Computer Video Editing, from WOE to GO

Computer Video Editing, from WOE to GO!

It seemed a good idea and a good title when I offered to do this talk about twelve months ago.

Things have changed since then, however, and a lot of what I was going to talk about is now old hat. With the swing to computer editing and sorting out of most of the things causing “WOE”, the prospect of attending another demo on the topic is about as appealing as going to a word processing demonstration. What used to bring a “Gee whiz!!” response now fetches a “Ho hum”.

Getting Started

What is the advantage of non-linear computer editing?

- the previous reference to word processing gives you the clue. The way a word processing program allows you to cut and paste, to reorder paragraphs, to delete, copy, insert and do many other things impossible to do with a typewriter is similar to the way computer editing is superior to film editing or even computer controlled tape player/tape recorder linear editing. Both film and linear editing tend to limit you to editing decisions which are hard to revise and change.

What to buy?

– If you are not already computer literate be aware of the different levels of user friendliness;

· Easiest are the sole purpose systems like Casablanca, but they won’t do any word processing or internet work for you.

· Next easiest are the Apples with editing built in, but they don’t offer the range of software/hardware choices available for PC’s.

· PC’s can be the most frustrating and hardest to learn from scratch.

Who from?

– Unless you are a real computer wizard, buy from someone who will give good support because you are sure to need it.

When?

The conventional advice is to buy now rather than waiting for better gear later because even if you wait ‘til later what you then buy will soon be out of date anyway. However, be aware that major improvements are sometimes worth waiting for, such as when the advantages of DV were starting to be understood. A somewhat similar “plateau” event is happening at present with standardisation of OHCI compliant Firewire connections now being offered on some PC’s as standard equipment.

Early Woes

Setting it up

– Keep It Simple. It is tempting to use your computer for many tasks, but be aware that the more hardware facilities you add the more chance of conficts between them. Similarly for software; editing is so demanding on the computer that it can easily be affected by other programs allowed to run at the same time. The ideal solution is to have a computer reserved for editing, but most of us can’t justify that. A practical step is to make sure that you have at least one separate hard disk for editing.

Why doesn’t it work?

– For any one of a hundred different reasons. Software suppliers will blame the hardware and vice-versa. So all the more important to buy from a helpful retailer.

Who else can help?

– Learn to use the internet. Not only are there forums at which you can ask for advice, but many software programs now expect you to get their frequent updates from the net.

Getting used to bugs

If it’s the latest, it will have bugs! – programs have become so large and complicated that it is inevitable that there will be some errors in every new program. You hope that they will be minor and that free upgrades will fix them as they are discovered, but you might be so unlucky as to have a rare combination of bits and pieces and other programs arranged in your computer in an unusual way which the program designers did not realise might happen. Bad luck. Internet forums are full of stories from people who have found that the only way they could get their editing program to work was to remove bits of both hardware and software and reinstall things one at a time from scratch.

Error messages seldom mean what they say, eg;

“Page fault at XYZ1234 in vapront.exe” followed by dozens of meaningless numbers.

This might be true but is more likely to be from the computer’s indigestion because you have not optimized your computer, turned off all other programs, defragged your hard disk recently or (as I discovered after weeks of frustration) some faulty hardware (a faulty hard disk in my case).

PC’s try to intimidate you. For example, if the machine freezes and you can do nothing but switch off and start again, the machine won’t say “sorry”. It will blame you for whatever happened and tell you not to be so naughty as to turn off without going through the proper sequence. It will then go through a lengthy checking process unless you interrupt it.

The “GO” part

Sooner or later most of the woes are behind you and you start to enjoy the fun part.

I have found some of the free accessory programs on the internet particularly helpful. My demonstration of a simple editing situation makes use of some of these in the following steps

Close all running programs, using CTRL/ALT/DEL or the program ENDITALL (free download address on Computer Video website)

1. Capture a block containing several shots, using EZdv.

2. Auto-log the shots with Scenalyzer (free download from www.videox.net)

3. Print out data and thumbnails for the shots.

4. Strip a soundtrack from a CD with CDex (download from www.surf.to/cdex)

5. Look at the chosen soundtrack in Goldwave, cut it to length, maximise volume and note the points at which you want to cut to the music (trial download from www.goldwave.com)