The things you find when cleaning out old drawers...

Alex H.

Alex H.

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Staff member
... such as a copy of Steven E. Browne's book Video Editing: A Postproduction Primer (1997).

Man... I completely forgot I had this book. It's amazing to flip through nowadays, too. It talks about things like "linear editing" and "control track editors." It even speaks of a new trend in "random-access nonlinear editing," complete with a quite dated screen shot of and AVID desktop.

Sadly, not many folks learn a single thing about tape-to-tape editing anymore. I'm thankful that I learned that before I ever touched an NLE - sorry - random-access editor.
 
Not sad, good.
I learned tape to tape in school (Just 3 years or so ago) as part of studio production.
I can't think of any skills from tape to tape editing that would help in this modern world. I mean the basics are all the same between the 2, but its just better, faster, easier on NLEs.
 
My oldest brother got me interested in video when he bought a powermac 810av, toaster software, a couple beta decks, and sledgehammer hard drive... which had a WHOPPING 4 gig of storage... I think he got all this for the bargain price of around $25K.

That was my introduction to an NLE... and I gotta' tell you... it sucked.
 
MattinSTL said:
My oldest brother got me interested in video when he bought a powermac 810av, toaster software, a couple beta decks, and sledgehammer hard drive... which had a WHOPPING 4 gig of storage... I think he got all this for the bargain price of around $25K.

That was my introduction to an NLE... and I gotta' tell you... it sucked.
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25K!! that is crazy!!

I remember I used to buy CD-r's for $20 each for the CD burner the studio bought that was 6 grand.
 
kevinottawa said:
Not sad, good.
I learned tape to tape in school (Just 3 years or so ago) as part of studio production.
I can't think of any skills from tape to tape editing that would help in this modern world. I mean the basics are all the same between the 2, but its just better, faster, easier on NLEs.
Click to expand...

I'm going to guess that you'd already had some experience with computer-based nonlinear editing before you took that class... even if it was iMovie or even Windows Movie Maker. At that point, of course you aren't going to see any value in tape-to-tape. It feels like moving backwards, and I have to wonder how in-depth that class (or workshop within a class) actually was.

It's like learning PhotoShop without first mastering and actual darkroom. Yeah, the "basics are all the same," and it certainly "gets better, faster, and easier" in PhotoShop but do you really understand what burn and dodge are? It forces you to think differently.

Learning in an analog tape, A-B roll edit world creates a much better mindset - and workflow, to be honest - in the nonlinear world. I've worked with folks who jumped straight into the nonlinear workflow and have some pretty sloppy habits, habits with which one cannot legitimately function in tape-to-tape... especially as a shooter.

It comes down to organizing reels and thinking your way through the edit before you edit. It also impacts the appreciation of Time Code. Yeah, some folks can catch on... but work with nothing but a camera and a couple of decks for a decent amount of time and you'll see the world a little differently.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not trying to knock the talents of any of today's budding editors and film makers. It's just a product of today's instant-gratification-obsessed society that we have, in a sense, thrown the baby out with the bathwater.
 
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C2V said:
I'm going to guess that you'd already had some experience with computer-based nonlinear editing before you took that class... even if it was iMovie or even Windows Movie Maker. At that point, of course you aren't going to see any value in tape-to-tape. It feels like moving backwards, and I have to wonder how in-depth that class (or workshop within a class) actually was.

It's like learning PhotoShop without first mastering and actual darkroom. Yeah, the "basics are all the same," and it certainly "gets better, faster, and easier" in PhotoShop but do you really understand what burn and dodge are? It forces you to think differently.

Learning in an analog tape, A-B roll edit world creates a much better mindset - and workflow, to be honest - in the nonlinear world. I've worked with folks who jumped straight into the nonlinear workflow and have some pretty sloppy habits, habits with which one cannot legitimately function in tape-to-tape... especially as a shooter.

