Response to Offline and online editing???

I'd like to add a thought here -- most everyone touts the quality of the firewire, dv to dv and only dv, non-linear editing systems like Canopus DvRex.... and they are wonderful, offering tremendous bang for the buck. However, a 5:1 compression ratio eats up a lot of drive space.... and, if your making a dv feature, you'll probably want to digitize at least 3 takes of every scene. That means you'll need a tremendous storage capacity (although, as technology progresses, drives will be getting humongous).

I, personally, favor an MPEG offline editing system like the Fast Video Machine Studio Plus. This system, like the Avid, can compress at 20:1 or higher (although I don't like going beyond 20:1). You can digitize plenty of takes, edit to your heart's desire, and, when you feel you're down to detail work, re-digitize at 5:1 or even 3:1, only using the selected final takes in your movie.

The final output may not be as pristine as the dv to dv systems - but it's Beta SP quality and damned good. Certainly good enough to use to screen your movie for festivals and potential buyers. AND - this is important - if you decide to transfer to film, the quality doesn't matter. Why?

Because what you're really going to be advised and want to do is go back to your dv ORIGINAL and do a professional online. FAST, like Avid, outputs an EDL (edit decision list) that your online house will read and use when they reassemble your movie off the original. In the online, color, pedestal, chroma, etc. adjustments will be made professionally that will help your original footage look as good as it can look on film. This is the way its done.

Can you do without this step and go straight from your output to film? Sure. But the film transfer will be expensive (and, hopefully, someone else will be paying for it)... and if you're spending that kind of money, the online session will look cheap. Most post houses are or will be able to handle DV.

What about audio? Again -- if you're going to film, you should probably start from scratch and do a professional mix on a stage.

Anyway.... that's my two bits. Fast VM Studios, considered old technology now, can be had in the 6 G range used. Worth a look.

-- Jim Parriott

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