Video Editing Guide
Building a desktop video system
It looks so easy. Shoot some footage on a camcorder, plug it into a PC and
capture the footage, then simply drag-and-drop your way to producing a
Sundance or Oscar winning masterpiece.
A well constructed video editing system can save you frustration further down the track.
Thanks to faster PCs, better standards (such as IEEE 1394/FireWire), exceptional
performance improvements in capture cards and editing software, digital video
has gone mainstream.
To a great extent, the digital video format is driving the video-editing boom.
Boasting 720 x 576-pixel resolution, 24-bit colour, full-motion interlaced video,
and 12-bit or 16-bit stereo audio, DV’s video quality is superior to analog
formats; and you can transfer video directly to the hard drive.
SETTING UP A DESKTOP VIDEO SYSTEM
The first criteria in setting up a DV desktop video system
is ensuring you have the right realtime card and
software. Of course, the best choice here is a Pinnacle
Systems card and software, as it will ensure the four
most important components for successful video creation
- Reliability, Affordability, Creativity and Performance. In
Storage solutions now terms of setting up a PC system, making sure you have
include
the increasingly affordable the right components, configured in the optimum way
DVD recording option. will ensure you can spend your time being a creative
editor, rather than being one who spends their time
correcting time-wasting, niggling system errors.
At a fundamental level making video and computers ‘talk’ to each other is a tricky
business. Video is interlaced while computer displays are non-interlaced. Video
operates in a mind bogglingly complicated variation of YUV while computers use
RGB, video runs at different frequencies than most computer clocks and displays.
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VIDEO BANDWIDTH AND STORAGE
The uncompressed television signal broadcast
from your local TV stations and delivered to a
conventional TV is actually streaming data at a
rate of around 30MB per second, which translates
to 1.8GB per minute or a frightening 108GB per
hour. If you simply wanted to dissolve between
two of these uncompressed video streams, double Video editors working on a single PC
system may want to consider an
the numbers. Shocked? Well, if you move into the external firewire drive for backup.
rarefied atmosphere of a HDTV-quality signal, you
start talking about data rates of a staggering 6GB
per second!
Of course, with these data rates and the kind of storage needed to accommodate
the huge amount of information it’s not long before you move from gigabytes to
terabytes of space. Not to mention the read/write rate needed by hard drives
used to store the video.
DV camcorders changed the whole desktop video landscape when they arrived
simply by compressing video as it is recorded to tape. DV reduces the original
uncompressed video stream by a factor of five (we say that video is compressed
at a rate of 5:1).
In real terms, this means that video transferred to the PC from a camcorder has
been reduced to a rate of 6MB per second or 360MB per minute. This is a much
more manageable data rate for a conventional hard drive to manage.
DV footage can be further compressed, if necessary, using a good quality capture
card in the computer. A capture card like Pinnacle Systems’ Pro-ONE or DV500
will not only allow DV or analog video to be captured to the computer’s hard
drive, it can also compress incoming video using either MPEG-2 (DVD quality) or
MPEG-1 (VCD quality) compression systems. All these elements influence the
decisions you make about the PC system you need for the editing your DV
footage. It’s very important to match you editing and output expectations to the
PC configuration, the capture card and the software you use.
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CONFIGURING A KICK ASS DESKTOP VIDEO SYSTEM
MOTHERBOARDS
The most stable motherboard for a computer
designed for desktop video is going to come
from Intel. A separate graphics controller from
companies such as nVidia, ATI or GeForce, with
at least 64MB of on-board RAM, is preferable to
a system where the graphics card is actually on
Before you make any decision on your the motherboard.
system configuration, make sure your
motherboard choice supports all your
relevant peripherals and cards. Another important item when choosing a
motherboard is that it has lots of PCI ‘slots’.
This is where additional cards can be added to
the system to expand what your computer can
do.
Generally it’s preferable to insert a capture card in
the first or second slot after the AGP slot, and don’t
function well on the other side of the PCI bridge.
Note that the new Pinnacle Edition PRO comes with a
powerful 2D/3D AGP graphic card, so you don't have
to buy one or to worry about compatibility issues.
A card like the Pinnacle Liquid
Edition PRO is perfect for users
wanting realtime performance.
PROCESSORS AND HYPER THREADING
As far as processors go the minimum speed is
about 1.8 Ghz. Pinnacle products support both
Intel® and AMD® processors. If you’re building a
new system from scratch then you should probably
be thinking about a 2.6GHz or better CPU.