It comes down to organizing reels and thinking your way through the edit before you edit. It also impacts the appreciation of Time Code. Yeah, some folks can catch on... but work with nothing but a camera and a couple of decks for a decent amount of time and you'll see the world a little differently.
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SO true...and well said. Coming from the audio world of razor blade editing, I can't tell you how great it was when audio NLE popped up! What we did with our ears really translated well when looking at a waveform.:happy:
 
Ahhh... A-B rolls, now there's some memories! Talk about being sure you get your ducks in a row and your timing right!

That and Assemble edits! No control track/broken control track?? Never fear, Assemble's here!
Insert? We don't need no steenkin Insert!
 
hahaha I still remember editing a short ad for my music class, I did it with two vhs players (not professional), a cassete player (for the music) and and a VHS video camera. That really felt great, it was like being a engineer hooking up cables and all the stuff to prepare the edit room hahaha. We got an A, that was my first edit ever, about 8-9 years ago (I was 12). Now all you have to do is download one of those free NLEs , import the files, edit and export voila, you have an edit.
 
groveChuck said:
Ahhh... A-B rolls, now there's some memories! Talk about being sure you get your ducks in a row and your timing right!
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First time I ever experienced a Sony/CMX suite with DigiBeta, and learned of this wondrous technology called "pre-read" that allowed dissolves between two clips from the same source tape... I thought I'd died and gone to heaven.
 
C2V said:
First time I ever experienced a Sony/CMX suite with DigiBeta, and learned of this wondrous technology called "pre-read" that allowed dissolves between two clips from the same source tape... I thought I'd died and gone to heaven.
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I just had a hard time wrapping my head around the idea of "match frame".

But I hear you can get a good deal on a 1" machine!!!
 
Sad Max said:
Ditto...

...wait a minute - bench/gang syncher, or upright? Real men cut film on a bench...
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I learned on a Moviola upright and 4-gang winder / syncronizer on a negative cutting table. And everywhere around me, cotton-duck-lined bins with lovely scraps of film hanging into them. That's some editing!

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Sure, can't have the bench or upright, without the bins.

When I was in school my girlfriend was petite enough that she could hide in the bins - which came in handy, when the school closed the editing room at midnight - she'd hide in a bin, wait until the security guy left, then let the rest of us back in so we could keep working...
 
Lol...these kids today don't know how easy they have it. I got fed up cutting on film and filmed my thesis project dailies off the flatbed screen, went home and cut on two 3/4" inch decks I had in my basement, then match cut that back to film when I had an edit I liked. Then I had to cut the negative!!! Talk about nerve wracking!
 
Batutta said:
Lol...these kids today don't know how easy they have it. I got fed up cutting on film and filmed my thesis project dailies off the flatbed screen, went home and cut on two 3/4" inch decks I had in my basement, then match cut that back to film when I had an edit I liked. Then I had to cut the negative!!! Talk about nerve wracking!
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That is one thing I wish I'd had the opportunity to learn... true film cutting. I am in awe of that art to this day, and hold a high respect for those who know it.
 
I wish for old times sake someone would make a moviola lever and pedal you could plug into a usb port and use as a stop/start button.
 
Sad Max said:
Sure, can't have the bench or upright, without the bins.

When I was in school my girlfriend was petite enough that she could hide in the bins - which came in handy, when the school closed the editing room at midnight - she'd hide in a bin, wait until the security guy left, then let the rest of us back in so we could keep working...
Click to expand...

Someone recently asked me why they were called "bins" in Final Cut and not "folder". I just had to shake my head. Although all of my film editing experience was in college ,'97, and our film instructor had a tele-cine in his basement. Great rates but Umatic 3/4 only. Luckily our A-B roll and Avid both had 3/4 option.

Knowing how to use a block and razor saved my ass once when an entire bottle of wine broke in my bag with my SVHS tape final. I pulled the tape, cut out the wine soaked part, spliced with tape, and played once to dub my final. Thank god it was spooled deep into the tape. I was playing a Wino in a student project and they thought I should be drunk. I had to do the whole shoot sober when the bottle broke. Very painful!
 
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