EDITING CONSIDERATIONS

The advent of nonlinear editing software has dramatically changed the way video is made. In fact, the emergence of lower-cost (yet powerful) editing tools is directly responsible for the rise of web video. Without a means to create video for the masses, there would be no podcasting or YouTube.

But finding the right nonlinear editing tool is a tricky game. You will encounter several choices on the market as well as hotly contested platform and manufacturer wars. In this chapter, we share with you tools that meet the needs for various types of web video producers, as well as identify specific tasks you need to accomplish during the editing stage.

The Evolution of Nonlinear Editing

Nonlinear editing tools have been around for many years. The technology is defined by its ability to access any frame of video loaded onto the computer system, without needing to shuttle through tape. In using a nonlinear editor, it is possible to assemble video in a word-processing-like approach. This means that video can be built in segments, which can be easily reordered or modified at any point in time.

This is different than the traditional tape-based methods that involved meticulously assembling one shot after another by dubbing from one tape to another (with little to no ability for changes). It is now possible to both build a library of video assets and to experiment much more freely.

When you work with a nonlinear editing system, you must transfer material (such as video from the camera) to a computer hard drive. Some formats of videotape must be digitized, which is why some modern cameras offer tapeless acquisition of material that can just be copied. Once the material is imported, it can be edited and arranged using a variety of software tools made by several companies. Many of these software tools have a rich history and have seen a long period of evolution (see the sidebar).

Many nonlinear editing tools offer powerful color correction tools for calibrating and improving images. Software scopes like these used to be a hardware-only option and would add thousands of dollars in cost to an editing system.

The emergence of DV technology and FireWire signaled a huge shift in the editing marketplace, leading to the release of high-quality tools targeted at significantly broader audiences. Tools like iMovie and Windows Movie Maker brought desktop editing to the homes and schools, while companies like Sony, Avid, Adobe, and Apple released multiple products for different segments of the professional and prosumer markets. Thanks to DV, video could really be edited on fairly standard computers. This revolution in FireWire filmmaking democratized the market. Without this revolution, there would be no web video movement.

Nonlinear Editing Software

Lots of tools are used to edit video. Selecting the right one involves the balancing of several factors. If you are considering investing in a new NLE, be sure to evaluate these options. We have listed tools by top manufacturers, sorted alphabetically by manufacturer, then by cost. There are more tools on the market; these are just the most popular in the web video space.

• Adobe Systems (www.adobe.com)

  Adobe Premiere Elements (Microsoft Windows)

  Adobe Premiere Pro (Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X)

• Apple, Inc. (www.apple.com)

  iMovie (Mac OS X)

  Final Cut Express (Mac OS X)

  Final Cut Pro (Mac OS X)

• Avid Technology (www.avid.com)

  Avid Liquid (Microsoft Windows)

  Avid Xpress Pro (Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X)

  Avid Media Composer (Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X)

• Media 100 (www.media100.com)

  Media 100 HDe (Mac OS X)

  Media 100 SDe (Mac OS X)

• Microsoft (www.microsoft.com)

  Windows Movie Maker (Microsoft Windows)

• Sony (www.sonycreativesoftware.com)

  Vegas Movie Studio (Microsoft Windows)

  Vegas (Microsoft Windows)

NLE Selection Criteria

Asking video pros to tell you which editing system they'd pick will often invoke passionate answers. Editors tend to have strong feelings about how they like to get their work done. When choosing for yourself, remember that there is no one-size-fits-all answer here. You'll need to balance out your needs and budget to choose the right tool. There are some selection criteria that you should be aware of. This advice is framed solely around use in web video, so keep this in mind when we make recommendations.

Cost

Nonlinear editing tools run the gamut in cost. For example, both iMovie and Windows Movie Maker are included with Apple and Microsoft's operating systems. So if you are looking for a tool at no additional cost, you likely have one. Both of these tools are effective, though many users eventually outgrow them as they develop their video editing skills.

