Linear Edit Controllers Buyer's Guide

Situated between a playback, or "source," deck and a record, or "destination," deck, an edit controller does more than simply synchronize the button-pressing. It can also make editing more accurate, through the use of pre-roll, wherein the source and record decks rewind, then start rolling before the point of the intended edit, allowing them to come up to speed and synchronize prior to performing the edit. When working with time code, you can identify precise in and out points, to the 30th of a second. An edit controller becomes virtually indispensable when doing A/B-roll editing, where you have two source decks, connected through a Special Effects Generator (SEG). And an edit controller with a GPI trigger can be used to activate a transition effect or cue a title.

Linear edit controllers come in two basic flavors: stand-alone and computer-based. Stand-alone units are typically black boxes that sit on a desktop with your play and record VCRs. A computer-based edit controller allows you to send play and record signals to your VCRs from a software interface. Although you edit with your computer, video is never captured to a hard drive and cannot be accessed randomly.

Computer-based hybrid systems are a subset of computer-based edit controllers. Hybrid systems combine nonlinear hard drive-based editing with tape-to-tape machine control. These systems may be ideal for users who want the best of both worlds. The computer captures and processes only those clips that need to be on the hard drive so it can perform transition effects and assembles straight cuts by taking control of the two editing VCRs.

Depending on the type of editing you do, a linear editing set-up might be just the thing you been looking for. Linear editing is ideal for people who produce long-form videos (longer than 20 minutes in length), and editors who do not use a great deal of transition effects. If you videotape seminars, weddings, talk shows or dramatic videos, a linear edit controller and a couple of VCRs may be a better choice than a computer-based nonlinear system. If, however, you intend to cut together flashy 30-second commercials chock-full of flips, flies and exploding effects, you'll be best served by a computer-based nonlinear system.
If you are already editing from a hard drive on a computer-based system, then you might want to consider an edit controller for certain specific applications. For instance, if you are preparing a presentation made up of a number of already-edited segments, an edit-controller and two-VCR set-up might make more sense than tying up your computer by re-capturing, editing and exporting the clips, especially if the segments are longer.
If you're using Mini DV, then you could use a linear edit controller to produce lossless linear edits through the IEEE-1394 FireWire ports on your camcorder and record deck. If, on the other hand, you're using analog decks, then you may see some loss in the finished product, it being another generation. It will soon be to the point where only 'another generation' knows what that means: with analog media, each generation you move away from the original means a loss of picture quality and detail, due to the unavoidable losses in the signal. With a digital video signal, this loss is all but eliminated.
To help you find the edit controller that's right for you, we have divided the products in this category into three broad ranges of retail prices: those controllers that cost less than $500; those costing at least $500 but less than $1,500; and those costing $1,500 or more. Let's take a closer look at some of the features offered at these price points.

Generally speaking, the least expensive edit controllers lack certain 'pro' features, but usually are easier for a novice to use. Some, like the Videonics Edit Suite which retails for $500, include the ability to control a record deck through Infrared (IR) signaling, mimicking the standard remote control; thus making virtually any VCR with a wireless IR remote a potential edit destination deck.
JVC Professional makes the RM-G800U which is a stand-alone controller with a jog/shuttle dial that allows you to easily locate your in and out points. At $460, the RM-G800U also features video and audio insert, preroll and A/B-roll.
The Videonics Video Toolkit 3.0, with a retail price of $279, is a computer-based edit controller, running on Windows 95, 98 or NT. It is compatible with several control protocols, provides video and audio insert capability (replacing just the video while leaving the control track and audio, or replacing only audio while leaving video and control track)'assuming your deck has these functions'and a graphical timeline with an EDL (Edit Decision List). It also has the capability to cue A/B-roll edits, allowing you to connect an SEG between your source decks and your destination deck to add transition effects in your program.