Many people make the mistake of rushing into the edit suite with their raw material and going straight into the editing process.  A general rule is that time spent outside the edit suite in preparation saves you twice the time you would spend inside the edit suite.  Using an edit suite is expensive so the more work you can do before your enter the edit suit the better.

Advice on shooting with cameras that support time code
When you are recording from a digital camera and wish to view your material back ensure after viewing that the tape stops before the final shot ends.  The camera will default to zero timecode if it detects a 'blank' bit of recording tape which can greatly inhibit the editing process.  You must aim for continuous timecode on the tape.

Make VHS Copies of your footage
Once you have finished shooting you need to transfer your original tapes onto a VHS tape safeguarding the possibility of damaging your original tapes through playing them back continuously.  Using the VHS copies you can now view and log the contents.  If you have a digital camera transfer the tapes onto VHS displaying 'timecode' on playback by pressing the data button on the camera.  A series of numbers called 'timecode', appear on the screen.  Timecode appears superimposed on the picture like this: 00.01.32.12.  'Timecode' is a number that is actually written onto the tape, with each frame having its own unique number that relates to hours, minutes, seconds and frames.  Typically the first frame of a tape will read 00.00.00.01. The second frame will read 00.00.00.02. The third, 00.00.00.03 and so on. One second equals 25 frames.  Time code is the system used to control an edit machine so it can locate exactly where a particular picture is located. If your camera doesn't support timecode then rewind your tape to the beginning, press display on your camera and the counter, though not accurate, will give you a rough indication of where your material lies.

Logging your material.
Logging enables you to familiarise yourself with the material. If you have a computer use Microsoft's Word or an Excel Spreadsheet to log onto. See bottom of page to download template.

For interview sections,  type the start of key sentences as you go.  Even if you think the footage is poor, write this down. You will need to transcribe all your interviews. This will require transferring the sound only from the VHS copies of your interviews on to audiocassette for easier transcription.  If you think you can cut corners without transcribing interviews think again as this work is necessary in putting together a 'paper' edit.  In other words you can begin to roughly structure your programme on paper as the first stage in the editing process. This gives a good basis for the structure of the programme.  This is an important stage and saves enormous amount of time in an edit suite. The timecode number does not have to be exact or 'frame accurate'. In fact you should add a couple of seconds onto the timecode either way. This facilitates such effects as dissolves when you come to edit.  You save the log information on the disc.  You can also print out a copy to assist in the paper edit.  The file containing your logging information is then fed into the non-linear editing suite.  Your original tapes are put into a video player and the computer automatically locates the clips you have logged and digitises them into its hard disc drive. If there is no time code facility on your tape, for example material shot on VHS, then you will have to manually start and stop your VHS player at the places where you want to digitise. Once digitised into the non-linear edit suite you are now ready to link or edit these clips together to construct your programme.

About using the non-linear editing system
While non-linear editing is very convenient and versatile process the down side is that digitised video material takes time and takes up hard disc space, about 1 gigabyte to digitise 4 minutes of video. We usually try and keep users to an 80 gig drive (5½ hours approx.) If you do not finish your job in the allotted time or you want to come back some time later your may be charged for storing your digitised footage on the hard drive. If not you will have to re-digitise your job again.…so plan ahead and try to finish your job in one go. Bear in mind that editing takes MUCH longer than you think, so seek advice!

Hiring aux. equipment
Don't forget to budget for additional video and audio playback equipment to may for your edit, for example a digital player or a mini disc audio player. Northern Visions can supply equipment at an hourly rate.