At the next level, you'll find tools like Apple Final Cut Express for Mac and Adobe Premiere Elements or Sony Vegas Movie Studio. These tools start to increase the feature set for the editor and run between $79 and $299. These tools offer significantly more control over editing your video and fixing problems, but they do have a steeper learning curve.

But even the pro-level tools can be within reach of web video producers. Many choose to invest in options like Apple Final Cut Studio or Adobe Creative Suite Production Premium. These bundles offer significant savings and combine multiple video tools into one package. These package deals are useful as they combine video editing, motion graphics, sound editing, encoding, and publishing tools into one bundle.

Premiere Elements is a flexible tool that works well for Windows users.

Be sure to fully explore the tools and their costs. It's also a good idea to visit a certified reseller or approach peers so you can try out the systems you are considering. You can also read video editorial reviews from magazines such as Layers Magazine, Creative COW Magazine, and DV Magazine where you can get independent opinions on editing software.

Ease of Use

Ease of use is subjective and depends on the individual user. We have heard from many that Apple, Adobe, and Sony lead the way with products that are powerful and easy to use. It is important to realize though that video editing is a complex task. Be prepared to pick up books, training DVDs, and even enroll in a class to learn video editing skills.

Apple iMovie offers an easy-to-use interface and is designed for newcomers to nonlinear editing.

The biggest mistakes we see are from the people who choose to go it alone and teach themselves. Sure, you probably could have learned to drive a car with no outside help, but it would get really expensive with all those crashes and fender benders. Same holds true with video editing—if you are going to invest in expensive equipment, invest time and money in learning to get the most out of that gear.

Editing Formats

Different camera manufacturers have closer ties to certain NLEs, so be sure to investigate if your type of camera or video deck will work with a particular NLE. It's important that you fully explore this important connection before investing money in technology. A good place to start is to look at the manufacturers’ web pages and see which equipment and video formats they list as supported.

Additionally, we prefer resolution independent NLEs. Tools such as Adobe Premiere Pro, Apple Final Cut Pro, and Sony Vegas allow you to bring in a variety of materials and mix them in one timeline. This is particularly useful if you need to frequently work with photos or screen captures.

For example, our Understanding Adobe Photoshop series takes video shot on a high-definition video camera with nonsquare pixels and intercuts it with screen captures that are digitally acquired. The screen captures are generally larger (often much more) as we can then pan around and show close-ups of the software interface (we simply scale down to show the whole user interface). We prefer this flexibility, as it increases our working options.

Multicamera Editing Abilities

The ability to synchronize and edit multicamera video shoots is essential to web video. When executed properly, a multicamera shoot saves enormous time in the postproduction process. Once the angles are synchronized, it is easy to maintain continuity. Additionally, the material is easier to edit as you have multiple angles and can cut between them with a single keystroke. Multicamera options are available for most pro-level tools:

• Adobe Premiere Pro
• Apple Final Cut Pro
• Avid Xpress Pro and Media Composer
• Sony Vegas

Export Abilities

Just as important as what you can put into an NLE is what you can get out. Most nonlinear editing tools fully support multiple web-ready export formats. Some build support right into the application via the Export or Share menu, while others offer more options through standalone compression tools.

It's important that you test the abilities of the NLE to make an MPEG-4, H.264, or Flash video file for use in web video. Although many editing tools do an adequate job, you may still consider some of the dedicated compression tools that we will discuss in Chapter 8.

Adobe Premiere Pro offers a great variety of export options including Flash, DVD, Blu-ray, Windows Media, and MPEG-4.

Customer Support

As we've said many times, editing video is not easy. Therefore, you'll want to examine how much support is available for a product. Look at the company's website for an active user forum. Does the company offer certified training classes? How many books or DVDs are published on the tool? Can you find a local user's group in your area for sharing ideas and support? Different manufacturers have different levels of loyalty. Apple and Sony tend to have the biggest “zealots” followed by broad support for Adobe tools and a large established training system for Avid.

