Edit Suite: Bare-bones Editing: Simple Editing Without a Controller (page 2)

You can set up your simple editing suite on a portable table positioned near your TV and VCR. Even the living-room coffee table will work.

For the rest of this article, we'll use the setup consisting of the camcorder as the playback deck and the VCR as the record deck to describe the editing steps.

Set your camcorder on the table and run the cables to the recording VCR and monitors. Put your original camcorder footage in the playback deck and a blank tape in the recording VCR.

Be careful not to accidentally record over your original tapes. If your original footage is on VHS or S-VHS tape, disable the recording function on the tapes by breaking out the small plastic tab located beside the long label. If you want to reuse the tapes at some other time, then place a small piece of tape over the hole.

On 8mm, Hi8 and DV tapes, disable the recording function by sliding the small tab to cover the hole. Now you're ready to edit!

First record some black on the recording VCR. Do this by putting your camcorder in camera mode and affixing the lens cap. Put the camcorder in record/pause mode, record a few seconds on the VCR, and hit pause.

Now put the camcorder in "playback mode." While watching the playback monitor, use the shuttle feature to find the first shot you want to include. Then put the camcorder in pause at the very beginning of the first scene. Now you're ready to edit.

Simultaneously take both machines off pause. The playback deck will play while the recording deck copies your original footage. Both the playback and recording monitors will display your footage. You're editing.

After recording the desired segment, place both machines in pause again. Be sure to put the record deck in pause first; otherwise, you'll record the short glitch that results when you put the camcorder in pause mode.

Next, use the playback deck to find the second shot. Repeat the process for each new segment as you build the production.

Things get a bit tricky if you only have one monitor hooked to the recording deck. Here's what you do. First find the edit starting point on the recording VCR; then place the VCR in record/pause. The signal from your playback VCR will now appear on the monitor allowing you to locate the next scene.

Use the VCR's tape counter to help you find shots. Counters that display in hours:minutes:seconds are best, as opposed to those older units that simply tick off a series of digits as the tape plays. It's also a good idea to zero-out your tapes before you begin editing. To do this, rewind the tape to the beginning, then re-set the counter to zero. This will help to ensure the accuracy of the tape-counter numbers.

Unfortunately there are some shortcomings to this editing method. Some VCRs and camcorders don't actually begin recording at the moment you press the button--there is a delay. You'll have to experiment with your decks to determine the duration of the lag. If you don't compensate for this delay, you may accidentally record over the end of the last edit. Or, you may leave a blank segment between the two scenes that appears as snow when you play the tape--not pretty.

Sometimes the picture may jump or distort at the edit point. If this happens, try again. You may have to put up with a little video noise between edits. Unfortunately, this type of editing is less than an exact science. For best results, use a recording deck with a flying erase head.

It's best to check your results after performing each edit. This way you can correct mistakes as they occur. It's quite tricky--if not downright impossible--to fix these problems later.

Your camcorder and VCR won't let a tape remain on pause indefinitely. An automatic system places the decks in stop mode after a few minutes.

Use a good quality tape. An inexpensive tape may not hold up to the rigors of editing. All the shuttling and pausing required during editing takes a toll on the tape.

You can add music by hooking a CD player or cassette deck to the recording VCR's audio inputs. Add titles with your camcorder's built-in titler or use a computer to print titles on paper; simply point your camcorder at the printed titles.

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