MacEditor

Designed with film students in mind, this interactive program allows the practicing of editing techniques without having to physically cut up expensive film stock.

The set-up includes two videodisc players, a computer such as the Mac, a video monitor and possibly a special effects generator for adding fades, wipes and dissolves between scenes.

The two identical videodiscs contain a variety of scenes such as dialogs, scenery, action/chase scenes etc., with a range of shots within each scene from closeups to wide shots both static and moving. By using visual metaphors such as an editing table and film bin the student can select series of frames from the rushes and recombine them to form a myriad of new scenes.

This program would probably be most easily implemented using a separate computer monitor and video monitor. A computer like the Macintosh, Amiga or Atari ST that uses a visual interface and a mouse would allow the use of visual metaphors that the student would be familiar with. The video monitor would represent the editing tables' screen and the controls would be available at all times on the computer monitor. This implementation would allow the use of many videodiscs, such as theatrical films, and not necessarily require a specially produced one.

The student would select one of the "rushes" icons and be able to view it at normal speed or step through it a frame at a time. By selecting beginning and end "cuts", a segment appears in the "film bin" as a "strip of film" which can be selected for viewing or "spliced" with other strips to form a new scene. These spliced segments are "wound" onto to the working reel which can be saved for reviewing at a later time.

The working reel is nothing more than a list of frame sequences for the videodisc players to play back. Odd scenes are played back from player A and even scenes from player B. This alternating playback scheme allows for smoother transitions between scenes than if you were using a single player by effectively reducing access time. If special effects are called for between scenes a command is sent to the framestore to control the display of scene A and scene B.

For Video students the visual metaphors could be changed to a couple of VCR's and tape cartridges.