 I Used to Walk 20 Miles in the Snow...When I first started in video production, I had no idea that I would be a part of a technological transformation.I was 18 when I decided that Advertising Media would be my career path. In those early years, all video editing was linear. We didn’t use computers, we used a stand-alone edit machine and multiple ¾ inch video machines to record each edit.
This was a painstakingly
slow process that wasn’t very forgiving when it came to changing your original
edit. I’m sure a lot of the graduates coming out of Video Production programs
today would be confused if I asked them about an “Insert” versus an “Assemble”
edit, or how to set up bars on a Waveform or Vectorscope. Listen to me: I sound like I’m an old-timer at 38. I sound like an old man talking about how he
used to have to walk 20 miles in the snow just to get to school when he was
young. Pathetic, I know. Now that editing is all non-linear, the technical process is not as distracting creatively as
it was in a linear environment. But a new issue arises: “Waiting on the computer.” While
you can now add many complex layers of effects, transitions or text more easily, the computer must “render” it to make it playable in real-time. As a result, an
editor must put the creative impulse on hold while waiting on the computer much of the
time.
I worked for a man years back that used to kid me about how one day, “The
computers will be waiting on you!” What did he mean by this? He simply meant
that in a non-linear editing situation a whole lot of your time is spent
waiting for the render, but that technology would speed it up one day to the point where the editing process would be faster than the creative thought process.
I have been editing non-linear for 12 or 13 years now, yet it seems that as computers get faster in terms of processor speed, then the higher the quality of
the video becomes and the larger the size of the files, which in turn makes the
computers even slower to render. And of course, as operating systems change
and compatibility issues with hardware and software start to play out, then
suddenly upgrading becomes a big issue...and I'm still waiting on the render!
Where am I going with all this? Here’s the deal. Time has a way of making how we used
to do things seem so slow and strange. It’s kind of scary if you think in those
terms about today’s technology. Will I look back in 15 years and have a similar
story about how new technology has made the job easier and the old technical
knowledge, the nuts and bolts of non-linear production and the “waiting to render”
a forgotten issue? And what new issues will the new technology bring?
 How we do what we do is not really the client’s concern. Any day can present a huge
challenge just doing simple things because of computer problems and other
technical difficulties. But as much as I love playing with new hardware or
software, in the end it’s always the satisfaction of the creative process that
gets me out of bed each day. I love what I do, "snow" and all.
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