Desktop Video editing

Desktop Video Editing

If we'd had word processors in college, instead of typewriters, we'd probably be different people now. We can't change the past but we can sure move with the present. Manipulating video images with the computer is as satisfying as changing from the typewriter to the word processor.

In 1992, we bought Matrox Personal Producer, which runs on our home computer. Personal Producer is a linear editing system. The term "linear" means the software cues up tapes in the order we specify. When we make changes, we have to play the tapes again. The software controls the tape decks, telling us when to change tapes, and manages the details of pre-roll. It's far more precise and repeatable than we could achieve manually or with the consumer-level editing equipment available at the time.

In 1995, we acquired a video capture board together with Adobe Premiere to perform non-linear editing. The term "non-linear" means that means we play the source tapes once, to store them on the computer's disk drive. Then we work with them electronically in any order we want.

In 1996, we upgraded the video capture board and finally achieve the quality we want for our productions.

In 2003, we use I-link to transfer the digital video to the computer and edit with Adobe Premiere. It’s wonderful!

Some issues seem to be common to desktop video, whichever platform you use. First, it requires a computer-savvy person to install and maintain the system. The computer-assisted features are powerful but require practice and perhaps special classes to use them effectively. The software can be delicate, the boards sometimes incompatible.

Database of Useful Shots

We get 5 to 30 useful shots from each dive, of many different plants and animals. These disparate shots contain material for many different stories. We log all our footage in Personal Producer in order to generate the database.

It takes a long time to log an entire dive trip. We catalog each shot with the start and stop time code for the clip, the name of the animal or plant, where we were, and some descriptive text. The software stores a freeze frame from the clip as a visual reminder.

We use the date of the dive as the reel identifier. For example, the first dive on March 5, 1996, is 9603-05A. The second dive is 9603-05B. We write this identifier on the tape label and shelve the tapes in sequence by date.

The work of logging the tapes pays off when we search the database. When we wanted to make a video about sea lions, we searched to database to find all the clips we'd ever taken with sea lions on shore and under water. We pulled the tapes, reviewed them, and used the best shots to tell the story.

Rework for Quality

We do extensive rework to improve the quality of the video. Maybe some genius can get it exactly right the first time, but we don't. Rework is a non-linear system's special strength. It's extremely easy to adjust the length of clips and to reorganize the flow of the video without waiting for the source tape to cue to the in-point.

We assemble nature stories from videos taken over a long time, using many source tapes. With the linear system, we based some decisions on how many tape changes it takes to make the story. For example, we assembled several years' footage for two educational projects, one an hour long and the other 45 minutes. Each print-to-tape, supported as it was by the linear editing system, still took many hours. Because we didn’t have time code, each tape that goes into the source deck has to be rewound so the counter starts from zero. Then the software takes care of forwarding the tape to the in-point. Watching the tapes wear out sliding across the drums consumed many hours. Using the 30-minute VHS-C tapes has a great advantage over the 2-hour 8 mm tapes.

The linear system requires many hours to make a finished product, too. The time goes to compile the video, not in cueing tapes. The compilation process is somewhat similar to rendering an animation. Even a short piece, say six or seven minutes, with minimal special effects, requires two hours to compile. Previews, which are less complete, are fine for most of the creative work. Previews don't require compilation, but don't show the effects, either. It's a tradeoff. A standard practice is to do as much work as possible with previews, or partly compiled pieces, then start the make-a-movie process when you don't need the computer for anything else. It's convenient to have more than one computer, dedicating one entirely to the compilation.

Both the linear and non-linear systems lay out the clips as a timeline or storyboard. The term storyboard originally meant a planning device. The visual layout of the storyboard, with the graphic icons in place, is the first level of review. We can follow the developing story on the computer, rearranging the clips freely.

After we do a print-to-tape (on the linear system), or a preview (on the non-linear system), we see a need to adjust the clips we've used so far. Then we change the storyboard in the computer and reprint in whole or in part.

We finish with a master tape written back to digital video. We also make Windows Media files to place on our web page.

Titles and Special Effects

We transform a video signal, either from a source tape or directly from the camcorder, into a picture which we can enhance with other computer paint tools, and incorporate into the video.

Keying superimposes graphics and titles over moving video.

In the linear system, wipes and dissolves from one scene to the next were a simulated A-B roll. The last frame of the prior video segment is a frozen to use as a transition to the moving image of the next video segment. This is a simple, and reasonably effective, means for a transition between parts of the story.

The non-linear system, as one would expect, has many more effects to apply. Many are for special purposes more suitable for rock videos than underwater videos. The pictures can be distorted, speeded up, slowed down, recolored, overlay each other, all kinds of fancy stuff to play with.

Digital Audio Support

We digitize the audio components, then position the sound files in the storyboard to associate with the video clips. We can control volume and fade up or down by controls in the storyboard. Our underwater videos to date don't feature much dialog, mostly voice-over and background music.

The linear system has a drawback in that we still can't effectively use the hi-fi tracks without losing a video generation or else compromising the quality of the audio. The non-linear system allows us to use the hi-fi tracks because the finished video has the sound and picture completely integrated.

We buy music on CD's from several libraries in the business of supplying music for commercial use, so we can use the music without owing royalties or violating copyrights.

Background natural sound like waves splashing on shore or bird calls seems easy to record yourself. However, the noises of the wind in the microphone, traffic on the road and human voices interfere. We find we prefer to use sound effects CD's instead.

Favorite Sound Bytes

We've used the camcorder to capture just the sound.

Here is the sound of a gecko in our hotel room in Lovina, Bali, captured in November, 2000. We kept a journal of our trip there.

