The Desk Top Video Handbook On Line ver 14.0
Real-Time Q&A
Real-Time isn't just a buzzword, it is a very important feature that will increase your productivity and make you a better editor. The following Q&A is intended to help you better understadnd just wht Real-Time Non Linear Editing is all about and why we think it is so important.
The core content of this article is pulled from our RT-4 Real-Time Round-Up review from Jan 2003
What is real-time?
Real-Time NLE means that you can play your video directly from the timeline and watch it. You don't have to wait for transitions, FX, filters or other stuff to render. There are different types of real-time performance with different quality levels.
What are the various "flavors" of Real-Time?
- Real-Time VGA Preview
Real Time VGA previews are nice, but it's the lowest level of real-time performance. You can playback your timeline on the computer screen, but when it comes tme to output, you have to render. The playback quality is usually limited to a small window is the NLE interface.
- Real-Time Analog Output
Real-Time Analog Output is next level is real-time analog output. I feel you really need to be able to view the video full screen on a TV monitor while you edit to get the full benefits of real-time performance. So I prefer this level much more so then just VGA. Some systems give you full resolution Analog output, which means you can actually record direcly to tape. Others just provide preview quality analog output. The image is full size and full resolution, but usually some frames are dropped during playback - especially on complex segments.
- Real-Time DV Output
Real-Time DV output is the best. This means that you can go directly from the timeline via FireWire back to your camcorder or DV VCR. Most hardware based real-time solutions give you both full resolution DV & analog output.
Some new NLE softwares (Premiere Pro & Vegas 4) give your real-time previews via FireWire. The output will scale down and some frames will be dropped during playback, but it will give you very good results. You'll have to render your timeline before you can record out to DV. You'll also need to use either your camcorder or a DV converter to view your work on a TV screen while you edit.
- Real-Time MPEG2 Output
Some of the real-time hardware accelerators have an added real-time feature – Real-Time MPEG2 export for DVD. This is very cool!! The DVD revolution is in full gear and we all want to burn and author our own DVDs. The faster we can export the video from DV to MPEG2, the sooner we can begin authoring our DVDs.
What are layers?
We use the term layers as a way of measuring the overall real-time power of an NLE. Each track of video, audio, graphics and titles is considered a layer. So as an example - if you have a base video image with a Picture-In-Picture (PIP) video in the corner we call it 2 video layers. Add in a rolling title and a semi-transparent graphic in the lower right hand corner (we call htis a bug) nad you have 2 video layers and 2 graphic layers for 4 total layers.
Now some vendors also consider adding a filter to a video track as an additional layer. So in the 4 layer example above, if i added color correction to each video track, they would say we have 6 layers. I don't really like this methodology. I'd rather say that it's 2 video layers with filters applied to each. I feel this is a better representation of the capabilities of the NLE.
Why is real-time such an important feature?
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Real-Time Productivity
The reason you want a real-time NLE card is for productivity. If you do not have to spend any time rendering, then you can get more work done in a given amount of time. This is the obvious advantage of real-time cards. What is not so obvious is how this increased productivity can make you a better, more creative editor.
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The learning curve
Anyone can edit video; it's not very hard or complicated. You just pick each scene's in and out points, put them on the timeline, add the transitions/ FX / titles you want and then play it back. Pretty simple, but there is a BIG difference between editing a video and creating a video that looks great and makes people want to watch it. To actually create great looking videos takes some skill and effort. Think of it as a craft. The more you do it, the better you will become. This is where a real-time card can really make a difference. If you stick to the real-time effects with your early projects, you will be able to tweak, and fine-tune your transitions / FX / titles without having to sit around waiting for them to render. This is a huge learning advantage. Since you don't spend any time waiting, you can spend more time experimenting. The more you experiment, the better an editor you will become!
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Over the shoulder
Over the shoulder editing is a term used by professional editors to describe the situation when the producer / client is in the room. When the guy who writes the checks is looking over your shoulder while you make changes or add some new stuff, the last thing you both want to do is stare at the hourglass on the VGA screen. What is less obvious is how many times even a home videographer is in an over the shoulder situation. Once you get into this, you are going to be showing off your work all the time. Many times the people you are showing your stuff to will have a good idea or suggestion. With a real-time system you can implement these ideas instantly. You can also take advantage of asking someone which way they like a certain sequence better. This is very important if you plan on doing any wedding or event videos. You need to make sure you give your customer what he wants quickly and easily. With a real-time card, you can create and edit on the fly, so if anyone is watching, he is seeing you in action, not killing time while the computer renders.