Overclocking is not recommended, since many
When working within a Studio capture cards derive their timing from the CPU
environment, offline storage such as and, unlike most software applications, video is not
RAID my be an ideal soution.
flexible about this. At the time of writing Intel has
released its latest CPU - the Intel Pentium® 4
processor running at 3.06 GHz with Hyper-
Threading® (HT) Technology.
HT Technology enables a new category of high-performance desktop video
computer that can work quickly among several computing applications at the same
time, or provide extra performance for individual software programs that are
multithreaded. HT Technology can boost a PC’s performance by up to 25 percent.
HT Technology brings increased performance to desktop video editors in using
software in a multitasking environment.
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Software applications like Liquid
Edition that have been written to use
multiple pieces of code called
“threads”, view the Pentium 4
processor as if it were dual Firewire is important, yet many video editors also want
processors. HT Technology allows S-Video, composite video and Stereo Connections.
the processor to work on two
separate threads at the same time
rather than one at a time. This is
perfect for most video editing and
video effects applications.
It means that editors can, for example, be working on an animation or title in the
foreground while a complex video effect can be rendered in the background. In
comparative tests, performing divergent tasks such as mixing music and editing
video at the same time is faster with HT Technology vs. a 3.06 GHz Pentium 4
processor-based system without HT Technology.
HARD DRIVES
Aside from the capture card, probably the most important
component of a desktop video system is the hard drive.
Today most video editors opt for ATA hard drives that are
designated ‘AV’. The most important thing to ensure with
an editing system is that there are at least two hard
drives. The primary drive, where the operating system and
the software applications are stored, should never ever be
used for capturing video. A second drive, usually labelled a
Two hard drives, one for
the application and one ‘Video Drive’ by editors, is absolutely essential in a
for video capture is ideal desktop video system. This is where the captured video
and ensures that the drive should be stored. This can be an internal drive, but many
supports transfer rates
of at least 7200 RPM. editors are now opting for external FireWire drive systems.
These are available pre-configured in a housing, or the
housings can be purchased separately and the hard drive
of your choice can be inserted.
These external FireWire systems work well, firstly because they are portable, and
secondly, because as you begin to run out of space, you can daisy chain another
drive (up to 64 drives can be connected this way) to the system.
The critical aspect of a hard drive is that it is fast enough to handle the data flow.
As soon as it can not handle the data rate it will start to drop frames, resulting in
jerky, unwatchable footage. Pinnacle Systems suggests that when choosing a
hard drive for video:
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• Get the biggest drive(s) you can afford. You’ll quickly run out of storage space
when dealing with video - even with a lot of video compression.
• Use drives that can sustain at least 10MB/s for editing multiple streams. But if
you’re just doing single-stream capture you can get away with half that. Pinnacle
recommends a drive that can sustain 10MB/s and if you plan on using a DMA
capable IDE hard disk (e.g. IDE-UDMA 100 or IDEUDMA 66) for your video, you
should install a DMA busmaster driver.
If you have done all these things and still end up dropping frames then a RAID
configuration may be the solution. If you’re serious about video capture and
intend to do a lot of it then consider buying a dedicated RAID enclosure. RAID is a
way to achieve transfer rates approaching the bus maximums.
MEMORY
Memory is a good thing when doing video capture and Pinnacle recommends at
least 256MB. Speed and type of RAM aren’t that critical so if someone tries to
convince you that you need a dual Pentium Xeon with scads of RDRAM you should
probably look for another dealer.
AUDIO
Most of Pinnacle’s capture cards don’t need a separate audio capture card
because DV-based systems can capture both the video and audio from the same
stream over [Link] (IEEE 1394) so removing audio cards can actually be a good
thing if all your editing is to be DV.
MONITORS
A good single monitor or dual monitor setup is essential when working with video.
CRT monitors are fine but 19-inch should be the minimum size. With editing you
will have loads of menus, palettes and timelines all over the screen, so the more
screen real estate you have the less cramped your editing will be. Many serious
editors are now using LCD screens. It’s recommended to have TFT screens
otherwise you may find that the colours can shift drastically depending on your
viewing angle.
Some editors say LCD colour reproduction isn’t as good as a CRT. Those in the
LCD camp say that their lack of flicker makes them ideal for a fatigue-free
working environment, when long edit jobs are the norm. That debate remains
subjective and it’s really you, the editor, who needs to decide.
The other essential is a TV monitor. When it comes to colour balance and general
effects and filters, it is important to be able to view your footage exactly the way
it will look on the viewer’s TV, particularly when you want to deliver video to DVD
compatibly formats.
