'day all. Glad to see you back for more.

I have a real problem with the term 'Non-Linear Editing.' It has to go. It is an historic term, in the same vein as 'Wireless Radio' and 'Horseless Carriage.' It's a non-name, waiting for its own identity.

While switching to non-linear editing sped up a number of our editing tasks, I think many of us were suprised by the time one spends digitizing.

• We often record extra takes, cause we are not sure which ones we need in the edit.
• We spend ages getting the color to look perfect on shots you may not use.
• And we ride audio levels carefully, planning to save time later.

It is often a delicate balance that is somewhat project dependent. If you relax too much you can fill up your hard drives; if you are too tight when digitizing, you may lose editing options later.

A second suprise came with 'file management' time. Keeping unique file names straight and hundreds of croutons organized taught us to be tidy and efficient. We utilize folders and naming conventions to keep things straight.

Here then are a variety of ways that folks are reducing the digitizing and cutting room time, along with a few 'file management' techniques. I'm sure that there are other methods which have been invented. Any other names for "non-linear" though?

Don't Trim Unless Needed

When you trim a clip the Flyer needs to read and rewrite the entire file onto the same drive, a slow operation, especially on a long file. If there is a lot of 'slop' footage, or hard drive space is at a premium, then go ahead and trim it.

But if all you are doing is chopping a second or two off the top, then just pick your icon (with the lower slider) and click the 'OK' button. The Flyer makes the icon and is ready to digitize again in a few seconds.

Don't Kill Audio Unless Trimming

If you are not trimming your clip, but you select 'video only' then once again the Flyer will read & re-write your clip from the top - while you sit & wait...

Instead, leave it alone and when you place the clip into a project, turn its audio off then - using Left Alt + A or the crouton control panel.

Sometimes, Keep All Video As One Clip

Many folks skip the cutting room altogether. They use the pause button when recording, and put practically all of their footage into one clip. This works well for certain types of projects like "talking head" speeches, ceremonies, theater performances, and other special events that are generally kept in a chronological order, especially when shot from a 'locked down' camera. The benefits are:

• Avoiding long delays when cutting clips
• Saving brain time wondering what to digitize
• Avoid file naming totally

The drawbacks however are:

• You only have one icon for most of the project
• Will the long clip fit on a backup tape Note: the latest version of Co-Pilot Video adds a "Create Icon" command that provides temporary multiple icons from a single clip.

Process Cutting to a second drive

The cutting room works faster when reading from one drive and writing to another. Some folks record all the video as one clip and then save it complete. Next they open up 'Process' clip and cut it the long clip into smaller separate ones on another drive. When the cutting is complete, they delete the original long clip on the first drive.

File Naming

Whenever possible I mark my scripts with a paragraph number. Then when digitizing I give each clip a filename that refers to that number, e.g. NKF.06.02 = Project NKF, paragraph six, take two. This puts all your clips on the hard drive into project order.

Note: Co-Pilot Video also has a "Create Project" command that automatically builds a project alphabetically from a directory, adds fades between shots, and sets the timing of stills.

For miscellaneous shots that might be used anywhere (like audience responses and generic cutaways), I skip this convention and name them in groups e.g. CrowdWS.06 = Crowd, Wide shot, take 6. Unfortunately, this means keeping track of what you have named earlier, but that might be in the script too.

Use the Comment for source location

I often place the source tape number and approximate tape location in the comment field. Then it is easy to-redigitize the shot if the need arises.

Use An Audio Limiter/Compressor

A massive amount of time can be saved by controlling your audio levels carefully when recording to the Flyer. This is most easily done by adding a 2 channel Limiter/Compressor to the audio coming in to your Flyer (about $120 - $400). By squashing your narrations and voices into a limited range you can avoid:

• fiddling with the levels of multiple clips
• having voices that fluctuate in levels
• background noise between phrases

The same technique can help control music that is overly dynamic (i.e. has loud and soft passages). You can waste a lot of time trying to adjust musical passages so they won't overwhelm your voices, or disappear at soft points of music.

If I need the music to maintain its dynamic start, then I begin digitizing with either the Limiter's 'Threshold' or 'Ratio' control dialed out. Then after an appropriate period, I gradually dial it back in to a setting I had already picked.

Michael Holten is an Emmy award winning video editor, a theatrical Sound Designer, and a third party Flyer programmer. His Seattle based company, OZware, has released three programs for use with NewTek's Video Flyer: Co-Pilot Audio, Co-Pilot Video, and Aussie's Fast Frames. Watch for more.