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By J.R. Bookwalter, October 15, 2008
Nothing speaks like experience, so DV recently caught up with six working editors. Each took time out of their busy schedules to talk about the past, present and future of their favorite non-linear editing tools.
DV: Let's talk about your NLE system of choice, and other systems you have used in the past. How did you settle on your current set-up?
ART ALDRICH: My dad helped me land a fundraising video when I was 16, so my first system was an industrial VHS setup. It was wild back then. What I would have given for a dissolve! (Laughs) And it's been fast forward ever since. I couldn't afford an Avid in the early 1990s, so I mainly used Media 100 until Final Cut Pro version 3. Media 100 lacked compositing tools, whereas FCP has a very powerful tool set.
ALEC CARTIO: Adobe Premiere Pro on a PC -- it's very user-friendly, simple, fast and inexpensive. My previous experience was with Avid and Final Cut Pro. Avid is very non-user-friendly and illogical. It takes three steps to do one simple task. Final Cut Pro is a slower, less simple and more expensive version of Adobe Premiere Pro.
TOM CHARTRAND: I love Final Cut Pro for its flexibility, stability and smooth integration into various production environments. I started on the Mickey ages ago -- U-matic A/B-roll editing! Went to the Video Toaster, Pinnacle Aladdin, Accom Stratosphere, Avid -- but I've been editing with FCP since version 2. FCP provided a unique, industry-changing platform that I embraced early and have been able to do everything I need to with nearly every request thrown at me. Whether I'm on the road with my MacBook Pro or at my studio with my AJA Kona-based MacPro system, I can edit nearly every format and output anything that is needed from any client.
LENNY MESINA: On some projects I've had no choice but to edit on Final Cut Pro. I've heard the groans and complaints from other editors when starting up a FCP project so I know I'm not alone in saying that the Avid is a far superior editing system. Actually, I would even venture to say that 99.99 percent of the editors I've worked with came up using Avids and would claim it to be their system of choice, by far. I mean, there's a reason why so many talented editors map out their Final Cut keyboards to mimic that of the Avids. And there's a reason why so many of these same editors prefer to stick with Avid rather than completely switch over to FCP. Avid Media Composer is my weapon of choice.
Speed and efficiency are two crucial traits necessary in being an effective editor, and the Avid's intuitive layout completely allows for that. The logistics of editing within a timeline, the interface between source and record monitors, and the simplicity of the keyboard shortcuts make for a much more maneuverable system so you're not constantly bumbling around going through multiple steps in order to perform simple tasks. Ultimately, both are just tools for making films, and if you can edit with either, than so be it. It just might take a bit longer to fit a screw into a groove when you're using a hammer as opposed to a screwdriver. (Laughs)
ERIC POYDAR: I started on a Media 100, then eventually got onto an Avid and haven't looked back. Yeah, it's been affordable over the past 10 years to be on that "other" system, but that's all changing as we speak and things are almost back to how the NLE gods intended them to be. Let's not fool ourselves, Avid's the industry leader and always has been. They have the best interface and handle time code and media in general better than anyone else. Period.
SCOTT WITTHAUS: I prefer Avid Media Composer for all of my commercial work since most of those jobs still go from an offline to an "online" or finish suite. Media management and accurate online lists -- be it EDLs or AFEs -- are critical for me with what I do, and Avid is clearly the best at that. With the newest version of Media Composer [v3.0] and the great strides being made -- like handling multiple formats -- I'll be moving my jobs beyond commercial work over to Avid Media Composer 3.0 software.
My clients really don't know or care to know what software I am using, as long as their product is good and the process for getting that product was enjoyable. It's really up to me to choose the platform based on the specs of a particular gig. I was an early adopter and still am a rabid fan of the Avid DS system. I beta tested early versions and was a poster boy for the product when it was owned by Softimage. I feel this is the best platform Avid has in its product line, and I've been waiting for Avid to come out with another DS release. As I've focused more and more on the creative editorial offline process, I get less and less time on the Avid DS system. I would love to be able to jump back on the system, but it has advanced too far and I have forgotten too much!
DV: Which formats do you use most often, and why?
CHARTRAND: I'm especially fond of the flexibility of P2 HD tapeless format and the Panasonic HVX200 camera. The super-clean DVCPRO HD format is so easy to work with; it looks fantastic and is handled so well by Final Cut Pro. I remember being told by the Accom engineers that broadcast video will never be able to be edited over FireWire and thinking, "What?" It was a challenge in my mind, and why I was an early believer in FCP2. Since moving my company over to P2 HD, I can do any level of production I want. I can keep near-master quality all the way through the production process.
