Easy Home Video Editor (150-1963) Edit Preparation Faxback Doc. # 34340 Step 5 Prepare to Edit Be sure the VCR is set to SP speed and its input is set to LINE (or equivalent), as detailed in Step 2.3 on Faxback Doc. # 34337. Place a blank tape in the VCR and rewind it to the beginning. Be sure the tape's record tab is in place so that the VCR can record. Turn the fader on or off. The fader is described in Step 4 on Faxback doc. # 34339. Step 8.3, item 4 on Faxback Doc. # 34341 tells how to turn it on or off. Adjust the enhancer. Play the camcorder tape. As the tape plays, use the "+" and "-" ends of the ENHANCE button (1) to optimize the picture. As soon as you press the button, the enhancement indicator (2) appears on the screen. If ENH is set to zero, the enhancer has little effect. Positive numbers increase the sharpness of the picture. Negative numbers reduce the "video noise" (a snowy or speckled texture) in the dark areas of the picture. Adjust the enhancer until the picture looks the best. You might want to slightly increase the sharpness past that point to counteract the sharpness lost when tapes are copied. Note that the enhancer's effects are designed to be subtle (because large amounts of enhancement would make the picture worse). In particular, enhancement doesn't improve a picture that's already very good; nor will it help a really poor picture. The enhancer is most useful for images that are somewhere in between. Step 6 Instant Editing Instant Editing is the fastest way to edit. It works with most camcorders. Editing is done "live". Use the thumb buttons to indicate the good sections as you watch the tape and they are immediately recorded on the new tape. Step 6.1: Prepare to Edit. Set up the equipment and tapes, as described in Step 5 above. Step 6.2: Record Black Leader. The Instructions pamphlet describes how to record a length of black video at the start of the production. For best results, the camcorder should be playing some color video while the black is recorded (if your camcorder generates a blue screen when it's stopped, that works well). If the camcorder is not playing color video, there can be a jump in the picture when the black leader ends. Step 6.3: Record Your Scenes. Use the thumb buttons, as described in the Instructions pamphlet, to record the good segments. They are recorded immediately. NOTE: The VCR must be in record-pause before you press the Thumbs-Up button. If not, start over or refer to Step 9.1 on Faxback Doc. # 34342. NOTE: If you are using the edit control cable with an edit control camcorder, or the original video has timecode, press EDIT and Thumbs-Up together, instead of just Thumbs-Up. This indicates you want to do an Instant Edit instead of an Automatic Edit. Step 6.4: Record Black Trailer. Use the same steps you used to record the black leader. Remember that for best results, the camcorder should be playing a color video source. Step 6.5: Titles. You can also add titles, using a title generator. Connect it as shown in Step 2.6 on Faxback Doc. # 34337. Step 6.6: More... Step 4 and Step 8-11 on Faxback Doc.s # 34339 & # 34341 describe many extra features you can explore as you gain editing skill. Step 7 Automatic Editing with Control-L, Panasonic 5-pin, or Timecode. With Automatic Editing, you can indicate where the good video segments are and automatically record the scenes. You can keep track of up to 62 segments, on multiple tapes. You can modify the timing of the segments and re-make the production until it's just what you want. Note that Automatic Editing requires a camcorder with edit control and real time counter - or - source tapes that contain time-code (Steps 1.4 and 10). Step 7.1: Prepare to Edit. Set up the equipment and tapes as described in Step 5 above. Step 7.2: Zero the Camcorder (Optional). Press ON-SCREEN-DISPLAY and REWIND on the Easy Editor at the same time. This rewinds the camcorder tape and zeroes the tape counter so 0:00:00:0 appears on the counter at the very start of the tape. This step is unnecessary unless you plan to remove the tape and re-insert it later to make more edits on the same tape. It's also unnecessary if the original tape has timecode (Step 10) because timecode automatically keeps the counter calibrated. Step 7.3 Mark Segments. This is the heart of the Automatic Editing process. The Instructions pamphlet describes how to mark segments. The following steps describe some extra details about how "thumb-marks" work. Step 7.4: About Thumb-Marks. When you press the Thumbs-Up or Thumbs-Down button, the Easy Editor remembers that event. We say that the scene has been "marked," but nothing is actually recorded on the tape. Instead, the tape counter number at that instant is stored in the Easy Editor's memory and is used later when the production is recorded. It's easy to see where thumb-marks are. As the tape plays, the thumb flashes for a few seconds as the point is passed. The Easy Editor automatically prevents you from placing two thumb-marks so close together that the scenes could not be reliably recorded. The flashing marks identify this "safety zone." When you make a new thumb-mark, you must wait until the flashing stops. You can move, delete, or add thumb marks (Step 7.5 below). The Easy Editor holds up to 124 thumb marks (62 scenes). If the Setup Menu appears when you make a thumb mark, with MEM=000 flashing, it means you filled memory. Remove some marks (Step 7.5 below). Here's a subtle detail: You can have thumb marks that don't do anything two thumbs-up marks in a row, for example. You can see where the second one is because it flashes, but it does nothing since the previous mark already indicates good video at that point. The second mark is used, however, if the first one is ever removed. You can use "do nothing" marks as sort of a bookmark, to note a place you want to edit later. 