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Editing: Desktop Editing FAQ

New technology introductions and revolutionary advances in the state-of-the-art sometimes seem to happen on a monthly or sometimes even a weekly basis. And for many of us, that means constantly challenging our ideas about the best techniques, strategies and gear to create our videos. Here are the answers to a few frequently asked questions that might help you make sense of this fast moving industry.

A. The obvious answer is that the most important features for any system are the ones you'll need to use most often to get your work done. This may seem obvious, but time after time, I've seen beginners debate the need for features that are miles beyond what they'll ever really use.

For example, let's say you're assembling a system to make simple training videos. The fact that the editing program in consideration can handle 99 tracks of audio is cool, but not particularly important. You can probably work for years making superb training videos and never need more than half a dozen discrete audio tracks.

On the other hand, if your vision for your video career includes working towards projects that require a great deal of audio scoring, such as feature films or music videos, you might want to place multiple audio track access higher on your list of must-have features. Never let the "feature wars" make you think that just because product A has a feature that product B lacks, that product A is better than B. For example, many of the features listed on the side of the box of professional editors are for HD broadcast television. If your producer has not already lined up the financing to produce HD television, don't worry about this feature.

Ask the real question: "What features do I need, considering the type of work I'm likely to be doing in the foreseeable future?" In truth, nearly all of today's popular editing packages have all the features you'll ever need.…