Edit Points: When You Don't Have a Controller

When you get right down to it, editing is about choices--choosing what to keep and what to eliminate, where to cut and what to cut to.

Editing controllers help you execute those choices. They take ideas like "I want the next scene to happen here" or "I don't want to see this shot in my video" and bring them into reality on your master tape.

Does that mean you need an editing controller to make edits? Hardly.

Scores of talented videomakers get by with nothing but a camcorder and a VCR. (A few don't even have the luxury of a second VCR.) They're able to effectively tell their stories by editing footage on simple systems.

You can learn to do the same by using some of the tips and techniques you'll find in the next few pages.

While it will never be an exact science, mastering the art of editing without a controller is something that many experienced videomakers learn to do at some point. It's also a handy skill to have if you're away from your edit setup and need a way to cut scenes together.

To help you learn this skill, we've described the process of editing without a controller in the pages that follow. With this information, you'll be able to start editing your videos without spending a bundle on fancy equipment. And as you learn the craft of editing, you can focus your energies on the important things--the choices--rather than worrying about how to operate a new piece of gear.

So let's get started with the most basic form of the craft: in-camera ed…