Linear video editing
Linear video editing is a
For the most part, video editing software has replaced linear editing. In the past, film editing was done in a linear fashion, where film reels were literally cut into long strips divided by takes and scenes and then glued or taped back together to create a logical sequence of film. Linear video editing is more time-consuming, and highly specialized, and tedious work. Still, it is relevant today because of these reasons:
- The method is simple and inexpensive.
- Mandatory for some jobs: for example, if only two sections of video clips are to be joined together in sequence, it is often the quickest and easiest way.
- If video editors learn linear editing skills, it increases their knowledge as well as their versatility. According to many professional editors who learn linear editing skills first, they tend to become proficient all-round editors.[4]
Until the advent of computer-based
History
The primary motivation for the development of video tape was as a short- or long-term archival medium. Only after a series of technical advances spanning decades did video tape editing finally become a viable production tool, up to par with film editing.
Early technology
The first widely accepted video tape in the United States was two-inch quadruplex videotape, which traveled at 15 inches per second. To gain enough head-to-tape speed, four video recording and playback heads were spun on a head wheel across most of the two-inch width of the tape. (Audio and synchronization tracks were recorded along the sides of the tape with stationary heads.) This system was known as "quad" (for "quadruplex") recording.
The resulting video tracks were slightly less than a ninety-degree angle (considering the vector addition of high-speed spinning heads tracing across the 15-inches-per-second forward motion of the tape).
Originally, video was edited by visualizing the recorded track with
The disadvantages of physically editing tapes were many. Some broadcasters[
In the United States, the 1961-62 Ernie Kovacs ABC specials and Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In were the only TV shows to make extensive use of splice editing of videotape.
Introduction of computerized systems
A system for editing Quad tape "by hand" was developed in the 1960s. It was really just a means of synchronizing the playback of two machines so that the signal of the new shot could be "punched in" with a reasonable chance at success. One problem with this and early computer-controlled systems was that the audio track was prone to suffer artifacts (i.e., a short buzzing sound) because the video of the newly recorded shot would record into the side of the audio track. A commercial solution known as "Buzz Off" was used to minimize this effect.
For more than a decade, computer-controlled Quad editing systems were the standard post-production tool for television. Quad tape involved expensive hardware, time-consuming setup, relatively long rollback times for each edit and showed misalignment as disagreeable "banding" in the video. However, it should be mentioned that Quad tape has a better bandwidth than any smaller-format analog tape, and properly handled, it could produce a picture indistinguishable from that of a live camera.
Further advancement in technology
When helical scan video recorders became the standard, it was no longer possible to physically cut and splice the tape. At this point, video editing became a process of using two video tape machines, playing back the source tape (or "raw footage") from one machine, and copying just the portions desired onto a second tape (the "edit master").
The bulk of linear editing is done simply, with two machines and an edit controller device to control them. Many video tape machines are capable of controlling a second machine, eliminating the need for an external editing control device.
This process is "linear", rather than non-linear editing, as the nature of the tape-to-tape copying requires that all shots be laid out in the final edited order. Once a shot is on tape, nothing can be placed ahead of it without overwriting whatever is already there. (Such a replacement is sometimes called an "insert edit".) If absolutely necessary, material can be
One drawback of early video editing techniques was that it was impractical to produce a rough cut for presentation to an executive producer. Since Executive Producers are never familiar enough with the material to be able to visualize the finished product from an inspection of an edit decision list (EDL), they were deprived of the opportunity to voice their opinions at a time when those opinions could be easily acted upon. Thus, particularly in documentary television, video was resisted for quite a long time.
Peak usage
Video editing reached its full potential in the late 1970s when computer-controlled minicomputer edit controllers along with
Jack Calaway of Calaway Engineering was the first to produce a lower-cost, PC-based, "CMX-style" linear editing system, which greatly expanded the use of linear editing systems throughout the post-production industry. Following suit, other companies, including EMC and Strassner Editing Systems, came out with equally useful competing editing products.
Current usage
While computer-based non-linear
See also
References
- ^ PC Magazine; Encyclopedia,"Definition of:linear video editing" accessed July 8, 2014
- ^ Bheel, Shankarlal. Shankar.
- ^ University of Florida, "Video editing Linear editing system Editing technique" Archived 2014-07-14 at the Wayback Machine accessed July 8, 2014
- ^ "Linear vs Non Linear Editing". www.mediacollege.com. Retrieved 2018-04-27.
- ^ "Evolution". www.vtoldboys.com.