Linear Video Editing Software for Mac?

Vilorman asks: "Everyone knows that there is tons of linear video editing hardware out for Windows and Mac. There is even quite a bit of stand alone linear editing software for Windows. There are all of these Firewire DV input/output boxes on the market but where is the software for them? We've got Final Cut Pro HD and DVD Studio for the Mac but that's all non-linear. Where's the linear stuff? I want to be able to take live video into my Mac and superimpose text over video or images over video and then send it right back out using the standard Firewire video I/O box that I already have; but I want to do it live on the fly, not in post-production where I have to ingest an hours worth of video and then print it back to tape. I know it can be done but where is the software for making it happen?"

Comments

first of all...

[Scottarius]

I think your confused on what linear vs. non-linear editing is.

read here: http://videomaker.com/scripts/article.cfm?id=2302

What your asking for is on-the-fly editing.

Re:first of all...

[turkmenistani]

"But I can hear you can still use an old Amiga 2000 like that"

Hell yeah, you can! In fact, our local Community Access center still has an Amiga on standbye in the studio for whenever the P3 box running Windows 2000 craps out (more often than you'd think).

Compix Media

[ckswift]

Well it's not Mac and it's not using Firewire, but it is digital.

Compix Media produces boards and computers that allow real time keying (with alpha) of graphics or text. The software is pretty easy to use and allows crawls, scrolls, and regular animation of pages. The higher end versions use SDI (Serial Digital Interface) for video i/o, while the cheaper versions use s-video and composite video (BNC) connectors.

--Chris

A Mac is not the answer.

[JeffTL]

A Chyron character generator is probably the best way to superimpose text in real time.

Re:A Mac is not the answer.

[dgatwood]

If all you want is a stand-alone GC and aren't trying to super graphics, get a Videonics Video TitleMaker (any version). Last I checked, they wre a lot cheaper than a Chyron. Of course, at least in the versions I've used, they didn't do graphics, and they do the keying themselves, while a Chyron has a separate key mask to drive an outside keyer built into a switcher, so if that's the desired use, go with the Chyron, or maybe a higher-end Videonics. I'm not sure about their current offerings, since I haven't bought video hardware since about 1995, give or take.... :-)

Re:A Mac is not the answer.

[eht]

Or a Pinnacle Systems Deko product, or a Vizrt box. If you're looking at a Mac for video editing for religious or political reasons, be aware that both Dekos and Duets (Chyron's CG product) run on Windows, thou8gh older Chyrons ran on a proprietary OS, not sure what Vizrt's systems run on.

Pinnacle has much more market share, Chyron used to be huge, but now Pinnacle runs 45% of the CG market, Chyron, Vizrt, and a few smaller players split the other 55%, so that may also be taken into consideration.

Also these systems run in to the easily multi thousands of dollars, $45k+.

Other than price though, what it sounds like he wants is definitely a CG.

Guess what my day job is :-)

Video Toaster

[Hungus]

Snag an amiga video toaster / flyer or try open video toaster.

bookmark versiontracker.com now

[jeffehobbs]

Version Tracker is your friend.

~jeff

VDMX and VideoScript

[RobTerrell]

First, you need to realize what you're looking for is not an editing tool, but a live production tool. Once you know this... well, insert the standard ask-google-not-slashdot comment here.

The best Mac live-video-switching-with-effects product I've heard of is VDMX.

You want this although you're probably not willing to pay for it.

I'm not sure if VideoScript will generate NTSC output to DV. Probably not, but if so, it's a cheap alternative.

If you're ultra-low budget, dig into the QuickTime docs. It's not tremendously hard to write a C app that pulls a live DV stream and adds some QT text or effect tracks.

Re:VDMX and VideoScript

[ckswift]

I searched the web and was able to find a company called Black Magic Design that sells video capture cards for both Mac and pc that allow real time keying of graphics. At $300 USD for an SDI board and software it's not that expensive.

From their website:
All SD DeckLink models now support internal keying allowing you to key graphics over live video in real time. This is perfect for adding logos and "bugs" to live video when doing dubs of your show reel; or adding copyright and not for broadcast notices to client dubs.

Key features are controlled by an application called Blackmagic LiveKey that enables keying. This is just like switching your video capture card into a keying card; DeckLink works very differently when keying is tuned on. Graphics with alpha channel displayed on the RGB video output will now be keyed live over any video that's connected to the DeckLink video input and then sent to the DeckLink video output.

