Video Editor
A film editor is a person who practices film editing by assembling separate takes into a coherent film. This is not a simple matter of tacking the scene of the man walking up to the front door to the scene of the man inside the house. In making a film the editors play a dynamic and creative role.
Typically, the editor follows the screenplay as the guide for establishing the structure of the story and then uses his/her talents to assemble the various shots and takes for greater, clearer artistic effect. There are several editing stages. The film editor often starts work while shooting is still in progress, and, in the first stage of editing he or she will work alone to create an "editor's cut" of the film. It's often many times longer than the final film will be. When time permits, the editor colloborates with the person whom the industry regards as the real artist of the movie, the director, who gives "notes" on the editors cut. The editor and director will also have seen and discussed "dailies" (raw footage shot each day) together as shooting progresses. The editor continues to refine the cut while shooting continues. (more)
Process of video editing
The term video editing can has two meanings, the non-linear editing system, where computers are used to arrange the footage and the linear video editing system, where footage is copied directly from one videotape to another.
Video editing refers to taking various clips or segments of video and "cutting" them together to form a cohesive and concise program. Cutting comes from the movie industry because traditional movie film is actually cut with a razor and spliced together.
Prior to the 90's video editing was done in linear style which consisted of using multiple decks to piece together a program. One or more play decks would run the original footage and an editor would use a video controller or mixing console to play specific parts out to a master deck that recorded the final program including titles and music (which were added in during the process).
Non-linear editing is done using computers. Footage is played into a computer system where it is stored on the hard drive as video files. Editing software, such as those from Avid, Apple or Adobe, then allows the editor to easily manipulate the captured footage. Clips are arranged on a timeline, music tracks and titles are added, effects can be created, and the finished program is "rendered" into a finished video that can be distributed in a variety of ways via DVD, webstreaming, CDROM, or tape.
Though the tools change over time the process of editing remains the same. Original footage is trimmed (desired parts are isolated, bad parts are removed) and cut together (arranged in time) to create a video or programme. Editing involves the use of various transitions between clips such as the cut, dissolve, and wipe. Editing is an art that is very time consuming and deceptively easy at first glance. It is a difficult thing to do well and requires a tremendous amount of focus, patience, creativity, and attention to detail.
In motion picture terminology, a montage (from the French for "putting together" or "assembly") is a film editing technique. (more)
Sony DCR-DVD505 Review
The DVD camcorder has grown by bounds in the last few years, and few have been so highly anticipated as the DCR-DVD505 from Sony. This was their premiere camcorder at CES, and barring the upcoming HDR-HC3, it has more new technology and hype than any other model in their consumer line. Most of the excitement stems from the 1/3” ClearVID CMOS sensor, a similar sensor to the one found on the HDR-HC1. But sharing qualities of and performing equal to are two very different things.
Video Performance(7.2)
We tested the DCR-DVD505 for video performance by shooting a calibrated color chart at 3000 lux, then taking stills from that footage and comparing them to stills from other camcorders. Our procedures for this particular camcorder were a little different, however. (more)
Video editing - Blu-ray
Blu-ray Disc (BD) is a next-generation optical disc format meant for storage of high-definition video and high-density data. The Blu-ray standard was jointly developed by a group of consumer electronics and PC companies called the Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA). As compared to the HD DVD format, its main competitor, Blu-ray has more information capacity per layer, 25 instead of 15 gigabytes, but may initially be more expensive to produce.
Blu-ray gets its name from the shorter wavelength (405 nm) of a "blue" (technically blue-violet) laser that allows it to store substantially more data than a DVD, which has the same physical dimensions but uses a longer wavelength (650 nm) red laser. Blu-ray unveiled their plans for a Spring 2006 launch at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in January 2006. It will be released on May 23, 2006.
