Frequently Asked Questions

How can I get my PowerPoint, Flash, or Director presentation out to videotape?

This is trickier than one might think. Computer screens usually have a higher resolution — more detail and more colors — than standard definition television. The key is to remember that computer screens and videotape are different media. Keep in mind that video has a much lower resolution and less color than computer screens, so what may look fine on a computer can easily become completely unreadable on a TV set. Highly contrasting colors, very bright colors, and small lines and text should be avoided if the show is going to end up on videotape. With that in mind, the following solutions may be considered:

1. The best method is to simply recreate the show in an editing suite, using the existing show as a template. This will ensure that the presentation looks smooth and professional, is completely legible, and is properly timed out.


2. PowerPoint and many other programs can export their slides to stills, which can easily be brought into a video editing suite, after which the timing can easily be built. This method, however, will cause all audio and many transitions to be lost, which will have to be rebuilt in the edit.


3. Some programs, such as Flash, can export their presentation as a large AVI or QT file, which can be converted and output to videotape via a non-linear editing system. Although this method can preserve transitions and audio, these files can be HUGE, even up to several gigabytes in size, if one wishes to ensure quality.


4. A transcoder is a specialized black box that can convert whatever appears on a computer screen, in real time to video. We also have achieved excellent results by pointing a professional video camera with scan rate adjustment at a good computer monitor, and videotaping it. These methods will most accurately reproduce how the show plays on a computer screen; however, the results may be illegible.

NOTE: A basic edit should also be done after the transcoder or camera records a show. Even if the computer simply displays the first frame of the presentation until you tell it to start, a videotape should have black recorded before and after a show. This will ensure that nothing gets missed in the first few seconds of the show, and will avoid an abrupt transition to static (i.e., no picture) the instant your show ends.

How can I prepare for my edit in a linear suite?

Preparing for a linear edit requires a greater degree of pre-planning because changes to length are more time consuming and, therefore, more expensive. Once the editor begins to lay-in shots, it becomes increasingly difficult and expensive to go back and change one’s mind (see "What is the difference between linear and non-linear editing?").

At the beginning of the edit, its very helpful to go over your plans with the editor. When editors know in advance what effects, graphics, and other cues you will want to implement, they can ensure that each edit is compatible with your plans, thereby avoiding re-edits. Your editor (and this FAQ) can also help you understand how to provide materials compatible with the editing process.

How can I prepare for my video edit?

Thorough preparation for an edit is always helpful in saving time and reducing cost. Every edit session should move forward only when a script is 100% completed, and when as many elements as possible are ready: music selections, narration track, translations, content of titles, graphic art, and various technical specifications understood and communicated to the editor (e.g., program length, release format, etc.). One should be aware of the limitations of video as a medium as well as its possibilities. Consulting with the editor prior to the edit session provides an opportunity to discover the suite’s capabilities as well as its limitations. Few things are as frustrating as entering an edit with ambitious plans which budget, time, or technical restraints will render impossible. It’s important to remember, too, that there are some questions that editors (for all their expertise) simply can’t answer, particularly those pertaining to how your logo should be presented, who owns the copy right to music you wish to use, how to spell your associates’ names, and so on. Preparation is key!

How do I format screen graphics or animations for a video edit?

Stills (photos or graphics) that are being prepared for an edit need to be prepared as RGB Tiff (*.tif) or Targa (*.tga) files sized to 720x540 pixels at 72 DPI. Animations need to be rendered at 720x486 with a .9 pixel aspect ratio.

Although a video picture is actually 720x486, its pixels aren’t square; they’re shorter than they are wide. In other words, if a circle is grabbed from videotape and displayed on a computer screen, it will appear to be an oblong, slightly wider than it is tall. Similarly, if a circle is made on a computer screen at 720x486 and output to video, it will also appear slightly oblong, slightly wider than it is tall.

To compensate for this, if an image is made at 720x540, and then squished to 720x486 just before output, the aspect ratio and size will be correct for output on a standard 4x3 TV screen.

How do I go about logging my tapes?

Logging tapes prior to your edit is probably the single most important way to save time, money, and frustration when it comes to editing your video. A quick run-through can help familiarize you with your footage, but sitting down and properly logging your shots is much more useful even if it is time consuming. Better to spend the time at home or in the office going over your footage again and again if necessary, rather than doing it while paying for an editing suite where every minute counts.

A good log lets a director, producer, or editor find any shot in the raw footage quickly and easily. Be sure your log includes which tape the shot is on, the original time code as displayed on a playback deck or window burn, a script’s scene number, and a description of the shot with comments. The sample log below is fairly comprehensive; virtually every shot has been logged. This is not always necessary, as we explain below.

Most of the time, people only log the sections they need. If they did seven takes of an action or statement, for example, they may just log the take they like the best. This can save time, but we suggest caution! If the selected take doesn’t work out in the edit, you’ll find yourself looking through all seven takes again. A safer bet is to log the first take with accurate notes, and then just continue to mark where the other 6 are, and give a rough description, (BAD, OK, coughs twice, etc.). That way you know which you can fall back on if you need to change the shot once you’re in the edit.