Technical Considerations During Editing

The editing stage is the place where all the pieces come together into the final story. In many ways, it all comes down to how the editor puts the pieces together. It is beyond the scope of this book to teach you how to edit. Rather, we'll identify the most common problem areas when it comes to editing video podcasts. These are the skills you must master (or find someone who has). Knowing what problems to watch for is the hardest thing. Here's what we've learned (often the hard way).

Determining Finishing Size

There is often debate as to how to set up your sequences for editing. Some suggest setting the sequences to match the finished web video size. Although this is a valid choice, we don't recommend this method. Working with nonstandard frame sizes usually results in significantly more editing and rendering. After all, it is easy enough to reformat the video when it is edited (more on this in the next chapter).

The best advice here is to set your video editing timeline to match your primary acquisition source of video. This means that if you shot DV NTSC, set your timeline to 720 × 480 nonsquare pixels. It is also a very good idea to stick with the sequence presets that ship with your editing software. Just be sure to match the right sequence settings to your footage. If you have to render everything in your timeline in order to play it, the sequence settings are wrong.

Determining Sequence Settings

It is important to set your NLE timeline up properly; otherwise the settings could lower the quality of your images. With a podcast or web video, determining the right sequence setting to use can be a bit tricky. This is because you'll often mix elements like video, archival material, photos, slides, and screen captures. The guiding factor is the format of your primary source material. You want your editing sequence to match your most dominant or important source.

This generally means that you want to set your sequence to match your on-camera footage. The good news is that most NLE software tools make this easy. You should find sequence presets for common cameras or video formats. It is generally best to set your sequence up to match your camera footage so you get the most real-time performance from the computer and can edit without having to first render.

After the initial edit is complete, you need to evaluate your image quality. If your sequence contains heavily compressed footage mixed with higher-quality sources like screen captures or photos that use less compression, you'll want to “up-rez” your sequence. Duplicate your edited sequence, then modify its compression type (or codec) to match your highest quality material (such as Apple ProRes, Avid 1:1, or Cineform HD). You'll likely need to render much of the sequence, but this file will make a much better source for web compression.

Apple's Final Cut Pro offers flexible sequence settings. These allow you to create customized sequences to match nonstandard footage.

Maintaining Optimal Color and Exposure

Many web video producers understand little about color correcting their video. This is because web video doesn't have the same rigorous issues of quality control as broadcast video. This doesn't mean that you should ignore the stricter rules of broadcast television:

• Web video codecs work best when the source material has its colors and exposure set properly.
• You might also need to deliver your video for playback on a television.
• Following the best practices of video is literally good practice and will make all of the videos you do look more professional.

You want to make sure that you have adjusted exposure properly. Try to avoid blowing the image out. If it's a choice between too light or too dark, favor a little bit dark. Make sure you have sufficient contrasts because a lack of contrast will cause problems when you compress.

Most modern video editing tools include reasonably good tools for color correction. The problem is that most NLEs contain bad tools as well. In general, look for tools that offer three-way color correctors or curves-based color tools. On the other hand, avoid the use of brightness or contrast filters, as they are the two worst filters for fixing video images. Color correction is a tricky task, so be sure to invest in some training to learn which tools work best for your NLE.

Color Grading for Best Look

Color grading goes beyond mere color correction. It is the manipulation of color for artistic purposes. You'll often choose to manipulate the color in your podcast to help give it a visual identity. The manipulation of color is a powerful way to convey mood and style to your audience.

There are several third-party tools that are useful for manipulating color in your video. These plug-ins cost extra, but they offer powerful options that can simulate film as well as processing techniques used in cinema. Although you may not be able to do color grade on every show, download demos and try out some of the following tools:

• Magic Bullet Suite (www.redgiantsoftware.com)—Final Cut Pro, Premiere Pro
• Nattress Film Effects (wwww.nattress.com)—Final Cut Pro
• Celluloid Film Looks (www.vasst.com)—Sony Vegas
• Tiffen Dfx Software (www.tiffen.com)—Final Cut Pro, Premiere Pro, Avid

Check for Flash Frames

Before we export a show and publish it online, we give it a thorough scouring. One of the things to check includes looking for flash frames. A flash frame is usually a one- or two-frame edit that is unintentional. It may be a few frames from a scene change or a small gap where no video is present.

