The trouble is I got hooked.

The same thing happened to Richard Curry who attended the previous course as a confirmed sceptic and emerged to spend a small fortune on computerised video editing kit. By the time you read this I will have rearranged the spare room and bank balance to accommodate a similar set-up. Neither of us is a push-over!

As is often the case in computing you can spend a little or a lot, but to take a realistic leap into serious digital non-linear-editing you are looking at an outlay of £3,500 to £7,000. Takes your breath away, doesn't it? Of course that includes all the software and a very high-powered computer capable of desk-top-publishing, Internet access, household accounts and anything else you might wish to do on it. But think how much a traditional linear editing setup costs by the time you have all the bits and bobs. And yes, computers are not perfect. There were many tales of woe, of systems behaving like two-year-olds in tantrums and of mysterious crashes. Video editing pushes them to the limit.

So how did it happen that despite cost and regardless of potential electronic problems I was enthused to the point of bankruptcy? What has made me a true Nellie - an affectionate term derived from NLE (Non-Linear Editing) describing fans of desk-top-video?

For a start it lets you do so much with so little fuss. Forget film, splicing cement and sticky tape. Forget trying to start two VCRs in synch. Forget puzzling over where that memorable scene was on tape 4. Copy your movie onto computer disc then cut-and-paste it as you would words on a word-processor. If it is not perfect try again and cut or add a few frames. If you work on dv (digital) you keep all that fabulous image quality no matter how much you edit and every finished copy is just as good. It is as near to magic as makes no difference.

Another bonus is that you join a band of enthusiasts who share your pleasure, problems and occasional frustrations. Some delegates confessed to rising at half-past-five in the morning to get in a couple of hours editing before breakfast. Inspiring and encouraging as that is I much preferred someone else's idea of shooting during summer and starting to edit at half-past September.

Don't write off digital imaging if you cannot spend thousands.

If you already have a computer in the family you can do a lot with very little further outlay. We learned how to use modestly priced computer programmes like Adobe Photoshop and a scanner costing less than £100 to capture and manipulate images: trim off the unwanted edges, adjust the sky colour, remove unwanted details and drop on title lettering. Then print it using a £110 Epson inkjet printer to make perfect colour video cassette covers. (You can also base covers on frames grabbed with video editing programmes, or even just doodle with a paint program and produce an effective "modern abstract" style cover.) With top quality paper the results are as near photographic as makes no difference.

David Blundell's sessions were full of practical tips like this based on his extraordinary knowledge of the film, video and photographic industries. Ask him almost anything (we did) and he had usually been there, done that and brought back an example to show us. Though familiar with professional systems costing six figures he fired us up with enthusiasm for kit the amateur can (nearly) afford. Several sessions dealt with still images. Why? Take a look at many of David's recent videos (in competitions or on Meridian's Free Screen) and you will see what can be done devising something very like AV slide-tape shows on video. Or flip through his pile of video cassettes … each with a stylish cover attractive enough to make even the most jaded neighbour curious to see them. When did you last actually ask to see something called Holiday In Venice? We did when we saw the cover.

David Blundell

	The twenty of us (the maximum number) on the course seemed to spend a lot of time enjoying each other's company, strolling before breakfast round the attractive gardens, lounging in garden chairs on the sun-drenched lawn during coffee break, nibbling delicious carrot cake with afternoon tea, supping pints in the cheap bar and sharing movie experiences in the comfort of the common room. There were enthusiasts, novices, experienced film makers and complete beginners like me.
Wansfell College, Theydon Bois.	Our camaraderie developed round intensive hours in a darkened classroom. Two video projectors were used to present computer graphics on one side and videos on the other. David Blundell made extensive use of both as did guest lecturer Richard Payne of DVC who gave a live demonstration of video editing using the Pinnacle/Miro video capture board and Adobe Premiere 4.2 editing program.
Richard Payne of DVC Limited	The strengths and weaknesses of other Non-Linear Editing systems were touched on but this course was specifically aimed at the popular Miro/Premiere combination. Before our eyes Richard Payne captured some shots of coastline birds shot by a friend. Now "captured" suggests a foray through silicon jungles with nets and spears but this was a simpler and ornithologically safer business of copying the digital video image from camera tape onto computer hard disc.

Then he proceeded to display clips on screen like a line of slides. Each "slide" can represent one, two, ten, twenty or more frames of video. Using the computer's mouse and keyboard controls he chose start and end points for each scene, flipped one clip over to a mirror image for better composition and merged scenes with smooth cross-fades. An instant-movie mode let us see what the finished product would look like. For fun he added some clips and a still image from a recent firm's outing: they went for a parachute drop with the Red Devils! Intellectually the bird link was present, but in practice we were more intrigued by the ability to pan over a digital still so that it almost looked like part of the moving image. He then set the system rendering. I envisaged coating the movie with pinkish concrete and pebble-dash but this was only another jargon term for doing the hard work of putting his cuts, fades and joins together. In a few minutes the finished video was ready for top quality output onto digital video tape or disc.

That's the magic. As you work you see roughly what you will get. Then you try it and if it needs to be tweaked by a frame or two you can do so easily and painlessly.

What stands out from those packed two days? David Blundell's never-failing smile whether welcoming us at the college door or facing questions both basic and highly technical. His warm personality combined with hands-on expertise makes him a convincing, reassuring and very effective teacher / evangelist. Getting the usual folder of course notes … and finding no paper but a compact disc of words, sounds, movies and stills. David Jackson's plug for the Internet as a natural adjunct to anyone using computer technology to manipulate images.

Seeing and hearing the Sound Forge program at work as David Blundell stretched some commentary to fit his images … without audible distortion. Richard Payne's comforting reminder that "no one gets killed in a computer crash … all that happens is you lose 2 minutes restarting." The sense of a supportive community in the IAC's Miro/Premiere group with techies and award-winning movie makers all willing to help newcomers like me find their feet.

David Jackson IAC's NLE Group Organiser

So as a result of two days in a comfortable, friendly college on the edge of Epping Forest in the company of IAC friends my bank balance has suffered. My spare room is cluttered. I expect to spend lots of time emailing David Jackson (IAC's Miro/Premiere Group leader) for help. But I look forward to hours of revising frankly awful bits of video tape and slide-tape presentations into something others might actually enjoy seeing.

There are plans to do this course again … if you have any notion at all to investigate non-linear editing I urge you to come. You will get frank, unbiased advice, hints, tips, inspiration and ideas. You will also probably find yourself laughing more than you have in years. There are plans for other types of digital imaging courses …

You may even find out how digital imaging got its name. I did when David Blundell saw me playing with one of the digital still cameras he had brought. He gently pointed out that I was taking a superb close-up … of my thumb.

- Dave Watterson, FACI (All b/w photographs by Richard Phipps )

[Please note this is an archived report from 1998. IAC no longer organises courses at Wansfell College.]

"If a man is standing in the middle of the forest speaking and there is no woman around to hear him - is he still wrong?"

Page updated on 21 March 2008

Authors' views are not necessarily those of The Institute of Amateur Cinematographers

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