Speed Razor Mach III
Speed Razor Mach III, from in:synch, is part of a new category of software
for NT that allows you to edit and manipulate video and audio sequences. If
you're looking for a real video post-production editing environment, you'll want
to take a look at it.
All the elements you'll use in your production are stored in the Razor
Library. These elements include video and audio clips, graphics, transitions,
and effects.
Razor has a batch-import feature and you can collect your elements with it.
To do batch capture, you'll need a pro or semi-pro video deck with an RS-422
port, a free serial port on your computer that's fast enough to handle a
high-speed modem, and an RS-232 to RS-422 cable. You enter SMPTE in-and-out
points for each clip you want. (This is a method of time-stamping video or audio
tape for synchronization purposes as defined by the Society for Motion Picture
and TV Engineers.) You then hit a button and Razor controls both the video deck
and the PVR, grabbing the footage you've selected.
This has some practical uses. Let's say you've spent the week shooting
footage for a training video, and you've made a window dub of your
BetacamSP footage onto a VHS tape. (A window dub is a copy that shows the
time-code in a window that is superimposed on top of the video.) You go home and
pop the tape into your VCR. When you see a scene you like, you write down the
time-code numbers where you want the scene to begin and end. When you get back
to work, you can enter the in-and-out points in Razor and let it grab the
footage from your BetacamSP master tape.
At the start of a project, you load up the elements you plan to use, then
you work with them in the Composition Window (see screen 1). The Composition
Window is essentially a time-line that lets you stack an infinite number of
audio and video tracks and shuffle your elements quickly and easily. You
drag-and-drop a video clip onto the time-line: If you want to move an element,
simply drag it to the new position. This process is much simpler than
traditional video editing, where one change might mean you have to change the
rest of the show.
Another important part of any editing system is the variety of transition
effects it offers. Razor may handle transitions with a plain-looking interface,
but it gives you a surprisingly large range of possibilities. For example, Razor
gives you complete control over every parameter of the popular wipe effect
(where one video source replaces another), including angle and the amount of
edge softness. You can save any transitions you create as presets.The more
ambitious can create custom Matte Transitions with the luminance values of a
.BMP image to determine how video images replace one another.
Razor has a number of special effects, including color-correction,
embossing, cropping, and blurring. Once again, Razor gives you an impressive
amount of control over parameters. The Orientation effect is particularly
versatile: You can use it as either an effect or a transition. Orientation
allows you to resize, rotate, and even spin the video in 3D space. You also have
the ability to key or superimpose images, including the "weather announcer"-style
blue-screen effects.
Razor includes a character generator because you always need to add titles
to your video. The character generator, like the wipe generator, has deceptively
simple controls. You can specify font, size, color and text justification, and
create scrolls, crawls, and drop shadows.
Final Choices
If you're an animator with an Alpha machine that uses software such as
LightWave 3D or SoftImage, you'll want PVR for outputting animations. The
operation is simple and the image quality is outstanding. Razor adds quite a bit
of power to your PVR setup, but does it really replace a traditional editing
suite? If your videos consist mainly of long shots, such as speeches or wedding
videos, then a non-linear video setup might not be your best buy. You should
consider a couple of video decks and some sort of video titling equipment
instead.
Most video today, though, consists of shorter shots that designers edit
together with a lot of cool-looking effects and great-looking graphics. If you
want to produce that sort of snazzy video, you'll be hard-pressed to beat PVR
and Razor with their combination of creative flexibility and top-notch output
quality. Maybe it's time to buy that director's chair.