Preparing a Rough Cut
with Adobe Premiere

If your home or office computer has video capture capability, you can prepare a rough cut and an EDL (edit decision list) using Adobe Premiere. Later, by importing the EDL into an online editing system such as Media 100xs, you can greatly reduce the amount of time you spend editing the final product.

Step 1: Digitizing Clips
Step 2: Importing Time Code
Step 3: Exporting the EDL and Batch List
Limitations

It's not necessary that your computer be able to digitize full-screen video at 30 frames per second. Even the ability to digitize at 180 x 120 at 15 fps (which is within the capability of even the cheapest capture boards, such as the Video Spigot) is sufficient for a rough cut. The quality of the video clips doesn't matter, since they'll all be redigitized from your original souce tapes when you do your online edit.

On a PowerMac 8500 or 8600, it's most efficient to digitize at half size (320 x 240). You can then use the computer's "hardware doubling" feature to output a full-screen rough cut to VHS tape.
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You can use VHS window dubs for your rough cut. Adobe Premiere 4.x has an OCR (optical character recognition) feature that allows it to read and interpret the time code from the window dubs while it's digitizing them. (To use this feature, select "Timecode Decoder" from the Movie Capture menu.)

Unfortunately, the OCR feature is rather primitive. It works properly only if the time code appears on a solid black background. If the time code appears on a translucent background, or if it's burned directly into the video image, Premiere will misinterpret it or fail to read it.

After you digitize each clip, Premiere displays it in a clip window. The first thing you should do is look at the readout below the clip window to make sure Premiere's interpretation of the time code number is correct. You do this by comparing it to the real time code number, which appears on the frame of your window dub that's displayed in the clip window.

Select "Timecode" from the Clip menu, and a dialog box will appear. If Premiere failed to read the time code when it digitized the clip, you can enter the correct number here.

Just below is a field called "Reel Name / Description." It is very important that you assign each of your source reels a name or number, and that you enter the appropriate name or number for each clip you digitize. Even when Premiere has interpreted the time code correctly, you will still need to enter the reel name manually for every clip.
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Use Premiere as usual to prepare your rough cut. Unlike traditional rough cuts, this one needs to be frame-accurate. Make sure all your cuts, transitions, and effects appear exactly the way you'll want them to in the final program.

When you're absolutely sure the rough cut is finished, you can export an EDL. You do this by selecting "Export" from the File menu, and then choosing a format (such as CMX3600, illustrated here). Make sure you know which format will be accepted by the online editing system you intend to use. Don't try to fudge by choosing "Generic EDL" -- despite its name, I know of no editing system that will import it.

After you choose a format, a dialog box will appear. Give the EDL a suitable name, make sure "Drop Frame" is checked, and make sure "Create B-roll" is not checked. Under "Audio Processing," choose "Audio follows Video." Then save the EDL to your hard drive. Afterward, you can copy it to a floppy disk, Zip disk, or Jaz cartridge to take to your online editing facility.

After you've created the EDL, it's also a good idea to create a batch list. This is a list of all the clips that are included in your finished program, along with their reel names and starting and ending time codes. Although a batch list is not strictly necessary, it will come in very handy for reference when you're doing your online edit.

To create a batch list, choose "Tools" from the file menu and "Project trimmer" from the submenu. In the dialog box that appears, make sure "Create trimmed batch list" is checked and "Create trimmed source files" is not checked. When you click "Create Project," and enter a name, Premiere will create a batch list in a binary file format.

In order to make the list portable, you'll need to convert it to a text file. You do this by opening it in Premiere and then choosing "Export to text file" from the Batch Capture menu. After you've exported the text file, import it into a word processor and print it out. (You may want to use your word processor's Sort feature to sort the list by reel name before you print it.)

Bring the printed list with you to the online edit session, along with your EDL and all your original source tapes. Once the online system has imported your EDL, it can automatically redigitize each clip on the list at high resolution.
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Because the standard EDL formats were developed for conventional editing systems rather than digital nonlinear systems, they have no way to code certain kinds of information. Therefore, some aspects of your rough cut won't be included in your EDL, and won't be transferred automatically to the online editing system. These may include:

1. Audio levels. Audio cues will start and stop at the proper points, but you'll most likely have to set volume levels, fade-ins and -outs, and EQ manually.
   
   
2. Filters. Any filters or special effects that were applied in Premiere will have to be reapplied in the online edit.
   
   
3. Unusual transitions. Standard transitions such as cuts and dissolves will transfer automatically to the online system. Other more "exotic" transitions may have to be inserted manually.
   
   
4. Non-videotape sources. Many elements of video programs don't originate on videotape. For example, in producing Schaeffer & Goldentyer's video programs, I often create animations in Macromedia Director and export them as Quicktime movies. I pre-edit all non-lip synched audio tracks (such as voiceovers and music beds) and export them as audio-only Quicktime files. I create graphics and titles (with alpha channels) in Photoshop and export them as PICT files.

All of these non-videotape elements are included in the EDL. However, many online systems (including Media 100) don't know how to link items in the EDL to non-videotape sources. As a result, you'll have to import each of these elements individually and set the in- and out-points manually.

Setting audio levels and positioning non-videotape elements turns out to be the most time-consuming part of the editing process, and is all the more frustrating because it must be done twice -- once in Premiere and again in the online edit. Overall, however, doing a rough cut in Premiere is worth it in the time and effort it saves in the long run.
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