It sounds meticulous, but step through your show and review each edit point. You can often find a keyboard command to cycle around your edit points, playing a few seconds before and after. Trust us, avoid flash frames—they are amateurish.

Consider Transitions Carefully

You will want to carefully consider the use of wipes and transitions in your podcasts. Oftentimes transitions will “break up” because of the limitations of web video. A transition (especially a dissolve) is much too complex to compress effectively. This is because so many of the pixels are changing at the same time and usually quite rapidly.

Most web compression relies on MPEG-4 or Flash technology, which is based on saving space by only updating pixels that change. When you use a wipe, it causes a spike in the data needed to show the image clearly. Because web videos generally have caps on their data rates, this results in the picture breaking up. Many producers eliminate wipes altogether and instead rely on the most basic dissolves and fade-to-color transitions (or even the most basic transition of all—the cut).

Avid editing systems offer several transition styles to choose from.

Dealing with Interlaced Material

There's a good chance that the video in your timeline is interlaced (even if it is shot at 24P). Most video formats involve some interlacing. This is a “leftover” technology from the earliest days of television. Video interlacing causes half of one frame to load, followed by the second half. This material is often identified as the upper or lower field (or even and odd). Essentially, every other frame of video is refreshed each 1/60th of a second for NTSC video and 1/50th of a second for PAL.

Although this is useful for video that is intended for television sets (it can produce smoother motion), it looks terrible on progressive type displays. An interlaced video file is jagged on a portable media player or computer display. Therefore, you need to determine when to remove interlacing:

• Shoot progressive. If you know that you're only delivering to the web, try to get rid of fields and shoot your video progressive.
• De-interlace the timeline. If your NLE allows, set your video editing timeline to progressive. You'll generally need to remove fields using a plug-in or effect. Most NLEs include a de-interlacer or flicker filter. A better option, though, is to purchase a re-interlacer and advanced de-interlacer plug-ins. Filters can take a while to render, so weigh carefully adding the filters to your edit. We generally recommend filtering during the edit if you want greater control or plan to export several versions of the file.
• During compression. Many compression tools offer the ability to de-interlace via a filter as part of the encode process. This option is valid but only works well if all the material in the timeline is from consistent sources. If you have mixed many sources in the timeline (such as footage from different cameras), it is often better to de-interlace your footage within the timeline itself via a filter.

Shot Selection

If you have a lot of experience editing video for other, more traditional, media, you'll need to retrain yourself a bit. Web video involves putting video out to devices that are not usually television sets. This means you need to choose your shots with the playback medium in mind.

The frame on the left shows how interlacing can affect image quality when viewed on a noninterlaced display (such as a computer or portable media player). the frame on the right was shot progressive with a Panasonic dVX-100B.

Your shot composition will tend to be tighter than you're probably used to. Instead of wide shots, you're more likely to use medium or medium close-up shots. This is because of the lower resolution and smaller size that most web video is published. The best thing for an experienced video creator to do is export and test the video early on. Get used to seeing your video on smaller screens and computer displays. Let this guide you as you select shots to use.

Audio Mix

Your web video may end up with several tracks of audio. Many editors will try to “troubleshoot” their audio mix. The editor intently listens to the show, as if intensity alone could move the edit from a “fine” cut to a “final” cut. Intense focus is a good thing, but make things a little easier by narrowing your focus.

We generally find that the only way to spot problems is to narrow our focus. Problems will stand out in your audio track when you listen to the elements separately. Use these tips:

• Turn off your audio monitors to listen to tracks (or pairs) individually. This way you can isolate problems with the audio tracks.
• If you've added audio edits to your music, do things transition smoothly, or are you trying to hide your music edits? Learn to use your NLE's trimming tools to finesse audio edits.
• Are there any loud breaths, gasps, or “guttural” sounds in your narration or sound bites? Throat clearings and coughs can be cleaned up easily.
• Because many viewers of your podcast or web video will listen with headphones, you should too. This way you get an idea of what the viewer will experience.

