VIDEONICS DIGITAL VIDEO MIXER PAGE 69
Loosely Synchronized Tapes
One flexible shooting arrangement for an event is to have two cameras
recording the proceedings, arranged so their tapes can be edited without to
much attention to timing. For example, here’s how you might shoot a wed-
ding. Place a camera in front of the bride and groom and another in back. Let
both record continuously for the whole event. When you edit, play both
together, using one VCR’s pause control to get them in sync. Once they are
playing in synchrony, use the MX-1 to transition from one to the other as the
action warrants. Use the sound recorded by the camcorder aimed at the
participants’ faces, so that slight inaccuracies in the back camera would not
matter. You could also mix in music as you go. The Mixer lets you use sound
from either source or from an external source.
Single-Source (A/A) Editing
In single-source editing, all the original scenes come from one tape. The
Mixer has special features designed for this situation.
Cuts
Cutting between scenes requires no special features: Simply pause the
recording VCR at the end of one scene and release pause when the next scene
begins. An edit controller can be used to perform this automatically.
A/A Roll
An easy way to add interest to a single-source transition is called the A/A
(or sometimes, A/X/A) roll. (The terms are extensions of the term A/B roll,
defined in the next section). In this effect, the video is frozen at the end of one
scene, and a dissolve or other effect is used to transition to the next scene.
As an example, suppose you are making your own murder mystery. The
door opens and the villain sneaks into the room. Slowly he moves toward the
camera and — you press FREEZE to freeze the picture of the killer’s menac-
ing glare! Then you pause the recorder. You set up the Mixer to perform a
dissolve. Then you find the next scene and start it playing a bit before the
scene starts. There’s the victim — it’s granny, sitting in a rocking chair with
her back toward the camera. You start the recorder. It is still recording the
frozen picture. At the correct moment, you transition from the frozen closeup
of the murderer to granny in her chair. As the killer’s face dissolves away,
granny turns and we discover it’s the constable, ready to arrest the scoundrel!
To accomplish this with the MX-1:
• Press FREEZE at the appropriate moment to freeze the end of the scene.
• Pause the recorder.
• Set up the desired transition. Position the source tape to just before the
next scene and let the scene play.
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