American Cinematographer - May 1993 - 70

Digital Offline Video Editing:
Expanding Creative Horizons
by Les Paul Robley

In Part 1

of this 3-part series, we ex¬
plored the advantages of new nonlin¬
ear
editing methods and assessed some
of the latest equipment, such as LaserPacific Media's Laser Edit. Part 2 ex¬
amines LucasArt's EditDroid

system

well as a variety of digital compres¬
sion techniques. The third installment
will offer an overview of more of the
latest offline equipment and post tech¬
as

are

always assistants involved."

LucasArt's EditDroid

Originally introduced in
1983, the EditDroid is

a

nonlinear

offline laserdisc system that was
ahead of its time. "When the origi¬
nal 'Droid came out we were the
first to have a pictoral time-line/'

The unit's laserdisc will

play back whatever source is fed
into it. Despite the disc's vast capac¬
ity for information, output is lim¬
ited to %-inch quality and only two
channels of sound are presently
available, making it an offline sys¬
tem. But Northrop is quick to point
editing system: "We're basically for
film editing. We offer more options
when you want to make changes."
EditDroid's edit bay fea¬
tures six to ten Sony 8000 Laserdisc
players, two 3/4-inch players and
%-inch recorder. The Beta, oneinch or 3/4-inch source material is
one

Jan Northrop. Unlike Laser Edit,
everything from the players to the

typically transferred onto disc by
ODC with film edge numbers
burned-in over the slate during

an unmodified
off-the-shelf product, making
downed units easy to replace.
EditDroid looks more like a flatbed
film editing table than a desktop

telecine. Two sets of discs are made
with the same material to facilitate
dissolves or duplicating shots
found on the same disc. Picture and
sound are executed together so that

computer. The folks at EditDroid
prefer to call it an electronic replace¬

sync sound will play off the same
disc. The 3/4-inch players were
added to cut-in stock footage, mu¬
sic or effects that have not been
transferred to laser. An edit bay
rents for $2000 per week, and each

says

LucasArt operations manager

time code chain is

ment of the Moviola.

Originally
designed by filmmakers for the fea¬
ture-film market, film people-not
computer technicians - helped
define the software.
EditDroid's operation was

designed to flow in a manner simi¬
lar to the way an editor works while
cutting film. "Where this was im¬
mediately manifested was in the
assistant workstation, whereby the

fine.

Nobody does that! Everybody
a
screening copy of the edit

wants

out that EditDroid is not a sound

niques.

list. For that

reason

all of

us are

in

way nonlinear. You can make
'Droid more linear by forcing your¬
self to edit all the way down the
line. The advantage is that when
some

you're done,

your assembly is all
finished and you don't have to wait
for it. The disadvantage is that ev¬

time you go back and make a
change, you've got to re-record
ery

from there to the next cut. That's

required if you're going to cut
negative or do an online. Some of
not

our editors feel that the interaction
between the record tape and edit

list is the closest they get to the kind
of thing they're used to with film.
When Steve Soderberg (director of

Kafka) was asked why he came back
(for King of the Hill) he said because
EditDroid was the best of linear and
nonlinear combined."
The ability to record the

play back the cut, then make
editing decisions based on the tape
(rather than going back to the
cut,

source) is

a

definite linear advan¬

tage. To earn the term "filmic," an
editing system must offer the abil¬
ity to cut picture and sound sepa¬

rately. Most electronic editing sys¬
tems try to tie the operator to sync.

30-minute disc costs $90. One limi¬
tation found in laserdisc-based sys¬
tems is that without enough play¬
ers one can't execute a full
preview.

EditDroid makes it very easy to
find sync and restore it. Users can
build a bed of sound and cut pic¬

Therefore, certain edits have to be

ture to it

recorded in order to view the cut.
This makes the process seem some¬

nal product more fluid

separately, making the fi¬
and "filmic"

than the results of most nonlinear

assistant editor could work sepa¬

what linear. Jan Northrop prefers to

systems. But the biggest difference

rately from the main system in con¬

call it

between EditDroid and other laser

junction with the main picture edi¬

ear

tor," says LucasArt general man¬
ager Bob Coleman. "No other sys¬

nonlinear system
aspects.
a

"You

can

edit in

with lin¬

companies is not in the cutting, but
a

linear

tem has that feature. It addresses

mode: go to the cut you want, cut
it, preview it, and go to the next,"

the fact that feature films

Northrop

made

68

of work to be done and there

by one

American

person.

Cinematographer

are

There's

not

a

lot

says.

"If the edits look

right you put out a list and you're

May 1993

in the edit list. As

Northrop main¬

tains, "We have the best list output.
It goes way beyond EDL. We have
places in the database to put out
EDL for online time code, the origi-
American Cinematographer - May 1993

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