The World’s Top Tips for

Pinnacle Studio Video Editing software

(with some Avid Liquid snippets)

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A/B Roll Creating transitions such as fades and wipes directly from one video source to another

Album The part of the Studio system edit screen where you can view thumbnails (picons) representing the captured scenes, the range of titles provided with the system - and any titles you have saved, the wide range of transitions, or a list of available sound effect 'wav' files, in a selection of categories.

Autotrim in Studio 400 automatically trims (cuts off) a fixed number of frames from both  the beginning and the end of a scene. Autotrim in effected the moment you drag a scene to the timeline/storyboard. If consecutive scenes are copied to the timeline in the same order, autotrim will only be applied to the start of the first scene and the end of the last scene in the sequence. The feature is used, mainly, to cater for those VCRs which do not give consistently accurate cut points: using autotrim can prevent frames from the next (or previous) clip being included with a scene.

AVI This is one of Windows standard file formats for saving video on personal computers. Studio software uses the format for input (capture) as well as for output (make movie).  AVI files can be quite large.

Anti-Aliased Fonts Fonts that have their edges 'softened', to provide a smoother 'non-stepped' appearance.

Audio dubbing is a way of adding an extra mono soundtrack to a videotape without erasing the original sound. Not all VCRs have this capability: the added track cannot be heard on VCRs that do not have it.

Batch Capture Combining your video capture card with deck control so that only wanted footage is captured

Camcorder The CAMera  reCORDER used to shoot the video footage.  

Capture rate The number of frames recorded per second. The PAL version of Studio 400 offers 6.25 or 12.5 frames per second, while the  NTSC version offers 7.5 or 115 frames per second.

Chroma-Key Superimposing one video source over another by replacing   a key color (usually blue)

CODEC COmpression/DECompression. The algorithm used to capture the moving video onto your hard drive.

Composite A composite video signal consists of  information about colour as well as the about luminance (black and white, contrast), S- Video uses separate signals and provides better quality..

Compression Compression techniques reduce the size of data files and, for video, can consequently increase the throughput. Compression is almost impossible without some loss in quality.

Control L (LANC) An editing protocol that allows 2 way communication between camcorder and computer

Data Rate Also called throughput. The higher the data rate of your video capture, the lower the compression and the higher the video quality. The higher the datarate, the faster your hard drives must be.

Desk Top Video (DTV) Use of a desktop computer for video production

Digital Video Effects (DVE) Special computer generated effects that manipulate video. Video footage that bends, rolls, bounces or wraps around objects

Direct Draw Overlay This is a feature that lets you see the video in full motion on your computer screen while editing. Most new 3D graphics cards support this. If yours does not, it simply means you will need an external monitor to view the video. Direct Draw Overlay has absolutely nothing to do with your final video quality.

Edit Decision List (EDL) The master list of all edit in and out points, with details of any sounds, transitions, titles and effects to be used in the video production

FireWire (IEEE1394) FireWire is a special hi speed bus standard capable of 12.5 megs sustained data rate.

Flying erase heads An advanced video head system found on high-end VCRs. They facilitate clearer and more precise cuts, with less interference,  between the end of one scene and the start of the next scene.

Frame Capture (Frame Grabber) Capturing one frame of video and storing it for use in various video effects

Freeze frame With Studio 400, a transition - such as a dissolve - from one clip to the next is achieved by grabbing the last frame of the outgoing clip (known as the 'freeze' frame) and storing it in the Mixer buffer, then gradually changing it according to the selected transition along with the incoming video.

Glitch Doctor A freeware program by Jeff 'Sparky' Caunter, that enables accurate Record and Pause delay settings to be calculated for the VCR.

Hi8mm See Tape Formats

Hybrid Editing Combining Non Linear Edited video files with Linear (deck to deck) segments of footage.

LANC  (or Control-L) is a protocol for the communication between a VCR or camcorder and a computer, or between two VCRs. The protocol is bi-directional.

Linear (Assembly) editing An editing process where video pictures from the original tape are copied directly to the final tape, in the desired order. Studio 400 uses this method during Make Movie. The first part of the process (capturing and editing ) is done using NLE techniques.

MPEG One of Windows standard file formats for saving video on personal computers. See also AVI.

Non Linear Editing (NLE) Video is digitized and stored on the hard drive using video compression technology. Then any part of the video can be accessed and edited just like re-arranging paragraphs in a word processing program. Studio 400 uses this principle for editing (with low quality capture to conserve hard disk space) then uses the Edit Decision List to control the source tape, to provide Linear Assembly of the final movie.

NTSC See PAL

Overlay A text or graphic image that is superimposed over the video picture

 

PAL, NTSC and SECAM Systems for creating TV-images. PAL has 625 lines (of which 550 are actually used) and is the standard for the greater part of Europe,  Asia and Australia. NTSC has  525 horizontal lines and is used in America and Canada. The French SECAM-system is common in Africa and the former Soviet Union. The systems are not interchangeable

Panasonic 5-pin (also known as Control-M) is a protocol used for communication between a VCR or camcorder and a computer, or between two VCRs. The protocol is bi-directional.

Pause delay  Because a VCR has mechanical moving parts, there will always be a delay between the moment the VCR receives a command and the moment the command is physically executed. All VCRs exhibit this characteristic: and in most if not all instances make allowances for it by re-winding the tape a little after a Record-Pause has been made, so that there is no 'visual' gap in the recording when the recording process is continued. However, the rewind process is not always entirely accurate - and may result in the tape being frames before, or frames after the actual required end-of-clip edit point.  Studio 400 needs to know exactly what the difference is, so that it can compensate by sending the Pause signal a predetermined amount sooner or later than the required end-of-clip frame. This compensation value is the 'Pause delay'. Studio 400 makes automatic tests when initially being set up to determine the value - but for most people, more accurate values can be obtained by using a timed tape, such as that created by the renowned Glitch Doctor program.

