonlinear editing system.
Advantages of Nonlinear Editing
Obviously, the biggest advantage to nonlinear editing is the nonlinear aspect – being able to edit and rearrange segments as easily as moving paragraphs in a word processor. But there are additional advantages in the nonlinear editing process.
Cost
Surprisingly, nonlinear editing systems are less expensive than traditional editing systems, and offer a real value in the school setting. An entry-level system, complete with transitions, graphics, effects, and music editing capabilities, can be purchased for less than $1500. That’s about half the price of an entry-level traditional editing system. And that traditional system would provide cuts-only editing – no graphics, no transitions, no effects.
The Casablanca Avio editing system begins at $1,295.
Schools can continually upgrade their systems with hardware and software
options.
Smaller Size
A high-powered laptop computer can serve as a nonlinear editing system. (Apple’s iBook is advertised this way – with a young man editing his vacation movies on the plane ride home.) Other systems are about the size of a desktop computer. Traditional editing systems required large tabletop space or expensive editing cabinets. Nonlinear systems fit comfortably on existing library or classroom tables and countertops.
Cross-format Capabilities
Sometimes when editing a project, you will find that your video sources exist on a variety of formats: VHS, S-VHS, 8mm, MiniDV, DVD, etc. With a traditional editing system, all of these sources would have to be converted onto your system’s format (probably VHS) before editing. Because most video equipment has standard video outputs, the nonlinear editing system can import them all. For example, imagine you are making a video project about the school softball team. You have some game video that you shot on MiniDV. A parent has provided additional footage, shot on 8mm videotape. And you also want to include some footage from last year’s softball tournament that you have on VHS. Simply connect each component – your MiniDV camcorder, the parent’s 8mm camcorder, and a VHS VCR to your nonlinear editing system, and import the video segments. Once imported, the nonlinear editing system can work with all segments equally well.
Image Quality
One of the biggest drawbacks to traditional editing is the loss of image quality during the editing process. Because the resulting traditionally-edited program was a “copy,” the picture quality degraded. That degradation continued if “a copy of a copy” was made. Editors called this “generational loss,” and it was common knowledge that 4th generation video was embarrassing, and 5th generation was unwatchable. Students entering video contests were constantly faced with this challenge – should they send their master tape (2nd generation) or a copy (3rd generation) to the contest? Or what if the master tape is damaged, and the 3rd generation is the best copy that exists? You can see the problem (literally).
Of course, nonlinear editing erases this problem. The edited version looks as professional as the original footage – maybe even more so, if image enhancement features were used in the editing process. In other words, the copy can look better than the original! And subsequent copies made from the program stored on the nonlinear editing system’s hard drive look as crisp as the first.
Quick Learning
Most students can learn nonlinear editing basics in just a few minutes. The computer platform for nonlinear editing has allowed programmers to include intuitive aspects of the editing process. The “click-and-drag” process that student already use in presentation software and file management is also used in nonlinear editing. Nonlinear system customers frequently report a positive “straight-out-of-the-box” experience when they first use their machines.
Easy to Learn
The nonlinear system is basically easy to learn. “Help” menus and graphics-based menus provide support. Certainly, some students will become more adept at nonlinear editing, and others will be more creative than their peers. But most, if not all students will be able to skillfully edit their programs after a few minutes of instruction. Advanced functions can be added as the student advances at his/her own pace.
Integrated Graphics, Effects and Transitions
Nonlinear editing systems can be thought of as “all-in-one” machines. Students can add graphics, effects, and transitions without going to a different “station” in the studio or re-configuring the equipment. Those who have edited on a traditional system can fully appreciate this advantage. In the past, schools spent thousands of dollars for two high-quality editing VCRs, two monitors, and an editing control unit, and the result was simple cuts-only editing – no effects, no graphics, no transitions. Mechanically-inclined teachers would reconfigure equipment, adding expensive character generators and video mixers in between the “source” and “record” VCRs to achieve basic effects. With a nonlinear editing system, those effects are taken to the next level at a fraction of the cost.
Correcting Mistakes/Making Updates
Mistakes made during the editing process are easily corrected using a nonlinear editing system. Segments anywhere in the program can quickly be trimmed or replaced. Also, existing programs can be updated with ease, as segments that no longer apply are replaced with appropriate segments. For example, imagine a student at your school wins the city science fair, and your video production students create a segment based on that accomplishment. After seeing the segment on your school news channel, the principal encourages you to submit the program to your local cable-TV station for broadcast on their “Student Accomplishments” program. In the meantime, the junior scientist wins the state science fair! Do you have to totally re-edit your program? No – just update the necessary elements in the nonlinear editing system.
Applied Magic’s Screenplay sells for around $4,000.
The camcorder and monitor are additional purchases.
Creating Various Versions of the Same Program
Because the individual audio and video elements in the nonlinear editing process are easily interchangeable, it is easy to create various versions of the same program. For example, imagine you are a high school media specialist, and you have created a 5-minute orientation video for the incoming freshmen class – the standard “Welcome to Our School” video. Because your audience consists of 14-year olds, you have selected production music that fits their tastes, and included several brief student interviews in the program. As your first Open House approaches, your principal asks you to show the video to parents and community members. But you’re not sure how they will respond to the hip-hop soundtrack, and you’d like to feature parent and teacher interviews in addition to the student interviews. If you edited your original orientation program on a nonlinear system, you can simply replace the soundtrack, and add the additional interviews. Creating the adult-friendly version would only take a few minutes.
Audio and Video File Sharing and Transporting
Digital audio and video files can easily be transferred to network servers for sharing among many users in a TV studio. Raw footage can be loaded onto the computer server (shared hard-drive), and editors working at various stations around the school can access those files. Okay – you’re probably not going to do that anytime soon. But networks like CNN and ESPN are doing that now, as editors for different newscasts access raw footage to incorporate into their programs. And imagine how easily highlights from previous games can be accessed when they are stored on a hard drive, and downloaded like word processing documents. This sure beats searching an entire videotape for that one clip. And as high-speed online access becomes commonplace, news reporters and videographers in distant lands can log-on to their company’s computer network and upload their raw footage, giving instant access to editors at the studio. Digitized media is certainly the preferred production format of the future.
Excellent Teaching Tool
Because of its ability to correct mistakes, update existing projects, and create various versions of the same project, a nonlinear editing system is a wonderful tool for teaching the video production process. Teachers can take an active roll in their students’ projects by recommending changes, and the students can instantly see the results. The editing station becomes a learning lab, in which students can experiment with various transitions and effects before committing them to videotape. Video segments can be rearranged to maximize the program’s impact. Different soundtracks can be added, and different students can provide narration. Teachers can also use the nonlinear editor to create simple video projects that teach the emotional impact of music, the result of using too many effects, or the appropriate use of transitions. Teachers who incorporate nonlinear editing into their curriculum will see the educational value of their classes enhanced exponentially.
To learn more about this book, click here.
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