Sometimes you may wish to also include an out-point for a shot, suggesting where the editor should or must cut away to another shot. For example, if the shot suddenly begins to include visual information (such as a competitor’s product) that you don’t wish to see in your video, including an out-point can help prevent mistakes during the edit.

You don’t need to edit the entire show on paper. For cutaways, you can just log a long section as “good pans examples of technique,” for example. That way you can find the appropriate shots quickly, and choose between them during the edit according to how they interact with other shots, how they match the flow of the video, and so on.

For interviews, it usually proves helpful to transcribe at least the first and last phrase you want, so it will be easier for the editor to locate the desired words. However, a full transcript of interviews is always the most useful tool for an edit, as it enables you to quickly find the desired quote on the tape, and provides the text of alternative selections if the chosen quote (which appears good on paper) turns out to be ineffective when actually listened to or viewed on tape.

You don’t necessarily have to log your shots to the frame; you can just log hours:minutes:seconds. After the first shot of a tape is logged, you may even find it easier to ignore the hour. But be sure you know whether 1:05:07 is 1 hour 5 minutes 7 seconds, or 1 minute 5 seconds 7 frames. Always be consistent and thorough.

What audio/videotape formats does Take One support?

Take One can play or record the following video formats:

Digital Betacam
DVCPRO50
Betacam SP
DVCAM
MiniDV
SVHS
VHS (NTSC, PAL, SECAM)
Betamax
¾"
1"
8mm
Hi8

What is a window burn, and why do I need one?

Professional video formats such as BetacamSP, Digibeta, DVCPRO, and sometimes even SVHS reserve a portion of the videotape or frequencies within the video signal for time code. Time code is a system of sequentially numbering every frame of the video, and is expressed as hours:minutes:seconds:frames.

Without time code, there is no accurate way of referencing a specific frame or sequence of frames on a videotape. Other types of counters are extremely inaccurate and vary from machine to machine, even from one playback to the next.

With time code, however, each frame of video can be assigned a unique number which is locked to that specific frame; that number won’t change. (The number is recorded at the same time as the visual and audio signals.) Therefore, a frame designated 1:25:06:22 on a tape, for example, will keep the same exact number on any deck that can read time code. The tape won’t have to be rewound to reset the numbers to zero, then fast forwarded again, therefore saving a great deal of time and inaccuracy during editing and logging.

Unfortunately, most decks that read time code are expensive, so to use them just for logging tapes is not the best use of one’s budget. This is where the window burn comes in. A window burn is a special dub of a time coded videotape which displays the time code on screen visually. Usually a window burn is on VHS so that common, inexpensive VCRs can be used to view it. The window burn allows you to view and log your footage inexpensively at your own facility while still giving you access to an exact time code. By accurately logging your tapes (and, if you can, making frame-accurate editing decisions prior to arriving at the editing suite), you can save time and money.

See also: How do I go about logging my tapes?

What is the difference between "linear" and "non-linear" editing?

Most video is still distributed on a long, continuous strand of tape. Tape is a linear medium. To get from one point to another on the tape, one must physically wind or rewind the tape; there are no shortcuts from one point to another non-contiguous one. With the advent of digital media, recordings could finally be accessed in a non-linear manner. One could instantly move from one point in the recording to another without having to pass physically over the intervening material. Examples of non-linear media include computer disks, memory cards, miniDiscs, CD-ROM, and DVD (but not DAT audio recordings, computer backup tapes, or Digital Betacam, which are linear).

Traditionally, video editing was linear. A video program was assembled onto a finite length of tape, usually starting from beginning. Changes to the program could be made after the initial edit was completed; however, the overall length of the program could only be changed by adding or deleting material from the end of the program. While individual scenes could be changed within the program, as much material had to be inserted as was to be removed. The only work around to this was to edit again, to yet another linear tape, this time using as a source tape the edited tape. This usually meant a loss of quality (a loss of a "generation"), a drawback which has become of less concern as tape formats increased in quality and became digital.

Non-linear video editing takes advantage of the non-linear nature of disk-based, digital storage to allow endless experimentation during video editing. Prior to editing, the video is imported into a computer (“digitized”). As editing progresses, the edited video program initially exists only as a list of numbers which refers to the digital files. The list describes how the video is put together; until the video is exported to a linear tape, it exists only as that list. No matter how often the material is edited and reedited, the actual video information remains undisturbed. This allows the editor to assemble a virtually unlimited number of variations of an edit without ever affecting the original data. Length and content can be changed at will.

The great advantage of non-linear editing is the flexibility and experimentation it allows. Editors and clients can change their minds right up to the last minute; there’s no need to be absolutely sure of one’s editing plan prior to going ahead.

If there is a downside to non-linear editing, it is that it usually takes longer. Prior to a non-linear edit, the source tapes must be loaded into the editing computer in real time. Since data storage can be limited (particularly if several edits are going on simultaneously), a pre-selection of material must be undertaken in order to ensure that the proper video takes – and only those takes — are digitized. Also, only the highest-end systems respond as quickly as traditional linear online systems; the need to render transitions, for example, can often slow less capable systems to a crawl. So non-linear systems can offer greater flexibility and convenience than linear systems, but at a risk of lesser quality and more needed prep-time.

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