Kid voices singing in Papua New Guinea. You can see our travel journal of our trip in 2000.



Desktop Video Editing If we'd had word processors in college, instead of typewriters, we'd probably be different people now. We can't change the past but we can sure move with the present. Manipulating video images with the computer is as satisfying as changing from the typewriter to the word processor. In 1992, we bought Matrox Personal Producer, which runs on our home computer. Personal Producer is a linear editing system. The term "linear" means the software cues up tapes in the order we specify. When we make changes, we have to play the tapes again. The software controls the tape decks, telling us when to change tapes, and manages the details of pre-roll. It's far more precise and repeatable than we could achieve manually or with the consumer-level editing equipment available at the time. In 1995, we acquired a video capture board together with Adobe Premiere to perform non-linear editing. The term "non-linear" means that means we play the source tapes once, to store them on the computer's disk drive. Then we work with them electronically in any order we want. In 1996, we upgraded the video capture board and finally achieve the quality we want for our productions. In 2003, we use I-link to transfer the digital video to the computer and edit with Adobe Premiere. It’s wonderful! Some issues seem to be common to desktop video, whichever platform you use. First, it requires a computer-savvy person to install and maintain the system. The computer-assisted features are powerful but require practice and perhaps special classes to use them effectively. The software can be delicate, the boards sometimes incompatible. Database of Useful Shots We get 5 to 30 useful shots from each dive, of many different plants and animals. These disparate shots contain material for many different stories. We log all our footage in Personal Producer in order to generate the database. It takes a long time to log an entire dive trip. We catalog each shot with the start and stop time code for the clip, the name of the animal or plant, where we were, and some descriptive text. The software stores a freeze frame from the clip as a visual reminder. We use the date of the dive as the reel identifier. For example, the first dive on March 5, 1996, is 9603-05A. The second dive is 9603-05B. We write this identifier on the tape label and shelve the tapes in sequence by date. The work of logging the tapes pays off when we search the database. When we wanted to make a video about sea lions, we searched to database to find all the clips we'd ever taken with sea lions on shore and under water. We pulled the tapes, reviewed them, and used the best shots to tell the story. Rework for Quality We do extensive rework to improve the quality of the video. Maybe some genius can get it exactly right the first time, but we don't. Rework is a non-linear system's special strength. It's extremely easy to adjust the length of clips and to reorganize the flow of the video without waiting for the source tape to cue to the in-point. We assemble nature stories from videos taken over a long time, using many source tapes. With the linear system, we based some decisions on how many tape changes it takes to make the story. For example, we assembled several years' footage for two educational projects, one an hour long and the other 45 minutes. Each print-to-tape, supported as it was by the linear editing system, still took many hours. Because we didn’t have time code, each tape that goes into the source deck has to be rewound so the counter starts from zero. Then the software takes care of forwarding the tape to the in-point. Watching the tapes wear out sliding across the drums consumed many hours. Using the 30-minute VHS-C tapes has a great advantage over the 2-hour 8 mm tapes. The linear system requires many hours to make a finished product, too. The time goes to compile the video, not in cueing tapes. The compilation process is somewhat similar to rendering an animation. Even a short piece, say six or seven minutes, with minimal special effects, requires two hours to compile. Previews, which are less complete, are fine for most of the creative work. Previews don't require compilation, but don't show the effects, either. It's a tradeoff. A standard practice is to do as much work as possible with previews, or partly compiled pieces, then start the make-a-movie process when you don't need the computer for anything else. It's convenient to have more than one computer, dedicating one entirely to the compilation. Both the linear and non-linear systems lay out the clips as a timeline or storyboard. The term storyboard originally meant a planning device. The visual layout of the storyboard, with the graphic icons in place, is the first level of review. We can follow the developing story on the computer, rearranging the clips freely. After we do a print-to-tape (on the linear system), or a preview (on the non-linear system), we see a need to adjust the clips we've used so far. Then we change the storyboard in the computer and reprint in whole or in part. We finish with a master tape written back to digital video. We also make Windows Media files to place on our web page. Titles and Special Effects We transform a video signal, either from a source tape or directly from the camcorder, into a picture which we can enhance with other computer paint tools, and incorporate into the video. Keying superimposes graphics and titles over moving video. In the linear system, wipes and dissolves from one scene to the next were a simulated A-B roll. The last frame of the prior video segment is a frozen to use as a transition to the moving image of the next video segment. This is a simple, and reasonably effective, means for a transition between parts of the story. The non-linear system, as one would expect, has many more effects to apply. Many are for special purposes more suitable for rock videos than underwater videos. The pictures can be distorted, speeded up, slowed down, recolored, overlay each other, all kinds of fancy stuff to play with. Digital Audio Support We digitize the audio components, then position the sound files in the storyboard to associate with the video clips. We can control volume and fade up or down by controls in the storyboard. Our underwater videos to date don't feature much dialog, mostly voice-over and background music. The linear system has a drawback in that we still can't effectively use the hi-fi tracks without losing a video generation or else compromising the quality of the audio. The non-linear system allows us to use the hi-fi tracks because the finished video has the sound and picture completely integrated. We buy music on CD's from several libraries in the business of supplying music for commercial use, so we can use the music without owing royalties or violating copyrights. Background natural sound like waves splashing on shore or bird calls seems easy to record yourself. However, the noises of the wind in the microphone, traffic on the road and human voices interfere. We find we prefer to use sound effects CD's instead.

Favorite Sound Bytes We've used the camcorder to capture just the sound. Here is the sound of a gecko in our hotel room in Lovina, Bali, captured in November, 2000. We kept a journal of our trip there. Kid voices singing in Papua New Guinea. You can see our travel journal of our trip in 2000.