Editing (composing) is a generalized term used to describe any kind of manual scene change made during or after a recording. It can be as simple as pausing during commercials or as complex as compiling scenes together from one VCR to another. There are a number of ways to make edits and this gives the dedicated Betaphile lots of options for getting creative. Most editing techniques are described below. Check the models features list because some are only available when using certain models. Simple editing: This is stopping and starting the tape to remove or avoid recording unwanted content. This can be done from off-the-air programs or when using an external input. Audio is edited along with the video. Only one machine is needed for this and every Beta VCR can do it. Continuous editing: This technique is pausing the tape to avoid recording unwanted content. This can be done from off-the-air programs or using an external input. Audio is edited along with the video. The tape can also be stopped and then placed into record pause later to resume recording. Keeping a beta VCR is pause mode for more than eight minutes will cause it to go to the stop mode. This is done automatically to protect the video heads and tape. Only one machine is needed for this and every Beta VCR can do it. Butt editing: This is copying a tape from one VCR to another and using pause to delete unwanted material. To do this the tape in the player (master) is placed in pause at the beginning of the scene is to be added. Then you locate the ending point of the previous scene on the tape in the recorder (slave) and place it in record pause. Both VCRs are then started at the same time by pressing pause again on both VCRs. The new source material is then added to the tape in the recorder. Audio is recorded along with the video. Every Beta VCR can do this and it requires two units. Manual audio insert editing: Many Beta VCRs have an AUDIO DUB button or switch. This lets you separately record audio to the stationery monaural audio head. In VCR language this is designated the NORMAL audio track. Adding new audio is performed like simple editing. The picture and Betahi-fi stereo are not affected during audio dub. You cannot add to or alter the audio in Betahi-fi stereo because it is imbedded in the recorded video signal (see Betahi-fi). The majority of Beta VCRs can do audio insert editing and it requires a separate incoming audio source. The source can be from another VCR, a microphone, reel-to-reel recorder or from a separate audio program. To see if this VCR records SAP check the features List. For more on SAP recording click here. Manual video insert editing: This is inserting only the picture from another source into a previous recording. The normal monaural audio track is not affected. To do this you press the VIDEO INSERT button on the recorder before starting your edit. The source can be from an off-the-air broadcast, a player VCR, pattern generator or a camera. Only Beta VCRs that have the video insert feature can do this. Manual video and audio insert editing: This is inserting both video and audio from another source into a previous recording. To do this press the VIDEO and AUDIO INSERT buttons on the recorder before starting your edit. The scene is inserted and the at the end the insertion the trailing video and audio in not altered. The source can be from an off-the-air broadcast, a player VCR, pattern generator or a camera. The audio can be inserted again if needed. Only Beta VCRs that have video and audio insert feature can do this, check this VCRs features list to see if it has this capability. Synchro editing: This feature puts the playback unit in charge of releasing the pause mode for both VCRs (master and slave). It is the same as butt editing except now the master unit is in control. You place the player in pause where you want a new scene to begin and the recorder in record pause where you want the new scene to added. Turn Synhro-edit ON and by just pressing pause on the player both VCRs will start and begin the edit. Communication is done through a Control-S cable and it is only one way. Audio is recorded along with the video. Some Beta models can do inserts (see above) while being controlled by Control-S. Source material comes from the master VCR. Only Beta VCRs that have a Control-S out jack and the Synchro-edit function can do this. Check this VCRs features list to see if it has this capability. Simple assemble editing: Similar to butt editing but with more control. You press EDIT ASSEMBLE on the playback VCR (master). Then locate the starting point of the scene you want record and place it in the pause mode. Next you locate the point on the recorder where you want the edit to start and put it in pause. Press EDIT START on the playback VCR and assemble editing will begin. Pressing pause on the playback VCR halts the edit and the playback VCR goes to pause after two seconds and the recorder rewinds the tape to where the edit ended and goes into playback pause. You can now make another edit by finding the next scene on the player and repeating the procedure. Pressing EDIT ASSEMBLE again releases the editing mode. Audio is recorded along with the video. Only Beta VCRs that have a Control-T jack and the assemble edit feature can do this. Source material comes from the master VCR. To see if it has this capability check this VCRs features list. Simple insert editing: Here the tape