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Just messin' around
This third creativity bonus of these real-time cards is actually a combination of the first two. With a real-time card, if you or an associate or a client can come up with a clever idea for a video, you can sit down and play with the concept in real-time. Tweaking here, adjusting there, playing with settings, etc. You can immediately view the results of your 'messin' around' on the TV or VGA screen. You don't have to waste time rendering, you can fully use the time you have for your creativity. If it's just 15 minutes or half the night, it doesn't matter becasue every second was spent editing and being creative!!
What are Real-Time 3D FX ?
Page peels, Picture-in-picture FX that fly all over the screen and animated transitions that have one layer of video folding over/into another are just a few examples of 3D FX. While having access to these FX is very cool, it is very important to have the proper tools to control them. The tool that allows you to control the speed, position and motion path of your 3D effect over time is called a keyframer. If you have ever worked with a 3D or compositing program like Boris FX, Hollywood FX or After FX then you already know what a keyframer is. While I think most digital videographers have heard of keyframing, you may not be quite sure what exactly it is or how it works.
What is Real-Time Keyframing?
Keyframing allows you to customize a transition or effect over time. You can go to any single frame in the transition and change some of the settings. As an example, let's say we have a Picture In Picture (PIP) effect. Video 1 flies in from the upper left hand corner of the screen then fills the entire screen. With the keyframer I could make the PIP fly in & bounce on the screen, or stop in the upper left hand corner at ¼ size, stay there for a while, then simply shrink away. By being able to manipulate how the FX will happen over time, I get complete and total control of my FX and transitions. The best keyframers allow you to add and control drop shadows, outlines and the edge softness of your FX.
- Real-Time Keyframing
By now, I'm sure you would agree with me that keyframing is very cool. But with most NLE systems, the more you keyframe the longer you render and the longer it takes to edit. A complex sequence with a moving PIP that flies and spins on the screen could take an hour to render using Premiere. When you use the real-time keyframing capabilities of these cards to customize your FX you can spend your time tweaking the effect to make sure it looks perfect, not wasting hours waiting for previews to render and then having to make changes and render again.
- Real-Time 3D FX with Keyframing
Now that we understand basic keyframing, lets push it a little further. I love 3D FX and transitions. To me, this is the kind of stuff that makes my viewers go "WOW!" and leaves really lasting impressions. Note: 3D FX don't belong in every type of video and you can easily go too far with these FX and have them become a distraction. Whenever you use 3D FX, try to make them "fit" in with the content and video content and the flow of the production.
OK, now that we've cleared that up, back to the subject at hand. Let's talk about keyframing a 3D transition like a page curl. Say you want the page to not only curl, but to shrink and then flutter off the screen like a sheet of paper caught in a strong breeze. With the Real-Time 3D keyframing capabilities of the RTX.100 or Pro-ONE RTDV not only is this simple and easy to do, but you get complete control over the entire effect without ever having to render it. Even more important the keyframing interface allows you to grab the 3D FX with your mouse and move it, resize it or twist it around for each keyframe point. The keyframe is then set and the 3D FX engine automatically displays the entire full motion 3D effect INSTANTLY! Real-Time keyframing of 3D FX is the most important productivity tool I have ever used for NLE. Once you get your hands on an NLE with Real-Time keyframing you'll never be able to go back to rendering your 3D FX.
What is Real-Time Color Correction?
How many times do you catch the greatest moment on video, only to find out that the white balance was off and the faces look red or even worse – green!?! Or you pan by an open window or bright light and then discover that the next 5 or 10 minutes of video is too dark to use? Don't feel bad, it happens to the best videographers. Ideally we would always be able to shoot with perfect lighting. In reality you have little or no control over the lighting on most of your shoots. What are you to do? FIX IT IN POST!!
- In the past color correcting video was a tedious process that resulted in hours and hours of rendering. If you didn't like the final video quality you had to start all over and render everything again. What a pain in neck aa well as a productivity drain.