You can choose "internal key" on all DeckLink models where keying is done inside the card and you don't need to use any external keyer equipment. You can also quick key a graphic in LiveKey as well as set key levels; and allow keys to animate on and off using independently set time values.

For external keying, DeckLink Pro features 2 independent SDI outputs and genlock allowing image and key video output from the separate SDI outputs. This lets you key in outboard equipment such as production switchers etc.

--Chris

You've confused linear editing

[HotNeedleOfInquiry]

With on-the-fly genlocked effects. Two completely different things.

Linear editing is post-production editing, without the ability to randomly access a shot. In other words, you must hand cue up each shot then do an assemble edit. Non-linear editing is where the machine is smart enough to find your edit point from an edit list. Both terms come from tape editing, which is pretty much obsolete.

Video Mixer

[schmaltz]

What you're looking for is variously called "video mixer," "live switcher," and "video switcher."

These are hardware devices, although it can be done in software. At the bottom-end they start around $500-$1000 and work on up to however much yo' mamma's house is worth, and much more.

B+H Photo is one place to start looking.

What he's talking about is...

[SnowDog74]

He basically sounds like he's asking for a keyer, switcher and old school CG (character generator). Well, in that event, there's no logic behind using the firewire interface or a computer in the mix for that matter. It's entirely impractical to the cause. However, given the fact that these other systems are so outdated, finding one might prove far more costly (not to mention technically cumbersome) than even the cheapest, most basic NLE software packages today.

If what you want is on the fly keying of text, and switching to do dissolves, cuts, inserts, basic composites, etc. then look for an analog keyer/switcher and a character generator to interface with the keyer.

It makes no sense to want these things in a post-production environment over a digital non-linear editing system with a software based titler (like Livetype)... unless your interest is exclusively in live broadcasts.

The reason is quite simple.. whereas the keyer/switcher provides immediate response, the NLE provides unmatched flexibility, scalability and allows you to plan, storyboard, execute and correct your edits. Trying to do live keying/switching for what will ultimately be a taped program or go to DVD doesn't make much sense, IMO.

Why? Because whatever time you gain in immediacy, you lose in accuracy of your timing. Then you have to go back and correct, over and over again... and it's not easy unless you're a keying/switching expert... and even then, if you've mastered a keying/switching system, most NLEs do so much realtime rendering these days that you should be equally capable of quickly adapting to and using such systems.

If you aren't proficient in using NLEs for keying, switching and compositing, then you are presumably a hobbyist... or an editor without marketable skills. The time you spend trying to sharpen your live keying/switching abilities, you could be mastering the NLEs that are cheaper, actually easier to use, more agile and (if you're semi-pro or professional) will keep you employed.

Furthermore, it still takes an enormous amount of time to output to tape when doing linear editing. You forget that you still have to manually scrub, and dub in realtime... In non-linear editing systems, you won't be waiting for the VTR to physically reach each clip you're searching/scrubbing in your raw footage any time after the initial full-res capture. In linear systems, you'll have to deal with this every single time you scrub and execute an edit.

Every time you redo an edit in a linear system, you have to redub the entire edit, all the keying, switching and compositing in that edit playing back all sources in real-time in order to re-record the cahnges... rather than making a few corrections and re-rendering in a fraction of the time.

Add it all up, and a proficient NLE editor can do a Non-linear edit in a fraction of the time... and Non-linear edits are non-destructive.

Lastly, you can speed up the process even more by doing off-line non-linear editing. By using off-line, low-res thumbnails, or the default off-line inserts from batch logging (e.g. in Final Cut Pro), you are working all your edits, transitions, composites, keys, titles, etc. first in either low-res or with totally off-line clips.

Once all your edit decisions are finished, the computer only needs to batch capture the clips you've logged ONCE rather than repeatedly switching tapes, scrubbing and playing back through the loads of raw footage, to execute every single edit (especially nightmarish if you're going to break up and frequently insert pieces of or entire clips repeatedly in various places throughout the video). Screw up an edit on an NLE, and all you have to do is nudge your captured clip... rather than re-record.

It takes most people a few minutes to figure out how to maximize their work productivity from the benefit of logging and batch capturing in an NLE. The time you spend striping, indexing tapes and logging, and capturing, will be well-invested... instead of spending ten tim

Re:Motion

[afidel]

Nope, but it looks damn cool. Motion is basically a realtime effects plugin which means it shows changes to the effect in realtime instead of needing to render and blend it with the source on disk. What the poster is looking for is realtime keying as many people have pointed out.