Short Video Editing Encyclopedia

Imagine sitting in a small, family restaurant in the heart of Italy. You pick up the menu and see an array of words that make no sense to you. Your waiter comes by and patiently tries to help you but to no avail. No one understands you and your vain attempts to express yourself fail miserably. It's all a matter of communication.
Well, linear editing systems rely on communication in much the same way we do. Each system uses a distinctive language, called an editing protocol, that enables it to talk between its editing decks and its edit controller. If the editing decks or camcorders speak a different language than the edit controller does, they won't be able to understand one another and you will become incredibly frustrated.
The names of the various editing protocols are reminiscent of a confusing alphabet soup: RS-422, RS-232, Control-S, Control-L, Control-M, IR and the most recent addition to the alphabet, IEEE 1394. If you've ever tried to edit on a system made up of equipment from different manufacturers, you can understand the frustration. It's like trying to talk to someone from Mexico, France and Russia all at the same time. To avoid this, it's important to understand what editing protocols do, the various levels of sophistication and how to get a camcorder or editing deck to communicate to a foreign edit contr…