The simplest editors are stand-alone units that plug directly into your VCRs. They can also trigger other devices such as SEGs, audio mixers and titlers. The Videonics Thumbs Up! 2000 ($199) is a good choice for the videographer who is ready to try editing for the first time. The Thumbs Up! 2000 works the way Siskel and Ebert would edit video. You watch the video you're editing through the editor, and if you want to keep the footage, you press the thumbs up button. If you want to cut out footage, you press the thumbs down button. The Thumbs Up! 2000 uses either Control-L, Control-M, or IR to communicate, so it will work with most equipment. If your source tape uses either RCTC or VITC time codes, the Thumbs Up! 2000 will read them. You can also use the Thumbs Up! 2000 to insert time codes if you have two VCRs of the same format. The Thumbs Up! 2000 is included in Videonics' Home Video Producer ($329), which also includes an audio mixer, a sound effects generator and a microphone.

The Panasonic AG-A96 ($525) is a workhorse of the prosumer video industry. It works with many Panasonic VCRs, including the popular AG-1980 prosumer editing deck. The AG-A96 has an eight-scene edit decision list. Because it uses the Control-M (Panasonic 5-pin) protocol exclusively, make sure the rest of your equipment is compatible. The AG-A96 does not support time code or provide a triggering mechanism for an SEG or titler.

Computer-Controlled Editors

If you already have a computer, you can use it as part of a video edit controller. As stated above, a computer-controlled video editor is different from a nonlinear video editor because a nonlinear editor converts the analog video into digital information, then stores it on your hard drive. These systems are great, but if you want to be able to edit more than a couple of minutes of video at a time, you will need a very large amount of hard drive space. The computer-controlled analog video editors allow your PC to control your camcorders, VCRs and SEGs without ever converting the analog tape into digital data.

The V-Station 3300VX for Windows ($695) from FutureVideo Products, Inc. is a video editor crammed with features. It allows you to control three VCRs at one time so that you can perform true A/B rolls between two source tapes and one master. It has three triggers for SEGs, and a 250-event EDL. It connects to your computer's serial port with an RS-232 cable. FutureVideo also offers the V-Station 3300 PLUS ($1,095), which add to the features of the 3300VX: a 9999 event EDL, SMPTE time code reader and generator, and the ability to control Panasonic's WJ-MX30 and WJ-MX50 mixers with a serial cable. The V-Station 3300VX and PLUS require Microsoft Windows 3.1 or 95, 8MB RAM, and 10Mb of hard drive space to operate.

Pinnacle's VideoDirector Studio 200 ($300) is a slightly different variation of the computer-controlled video editor. It comes with a separate piece of hardware (called the Studio Mixer) that you plug into your computer via the parallel port (printer port). The Studio Mixer connects to your video gear via Control-L, Control-M or Control-S with a serial device called a Smart Cable (which requires an available serial port on your computer). One handy feature of the Studio 200 is autologging. When you first insert a tape into the play deck, the Studio 200 asks you if you want to autolog the tape. If you choose autolog, the Studio 200 will tape a low-resolution screen shot from the tape each time you started or stopped the camera. These low-res screen shots, called picons, become the markers you'll use for the EDL. On the downside, because you can only control two VCRs, true A/B rolls are impossible. The Studio 200 provides an option of saving a single high-resolution frame on the computer, then performing a fade or wipe from that single frame (called an A/X roll). The Studio 200 requires 8MB of RAM and Microsoft Windows 95.

Finally, there is the Video ToolKit 3.0 for Windows 95/NT ($279) from Videonics. The Video ToolKit comes with Videonics' AV/Net module, a piece of hardware that allows you to connect up to four devices using any of the standard protocols. You can also hook up a second AV/Net for an editing suite of up to seven devices. If you have a video capture card, the Video ToolKit will allow you to perform tape logging using picons like the Studio 200 (but without the automatic feature available in the Studio 200). After logging the tape, you select the edits you want to make, including SEGs functions, A/B rolls (if you have two source VCRs and an SEG), and sound effects, then let the ToolKit do the work. It also supports all of the consumer time code formats.

There is a vast world of video editing equipment waiting for your unedited tapes. If you have a computer, the computer-controlled editors provide more options and flexibility, while the stand-alone units are simpler to use, and can be transported easily. With this plethora of tools available to help you edit, you no longer need to dread it.

Larry Lemm is a freelance technology writer and consultant.

• A/B Roll: The process of using two source VCRs and one record VCR during editing, allowing transitions between two synchronized video streams with a switcher or SEG.
• Control-L : (LANC) A two-way edit control protocol.
• Control-M: (Panasonic 5-pin) A two-way edit control protocol.
• Control-S: (synchro edit) A one-way edit control protocol.
• Edit Controller : Electronic device used to control a VCR and/or camcorder's functions to facilitate automated videotape editing with speed, precision and convenience.
• EDL : Edit decision list. A list of edits programmed into an edit controller.
• IR: Infrared. VCR or camcorder control through infrared pulses.
• Protocol: A method by which two or more pieces of editing equipment communicate with one another in order to synchronize their functions.
• RS-232: An edit control protocol found on professional video equipment.
• RS-422: An edit control protocol found on professional video equipment.
• SEG: Special effects generator; also known as a video switcher or video mixer. A device that enhances video productions in a number of ways, including performing clean, synchronized transitions between two source VCRs (A/B-roll editing).
• Time Code : A system of numbering the frames of a videotape in hours:minutes:seconds:frames for increased accuracy in the editing process. Popular time code types include RCTC (Rewritable Consumer Time Code) and VITC (Vertical Interval Time Code).