Really Real Time

Just what the heck do video editing people (read: marketing folks) mean when they say "real time"? Doesn't everything happen in real time? What other kind of time is there? Fake time?

Yeah, we know what they mean. Real time means that you don't have to wait for renders. Just six years ago, that could easily have meant overnight for a five-minute video. Those of us who have been editing video on computers for that long roll our collective eyes and scoff at the kids these days, complaining that today's software is so slow. The cranky, old man within me says, "Why in my day, renders were measured in tens of hours, and that was if the computer didn't crash at 99 percent complete. And we had to walk to the studio in waist-deep snow. And we liked it." The true definition of real time is simple:

Real Time n. editing that happens without delays caused by ren…

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