Why is Non-Linear Video Editing The Standard Today?

In short, editors would load a tape containing the video they wanted into the source deck, scrub through the tape to the first frame where they want the segment to start, set an in point, then scrub through to the last frame of the desired segment, and set an out point. They’d then rewind, and play the segment from the in point to the out point. The video fed to the record deck which was synchronized with the source deck so that it would start recording as soon as the source deck started playing, and stop recording when the source deck stopped playing. They would then load the tape containing the next video segment they wanted into the source deck, mark the in and out points, and repeat the process.

The segment from the source deck would then record to the tape in the record deck starting at the exactly the next frame after the previous recorded clip stopped. They would repeat this process for the entire program. You get the idea of why this was effective, but limiting. The process was slow. Everything had to be done a specific order. Fixing mistakes was challenging, and editors could not make changes easily without starting over. Also, even though they used robust, high-quality decks and tapes, recording from one tape to another (known as dubbing or dubs) always introduced a generational loss of quality. Even though each quality loss could be very, very small, they would add up over multiple dubs, so it was vitally important to get the edit done in as few passes as possible.

In non-linear editing, making changes is much, much easier. To change out the second clip in a 100-clip sequence, it’s a simple process, sometimes as easy as using a “replace media” function, which makes the replacement automatically without having to touch the clip on the timeline.

Move, re-edit, delete, or restore whole segments with ease. Save multiple versions of your sequence for later reference. Non-linear editing opens up worlds of flexibility and ease.

As non-linear editing developed over the years, even more tools came along to make editing even more flexible and free. Nested timelines let you work on whole segments of your program completely separately, and then bring them all together on a master timeline. You can always go back into any segment for changes, which then update on the main timeline automatically. An excellent way to keep your work organized and efficient, it also lets several editors work on the same program simultaneously, with easy and seamless integration of all the different sequences.

With storyboards, a relatively new video editing feature, you don’t even need the timeline. Storyboards let you work out a sequence much like arranging photos on a desk, moving clips around in a specialized window and not going to the video timeline until you want to do the fine editing. And when you’re ready, the work you did in your master storyboard will already be there on the timeline. Work in different segments in multiple storyboards and bring those into the main timeline quickly and easily.

Linear editing forced editors to be extremely efficient. Editors had to have a game plan and could not easily experiment, so they had to know exactly what they wanted before they started. Having that kind of a plan always makes editing faster and more efficient, because as an editor, you already know what you want, and can work to that goal immediately without spending editing time figuring things out. It's easy to get caught up in the incredible flexibility NLEs give you to experiment even to the point where it slows your overall workflow down because you don't make decisions and just keep trying to find that “perfect” edit.

Also, the nature of linear editing meant only using the exact parts of video needed for the program. In other words, editors “trimmed” their clips to exactly what’s necessary before bringing them into their “timeline,” the record deck. No unnecessary video made it to the timeline.

Non-linear editors still allow this kind of efficient editing, and in fact, it’s a workflow every editor should learn. Start with a comprehensive editing plan. Know what you want before you start. And when you edit, learn to trim your clips in the built-in trimmer, or pre-trim them in their video thumbnails. The trimmer allows frame-accurate in/out points, and then you send the trimmed clip straight from the trimmer to the cursor point in your timeline. Learning what’s called two-point and three-point editing can help make you an extremely efficient and overall better editor.

But of course, non-linear software gives you the best of all worlds, because you then still have all of the timeline flexibility, even though you’ve adopted some of the advantageous practices of linear editing.