Audio Normalization

Pay attention to your audio levels. With the rise of portable media players and smart phones, many web video consumers have headphones jacked into their ears. If your audio mix keeps varying, with very loud areas being followed by areas that are very quiet, you will annoy your audience.

Audio is a much bigger issue when you've got the sound pumped directly into your ears. So a sudden blast because the talent got really loud will cause someone to take the ear buds out and turn your show off. Fortunately, many NLEs or bundled audio editors offer normalization gain. This process attempts to automatically smooth out your audio levels. It won't totally “flatten” the mix, but it will move it all closer to the middle. Your highest highs will drop to a specified target (in dBs) and your lows will be raised closer to the center. This is an important step and worth doing.

Run Time Strategies

We've rarely watched a web video that couldn't benefit from being shorter. Never forget your target run time. For most web video and podcasts, you are editing short-form entertainment or training. It is far better to keep it short and to the point. In our opinion, this is an easy way to meet the audience's needs and lower production costs.

You are financially better off if you can generate more episodes with less work. You'll do much better by thinking shorter and getting more individual episodes (making it easier for people to search for your content). This is actually what most audiences prefer—shorter videos, because they are consuming it as on-demand content.

Be sure you monitor your editing and agree-upon target length. For example, you may determine that you want all episodes to run between four to six minutes, but the show inched closer to seven or eight minutes. In this case, you should split it in half for two parts. If the show clocked in at twelve minutes, you could deliver two six-minute episodes or three four-minute shows. The important logic here is that you pick a target run time then manage your editing so the segments time out.

One trick is to add a marker in your timeline to make it easier to see your target run time. Remember, most shows benefit from editing out the “bad” parts. A shorter show helps you distill your content to only the best content. Trim the fat and get to the good stuff quicker.

Backup Progress

Save your work. There, we've said it. Having an organized approach to backing up your work is essential. We generally take a multifaceted approach to our backups. Here are a few strong suggestions for implementation in your projects:

• Drive mirroring. If the content we are using is irreplaceable (for example, screen captures or tapeless acquisition with no tape backup), then we mirror our drive. This involves getting an identical sized or larger drive and copying all of the content from the edit drive. We can recount a few times too many where this basic backup has saved the day. Once the project is done and archived, you can erase and reuse your mirrored drive.
• Auto-save/Vault/Attic. Most NLEs offer some level of control of the program's ability to autosave. This means that you can target a set number of automated project backups to be recorded on a different directory from the system drive or media drive. We often specify a removable drive like a USB “thumb” drive for backup.
• Nightly backup. We recommend giving every editor or graphics person involved in the project his or her own portable hard drive. Additionally, give the mandate that project files should be backed up every night before leaving work. This is a very good idea and puts ownership into the team's hands.
• Use protected drives. There are many affordable drive solutions on the market that automatically protect against data loss. We use drives from Drobo in our facility; they have a failsafe mechanism to account for drive failure (remember, all drives eventually fail).
• Self-contained movies. When you export your movie files for compression, we recommend “self-contained” QuickTime or AVI files. Many users choose “reference” movies, which are dependant on project media and render files. A self-contained file can be easily used in the future if DVD compilation or recompression needs arise. Hard drives have gotten much cheaper, and the extra effort is great insurance for the future.
• Common Media Folder. We're often asked about our backup strategies. What do we save, where do we store things on our drives? Here's one methodology that works for us. We create a Common Media Folder for each project. Inside we put folders for all sorts of common media types, such as a sequences folder, a capture folder to hold loaded video, a graphics folder, and an audio folder. Within these folders things are further broken down into source projects, renders, and so on. You will want to create a folder structure that works for you. By using the same structure for each project, it becomes easy to find project assets, as well as make changes. Plus, this folder can be easily backed up to a mirrored drive or archived at the end of a project.