7.5: Oops...Erasing and Moving Marks. Erasing marks: If you miss a point or change your mind about what you want to include you can erase thumb marks. Play the tape. When the on-screen thumb flashes, you are near a thumb mark. Remove the mark by pressing the opposite thumb button from the one you used to create the mark, while the thumb is flashing. You can also erase all thumb marks, using the Setup Menu's MEM indicator - see Step 8.3, item 6 on Faxback Doc. # 34341. For example, suppose you pressed the Thumbs-Up button as a car drove into view and the Thumbs-Down button as it drove away. You decide you want the scene to start later, as the car reaches the camera. To do this, play the portion where the car comes into view. When the thumbs-up mark flashes, press the Thumbs-Down button. The thumbs-up mark is erased. (It's easy to remember - this is now "bad" video, so you press Thumbs-Down.) Now, wait for the car to reach the camera and press the Thumbs-Up button to mark the new place where the segment begins. Moving a mark: You can also fine-tune the position of a mark. At the new location, press the same thumb button you used to create the mark before. If the new place is close to the old mark, the Easy Editor simply moves the mark. If it's farther away, a new mark is made and you can then erase the old one. Step 7.6: "T" Marks. If you have a video title generator equipped with "GPI trigger," you might be able to set up titles in the titler's memory and have the Easy Editor automatically trigger them anywhere in your production. Contact the titler's manufacturer to determine whether it has compatible GPI trigger and how to connect it. To trigger a GPI-compatible titler, press the T button as the original tape plays. An on-screen T flashes to show you a title mark ("T-mark") has been made. The Easy Editor remembers the location of the T-mark and triggers the titler, causing it to play a title at that point during EDIT or PREVIEW (see the example, below.) T-marks can be placed in any good video scene (anywhere the thumb is up) or in the four seconds just before a Thumbs-Up mark. Each title mark consumes the same memory as a thumbs-up or thumbs-down mark To remove a T-mark, press the T button while the on-screen T is displayed. Sequencing titles: If you want a title to appear over part of a segment, but not the whole thing, add blank pages (with no titles and the back- ground style set to be untinted video) to the titler's memory. For example, as the car passes the camera, you want the title, "The Winner! Time 3:57!" to be superimposed over the car for a few seconds. Then as it drives out of view, you want the driver's name to appear. To do this, you simply create the titles as separate pages. You'd have the "Winner" page, followed by a blank page, then the page with the driver's name. You press T when the car passes the camera, again a few seconds later and again as it drives away. When you make the final recording (Step 7.8), the titler is triggered to play those pages, including the blank page, at the right moments. Step 7.7: Preview. Rewind the tape and press PREVIEW. (Shortcut: Press PREVIEW as soon as the camcorder starts rewinding). The Easy Editor takes over, speeding to the first segment and playing it, complete with fades (if fading is currently turned on). Then it plays the next segment and so on, until you've seen them all. Preview is a handy way to do a "field edit." You can quickly mark a few scenes and see only the good video. You don't need a VCR to preview. You can also PREVIEW from a certain point. Preview always shows you the segments starting from the current position. For instance, if you are between the fifth and sixth segment and you press PREVIEW, the Easy Editor shows you segments six, seven, and so on. If the tape is positioned after the last marked segment, PREVIEW rewinds and shows you all segments. You can use the camcorder control keys on the Easy Editor to control the previewing process. To stop a PREVIEW, press PLAY or STOP on the Easy Editor While you are previewing, you can skip the current segment by pressing FAST FORWARD. To preview everything, starting from the beginning of the tape, press REWIND during PREVIEW. Step 7.8 Edit. Here are some details that go beyond the basic steps listed in the Instructions pamphlet: Important: The VCR must still be in RECORD-PAUSE when you begin editing and the RECORDER CONTROL sender on the back of The Easy Editor must be aimed at the VCRs remote control sensor. If you "zeroed" the camcorder before you marked the segments on this tape, re-zero it again before you edit, by pressing ON-SCREEN-DISPLAY and REWIND at the same time (Step 7.2 above). The instructions pamphlet describes how to record a black leader at the start of each production for a professional touch. For best results, the camcorder should be playing some color video while the black is recorded (if your camcorder generates a blue screen when it's stopped, that works well). If the camcorder is not playing color video while the leader is recorded, there can be a jump in the picture when the black leader ends. The blinking power light tells you the Easy Editor is controlling the camcorder. It locates the first good video segment and starts the recorder. At the end of the scene, it pauses the recorder and proceeds to the scene. It repeats this to create the entire production, adding fades to black at the start and end of each scene if the fade control is on. (See Step 4 on Faxback Doc. # 34339 for more information on fades). If you have a GPI-trigger-equipped video titler connected, the Easy Editor also triggers the display of the next page of titles at any T-marks you have added (Step 7.6). NOTE: If you are editing with a timecoded original using a camcorder without edit control, the Easy Editor can not control the cam- corder. It will wait for each segment. You can speed up the process considerably by manually controlling the camcorder. Step 10.3 on Faxback Doc. # 34343describes this in greater detail. You can use the camcorder control keys on the Easy Editor to control the editing process: To stop the EDIT process ahead of time, press PLAY or STOP on the Easy Editor. It's best to do this between scenes- stopping while a segment is being recorded immediately stops both machines, probably ruining the end of the segment. Press EDIT to continue, starting with the next marked segment. After the last scene has been recorded, record a black trailer. As with the leader, make sure the camcorder is playing color video while the black is recording. Step 4 and Steps 8-11 on Faxback Doc's # 34339 and # 34341describe many extra features you can explore as you gain editing skill. (BR/EB 8/2/96)