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The language of movie making
Have you ever wondered what it is that makes the difference between an average
movie and a great movie? Do you look at other people’s home videos and wonder
what they have done to make theirs look so good compared to your own
offerings? It’s quite simple really. While there are no clear-cut rules, there are
two principles that should be strictly adhered to when creating movies. Firstly,
there are a set of basic guidelines that should be followed implicitly, and
secondly, if the situation requires, throw all these guidelines out the window!
THE BASICS
In the world of movie making, there is lots of innuendo and rumour about how
certain famous effects or shots were created. For example, despite all of the best
technology and lighting talent in the world behind him, Stanley Kubrick allegedly
discovered by accident that the best lighting source for certain scenes in Dr.
Strangelove were candles.
A famous wildlife shot is often shown of a charging lion where the cameraman
was given plaudits from all corners of the world for his artistry in framing, depth
of field, focusing and so on. In truth, he was running as fast as he could in the
opposite direction and just happened to flick the record button on the camcorder
on the way through!
The point is that, although there will always be exceptions to established filming
guidelines, the following are the basics to guide. It is always wise to shoot your
scenes using the basics before starting to bend the rules.
WHAT ARE YOU TRYING TO SAY
One irrefutable thing about video is that a movie should tell a story. It doesn’t
matter whether it is a documentary, a training film, a record of events such as a
news or current affairs item or the humble home movie of the last holiday. If the
end result doesn’t tell a cohesive story, the simple fact is that it will not
successfully achieve its purpose to inform or entertain.
Systems and methodologies have been tried and perfected throughout the last
100 years or so of movie making to best reach this end goal, and these are all
based around the fact that, before you start capturing the very first second of
tape, you need to be able to know what it is you are trying to achieve and say.
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STORYBOARDING
One of the easiest and best ways to plan your next
‘blockbuster’ is by using a storyboard. At its simplest,
this consists of a sheet of paper with rough drawings
showing representations in the right order of the scenes
that will make up the whole shoot. There is no need to be
a Leonardo Da Vinci to sketch storyboard concepts. As
long as the frames convey to you (and any others
involved) a feel for what the flow of the movie is to be
like.
For example, a simple storyboard for a day at the beach might consist of:
• Packing the car
• Leaving home
• Arriving at the beach
• Setting up an awning or tent
• First in the water
• Having lunch
Once these individual elements are agreed upon, the next task would be to
attempt to capture all of these shots during the course of the trip. Ideally a
number of ‘takes’ of each event would be taken so that in the final editing stages
(more on this later) you have a choice of shots from which to choose as there will
be undoubtedly some better than others.
During the course of the shoot, add scenes that may be useful – you might have
a killer shot of your brother being wiped out on a wave, for example. However,
the idea should be to stick to the basic concept you have already sketched-out,
without too much detour.
It is also possible to include sub stories to add more depth, interest, description
or excitement to a scene. An example of this would be filming the erection of an
awning or tent, it collapses with someone inside, only to have someone perform a
mock rescue.
SCRIPTING
While the majority of movies that you make for home use will not need to go as
far as having a script, in the commercial world this is almost a necessity. From
training videos to television commercials and interviews to sitcoms, NEVER rely
on your talent (or yourself) to “wing it” on-the-fly. Two things are guaranteed to
happen; one it will take much more time to complete than is needed, and two; it
will look as it has been created without too much forethought. A script need not
be a fully prepared word for word document that all parties have to follow. In an
interview situation for example, this is not recommended at all, as the interview
will sound stilted and wooden - yes! As if it had been scripted, in fact!
And just as the best candid photograph is one where the subject probably didn’t
know it was taken, so you need to allow some latitude in dialogue and delivery so
that a person can express their real self into the part they are playing. How many
times have you heard the very best actors stating that they do their best work
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when “they are just being themselves” or “it seemed like the part was written just
for me”.
Another good tip is not to force someone into a way of doing or saying something
just because you want it so. In short, if you use scripts, allow flexibility.
PREPARATION
Of course, once you have created a storyboard, have arrived at the location to
record your movie, and all your talent and props etc. are in place, you can leap
right in and start recording; Yes? Well, no!
There is one more thing that needs to be addressed before starting - making sure
you have all the equipment you need and that it works properly and reliably.
