What is EDL? « Videomaker Community Forums

dunuse
Member

I went to school (for video production) in early 90's, and work in this industry ever since. I guess I am not too old or too young in this field. I had a meeting with a mid size production company with people were younger and older than me. When I used the term EDL, Editing Decision List, they looked at me like I spoke a foreign language. None of them heard this term. One person said he saw this term somewhere in FCP. That feeling is so....

Am I the odd one? Is it a common term that we use in this industry? How many of you out there still use this term, or at least know about this term?

I just want to feel a little better.

Posted 1 year ago #
grinner
Member

an Edit Decision List is a list of events (edits) in a project. They were required in the linear days because they recorded all triggers at the time codes they happened. ADO moves, ME triggers, CG page events, audio ques, ect. Everything. Today they are used very little because NLE projects can be moved frmo machine to machine. In the cases where two different flavors of NLEs are used and projects don't communicate, more and more plugins and 3rd party apps like automatic duck are released.

All this said, I've not used an EDL in over a decade. If you mention an EDL to someone today, often their first response, if not "What"? will be "why"?

http://grinnerhester.com

Posted 1 year ago #
EarlC
Moderator

Go ahead :-) feel a little better. I've heard the term, use the term and it is directly applicable to your/our profession still because in whatever form it arrives or is derived it is the notes on a tablet, program or typed compilation of the shots and scenes and their timings, timecode (however THAT is derived also) of occurrence that enable us to put a project together from somebody else's "decisions". I know YOU know this, but sadly a whole lot of people out there have, as you've discovered, NO comprehension of EDL.

A LOT of video terms are not used or understood in today's video-crazy world: from trucking and dolly shots to POV, ECU, CU, etc. Maybe there's a video out there, or a book, or magazine that still provides the terms and descriptions but perhaps a new, fresh resource is needed that spells out all these terms, their origination and application in one place?

Ok, back to MY EDL as I'm digitizing the shots from a recent videotaping session. ;-)

Posted 1 year ago #
EarlC
Moderator

People still do/use EDLs - they just do not use the label to identify that they've in some way generated an editing decision list.

Posted 1 year ago #
shippocaio
Member

Well, i guess i have just started in the whole videomaker business, but i have never heard the term EDL.

But well, now i know what it means :)

Posted 1 year ago #
XTR-91
Member

Other than some education-like term or consumer software name I've never thought of it to be anything else. I've never really been in the videomaker business yet - just started filming stuff for church services the last few months.

Posted 1 year ago #
composite1
Moderator

EDL's are still particularly usable in the NLE environment. With a fast upload you can fire off a sequence of clips to an online or offline editor, producer, director, etc. and let them see what's what. If they are an actual part of the post-pipeline, they can use available NLE software to move clips around and fire the list back. I'm like Grinner, I remember those days of A&B-Roll linear editing on tape. May they never return....

Caio,

You're 15. I'm not surprised you've never heard it before!

H.Wolfgang Porter, Composite Media Producer
Dreaded Enterprises Unlimited, Inc.
http://www.dreadedenterprises.com

Posted 1 year ago #
shippocaio
Member

@Composite1, Man, every time someone says something about me it's something related to how young i am. You sound like my mother man! LOL nah, im just kidding :)

Posted 1 year ago #
SteveMann
Member

I gave a budget-minded client a DVD with rough-cut edits, and a timecode overlay.. I know nothing about his business so rather than editing with him looking over my shoulder, I let him make the edit decisions. So, he returned a list of in-out points for me from his rough-cut DVD, I make he edits and give hm exactly what he wanted.

that's one way to use an Edit Decision List.

Posted 1 year ago #
EarlC
Moderator

Evidently, Steve, as I noted in my previous post, we all use them in one fashion or another, some just never knew what to call them ;-)

Shippo, it is because people like me and Wolfgang (Composite) are so old that EVERYBODY is young to us. Speaking for myself, who would appreciate a few years turned back on my "clock" all you "kids" look alike, move faster, learn quicker and make us (me) wish I could incorporate HALF those dance moves ;-)

Posted 1 year ago #
composite1
Moderator

Caio,

Don't feel bad. I razz my team quite a bit too! I do that with everyone I expect to see good things from. Don't forget, you opened 'the box' on how young you were! Like Earl, I do envy that you 'kids' have access to all of this tech so early as it was a 'dogfight' just to get involved with it at all as an adult when I was your age. Back then, at 15 it was all but impossible unless you had realllllly wealthy parents or were lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time.

One thing I don't envy is how the tech moves so much faster now that kids don't have the time for their wisdom to catch up to their technical and creative abilities. Hence why you have all of this 'retardedness' in regards to 'sexting' and now 'sextortion'!

I also am still quite capable throwin' down on some serious dance moves! However, 'head spins' are off the menu! I'm still paying for doing those....

Posted 1 year ago #
dunuse
Member

Hi All, I do feel better, and thank you all for your replies.Â But I may not use this term, if I don't think the person I talk to already know the "language".

BTW, remember the time we do A/B roll editing on a NLE..... Once again, I went to school in early 90's.

Posted 1 year ago #