MESINA: MiniDV, DigiBeta -- but whatever they give me, I'm comfortable using. As long as it can be digitized, I'm good -- no preferences or favorites.
POYDAR: As of late, I've been running and gunning with MiniDV more than anything because it's the cheapest for me. Sure, I'd prefer to be shooting and cutting HD at all times, but I'm still waiting for all those prices to dip just a bit more. Plus, if you have a good DP, decent vision and good post support, your stuff is gonna look good. Larry (the actor) looked as good on the big screen as any of the flicks it screened with. And I'm talking about resolution here -- it wasn't a pixel party up there, it looked legit.
WITTHAUS: I've edited with P2 and XDCAM footage. I really have no preference as both have a good image and the workflow is getting better and better for each. There are still kinks in the workflow to be worked out when using these file-based systems in the "offline-online" scenario, but I see that being solved sooner rather than later.
DV: What are your thoughts on the advance of tapeless post?
ALDRICH: My production company has been tapeless for three years now, using P2 exclusively. I like the metadata aspect of P2, and the format flexibility. Overall, I think it's great -- edit anywhere without tons of gear. Metadata has made my life easier; the ability to shoot and edit directly from a memory card has changed a lot of things. Archive is still the biggest challenge, however.
CARTIO: Easier and fast importing/exporting of footage with no capturing required.
MESINA: Tapeless post is here, and I'm sure it's here to stay. I think productions have turned a corner in going digital -- rather than wait for tapes to be dubbed and digitized in real time, now all you need to do is wait for a download to start your offline. And no more having to sift through mountains of tapes during your online when you can just do a batch import instead of a batch digitize. Ones and zeroes racing back and forth from the digital source will eventually make both production and post more cost effective. And with the rising demand for affordable Web-based entertainment and viral marketing productions, I see the trend just becoming more and more popular.
POYDAR: Well, it already feels tapeless to me! Once my media is captured, I try to work 1:1 when I can, so my original tapes often serve as just a backup as I cut and finish from the newly created media. As far as tapeless cams and all that -- there's something really weird about not having anything physical to hold up, like a tape. Sort of the way "old-school" film people insist on cutting on Steenbecks. I can relate -- they just feel things are more tangible that way, more real and not a bunch of ones and zeroes.
WITTHAUS: Get used to it -- learn it! Understand the process before you sell a client on it
. It's coming at us faster than we think, but there are still plenty of pitfalls in the process if one is not aware.
DV: In your opinion, what is the biggest advance since the introduction of NLE?
ALDRICH: Advancements in video codecs... the quality gets better and the throughput gets lighter. That's how I can cut on a laptop and FireWire drive in HD from anywhere in the world. In the past, I would have to ship tons of road cases to do remote editing.
CARTIO: The invention of user-friendly and inexpensive NLEs such as Premiere Pro and Final Cut.
CHARTRAND: To me, the combination of the Internet and high-speed data transfer -- FireWire 400 and 800. The ability to do more faster and get it to clients far away within minutes is mind-boggling, compared to where the industry was 10 years ago.
MESINA: The biggest advance has to be the ability to edit nonlinearly -- to be able to edit without the restrictions of time and space is incredible. I was fortunate enough to first learn how to edit through physically handling and editing film and eventually through analog deck-to-deck editing, which has given me a great appreciation of how good we have it now.
Learning how to cut digitally at a computer as opposed to a Moviola has maybe made us softer as we've taken NLE for granted. But it wasn't too long ago where we would have no choice but to actually go through material frame by frame. It's amazing how far film editing has advanced in only the past 15 years or so!
POYDAR: Smaller drives! Who remembers the giant 50GB towers that would take up half of an editing suite? Who remembers having to transport that? Bottom line, whoever figured out how to make media storage so small should never have to work again. We all owe that dude, or dudette, big time.
WITTHAUS: Years ago, postproduction was a pretty exclusive club, ruled by those with the money. Now, $8,000 can get you a pretty complete software/CPU setup that can do an incredible amount of work. I do more work without clients these days because I can work from home and be continuously sending clients small "approval files" via a quick Web site. This is a great way to work and challenges the traditional post house style of working. While some are afraid of this "democratizing" of the post industry, I think it adds value to the experienced and the talented.
DV: Where do you see the future of editing going?
ALDRICH: I would like to see open standards embraced on all NLEs, and processor advancement so that rendering time is nonexistent, even on my laptop.
CARTIO: Super-fast operation, 3-D [interface] and keyboardless!
CHARTRAND: Where else? In the palms of your hands!