Picon The PICture  icON, or 'thumbnail picture, used by Studio 400 to indicate a scene in the album, timeline or storyboard. By default each scene's picon is the first frame of the scene (although initially, on Capture, a later frame may be used since at that time the Picon is take on the fly. Next time the edit mode is used or the file opened, the detection process selects the first frame).  Users can choose another picon to represent the scene if desired.

PCI bus mastering This is the technology that allows sustained throughput levels over 3 megs per second.

Plug-Ins Software programs that can install into your main non linear editing software to give you additional features and/or specs

RAID Using more then one drive to achieve either higher throughput, security or both. New technology has made it possible to create EIDE RAID systems that give excellent performance ant a very low cost.

RCTC.  Re-writable Consumer Time Code, used to identify each individual frame on the tape by a unique number. Camcorders with RCTC can  add these numbers automatically to the tape while recording. The timecode is stored on a separate track on the tape making it possible to rewrite the timecode at a later stage, without deleting any of the recorded sound or video. Some Hi8mm VCRs offer facilities which enable any recorded 8mm tape to be  timecoded. Timecoding produces more accurate results with Studio 400, with less forward and back searching of the camcorder.

Record delay Because a VCR has mechanical moving parts, there will always be a delay between the moment the VCR receives a command and the moment the command is physically executed. All VCRs exhibit this characteristic. Studio 400 compensates for the time difference between a Record signal being sent (from a Pause situation) and the VCR actually starting to record, by sending the command early. The number of frames 'early' that the Record signal has to be sent - known as the Record delay - is determined during the initial set up of Studio 400, and in most instances can be more accurately determined, manually, using  the Glitch Doctor program developed by Sparky (Jeff Caunter).

Rendering This is the process whereby the video, effects, transitions and sounds are combined into a new continuous file.

SCSI ('Scuzzy'). A system designed for moving very large amounts of information as quickly as possible.

Scan Converter A device that converts your computer’s VGA output to video, so you can display it on a TV or VCR

S-VHS See Tape formats

Time Code Special 'frame-count' information added to video tapes for extremely accurate editing. See also RCTC

Time Line This is the graphical interface used by most Video Editing software. Picons, or thumbnail pictures representing clips are dragged onto the timeline, trimmed as required, and have transitions,  titles and sounds added as required.

Transition The change from the end of one clip to the start of the next. The simplest transition is a straight cut.

Studio software facilitates a choice from a wide range of transitions:

Fades: The video image gradually appears from or disappears into a single coloured frame.  A  fade to and from black is often used to suggest the passage of time.

Dissolve: In Studio 400, a 'freeze frame'  of the outgoing video gradually disappears as the incoming video takes its place. Other Studio systems have true AxB transitions - no freeze frame.

Slides: The incoming clip slides over the 'freeze frame' of the outgoing clip, in one of several predetermined forms.

Wipes: The incoming clip gradually replaces the outgoing clip using a pre-defined shape or pattern. Wipes can be created using external photo-editing software (see the Edit tips section of these pages).

In Studio 400, 'Green' coloured transitions can be used with both video and Titledeko overlays, 'Blue transitions can be used only with video. Other Studio systems can use all transitions on both video and overlay tracks.

Scrubber The visual slider handle used to position one of the several time indicators used in the Studio 400 graphic interface.

Smartseek The Studio 400 technique used to find the right scene in the Make Movie process. It is automatically disabled when RCTC is used.

Storyboard A graphical representation of a movie's story. Movie makers often create a storyboard before starting to shoot to help them plan and conceptualize the finished product.  In Studio 400 the storyboard is one of the three possible views in the edited mode.

Tape (Recording) formats The basic format used in domestic VCRs is VHS, with Super-VHS (or S-VHS for short) providing  improved quality. Camcorders can use the VHS or, more commonly for size reasons,  a smaller, more compact version of VHS known as VHS-C,  - or S-VHS-C for the higher quality system. An alternative (analogue) system used by camcorders is the basic Video 8 format, or the improved quality format Hi8.

The following table lists the basic advantages and disadvantages of the various types

 

A GLOSSARY OF VIDEO TERMS             compiled by Mike Shaw

Note:  S-VHS should not be confused with the ' S-Video', which is not a video tape format but a type of cable connection.

Timeline The graphical interface on which the edit is created. Selected scenes, sounds, effects and transitions are placed on the timeline in the order required in the final movie

Trimming Selecting the desired length of a clip.

Video Compression (M-JPEG & MPEG) Compressing video data so it can be stored directly on a hard drive. Video compression is done in various ratios. (eg 10:1,5:1). The higher the ratio, the more video can be stored per megabyte of memory, and conversely the lower the compression the higher the video quality. See CODEC

Video insert editing Replacing a video scene with another, wachieved hilst leaving the original soundtrack in place. Studio 400 doesn't cater directly for this technique - but a good work-around can be with fairly little effort - see the Edit tips pages.

Video Streaming New technologies used to send video information over the internet. Rather then wait for the whole file to download, the video streaming technology lets the clip begin playing after only a few seconds.

Running Windows without background programs

Light and exposure

Tips for shooting your video     

The truth about blacking tapes

VCRs - A technical introduction

Data Compression