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Video on the Road - Sometimes You Got to Edit While
Moving
You cannot always be at home or your office when it
comes time to edit your videos.
Sometimes you have to take your act on the road and see how it plays.
All is not lost just because you don’t have the warm and cozy confines
of your editing suite.
There are a variety of options for mobile video
editing. You can use a professional systems with built in video editing
decks, SEG, and monitors; that’s just a cool thirty grand or so.
Another option, albeit a heck of a lot less expensive, is to hook up two
camcorders to one another. Many of the newer models come with built in
editing capabilities that will enable you to do rudimentary assembly
editing, anywhere you are. But then again, you need two camcorders.
Another option is to use a standalone editing
systems like Applied Magic’s Screenplay Sequel systems or the Draco
Casablanca. Attach a TV set as a monitor; load all your video into the
system from your camcorder, and you are ready to edit. Special effects,
titles, voice-overs, color correction, insert edits – etc., everything
you need. These types of
machines are about a cool two to three grand or so. Even though these
systems are just a bit bigger than your typical VCR, they do require AC
power, TV set or monitor, and desktop to set all of it up on. That is
not so portable.
Another professional and somewhat expensive option
is a pre-configured laptop-based portable system from FAST. The FAST
purple.field is a high-powered mobile video-editing studio that can be
built into a HP Omnibook 6000 laptop, as well as for Gateway Solo and
Sony VAIO laptops. Targeted to pro DVCAM, DV and DVCPRO users,
purple.field includes Terran’s Media Cleaner EZ for creating streaming
video for web use. This total pro solution will cost you somewhere
between eight and ten grand. However, you don’t need to pay that much.
You can use many less expensive options with your existing laptops. In
addition, these pro systems usually require that your laptop be
dedicated to video editing only – no word processing, no e-mail, no
games – oh my.
In this article, I will cover what your options are
if you already have a laptop computer and want to edit with the
camcorder, DV or analog, that you already have.
If you have a newer Apple iBook, Sony Vaio, Gateway
Solo, IBM ThinkPad or other laptop computer with a built-in 1394,
Firewire or iLink (whatever you want to call it), digital video
connection, you are essentially ready to go. You just need to load,
install and activate the appropriate video editing software.
Plug in your digital video camcorder, and voila,
mobile editing studio. If you are professional, making money, you will
need to use a fully loaded laptop (fast processor, tons of RAM) with
professional broadcast quality editing software. For about $1700, you
can outfit a fully loaded laptop with Avid’s top of the line Avid
Xpress DV video editing software. For about $550, you can use Adobe’s
Premiere 6.0 (good for both Mac and Windows laptops).
However, you don’t need to spend a fortune to
edit your video. In fact, some of these portable computers come
pre-loaded with all digital video editing software you will need.
Apple Computers was the first to bundle video
editing software with their Firewire equipped computers. This includes
most newer PowerBooks. Not only do you get the DV in and out, you also
get the software called iMovie. It is a free program that is included
when you bought your Apple laptop. Easy to use and master, it provided
limited editing capabilities. It
will run on any DV equipped Mac with 64 MB of memory or better.
A little while later, Apple introduced iMovie2, a
much more complete editing solution with titles, effects and other
features. If you already have iMovie on your Mac, you can go to the
Apple web site and download the upgrade to iMOvie2 for only $50. The
iMovie2 software is not a pro editing solution like Apple’s Final Cut
Pro, but it is much easier to learn and to use. Final Cut Pro is a bit
of overkill for most home and prosumer users.
By the way, if you are having problems using iMovie or iMovie2,
you can get instruction books from O’Reilly Books. For $20 each, you
can get either “iMovie – The missing manual” or “iMovie2 – The
missing Manual”, both written by David Pogue.
Apple has recently introduced their tiny but
powerful G4 Powerbook. It weighs only five pounds and includes the new
“velocity” engine that process data in 128 bit units rather than the
smaller 32 or 64 bit units used by other processors. This means that it
should be able to process transitions and effects faster than similarly
powered computer systems.
Of course, if you are a power editor and have the
chops and pocketbook to afford the best, Apple’s Final Cut Pro is your
software of choice. Able to run on any newer Powerbook with G3 or better
processor and at least 128 MB of RAM, Final Cut Pro (about $900) will
enable you to do professional quality editing anywhere you can sit down.
Another good choice for the Apple laptop is Adobe Premiere,
another full featured and powerful video editing solution. A bit less
expensive than Final Cut Pro, it works on both Mac and Window machines.
Digital video editing for Windows Based Laptops
Many of the new Windows laptops hitting the market
include DV inputs and outputs for digital video. These include computers
from companies like Dell, Sony, IBM, Compaq and others.
If you just bought a new DV-enabled laptop, you may
not even need to add any video software. Most new consumer laptops come
loaded with Microsoft Windows Me (Millennium Edition) that includes its
own built-in video-editing module. Very similar to Apples iMovie, this
entry level editing solution is called Windows Me Movie Maker. Movie
Maker enables you to easily capture and edit video to create your own
personal presentations. Movie Maker includes the ability to cut and
paste as well as to add dissolves, fades and voice-overs. You can use it
either in a timeline-based format or in a storyboard format. Not only is
it easy to use, it’s free for Windows Me users. I would love to see
Movie Maker bundled with other versions of Windows as well but Bill
Gates has not replied to my request. Another way, and probably a lot
less expensive and simpler, is to upgrade your existing Windows 95 or
Windows 98 laptop to Windows Me. You can find Win Me upgrade packages at
almost any computer store for $90 or less.