A single-layer Blu-ray disc (BD) can store 23.3, 25, or 27 GB; this is enough for approximately four hours of high-definition video with audio. A dual-layer BD can hold 46.6, 50, or 54 GB, enough for approximately eight hours of HD video. Capacities of 100 GB and 200 GB, using four and eight layers respectively, are currently being researched; TDK has already announced a prototype four-layer 100 GB disc. [2] [3]. The BD-RE (rewritable) standard is available, along with the BD-R (recordable) and BD-ROM formats, which became available in mid-2004, as part of version 2.0 of the Blu-ray specifications. BD-ROM pre-recorded media are to be available by early 2006. Also, in addition to 12 cm discs, an 8 cm variation for use with camcorders is planned that will have a capacity of 15 GB. [4] [5] (more)
Sony DCR-HC96 video editing review
The DCR-HC96 is Sony's flagship consumer MiniDV cam this year, and by the looks of it, Sony has all but given up innovation in this medium. The HC96 is the same camcorder as last year's HC90, with most ports relocated from the body to a Handycam station (causing some to swoon, others to cringe). Hey, we liked the HC90, but improving product is the name of the game. Will Sony make us happy again?
Video Performance(7.85)At 3000 lux, the DCR-HC96 had very good video performance. For the top model in its class, it should. The HC96 packs a big 1/3” CCD with 3.31 gross MP (2.05 effective MP). This is one of the big differences between manufacturers in their upper-tier models. Panasonic and JVC go towards the 3 CCD route, while Sony and Canon use larger single chips. At 3000 lux, the differences between these choices can vary, and the processing systems factor in a great deal as well. Larger chips, however, invariably do better in low light, and the HC96 was no exception. More on that later. (more)
History of HDV
The HDV format was developed by four companies: Canon Inc., Sharp Corporation, Sony Corporation, and Victor Company of Japan, Limited (JVC). These companies originally announced their HDV partnership in September, 2003. They have since been joined by other companies, notably Apple Computer.
JVC's GR-HD1 was the first camcorder based on HDV specs with 720p. In September 2004, Sony launched their first consumer HD camera, the Sony HDR-FX1, which can record the 1080i60 format (the PAL version records 1080i50) on a MiniDV tape using the HDV format. The professional version of this camera has both 50i and 60i capabilities, and adds XLR audio plus about 25 more features and is called the Sony HVR-Z1U. In 2005, Sony released the currently cheapest HDV Camcorder, the HDR-HC1. A professional version of the HC1 the Sony HVR-A1U was released Fall 2005. Canon introduced its first HDV camcorder, the Canon XL-H1, in September 2005. In late 2005, Panasonic took a different approach by introducing its Panasonic AG-HVX200 HDTV camcorder that records HD on the Panasonic's own DVCPRO-HD format. DVCPRO-HD reqires four times the bandwidth of HDV (100mbs vs 25mbs for HDV) but suffers less from compression and motion artifacts. The HVX200 records its HD signals on DVCPRO P2 cards only, with the Mini DV tape recorder for standard definition DV only. The camera also has an interface for directly recording DVCPRO-HD data on harddisk (more).
Video Editing - HD
Because of not being totally intraframe, using MPEG-2 GOP (group of pictures) structure instead, the direct, native editing HDV footage is technically different from the native editing of DV footage. In DV, as each frame of a video sequence is stored as an independent object, the recorded footage can be spliced at any frame without any loss of quality.
When editing HDV's MPEG-2 directly (natively), a single frame cannot be changed without re-encoding subseqent frames of the same group. Any editing of the native MPEG-2 video, whether it be a complex transition or a simple scene-change, requires a decompression and recompression cycle of the entire HDV frame group. Especially over many generations, this may result in increased artifacts, for example the next frame group after a splice. However, because the bitrate is 25 MB/s, they should be not as visible as they would be when using lower bitrates like those used for encoding clips for download.
If HDV footage is converted to a good intermediary format for editing, these considerations which only apply to natively editing HDV's MPEG-2, do not apply. As with DV footage, a good intermediary format and a good codec given, there does not have to be any degradation in quality, not even over 10 generations of decoding and re-encoding. (more)