- Real-Time color correction saves the day!! Today all of our real-time solutions offer some degree of real-time color correction. You make the changes and you can see it instantly. Even more important you can fine tune and adjust it as you go. And you don't have to waste any time waiting for it to render. Be warned, not all real-time color correctors are created equal. For the best results you need to have full RGB color correction which allows you to adjust the red, green and blue levels of your video separately. Some of our cards give you a professional color correction tool called a vectorscope. This is very cool, but quite frankly beyond what I like to use.
What is Real-Time Auto White Balance?
A new feature called auto white balancing is far simpler to use and delivers outstanding results. You select a small section of the video image that you feel should be white. The software analyzes it and applies the proper correction settings to make it pure white. These settings are now applied automatically to the entire clip – all in real-time. I use this tool all the time and I LOVE IT!!
Why do I want Real-Time Speed Controls?
One of the tools I find that videographers on all levels like to use is the speed control. It can be as simple as adding slow motion to your kid's game winning soccer goal or as complex as variable speeds applied to motorcycle stunt drivers. I know many event videographers who use the speed control to give a dreamy quality to weddings. It is one of the easiest things to add to your video and it can have a BIG impact. In the past, each time you changed the speed of your video, you had to render. This could put a serious dent in your creativity, especially if you wanted to experiment with different speed settings.
Field based Real-Time Speed controls to the rescue! The first real-time speed control features were frame based. This resulted in less than smooth slow motion playback and forced you into the "Rule of Thirds" - Speed settings of 33% or 66% looked much better then any other choices. Today's real-time solutions have field based real-time speed controls, which deliver far better video quality.
What kind of computer do I really need for Real-Time NLE?
This is a great question. With todays Real-Time NLE solutions you the more power you give them, the better the results. Unfortunately many computer software and hardware vendors will list a minimum system spec that we feel is not adequate. While you will have enough horse power to make them run, you may not get the full advertised performance and you will end up dissapointed. This is why we have chosen to post our own minimum recommended system for the latest new NLEs. We are confident that if you follow our guidelines you will be very happy with your new NLE purchase.
Videoguys Minimum Recommended System for Premeire Pro, Liquid Edition or Xpress Pro
P4 2.4 Ghz Hyper-Threaded (Get a 3Ghz if you can afford it) or Dual 1.8Ghz Athlons / P4s
512 Megs of RAM - More is better, I put 1Ghz in all our new machines
WinXP Pro
Dual Head Graphics card w/ 64 megs of RAM. 128 Meg ATI Radeon or nVidia GeForce based cards have the best OpenGL acceleration.
40 GB System drive
Dedicated VideoDrive: 120+ GB, 7200 RPM (EIDE or SATA ) drive
19" Monitor or Dual 17" ( I use Dual 17" LCDs for my NLE workstation at home)
If Premeire Pro is Real-Time, why do I need a card like the RTX100 Pro Xtreme or DV Storm2?
Premeire Pro offers you a bunch of real-time performance, but it can still benefit from one of these hardware accelerators. They provide additional features that go beyond the capabilities of Premiere Pro.
- Analog & DV I/O a good DV/AV converter like the ADVC100 will cost you around $300 bucks
- With the RTX100 Xtreme Pro or DV Storm 2 you get real-time analog & DV output. Final Output with Premeire Pro must be rendered - it is real-time Preview only.
- Real-time MPEG2 export for DVD Authoring. For many of us the real-time MPEG2 output is now just as or more important then real-time output to tape. Final outputs with premiere pro must be rendered.
- You can use the analog output to view yor editing on a TV Monitor while you work. This is very important for Color Correction adn creating complex multi-layered segments
- You get a bunch of additional real-time filters and transitions that are not included w/ Premeire Pro
- You get advanced capture and export utilities that go beyond those found in Premeire Pro
Videoguys Real-Time Round Up 5!
Hot new Non Linear Editing Programs revolutionize digital videography!
Never before have we seen such a wide choice of top-notch, powerful and feature rich video editing choices. We are entering a golden age of digital videography. A time when the power and performance of your computer are leveraged by innovative software that delivers real-time performance that just a year or two ago required proprietary hardware accelerators and the complexities that come with installing new hardware in your computer. Adobe Premiere Pro, Pinnacle Liquid Edition, Sony Pictures Vegas 4 and Avid Xpress Pro are all great products loaded with all the tools and features you need for even the most complex long format video productions. This article will point out some of the particular strengths of each product and what I like most about them.
Read Videoguys Real-Time Round Up 5!!
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