Unlike other digital video editing software
packages, Windows Me Movie Maker also compresses your video, enabling
you to store about 20 hours of video in a single gig of space.
Uncompressed DV video takes a gigabyte of space to store 4 to 5 minutes
of video. If you are happy to create videos that will be seen only on
your computer or broadcast over the Internet, Windows ME Movie Maker is
fine.
If you
need sophisticated effects, high-resolution playback, or want to record
your finished productions back to videotape, you will need a more
professional DV editing software package.
Don’t worry, these are not expensive. In fact,
various DV laptops already bundle some of these programs when you buy
the computer. For example, the IBM Thinkpads (A20 and A21 models)
include MGI Videowave editing software, According to MGI, their
VideoWave software is also included with new laptops from Dell and
Gateway. Pinnacle’s
StudioDV DV editing package will come bundled on the new Compaq Presario
DV laptops as well.
VideoWave and StudioDV are easy to master, easy to
use video editing software packages that provide cut and paste editing
of video and audio, as well as a wide variety of special effects,
transitions, titling and audio capabilities. Both of these programs are
geared to consumer, not professionals.
If your laptop is DV enabled and does not have good
editing software, you can get the aforementioned MGI VideoWave and
Pinnacle Studio DV for under $100. Another good editing software package
is VideoStudio from Ulead. It is also under $100.
What if your laptop is not DV enabled and you have
a DV camcorder? You have several options. Various companies make Type II
PC cards that function as a DV adapter. You slide the cards in to your
laptop’s open PC slot and install the required drivers and editing
software packages. Next, you connect your DV camcorder to the DV adapter
card by using a DV cable. Voila - you are ready to go. Most of these
cards cost between $100 to $200 and include video editing software
packages. For example, the Dazzle DVE-N Editor for Notebook Computers
lists for only $99 and includes Ulead’s VideoStudio DV editing
program. After editing the program – adding special effects, titling,
music, etc., you can output it back to your DV camcorder or save it as a
digital file for distribution via CD-ROM or the Internet. You can also
get similar DV adapter PC cards from ADS Technologies, Belkin and SIIG
that also include editing software. The Belkin product is available for
PCs as well as for Macs. The $99 price includes Strata VideoShop editing
software for Mac machines or MGI VideoWave for PCs.
What if you don’t have a DV camcorder but do have
1394 capabilities on your laptop? All you have is a VHS or 8mm source.
How are you going to edit that? You have some options. For example, if
you do have a DV equipped laptop, you can convert the analog video and
audio to a digital signal and then edit that. Dazzle has just announced
their new Hollywood DV Bridge that does just that. It converts analog
video and audio to digital; it converts digital video to analog audio
and video. Available for under $300, it is similar to the hard to find
and more costly Sony DVMC-MA2 ($499) converter unit used by pros.
What if you want to edit analog video and your
laptop does not have any video in or 1394 capabilities? Now what do you
do? All is not lost. If your laptop computer has an open USB port, you
can use a simple video to USB converter to get analog video into your
laptop computer.
The audio goes from the adapter or converter to
your laptops audio line-in connection and is processed through your
laptop’s audio board. You can pick up the Avermedia AverTV USB for
only ???. This is a pretty cool little device – it includes a built-in
TV tuner so that you can watch TV on your laptop. You can get the Dazzle
Video Creator 80 for under $70. It includes the MGI VideoWave software
for editing your video once you get it into your laptop.
Belkin has a similar product, the USB VideoBus II,
that is available in ether PC or Mac versions with a list price of $99
and includes the appropriate editing software as well as software for
videoconferencing, web casting and other uses. I have also seen
extremely inexpensive devices like these at various accessory stores –
without any support or software. Remember though, these are one-way
devices only. You will not be able to output your finished video back to
tape. CHECK
Warning – before you buy any of these solutions
that require mixing and matching components, adapters and converters,
check the products out on the company’s websites. Make sure your
laptop computer meets the minimum technical specifications regarding
operating system, processor speed, RAM, connectors, etc. For example, I
have found that some of these 1394 to PC card adapters will not work in
specific lines of laptop computers because the manufacturers are using a
special bios on their motherboards.
Another option to edit analog video with a laptop
– without requiring 1394 features, is to uses a standalone MPEG
device. There are several of these on the market. My favorite, the
Dazzle Video Creator ($249) accepts VHS or S-video input, along with
audio, compresses it to MPEG1, and then sends it to your PC laptop via
either the USB or parallel ports. After editing it with the bundled
Dazzle MovieStar software, you then export the finished video back out
to your analog camcorder.
As you can tell from all these various solutions,
you now have no excuse to be huddled up in your dark little den or
garage, furtively editing videos on your PC. By using a laptop computer
and your camcorder, you can edit out in the kitchen, the living room, or
even in the kid’s room, with them helping of course. If you are
careful, you can even edit outside in the yard or by the pool. All you
need is fully charged batteries or a long AC extension cord. You might
even want to pre-capture your videos on your laptop, and then during a
long boring airplane flight, edit them while on the road.
CONTACTS:
Adobe Premiere www.adobe.com
ADS Technologies www.adstech.com
Apple iMovie, Final Cut and PowerBooks www.apple.com
Avermedia www.avermedia.com
Belkin www.belkin.com
Compaq www.compaq.com
Dazzle www.dazzle.com
Gateway www.gateway.com
FAST www.fastmultimedia.com
MGI www.mgisoft.com
O’Reilly Books www.oreilly.com
SIIG www.siig.com
Ulead www.ulead.com
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