handling is the same as simple assemble editing except now you select which to record, the audio, video or both. Selecting AUDIO INSERT or VIDEO INSERT on the recording VCR only copies only that part. Video only records the picture and audio is just the sound. The monaural audio track can be dubbed later if desired. Betahi-fi stereo audio is in the video and cannot be altered. The Betahi-fi will be added if the video is copied. Communication is done through a Control-T cable. Only Beta VCRs that have the Control-T jack and the assemble edit feature can do this. Source material comes from the master VCR. Check this VCRs features list to see if it has this capability. Automatic insert editing: This feature lets the Betamax automatically control the insert editing operation of both VCRs. First press EDIT then press INSERT then audio, video or both. On the VCR with the tape for editing locate the point where you want to start the insertion, and set the VCR to the playback pause mode. Press EDIT MARK and the starting point is now memorized. Next find the point where you want to stop the insertion, and set the VCR in pause and press MARK again. The editing end point is now memorized. On the VCR for playback (source) locate the starting point of the scene to be inserted, and set the VCR to playback pause mode. Press EDIT START on the VCR for editing (where the points where memorized) and insertion will start. VCRs will proceed to make the insertion. At the preset ending point it will stop automatically and both VCRs will go into the playback pause mode. During editing the master will rewind, scan and play back until it locates the next edit point. Only Beta VCRs that have a Control-T jack and the assemble edit feature can do this. Source material comes from the master VCR. To see if it has this capability check this VCRs features list. Automatic assemble editing: This feature controls the operation of both VCRs when executing your edits. Up to eight desired scenes can be memorized and assemble to a tape. To do this you first press EDIT then ASSEMBLE. On the VCR for playback (source) locate the starting point of the first scene and place it in playback pause mode. Press COUNTER RESET and all zeros will appear in the display. Press EDIT MARK and the starting point of the first scene is now memorized. Locate the ending point of the first scene and press pause and then EDIT MARK. The ending point of the first scene is memorized. Each of the edit start and stop points are shown in the display. Next you locate the beginning of the first edit on the player (source) and place it in the pause mode. On the recorder find the location where you want the first edit to begin. Place the player in playback pause mode. You can repeat these steps until eight edits have been placed in memory, and they can be in any order. Press EDIT START on the playback VCR and it will find the scenes and assemble them to the recorder in the order programmed. During editing the master will rewind, scan and play back until it locates the next edit point. Audio is recorded along with the video. Only Beta VCRs that have a Control-T jack and the assemble edit feature can do this. Source material comes from the master VCR. Check this VCRs features list to see if it has this capability. Pre-roll editing: This feature controls the operation of both VCRs when executing your edits. It runs the original tape and the tape to be edited for several seconds before the pre-programmed edit starting points arrive. During the pre-roll routine the two VCRS are fully controlled and automatically synchronized during operation. Up to eight desired scenes can memorized and pre-rolled automatically. The set up and operation is the same as with assemble editing except when EDIT START is pressed both machines will roll back their tapes for five seconds and then go into pause. Next they will start running the tape forward at normal speed. When the pre-programmed edit points arrive the slave will switch to record and the editing will begin. When the ending point arrives the recording will cease and the machines will do one of two things. If no more edits are programmed the master will go into pause two seconds after the edit has ended. The slave will run for two seconds and then back up to the ending edit point and go into pause. If more than one edit is memorized the master will continue on and find the next edit and repeat the process, and so on. During editing the master will rewind, scan and play back until it locates the next edit point. After all the scenes have been edited the player and recorder will each run for two seconds and then go into pause mode. The edits can be memorized in any order. Audio is recorded along with the video. Only Beta VCRs that have a Control-T jack and the assemble edit feature can do this. Source material comes from the master VCR. This is the ultimate method for making seamless edits. To see if it has this capability check this VCRs features list. Controller editing: This uses a stand alone device called an editor to control one or two Beta VCRs. Editors can be pre-programmed to perform a multitude of assignments. Almost all of the above techniques are available, depending on the editor and the machines used. To check out the editors click here. To see an interactive table that lists all the VCRs that have a switch for initiating an active editing mode click here. ©Misterßetamax go to homepage