MESINA: I hope the future of editing leads us to a virtual editing experience -- think Tom Cruise in Minority Report. Moving digital frames with your hands as you stand in front of a screen five times your size, completely voice activated. If we've come as far as we have in as little time as we've have, the concept of virtual editing might not be too far off. I could see it now, the new Avid Virtuoso! And if that never sees the light of day, there's always telepathy editing!
POYDAR: At the end of the day, the technology should serve as an invisible bridge so that there's little disconnect between the thought and executing that thought in the most creatively efficient way possible -- no matter what system you're on. So far, so good. Big ups to the tech peeps who keep making it possible. We all salute you.
WITTHAUS: Cheaper, faster, better. More integration between software and system. It's a great time to be in this business.
ART ALDRICH (Odyssey Tek, www.odysseytek.net)
New Jersey-based Aldrich is a Final Cut Pro editor specializing in television production. His interest grew from getting involved in his high school's then-new three-camera TV studio, where he helped produce its first daily newscast in 1982. With the help of a supportive father, he had his own industrial VHS edit system by age 16. Art's credits include a stint as one of the original editors for The Howard Stern Show on WWOR in Secaucus, as well as cinematographer and editor on the digital indie feature Court Jesters (which nabbed a Best Picture nod at the 2006 Action on Film Festival). In 2007, Aldrich set up and implemented a P2 workflow for the Iditarod Trail Committee, who produced the sled dog races but were newbies to Final Cut Pro and tapeless editing.
ALEC CARTIO
(Atlantis Pictures)
A veteran of the Stockholm School of Media & Television, Cartio became an editor after being frustrating communication with editors who were cutting projects that he directed. Getting his hands on the equipment, Cartio learned the ropes and did it himself, completing hundreds of projects over the last seven years. Now working with Adobe Premiere, his work includes music videos (The Fugees' "Pras Michael" and live videos for Brian McKnight), commercials for Budweiser and Isadora, and a video collection for Middle Eastern superstar Googoosh.
TOM CHARTRAND
(Shoreline Digital Productions, Inc.)
Two decades ago, Massachusetts-based Chartrand got his start in the news business. He then leapt into the world of commercial and promotional production, where he saw the introduction of 1" and 1/2" U-matic video, Betacam, and, later, DV and DVCPRO. A versatile producer and videographer as well as an editor, he runs his own Shoreline Digital Productions, where his clients have included CVS Pharmacy, The Boston Bruins Foundation and Infor Corp. Most recently, Chartrand used Panasonic's P2 HD technology and acted as lead editor for a workflow demonstration at NAB 2008, where a team organized by Digital Video & Consulting shot interviews with 40 production partners (including Adobe and others) and edited them together live over the four days of the show to get a first glimpse of the newest offerings announced there.
LENNY MESINA
Mesina's early interest in being an actor (which he dismissed with the question "How is a short, funny-looking Filipino going to make it in Hollywood?") gave way to becoming a 10-year veteran of the editorial world. He attended film school at the San Francisco Academy of Art, where he started out reworking existing feature trailers on Super 8 and 16mm film. Mesina quickly moved on to linear and then digital editing as he was enlisted to cut his fellow students' projects, paving the way for a career in music videos (Blink 182's Down), documentaries (including one of his favorites, Beautiful Losers, directed by Aaron Rose and Joshua Leonard) and primetime network commercial work (including "Perfectly Aligned" for Lexus).
ERIC POYDAR
(Bootleg Productions)
After shooting home movie footage on Hi-8 while studying abroad, Poydar was inspired by Robert Rodriguez's book Rebel Without a Crew and embarked on his first editing work with a linear deck-to-deck system. He worked his way through school, jumped into an intern position at a small post house in Boston, and managed to get some inspired knowledge from Next Stop Wonderland director/editor Brad Anderson prior to striking out on his own. Poydar's credits include Dead Dog, Outside Providence and his own documentary, Larry (the actor). Currently making the festival rounds, that project began life as a DV25-shot feature starring character actor Lionel Mark Smith, which, for creative reasons, was distilled into a 30-minute monologue finished to HDCAM.
SCOTT WITTHAUS
(1708 Editorial, www.1708editorial.com)
A 27-year production veteran, Witthaus gravitated toward editorial and post in 1993 and hasn't looked back since. A triple threat whose work includes stints in management (as VP of Operations for Washington, D.C.-based Henninger Media Services), ownership (as a founding member of Greybox Editorial) and hands-on senior editing, the Virginia-based Witthaus currently heads 1708 Editorial, a company that uses the latest technology available to eliminate geography as a barrier to the creative process. His editorial credits include commercial work for Geico, Circuit City, Anthem Blue Cross/Blue Shield, Advance Auto and Carmax.
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