MAKING SURE YOUR GEAR IS READY
Batteries
For even the simplest shoot, make sure that you have
charged all your batteries the day (or night) before and
test them. Even the very best of batteries can loose their
charge over time and may as well be thrown out and
replaced. If you are serious about your filming, it’s
highly recommended you invest in a secondary battery
and both an external charger (many batteries need to be
on the camcorder to be charged) and a car cigarette It happens to even the most
lighter charger. seasoned professionals.
Discovering the only battery
they have with them is flat, or
one they have just changed is
also flat.
Lighting
Lighting is a complete art and science to itself that could take up a whole book
(and has many times). So to keep it brief and simple, in low light situations, try
not to rely on the internal electronics of the camcorder to compensate. The end
result will be passable at best and pretty ugly at worst. If you intend doing a lot
of low light shooting, splurge out and get a proper camcorder mounted light
designed for the task as they are not that expensive and the results will be well
worth it.
Microphones
A respected producer was once asked what is the most important component of a
movie - the audio or the video. His reply may surprise many. It was the audio!
He suggested turning on the 6pm television news, turning the sound off and then
try and explain what is going on in the world. The importance of audio in your
movies cannot be over stated. Because of this, do not scrimp on the quality of the
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equipment to gather sound - especially in the case of dialog. DO NOT use the
built-in camcorder microphone! The best way is to get hold of some radio mikes,
or at least, a lapel mike with an extra long cable back to the camcorder (Some
electronics or video stores sell a relatively inexpensive one for around $80). There
are many ways to capture audio, but in any serious shooting, using a camcorder’s
built-in microphone is an absolute no-no.
Tapes
From experience, matching a tape brand to the camcorder
brand wherever possible is a smart move (such as Sony to
Sony, Panasonic to Panasonic and so on).Also a wise move is
not to mix tape brands as they have different lubricant
compounds and they can react and gum up the workings of
the tape mechanism. Finally, try not to use any single DV
tape more than four times if at all possible, as they do suffer
from wear and may develop tape ‘dropout’ where frames are
lost or distorted.
Always Fast Forward and Rewind any tape right through before shooting and
again, if possible, ‘stripe’ or ‘Video Black’ all new tapes before using. (Striping or
Video Black means placing the unrecorded tape in the camcorder and running the
camcorder in record mode with the lens cap on to add the timecode to the tape in
a continuous format. Without getting too technical, it means the tape will be more
reliable). Also, keep the tape heads clean with a cleaning tape run for no more
than 10 seconds every so often!
Tripod
You tripod is your friend. Repeat this after me three times! It doesn’t matter how
steady you think your hand is or how marvellous the blurb says the anti-shake
electronics in your camcorder is, you can NEVER have a substitute for a good
tripod. And for video, not just any tripod either. Under most conditions, a
standard 35 mm still camcorder tripod will not do as any movement of the head
during a pan or tilt will tend to be jerky. For video you need what is known as a
fluid head tripod - more expensive certainly, but well worth it in the long run.
FRAMING
Framing is simply the art of getting the subject matter inside a frame at a
position that is pleasing to the eye. Beginners to shooting video are often amazed
to discover that having your major subject in the exact middle of a frame is not
the best position! To define framing, a system called the Rule of Thirds has been
defined (and used for years).
RULE OF THIRDS
The Rule of Thirds divides the viewable screen into thirds, as the name suggests.
According to the Rule of Thirds, the best place to position your subject in the
frame is along the imaginary lines at any of the four points where the two sets of
lines cross as these are the most visually pleasing to the viewer.
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CUT-AWAYS
Usually a shot of something not covered in an establishing shot, but relevant to
the action in the scene. A cut-away is often used to imply a connection between
two otherwise unrelated sequences. It is best to shoot cut-aways without
dialogue as it usually needs to work with sound from another shot it is cutting
between. Cut-aways are the video editor’s friend so it is good practice to shoot
some cut-aways for ‘safety’. An example of a cut-away is suddenly cutting to an
image of a slamming door, or perhaps a lightning flash.
LEAD ROOM
When looking at an image of a person it’s more visually appealing if there’s
empty space between the subject’s face and the edge of the frame. This ‘lead
room’ concept also applies to objects. For example, if shooting a car, or anything
with a definable front and back, make sure its ‘front-end’ is not pushed tight
against the edge of the frame. Leaving space in front of a moving person or
object gives them/it a visual destination.
CROSSING THE LINE
This is perhaps the most important ‘rule’ in movie making, yet one of the hardest
to understand. In video we create an imaginary line between subjects and it is
important to keep the camcorder on the same side of that line at all times. A hard
cut from one side of the line to the other creates a visual flaw known as ‘crossing
the line’. There are visual tools that can be used to cross the line. For example, a
tracking shot to physically cross the line takes the audience with the scene; a cut-
away to other action in the scene will also cover crossing the line.
