What are the basics of Video Editing?

Introduction
In-Camera Editing
Shooting to Edit
Post-Production
Just How Difficult is Editing?
Editing is Really Just Copying...
Manual Editing
Edit Controllers
Edit Control
Real-Time Counter
Synchro-Edit
Accuracy
Time code
Generation Loss
Making Additional Tapes
Videotape Formats
Maximizing Quality
Color Correction, Video Processing, and Enhancement
Effects and More
Digital Video
Resources

Introduction

Video production, once the province of the privileged few, is now in the hands of everyone. In the U.S. alone, there were more than 25 million camcorders at the end of 1995 and over 3 million more are sold yearly. There were approximately 67 million camcorders worldwide (EIA estimates).

With all those camcorders, one might expect to see a lot of fine home video productions. Yet, most camcorder tapes stay on the shelf, unwatched because their quality and pace are not what their owners would like.

But things are changing. With the advent of new, easy to use video editing, processing, and titling equipment, it's possible to transform home videos into polished productions that rival professional productions.

This application note describes the basics of video editing, with or without a special edit controller.

The Basics (What is Editing?)

The term "editing" is often used in two slightly different ways. Sometimes it refers to the process of selecting and re-recording just the good footage, eliminating the bad. Sometimes the term is used for the whole post-production process, including titling, effects, etc.

In-Camera Editing

It is possible to shoot a production so that what ends up on the original tape is your finished production. This is called "in-camera" editing. While this sounds like a straightforward way to achieve quality results, in practice it is extremely difficult because you must shoot in the production order and each time something goes wrong, you need to carefully position the tape at the end of the previous scene. In-camera editing interferes with the spontaneity of the events you are taping. Changes after the fact are out of the question and unless you are very, very careful, the final result will probably contain several goofs.

Shooting to Edit

A more effective way to shoot events is to "shoot to edit" by filming as events unfold. When you shoot to edit, you never back the tape up -- you simply reshoot the scene, until you are happy with it. You leave bad scenes and mistakes on the tape, to be removed later, in the editing step.

When you shoot to edit, follow these hints from the pros, to make editing easier later:

It's a good idea to take notes. When you edit, your notes will tell you which scenes are good, who the players are, etc.
Think of yourself as a story teller. The best videos have a beginning, middle, and end. Make sure you shoot the scenes you will need to tell the story. For instance, if you're traveling, shoot some road signs or wide shots to set the stage, so viewers know where you are.
Leave some room around each scene. Start recording before the action starts and continue recording for a few seconds after the scene is complete. When you edit, this extra room will make it a lot easier to get just the good footage without accidentally picking up footage from neighboring scenes.
Avoid the use of camera fades (fade to white or fade to black). If you will be editing the footage later, it's best to add fades as you edit instead of using camera fades, which cannot be removed or changed later.
Some camcorders permit you to add titles as you shoot. While this is handy, it is often better to skip the titles when shooting and add them while editing instead. Titles recorded while you shoot are there forever and can't be changed. Separate titlers usually deliver more fonts and sizes and titles of much higher quality than those built into camcorders.
It is also a good idea to turn off the automatic time and date feature since, like camera titles, they are on the scene forever.

Post-Production

Once all the raw footage is "in the can," you can convert the scenes into a polished, professional production. This step is called "editing," or "post-production," or simply, "post." While the shoot is the visible part of the job, professionals typically spend twice as long (or more) editing as they did shooting! On a professional set, you will often hear the phrase, "We'll fix it in post."

Just How Difficult is Editing?

Before the advent of modern electronic editing devices, editing was a job best left to professionals or highly motivated amateurs. But today, simple editing can be done by just about everyone and with a little patience, even beginners can learn to make fairly elaborate productions, complete with titles, graphics, fades, wipes, and special effects. The best editing equipment will work with anyone's camcorder and VCR, minimizing the amount of new equipment you'll need.

Editing is Really Just Copying...

Unlike film, it is impractical to edit videotape by cutting and splicing. Videotapes are edited by copying selected scenes from the original tape to a new, blank tape. Titles, graphics, and special effects can be added as the scenes are copied.

Editing can be done manually, which has the advantage of requiring no additional equipment beyond the camcorder and a VCR, or automatically, which offers better results and greater speed, precision, and convenience.

Manual Editing

It is possible to edit videotapes manually, without the benefit of any editing equipment. To do this, you would connect a playback VCR to a recording VCR, view the tape, write down the location of each scene of interest, and then copy each scene to a blank tape, one by one.

Commonly called "crash" editing, this method works reasonably well for simple productions and doesn't require the purchase of additional equipment. However, placing scenes accurately every time is difficult and requires great skill. If you miss, you may have to redo many scenes. Sometimes the transitions between scenes jump and contain "snow." Crash editing also lacks special effects, titles, and graphics unless you purchase additional gear.

