What today we could begin to call a digital video production station (EDPV), contains in a single equipment of values less than US $ 100,000 dollars, which until recently was considered an "editing suite" plus a "graphic department" of figures close to one million dollars.
Years ago it was easier to choose. Each element involved in video production and post-production (switchers, VTRs, character generators, etc.), had a specific function, which allowed comparison with fewer analysis variables.
Characteristics to be met
Editing tools: An EDPV must have a certain number of tools and editing possibilities that are required in current production, without which it is very difficult to meet the demand for creativity, speed and efficiency.
Image quality: The characteristics to be evaluated go first of all by the image quality, for which it is ideal to have a serial digital interface (SDI), common to all modern registration systems, which guarantees compatibility in the future. Its processing in 4:2:2:4 (720 x 576), a low compression rate, allows efficient file handling and data transmission, without deteriorating the image quality. It should also have analog interfaces, along with digital ones, to avoid duplication of tapes recorded in an analog way.
User interface: It is important to analyze the ease of use (friendly environment) without dispensing with the necessary tools, either in handling clips (as a database) or specific editing. The ability to immediately visualize editing decisions and their effects deserves special attention.
Speed of visualization of changes: The most recognized teams in the market have very similar basic editing tools, and it can be said that almost all have achieved, by different paths, a degree of efficiency that meets most needs. But it is necessary to observe the speed with which they are implemented, as well as the immediacy and quality in the visualization of the effects, as they establish a difference not only in investment of time, but also in creativity, by allowing a greater amount of tests and / or adjustments. This ensures customer satisfaction by being able to participate in the decision of the changes.
The importance of the effects package
The most difficult parameters to define are perhaps in the effects, but today we can accept that, at least, we must have tools that produce results in real time, viewable at the video output of the system and with the best quality.
Among the main ones are the following: video adjustment in two channels (chrominance, video, pedestal, color correction); image sizing; perspective; appearance; sectorization (crop); creation of shadows (drop shadows); transparencies; creation of curtains (wipes), curved effects; textures; edges; diffusions; luminance and chroma keys (with contour and selectivity adjustments to be able to work with shadows and transparencies).
Dynamic Alpha key: Within the keys, it is important to highlight the possibility of working with dynamic alpha key, fundamental in the management of multilayer effects and 2D and 3D animation, with which digital editing systems can recognize the crop signal included in the files generated by computer animation programs, and it is possible to create and manipulate in real time elements of 2D or 3D animation, or video clippings with total independence of the base image (background).
Painting and rotoscopy: There are also painting tools with alpha key support for image creation or correction, pixel cloning for retouching, multiple creation of vector masks (rotoscope), variety of brushes and airbrushes, image stabilization, motion tracking transferable to DVE effects to pin objects to moving elements, and application of filters for special effects.
For its best implementation it is necessary to visualize its effects in real time, since the painting effects cannot be evaluated without seeing them in motion. Therefore, waiting for a render to make corrections always implies a considerable loss of time and impossibility of interaction, essential in the application of paint.
It is noteworthy that these painting tools not only achieve a more sophisticated final production, but avoid, in many cases, additional costs, by allowing the correction of errors or unwanted objects within the frame (example: erasing the unwanted appearance of a lighting lantern or a microphone).
Management of many layers of video: The composition of multiple video images was done until recently exclusively on systems designed only for that purpose, without the ability to edit video in them.
Video editing systems were not considered if you wanted to do a job with many simultaneous images. Or, if you thought about using them, it was known that the operation would be tremendously long and repetitive, with several generations of video (and its consequent loss of quality), and taking into account that, at the slightest change or error, you would probably have to start from the beginning again.
Today, the best digital video editing systems integrate in the same platform the capabilities of editing and multilayer composition of moving images.
Titles: The creation of graphics should not only include static graphics but also the creation of titles, rolls and crawls in real time, with fonts of universal use with application of borders and shadows. In practice, character generation is characterized by being the last element integrated into the video, often on moving image, with constant changes in wording, which makes it impossible to wait for a render or resort to an external equipment.
Open and closed platforms
One question that should be asked by the person in charge of analyzing a digital video editing system is what are the advantages and limitations of open (computer-based) or closed (with hardware solved by the manufacturer) platforms, when looking for a solution.
An optimal solution seems to be one that offers the digital editing system with the advantages of both worlds and none of its limitations. There are several trends in the market and a denominator is not yet clearly perceived.
Here are some important elements to consider: that the system is easy to maintain, affordable, with network integration capability by universal TCP/IP protocol, high transfer speed and independent video hardware, not limited by computational platforms designed without taking into account the high requirements of high quality video and real time.
The state of the art offers us systems with image processing and manipulation capacity unthinkable a few years ago, at a price that previously represented only that of one of the several equipment that was necessary to have to offer the same service.
However, the selection of the most suitable digital video editing system must be made taking into account the many parameters that currently define them, since the security of recovering the investment made depends on the correct selection.
To all this it is important to add the necessary support and support that all equipment must have, both from the manufacturer and the local representative, thinking above all about the number of elements that must be handled and known to reach an effective use of the wide possibilities offered.
