Is video editing in the cloud real?

Broadcast Engineering by David Austerberry

In the past, video editing has always been tied to a place, the edit bay. The Moviolas and Steenbecks of film were joined by linear tape editing suites. In the days of quad and C-format, these were large and very expensive. Non-linear editing, typified by Avid, transformed the process of editing video from a linear process to non-linear, much more like film editing. Even terms like “bins” were borrowed from film.

Non-linear was split into “offline”, or editing a low-resolution proxy, and “online”, conforming and finishing the broadcast resolution files. The divide between off- and online can be blurred, but there is still the distinction between the shot selection and rough cut, which only needs a proxy and the final cut of the high-resolution video.

Although a rough cut can be made on a laptop, the needs for storage systems and professional monitoring have reserved the “online” for the post house. However, both Adobe and Avid are now talking about editing in the cloud with Adobe Anywhere and Avid Interplay Sphere. I recently had a closer look at both products.

Collaboration

Collaboration lies at the heart of program making. A team of creatives cooperate and meld their skills to produce the final result. Close integration between the team can speed the production workflow. Take the example of editing. The commissioning editor, the executive producer and all manner of folks from the production team may need to see the progress of the edit. Even if the editor doesn’t want everyone looking over his shoulder as he or she works, at very least the director may want to be involved. If a cut needs discussion, then it must be rendered out and conveyed to the participating team members for discussion. Typically this is a low-resolution proxy. The rendering and delivery all takes time and slows the impetus of creativity. read more...