To do crash editing, simply connect the output of the camcorder to the input of the VCR using the separate AUDIO and VIDEO jacks and matching cables. Connect VIDEO and AUDIO OUT on the camcorder to the VIDEO and AUDIO IN jacks on the VCR. You will need to set the VCR input switch so that the VCR is recording the signal presented on the IN jacks, rather than recording a TV channel. The VCR's manual may describe how to do that, probably in a section that discusses copying tapes.

Edit Controllers

Professionals also edit by copying select scenes from a player to a recorder, but with an additional wrinkle: They use an edit controller between the two machines. It controls the recording process so the scenes are neatly and crisply recorded on the final tape, in the correct order, without jumps or snow between scenes. It also facilitates revisions so that a simple change doesn't require that the entire production be re-made.

Edit controllers are now available to the home market and they are surprisingly inexpensive and amazingly sophisticated. They range in price from $200 to $1000, typically. Watch out for units that are called "editors" but really just fade the video while you control the decks -- a true editor controls the player, the recorder, or both.

To use an edit controller, you use it to play the original tape, moving the tape to find all the good scenes. You "mark" each scene by pressing a button at the scene's start point and another button at the scene's end. When you have marked all the good scenes, you put a blank tape in the recorder, start recording and pause the recorder. You press a button on the edit controller and it takes over. It finds and plays each scene on the original tape. When the scene arrives, it triggers the recorder to leave pause and begin recording. When the scene ends, it pauses the recorder and causes the player to find the next scene. This process continues until all the good scenes have been copied and the bad scenes have been left behind.

An edit controller will adapt to your equipment, making the necessary adjustments depending on the editing features you have. For instance, if you have a basic camcorder, you will be able to edit just one scene at a time. Advanced editing features, such as edit control and timecode (described below) make editing more automatic and faster, if the edit controller supports them.

Edit Control

Some camcorders have a feature called "edit control." This is a very useful feature for automatic editing. It allows the edit controller to control the camcorder (or play-VCR) and to determine the position of the tape (the tape counter number). That information flows between the controller and he camcorder via a wired connection. Two edit control methods are most common in consumer gear: Control-L, or LANC, is common in 8-mm and Hi8 camcorders and VCRs, especially those from Sony and Canon. Panasonic 5-pin edit control, also called Control-M, is used in a few high-end Panasonic VCRs and camcorders.

Control-S, provided on a few units, is a simpler control method and is not adequate for video editing.

Real-Time Counter

VCRs and camcorders display tape position using either hours:minutes:seconds (e.g. 1:13:45) or an arbitrary number (such as 3997). A display that shows the actual time is called a "real-time counter" display. Edit controllers that use an edit control connection often require that the play VCR or camcorder also have a real-time counter.

Synchro-Edit

A few VCRs and camcorders are equipped with limited built-in editing capabilities based on "synchro-edit," a simple control wire used directly from the player to the recorder. Desired scenes are marked using the player. The player finds and plays those scenes, triggering the recorder to record them.

Synchro-edit is found on certain models and is generally not compatible between manufacturers -- the player and recorder must be designed to work together. Most synchro-edit systems are limited in the number of scenes they can hold and accuracy can be limited. The advantage of synchro-edit is that it is simple and, if your camcorder and VCR are equipped with the feature, requires no additional equipment.

Accuracy

Professional equipment is "frame-accurate," meaning that edits are accurate to the exact video frame (there are 30 frames per second). Pros can even cut single frames together. True frame accuracy and single frame editing are not practical on ANY home, or even semi-pro, system, regardless of what you may be told, because the cheapest VCR that can record a single frame or achieve absolute frame accuracy costs several thousand dollars.

But you can come pretty close to frame accuracy at home. The precision of a home system depends on the camcorder and VCR, as well as on the edit controller. With some equipment, consistent accuracy within 2-3 frames is quite achievable. Most equipment can easily be accurate to within a second or two and with care, you can likely see accuracy to within a few tenths of a second.

In general, you should design your productions with a somewhat more relaxed pace than you see on some of the lightning-quick music videos or commercials. Even if your equipment can do precision edits, keep in mind that they take a lot more care and a lot more time.

Time code

Broadcasters know that whatever they shoot will be edited. With this advance knowledge, they use recorders that write a special, invisible "time code" on the tape. It digitally numbers every video frame. Although you can't see timecode, the editing equipment in the studio can and the editing staff uses it to accurately pinpoint the start and end of each scene, and to specify the order the scenes will have in the final production.

