[Tig] Fwd: electronic editing
Rob Lingelbach
rob at colorist.org
Thu Nov 8 14:57:00 PST 2007
offered for amusement or other, this is my reply to John Buck for
inclusion in his book on early electronic video editing.
Begin forwarded message:
> From: Rob Lingelbach <rob at colorist.org>
> Date: November 8, 2007 8:40:36 PM GMT-02:00
> To: John Buck <velocite at gmail.com>
> Cc: domenic <domrom at optonline.net>
> Subject: Re: [Tig] electronic editing
>
> Hi John
>
> ok, first, there is this photo which I'll attach and this text from
> the URL at
>
> http://www.big13.net/Facilities/facilities_video_tape_recording.htm
>
> quoting from the URl above:
>
> Besides making reliable video tape recorders such as the VR-1000,
> VR-1100, VR-1200, and VR-2000, Ampex also produced an analog
> magnetic video disk recorder. The mobile unit held an Ampex
> HS-100, with a storage time of about 30 seconds. The studio used
> an HS-200 with about :30 of storage. The HS-200 worked with a
> simple computer that allowed for greater control of reverse,
> freeze, or slo-mo playback of video signals. The disk was a big
> hit with sports productions, and was used often in studio sessions
> as well.
> ----end quoting----
>
> so, here goes John, this is my text.
>
> I joined Unitel Video in 1976 and worked first as a janitor, then a
> Studio Manager (sweeping the studio, painting the stage and
> Cyclorama, caring for the lights and cameras, providing food and
> services for the production companies) which gave me invaluable
> experience in production. We had 2 stages and multiple Philips
> Norelco cameras.
>
> Eventually I moved into duplication, on the night shift, which was
> edifying but difficult, as we had to work at night after the
> clients who used the suites which had the VTRs from 10PM until 6AM
> or later. Trying to sleep in an apartment near the Brooklyn Navy
> Yard, where they build ships (a very noisy activity as you can
> imagine), and going home when everyone was leaving home to work, on
> the subway, was a queasy experience.
>
> I eventually became a Videotape Editor in an Edit Room (as they
> were then called) at Unitel (on 57th Street in Manhattan) in 1979.
> Unitel had, at that time, 3 Edit Rooms, Edit 1, 2, and 3. 2 and 3
> were CMX rooms using the CMX 360 (NOTE: please check the version #
> not sure) and Edit 1 was outfitted with Editec, the Ampex quasi-
> manual system. Editec didn't use SMPTE time code, rather it worked
> thusly:
>
> Playback tapes (source material from shoots) were loaded onto Ampex
> VR2000s. The master editing machine was also a VR-2000. An
> example session would start with my recording the audio track for
> a :30 commercial from quarter-inch audiotape to the master deck,
> which was next to the video switcher, in this case a Grass Valley
> 1200 switcher. I would first have a "basic" tape of 1 minute of
> bars and tone, followed by the Unitel countdown and the slate for
> the project. The slate would be a cardboard card under the title
> cameras (two of them in order to switch between) with handwritten
> data on the client, product, length of spot, and other pertinent
> details. This "slate" as we called it would appear to the right of
> the video frame as the countdown from 10 to 2 seconds appeared on
> the left side of frame. This composite image was created on the
> switcher. When the client entered the suite, the basic would
> already be up on the master VR2000, and then I'd start by laying
> down the audio track. A stopwatch served, started at the 10 count
> of the slate/countdown, to time the point when I'd release (via the
> pause button) the playback on the Teac 1/4" deck. Previous to this
> I would already have marked an edit point for video and audio just
> after the 2-pop (2-beep if you're from NYC). (2-pop is LA-
> speak). So the edit machine would be "live", recording video
> black and pre-recorded audio, in insert mode, just after 2 seconds
> before program material; then I would release, looking at the
> stopwatch to be certain, the 1/4" playback of the audio track. One
> had to "back off" the audio one-quarter turn, manually, for preroll
> in order to allow the audio deck to reach speed.
>
> The audio would start about a 1/2 second after the 10 second
> countdown reached zero, to allow for the video fadeup.
