Nonlinear Editing

Chapter 1

What is linear editing?

Before considering nonlinear editing, it is necessary to define what linear editing is. Linear editing is usually used to describe videotape editing. The term linear editing arrived after the advent of computerized nonlinear editing and, while the designation may well have originated from some sales pitch, it has stuck and is in many ways an appropriate term.

Linear videotape editing is the copy or dub editing process where shots are selected and copied from the source tape to the record or edit tape. The term linear highlights the straight-line principle of editing on tape, where typically an editor will start with shot one of a sequence and then add shot two, then shot three and so on until the programme is ...