Until recently, manufacturers of amateur video equipment felt there was no need to put this capability in their equipment. Top-end camcorders are now beginning to feature timecode and the better edit controllers can use it to make productions extremely accurate. Most popular are Sony's RC timecode and SMPTE-VITC. Timecode is much more common in European and Japanese models, apparently because the manufacturers feel foreign video consumers are more sophisticated.

Generation Loss

The post-production step involves re-recording the original tape. Sometimes, you may want to further modify the resulting tape, recording it once more. A "second-generation" tape is a copy of the original. "Third-generation" is a copy of a second-generation tape.

Each time you copy a tape, some quality is lost. Enhancers can, in some cases, reduce the loss slightly, but it is best to keep copying to a minimum. Second-generation tapes using good home equipment is quite acceptable but third-generation is marginal. The best editing equipment produces second-generation results.

Making Additional Tapes

Once you have made the perfect final production, you may want to make another for someone else. The obvious way to do this is to copy the final production but the resulting copy will be of poorer quality than the original because it will be at best a copy of a copy.

Automatic edit controllers offer an advantage: After the final production is complete, the automatic assembly process can be immediately repeated, with just the press of a button. The second tape is exactly the same as the first, meaning that the tape you send to Grandma is just as good as the one you keep for yourself.

Special hint for pros: Always give your customer two copies of the final production. Tell the customer that they can keep the second one for a nominal fee (say half or a third of what the first one cost) and if they decide not to, they can simply return it to you. The customer will invariably decide to give the second copy to someone or find another use for it, and you have increased your sale. This is an age-old technique from professional photographers, who routinely would have an extra "test print" they would offer to the customer.

If you need to make more than a few copies, have the tapes mass copied by a professional duplication house. Their equipment is considerably better than anything you can buy at home and will deliver better copies. If quality is of paramount importance to you, professional duplication is worth considering even if you need only one or a few copies.

Videotape Formats

All tape formats can be edited and it is possible to edit between formats. You can even mix formats. For example, you could combine scenes from a VHS-C tape with scenes from a Hi8 tape, all edited to a new VHS tape.

Maximizing Quality

Here are some hints for getting the best possible video quality.

Minimize the number of generations, as described previously.
Use higher speeds anytime you record (SP in VHS, S-VHS, 8-mm, and Hi8 VCRs and camcorders). This is as important when you record the original as it is when you make the edited copy.
Use high-resolution recording formats (Hi8 and Super VHS, as opposed to 8-mm and VHS) whenever possible.
Take tremendous care while shooting. Most important is lots of light. Camcorders are widely promoted based on their low-light capabilities but recognize that video quality suffers markedly as the light level falls. Camera settings, such as white balance and exposure controls, are also very important. Although a video processor or color corrector can solve some problems during editing, high quality original tapes are always the fastest and most reliable way to achieve excellent results.
Use the best possible camcorder. More money really does buy a better image. The best consumer camcorders ($1000-2000) are very good and are considerably better than average home units. Professional, industrial, and semi-professional units are much better still, as you might expect from their price tags ($5000 and up -- way up). The new digital video cassette camcorders (DVC) are a quantum leap in quality.
Use a good quality recorder. The most important feature on the recorder is "flying-erase heads." Flying-erase heads allow clean transitions between scenes, free of snow, picture jitters, and other distracting image disruptions.

Color Correction, Video Processing, and Enhancement

It is possible to electronically alter the video signal as you record it on the new tape using color correctors and video processors. These tools can rescue marginal tapes or they can be used to add wild and crazy effects to the video.

A color corrector alters the overall color of the video. It can boost the color in washed-our video, reduce overly bright colors, and repair incorrect white balance. It can also change the the mood of a scene and can create special effects. The best color correctors have separate controls for each of the three primary television colors (red, green, and blue). They should also offer full range controls for dramatic effects. For example, you could remove all the color from the picture and add a sepia (brownish) tint to make the scene look like an old fashioned photo; or shift everything to blue and darken to simulate night time.

A video processor can brighten or darken the video and change its contrast.

A good enhancer will do two things: increase sharpness or reduce the grainy look created by video noise. Enhancers will generally do little to improve video that's already very good and they can't do much for really poor quality video. But they can improve video that's somewhere in the middle, such as copies of videotapes.

Effects and More

You can add a stunning array of video effects as you edit, ranging from simple colorization, to selective colorizing, posterization, mosaic, and more. Video mixers ($1200 and up) can combine the video from two sources (two VCRs, for instance) so you can dissolve or wipe from one picture to another, inset one picture in another, etc. High-end effects units can do much of what you see on television.

Digital Video

Look for digital video technology in the better units. These units translate the video signal into digital numbers. Computer-type circuits make the magic happen and the result is translated back into video so that it can be recorded. Digital units can offer better quality and more features for the price, combined with greater reliability. They also don't change performance over temperature and time.