ANGLE OF VIEW
The position of the camcorder relative to its subject is also an important
compositional element. This is called the point-of-view (POV) and it makes a
definite impression on the viewer. If the camcorder POV is below the subject’s
eye line the audience will view the subject as superior and powerful. If the
camcorder’s POV is higher than the subject’s eye line, the audience will tend to
view the subject as inferior and helpless. To maintain an ‘emotionally neutral’
relationship between your audience and the subject there needs to be a neutral
POV. This is created by shooting eye-to-eye.
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ZOOMING
Continually zooming in and out is a no-no. Avoid it at all costs and, even better,
don’t use it at all. And NEVER use the digital zoom built into modern camcorders
the results are downright ugly. If you do need to show something you think needs
a zoom, consider taking a medium shot instead. Stop the camcorder, move close
to the subject and then take a close up.
Alternatively, you can start with a close up shot that is out of focus and slowly
bring the subject matter into focus.
While using the auto-focus on modern camcorders is appealing to many, in reality
it is the lazy way out, and in certain circumstances such as low light, not a good
idea at all as the camcorder is constantly trying to work out exactly what it should
be focusing on! The end result is an image that is constantly in and out of focus,
not a good look. Instead, get to understand your camcorder’s capabilities in all
areas, not just focusing, you will be amazed at the extra amount of creative
control it will give you in the long run.
TAKING NOTES
Finally, take copious notes of what you are shooting whenever possible as this
will aid you when it comes to later selecting shots. Many pro’s have a specific
method of doing this, with columns in notepads for time code start and end of
shots, environmental conditions, type of lighting, special notes and a description
of the scene including take numbers and even the camcorder used if there is
more than one camcorder on the set.
SHOT COMPOSITION
When shooting a close-up of the face, the eyes are the centre of attention. Try to
compose your shot so they’re one-third of the way down the frame. When
shooting two people, compose the shot so that one is one-third into the frame
from the left and the other is one-third in from the right. Always allow a little
space between your subject’s head and the top of the frame.
This is called ‘head room’. When recording a moving subject, always allow some
extra space in front of the subject as it moves forward. This is called ‘lead room’.
Continuity is simply keeping everything you shoot consistent (and in time order).
Entire websites and out-take videos are dedicated to continuity slips, such as
clocks showing huge discrepancies in time between scenes that are only seconds
apart, or registration plates on cars that suddenly change.
A great example of continuity gone mad (on purpose, of course) is the television
show with Glen Robbins as Russell Coight from the Working Dog Company.
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TYPES OF SHOTS
Okay, now that we have a storyboard to follow, all the equipment has been
checked and we are ‘on location’, we can start shooting. But how? What are the
best ways to shoot? In professional movie making, camera shots are usually
described in terms of how large or small the subject is in the frame. In simplistic
terms, there are three types of shots the Wide Shot, the Medium Shot and the
Close Up. There are no rules as to when a close-up gets far enough away to
become a Medium Shot and when a Mid Shot becomes a wide shot. As with most
aspects of video, the rules are there to guide, not restrict.
WIDE SHOT (WS)
The Wide shot, also called an establishment shot, is used to show the audience
the ‘big picture’ and establish where they are, the subject matter and its
relationship with the surrounding area. You’ll notice that just about every
Hollywood movie starts with a wide shot. Think of the opening seconds of any
Star Wars episode for example (and you really cannot get much wider than that!)
During later sections of the movie, a wide shot is used to slow down the pace of a
movie and let the audience catch a ‘visual breath’.
MEDIUM SHOT (MS)
The most common use of a medium shot is to film a person or people. Usually
taken from the waist up, the medium shot is also ideal for capturing two people
side-by-side in a frame.
CLOSE-UP (CU)
A close-up shot is a very powerful movie making tool. Filling the screen with your
subject tends to be visually intense and emotional. It can tell the audience a
great deal about the subject because it is filled with detail. When shooting a close
up of a person most movie makers concentrate on the eyes and mouth so it is
usual to frame-out the top of the head.
CONCLUSION
You might now be thinking that there is more to moviemaking than meets the
eye and you would be right. But as we said at the start, there is a way of turning
a so-so movie into a great one. It doesn’t matter whether it is Spielberg special
with a million dollar budget or your cousin’s wedding, application of these basics
will make an incredible difference to a movie.
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