The Mac Chooser

Video Editing, The Digital Way

Video editing, for many years, has focused on "online/offline editing": that is, editing via a sequence of rough copy and final copy. Film clips and documentaries were traditionally mapped out in rough -- perhaps even on the producer's home VCR -- then moved over into the production studio for a repeat of the same motions on high-end machines. This introduced many unwanted elements, not to mention egos, into the process.

Flexibility is the key

The industry is clearly moving to digital, non-linear editing, but "the cost keeps most companies from changing over," says Tak Kohyama, a producer with Reuters Japan Ltd. "Each (digital editing) facility is between $50,000 and $100,000 and requires a change to the entire system. That, and the editing skills involved are completely different; you have to start learning all over again."

The attraction of non-linear editing lies in its flexibility. Cutting and pasting scenes and sounds becomes almost as easy as cutting and pasting text in your word processor, and changes can be made at any stage of production. "In non-linear editing, you can see everything at a glance -- all the previews, all the sequences," says Grant Buchwald, producer and co-owner of MagicBus Productions. "There's no online/offline business, and it's all on one machine."

MagicBus Productions has taken the plunge into digital, non-linear editing by investing in skills development and equipment. "We started in January 1996 on a wing and a prayer," says marketing manager Roland Biegler, "on the premise of offering this service which hasn't caught on in Japan yet." Certainly computer-based video editing hasn't taken over in Japan. There are still production houses here that use scissors and glue to cut and paste their film together, notes Reuters' Kohyama.

The cutting-edge Mac

Cutting-edge technology in this field is most readily available on the Macintosh. "The top three systems are Avid, Media100, and Amiga," says Buchwald. While Amiga is a stand-alone system, Avid and Media100 are Mac-based (though Avid also has a separate, proprietary package of hardware and software).

And what is happening on the Windows 95 side? "Don't bother asking," responds Biegler, who quickly asserts that whatever the platform, the computer is only the tool; creativity lies within the person. "It just so happens all the creative types are in the Mac arena," he claims.

Not everyone knows what non-linear editing is all about. "Knowledge of the non-linear style is lacking," says Buchwald. "The flexibility is amazing [but] we end up having to teach some directors the process, because it's new." Yet clients are slowly getting used to the "new" system. Once video directors see the editing process in action -- seated in front of a PowerMac 9500 with 150MB of RAM and 57GB of hard disk space -- they quickly adapt. "We originally set up to deal with foreigners in Tokyo," says Buchwald. "They found it cheaper to do their taping here and fly back to LA to do the production [where] they could work in their own language with people familiar with the latest technology. But now we offer the same thing in Tokyo; we get not only the foreigners, but the Japanese, as well. Directors, whatever their nationality, learn to love it."

The cost of creativity

The production environment is full-up in Tokyo (some estimates put the number of video production houses at 400) and expensive to maintain. Image and Measurement, Inc., a video production retailer in Shinjuku, sells entire packages of video editing equipment. This equipment sells well, though it is expensive (¥3.5 million or more for a minimum configuration) compared to equipment bought overseas. While computer prices in general have come down -- some prices in Akihabara now are about the same or, in some cases, less than those in the US -- specialist equipment, such as high end audio/video or stand-alone products like an Indy workstation, still command premium prices. "We would have had to spend two or three times as much here in Tokyo," says Buchwald, "so we ended up buying most of our equipment in the States."

That there are some 400 active production houses in Tokyo is testament to the will of clients to support these high prices. Everyone, from corporate managers to music video mavens, is seeking the services of professional video editors. MagicBus started, as the name might suggest, with music videos, but the company is now being flooded with requests for corporate work. "In a short time, our name was out," says Buchwald. "Now we're getting so many requests it's actually eating into our creative work." "Not that we mind," adds Biegler with a smile.

Is Japan's industry too mature?

The Mac is not yet considered the video-editing platform in Japan, as it is in the US and most of Asia. The industry in the US has always been innovative and on the technological edge, using the latest digital equipment. And in Asian countries where the industry is just coming of age, new startups are investing in cutting-edge equipment; production facilities in Thailand, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, and the Philippines are mainly digital. Japan, on the other hand, has a firmly established production sector with billions of yen invested in online/offline equipment that can still do the job, and the industry is hesitant to change.

Buchwald and Biegler use a Media100 system on Macintosh computers; they swear they wouldn't be in the business if it meant relying on another platform or on traditional means. In spite of being in Japan, surrounded by other systems, "this is the mainstream in digital video editing," asserts Buchwald.

Being Mac-based enables not only non-linear style (where producers can, at any stage of production, pick and choose what they want to see where), but also allows video producers to incorporate conventional image-editing software packages into their work. Doing a title sequence overlay, for example, is as simple as opening up Adobe Illustrator or Photoshop, making the image, and importing the saved file into the video clip. "This setup is getting popular because of its user friendliness," says Buchwald. "You drop a piece [of film] you don't like, and just bang something else in."

The Macintosh also offers the multilingual support that an international company with global clients requires. MagicBus regularly uses Apple's Japanese, Chinese, and Thai language kits to create clips in native data format for use on computers in a client's home country.

In short, digital non-linear editing creates an editing atmosphere that is conducive to change. The clients like it, the producers like it, and -- if the product comes out looking as hot as the client wants -- everyone is happy.

Now, about that price tag.ç

John Tyler, a Tokyo-based editor, designer, and writer who has been Mac-ing since 1988, can be reached at jltyler@gol.com. You'll find a link to his Web site at http://www.computingjapan.com/magazine/bios.

From this month, John Tyler's "Mac Chooser" column will go on a bimonthly schedule. The next "Mac Chooser" will appear in our November issue.