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Few words strike both panic and exhilaration in the heart of a professional video editor than - "new video editing workstation". The recent generation of nonlinear editing tools can greatly increase both the quality and speed of your work, but poor planning could get you an unreliable and expensive headache. All caveats aside - what's the best way to find the new or used editing workstation that's right for you? Most people start with features - realtime non-compressed? multi-giga-hertz processor? 3D holographic interface??? I can tell you after building hundreds of audio and video editing workstations (since 256k was "a ton" of memory), shopping by features as your guiding light may leave you in the dark. If not features then, how would you start to work your way through the hundreds of products and options? |
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 "You can't start a journey unless you first know where you are" a friend of mine was famous for saying. He was a rocket scientist by trade and he lived up to a "genius" billing working for NASA, but kept things terribly simple. For the sake of some fun and simplicity - let's borrow from my extraterrestrial buddy and compare the workstation universe to a solar system of only 3 planets. Not everyone lives on just one of these three worlds. Some people blast between one or more by day and night, others may exists in a different time and dimension (but we'll leave them for another article...). Enough of a launch prep - let's explore the editing universe! |
 PV is the newest and most populated planet in our universe - but don't be fooled. This planet is loaded full of some hair raising values and features - more than most editors could ever use in a lifetime! Lowest prices in the universe - Most manufacturers assume that priced right they can sell large quantities of their products to the millions of potential inhabitants - the result: most products are software costing 1/10th as much as on the other planets or even free! And because most PV products are based on price, features and function relating to hardware or specific technical needs become their limitations. After all - this stuff is built for the masses. Convenience - Most of the software can be quite powerful but frequently a slimmed down version (Aka: Neuterware) to reflect the reduced pricing and simpler demand of PV's citizens. In general - most personal video products are simpler, smaller and easier to setup and keep running. Is this a feature or a limitation? Your call. Registration or Mailing List Signup? Some companies force you to "register" the product as a means to get you into their pipeline for future sales. This feature (also known as nag-ware) pops registration and dialog boxes up even after you're sure you've registered the little bugger to death already. Don't be too hard on these manufacturers - they usually have provided a "free" product and expect something in return - even if it's only your contact information. Support - This can be a mild sidebar or a big issue for inhabitants on PV. The lighter weight price point and semi consumer nature of the products leaves little for manufacturer support and a higher probability of breakdown during heavy use. But if you plan on using this equipment for a limited amount of time - or with a "personal" touch you may not need a lot of help. The happiest people on PV or the very occasional users or editors that use the B&F support method (beer and friends). Not always the fastest way to get back online - beer has slightly less value in the morning. Best support outside of personal friends? Chat rooms, news groups and other internet resources. These are great resources to keep them tuned into the latest products and issues. Equipment and software can be had a great savings - but unless you have time to work around the technical issues from time to time and can live with occasional hours/days of down time - you might want to consider moving to another planet.  As prices continue to drop and larger and faster storage becomes more accessible - higher image quality products will become more common. Most of the manufacturers for the products on PV are consumer companies at their heart and will keep prices low or lower (did someone say free already?) and support will continue to be bartered in Budwiesers. This sound like your home planet? click here to see a sampling of some great personal video products by Avid, Apple, Sony, Canon, Panasonic and more! |
 Many PV-ites have their best luck with the B&F support method (beer & friends) |
 Being the oldest planet, ID has the most experience with nonlinear editing. Before anyone else could afford the premium price of nonlinear over tape based editing and the limitations of highly compressed zig-zag video out of the early workstations - planet ID was humming with cut/paste productivity. Most of ID's editors are on their 3rd or 4th generation machine and know a lot about how the history of the workstation universe. These guys really earned their nonlinear coonskin caps! The right products and services mean greater reliability and productivity. Additional costs for the heavy duty hardware is more than a value - it keeps them in business and their clients happy. Every hour of lost work means hundreds of dollars or more of lost billings, not to mention their client's goodwill. For these reasons products purchased on ID are usually part of a highly serviceable and well supported system of equipment. Features important to these full-time editors start with reliability, tons of short cuts (measured in fewest keystrokes to accomplish their favorite editing style) and streamlined workflow. It can be very embarrassing to work with a client over your shoulder without highly responsive and reliable equipment. These priorities allow them to complete work far faster than "mousing around" with highly repetitive edits for deadline intensive projects. This is not to say they don't enjoy effects rich products that can elevate their work from a craft to an art form - Oh contrare! Compositing, animation and other effects make a big difference in the final look of their work and they know it! The next frontier for most facilities on this planet is shared storage and workgroup products. Remember, time is money on ID so finishing projects faster with greater collaboration between multiple workstations just makes great sense. Sharing a project in progress to meet deadlines or moving between edit suites for greater client flexibility is a big win. Likewise, workgroup encoding or digitizing new footage while you're editing a few seconds behind the tape as it's loading in - is becoming the new standard around this progressive world. This sound like your home planet? click here to see a sampling of some great industrial video products by Avid, Apple, Sony, Boris and more! |
 The next frontier for most facilities on this planet is shared storage and workgroup products. |
 Welcome to the big show. All the marbles are rolling for the inhabitants of BV. Every minute of every day represents big money. Zero Downtime from operator error or equipment failures are the biggest priorities. BV editors will even sacrifice the latest and greatest features and performance at the benefit of a reliable and familiar system. But when they do step up to upgrade or purchase a new system - they want the best, and it better last a loooong time. Unlike the other planets - BV has a lot of turn over year in and out. Most of the editing equipment not only sees many different people sharing the same seats - they have new hands touching them all the time. Training and ease of operation are a basic need. Yet they want it capable of the highest image quality available, 7x24 support and compatibility with existing people and operations. The wrong workstation may mean years of headaches and lots of lost money. Features important to these full-time editors start with reliability, familiar industry interface (measured in fewest calls to tech support weekly to accomplish their favorite editing style) and streamlined workflow. These priorities allow them to complete work around the clock and meet hourly or daily deadline intensive projects. Since most work needs to be completed in a very short space of time - ready made effects and editing features are on everyone's lips. "How quickly can I make the same complex or jaw dropping effect work with minimal effort 20 times per day?". Some workstations make this a pleasure to execute - the wrong workstations will make a project look very simplistic or (gasp!) run past deadlines. The next frontier for most facilities on this planet is shared storage and automated delivery of content to broadcast, cable, news, web and advertisers for review and approval. All new facilities have the ability to work from shared storage to move projects between edit bays and directly to air or distribution. Compressed HD is quickly becoming the new standard of this world and will continue to gain ground quickly. This sound like your home planet? click here to see a sampling of some great broadcast video products by Avid, Apple, Sony, Boris and more! copyright EAR.NET 2004 |
 "How quickly can I make the same complex or jaw dropping effect work with minimal effort 20 times per day?" |
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