>
> After the audio was recorded for the commercial, then it was time
> to start editing the video. In the case of multiple-source
> videotapes (recorded from multiple cameras) they would already have
> been loaded and set up (optimized- which involved setting their
> head penetration, oscillator frequencies, playback levels) on at
> least 2 and sometimes 3 or 4 playback VTRs, and this would have
> been done by the assistant. The first edit decision was where to
> start the playback of the first scene, which was decided with
> client input by screening one of the playback tapes, with help from
> script notes. The client usually had already gone over the
> storyboard with me, where we knew what camera would be switched to
> where; this decided as well where I might have to dub (duplicate) a
> particular scene, in order (in the case of dissolves) not to have
> to try to dissolve to the same playback machine, which was
> impossible in this era. (later on, in the later 80s, this could be
> done with "pre-read" technology.)
>
> There existed, on the master VTR, controlled by me the editor, a
> "Group Start" switch which started all VTRs at the same time,
> including the master. This achieved a rough (amazingly accurate at
> the time) lock-up of these 2" (and later on 1") machines. The
> assistant and editor would already have marked, with Magic Marker,
> the points at which these VTRs had to be parked, in order to
> achieve sync. The preroll for edits was always 10 seconds, as
> sometimes the tapes needed 7 seconds or so to lock up before edit.
> The edit points, for playback and for record were adjusted with
> additional Magic Marker marks. One had to be dependent on the
> assistant to ensure quick lockup, as the oscillator configuration
> on these (possibly out-of-house tapes) was critical. Editec did
> not use SMPTE code, instead it utilized the Cue Track (which
> corresponded to channel 3 audio) for recording of an audible beep
> at about 1000 Hz, that triggered the Editec Editing System to cause
> the master VTR to enter Edit Mode (either insert or assemble; in
> sessions with the client we edited video only, the audio already
> having been laid down as a guide track for the video).
>
> At this point in the edit I already had selected, on the GV1200
> switcher, the crosspoints which corresponded to the individual
> playback VTrs, for achieving either cuts or dissolves, which were
> either always done live (in the case of dissolves) or done via
> another edit point (in the case of cuts). If I were presented a
> session which consisted entirely of dissolves, I knew I was in for
> a complicated session, as it would necessarily involve, at one time
> at least (usually multiple times) a "match edit" to one of the
> playback VTRs, which had to be exactly frame-accurate. Not only
> did the match edit have to be frame-accurate in time, but it had
> to be completely synchronous, for horizontal timing. If the
> horizontal reference were off by half a cycle, then there would be
> a dreaded "H-SHIFT" at the edit point, represented by a bump to the
> right or left of the image. Because we only had at the most 4
> playback VTRs, edits had to be done (in the case of many cuts)
> multiple times.
>
> The first action by the editor was the fadeup to source for scene
> 1, followed by either a cut, dissolve, or switcher wipe to scene 2,
> etc. until the end of the commercial or program. All of these cuts
> or dissolves were done manually, usually with a change of source on
> the preview buss of the switcher; not only did the editor have to
> time the scenes and cuts, but had also to switch the source for the
> next cut/dissolve. The last action, perhaps after a series of
> match edits, was the fadeout, which occurred in sync with the
> stopwatch, at either 30 or 60 seconds. The audio track always
> functioned as our guide, our timing reference, to which we were
> editing the video.
>
> One of the most important constants for the editor was to know his/
> her reaction time, so that the cue beep entered into Editec would
> be adjusted via the frame adjust wheel, such that it would fall
> where desired. It devolved that my reaction, on a normal day (when
> I hadn't worked too late the night before) was about 4 frames, or
> about 1/8 of a second.
>
> The HS200 slo-mo disc was triggered via a GPI (General Purpose
> Interface)_ that was an electronic trigger sent to cause it to
> enter its preprogrammed sequence. This sequence was "programmed"
> using patch cords for freeze, slow-mo, reverse, or other possible
> playback, at the control panel of the HS200 itself. This was in
> itself a delicate art, as was keeping the HS200 analog disc free of
> dirt, and so therefore free of video dropouts.
>
> best regards
>
> Rob Lingelbach
>
> http://www.colorist.org/robhome.html rob at colorist.org
>
-------------- next part --------------
> On Nov 8, 2007, at 7:30 PM, John Buck wrote:
>
>> rob
>> i have had some great replies
>> thanks for your help and yes please tell
>> me about editec!
>> john
>
> --
> Whenever people agree with me I sense I must be wrong. [Oscar Wilde]
> Rob Lingelbach rob at estudiosmega.com.br
> http://www.colorist.org
>
--
Whenever people agree with me I sense I must be wrong. [Oscar Wilde]
Rob Lingelbach rob at estudiosmega.com.br
http://www.colorist.org
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