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Production
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"Editing"
HDTV in Mini-DV format
(as
featured in Videography)
Project:
Underwater
HDTV Video
Description:
This excerpt from our January 2003 article in Videography explains the
technique we developed for creating EDL's for HDTV production, saving
money, and streamlining the process.
To cut
the cost of the edit, we devised a technique that allowed us to preview
and compile an EDL (edit decision list) using a desktop computer and
Mini-DV deck. This relatively straightforward technique arose more out
of cost savings then anything else since it relies on desktop-based
tools. It was a simple matter of putting together already-existing capabilities
of various programs and systems that hadn't been integrated before.
The technique involves the following steps:
- First,
we had The Creative Group (our edit facility) dub each of the camera
masters onto Mini-DV tapes with a letterbox to accommodate the differences
in aspect ratio going from HDTV's 16:9 to NTSC's 4:3.
- As
most Mini-DV systems do not support professional timecode, per se,
we had Creative window burn the timecode from the HD tapes directly
into the black area of the top letterbox. As Charles Suydam, Chief
Engineer
from
Creative, explains it: "As a consumer product, Mini-DV uses a proprietary
timecode format loosely based on SMPTE dropframe timecode, which is
not compatible with professional versions of timecode." The bottom
line was that the only way to get the professional SMPTE timecode
from the HD tapes onto the Mini-DV, would be via a window burn.
- The
location of the window burn was important for a number of reasons.
First, we had planned on using Adobe Premiere's "Decode Burned-In
Timecode" function where it optically reads timecode visible on the
video. Therefore, we needed it placed over an uncluttered background.
Second, if we ever wanted to cut other videos from these tapes, we
had window-burn dubs with a clean (preserved) image area which would
then need only a simple black mask over the top letterbox to hide
the burned-in timecode.
- These
clips were then digitized into Adobe Premiere using a SONY Mini-DV
deck with a FireWire connection to a Macintosh G4. Although the Decode
feature in Premiere didn't work very well (it had trouble reading
the code and keeping in sync - even after we tried several different
timecode font sizes and thicknesses), Premiere did allow us to manually
set the timecode in in-point.
- We then
compiled the edit in Premiere, and then exported the EDL (edit decision
list) to a file that Creative's editing system could read.
- As the
color correction would still needed to happen in the HD editing suite
at Creative, having previous settings on file in the HDME saved a
lot of time when we went into the re-edit.
Now, of
course if you edit with a system capable of handling professional SMPTE
timecode, you can forgo the window burn and this technique should would
work much the same way.
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