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Ryan Hensley is an award winning editor. His career started 12yrs ago as a combat videographer and post production supervisor for the United States Marine Corps. He spent some time in Television news editing before becoming the Sr. Editor at DNP Studios, a film production company in Orlando, FL. After leaving Florida, Ryan ventured to Boston, MA to pursue a freelance editing career which led him to his current job working as a Creative Editor at Viewpoint Creative in Boston, MA. Ryan has edited feature films, music videos and countless commercials and network promos.

In today�s fast moving world of technology, HD (high definition) is finally coming to the forefront of video production. From feature films, episodic television and documentaries to corporate video and even weddings, HD post-production is happening all around us. David Nixon, President of DNP, Inc., an Orlando-based film and video production company says, �We�ve all been waiting to get into HD for so long and thinking it would be much more difficult to produce because of the higher quality, but actually, it�s a lot easier to work in than standard definition.� So before you begin your adventure into the world of HD editing, you may want to keep these simple suggestions in mind.

What is the main advantage that HD provides over SD (standard definition)? Resolution. Resolution. Resolution. Hi-Definition video screen resolution is double that of standard definition. SD or 525i is an interlaced video image. An interlaced picture shows each frame of video on every other horizontal line. As the frames are projected on the screen, the video signal alternates between showing even and odd lines. HD on the other hand gives you either 720p or 1080i video. High definition or 720p is a progressive scan image. A progressive scan image projects every horizontal line in sequence. Therefore, a progressive scan video signal sends twice as much data than an interlaced signal each time it draws an image on the screen. 1080i high definition is an interlaced signal, however, it is almost twice as many lines as that of standard definition. HD results in a sharper, more vibrant picture quality. Now the key is how you manage and edit this beautiful picture information.

For the independent filmmaker who does not have access to a non-linear online HD suite, the fastest and cheapest way to �Edit Now� is to down-convert your HD shoot tapes to a digital SD format like DVCam or miniDV. The key here is to make sure that the timecode on your original HD shoot tapes are preserved onto your downconverted tapes. This will be very critical when at the online stage of the edit.

A decision that should be made at this point should be whether or not you want to edit your offline in a 4x3 or 16x9 aspect ratio. Either way is fine. This really is just a personal preference at this point. Now that you have your downconverted tapes,� you are ready to start your offline edit.

Before the offline process begins, your first decision needs to be which online system to use. There are a lot of non-linear editing systems on the market right now for editing in standard definition, but you need to decide on which system will translate to HD the best. For example, if you know you will be conducting your online edit with an Avid HD editing system, it would be best for you to do your offline edit on an Avid SD system. There are programs out there, however, that will convert one system�s timeline to another system�s timeline.

As a matter of fact, another editor and I recently finished an offline edit for a feature film on an Avid Media Composer. We used downconverted 4x3 images from the DVCPro HD tape stock. Once the rough cut was complete, the 30fps Avid standard definition timeline was converted into a 24fps Final Cut Pro HD timeline. It worked great. There was a need for a little tweaking because of the 3:2 pulldown, but nothing major. It�s just good to know that programs like this exist.

The second decision you will need to make is which frame rate you will eventually want to end up at. If you are planning to do a film out from your HD master, then you will want to edit and master in 24fps as this is the frame rate of a film projector. If you are planning to broadcast your final master via television or DVD, then you will want to edit at 60fps as this is the frame rate that converts back to 30fps best.

Your offline edit should be kept as simple as possible. Cuts and dissolves only will translate via an EDL (edit decision list) to an Avid HD editing system or Final Cut Pro HD system pretty well. At this stage of the edit, don�t worry about effects, graphics or even titles. You will want to create these elements in HD during the online stage of the edit. You can put temp titles in as place holders for the online edit if you want to.

Once your rough edit has been finished and you have reached picture lock, export your EDL files, grab your original HD tapes and head down to the HD online facility of your choice. For those fortunate enough to own a Final Cut Pro HD system, an offline edit process can be skipped. You can start from scratch at full HD resolution. There is no need to worry about having to have terabytes of storage space. The reason for this is all in Panasonic�s DVCPro HD codec. The HD files digitized in this codec are actually smaller than the 525i SD files digitized. With that being said, one 500GB Firewire drive is more than enough space for multiple HD projects.

There are many online HD editing applications. One of those is Final Cut Pro HD. With Apple and Panasonic teaming up, HD editing on Final Cut Pro HD is made simple and reliable. Bob Zelin, Freelance Video Engineer states, �It is surprising to many people that the common Firewire connection operates at 400Mb/sec, which is fast enough to transfer an HD signal into a computer.� Firewire technology means that you are a plug and play step away from capturing HD video from either HDV or DVCPro HD tape decks right into your computer.

Once your sequence has been imported into the non-linear online HD suite and you have batch digitized your timeline in HD resolution, you can begin your online edit session. Now is when you will be adding all of the digital effects you would like to sweeten your edit with.

Graphics in HD are just as easy if not easier than standard definition. Ringing edges on keys, jumpy morph lines and the like are all helped greatly with the increased resolution of HD. High definition graphics and titles can be made using various desktop applications like Adobe After Effects and Photoshop, Apple Shake and Motion and Discreet Combustion just to name a few. The advantages to HD graphics are once again, resolution. The clarity of HD graphics is incredible next to SD graphics. Text artifacting is lessened by the increased resolution.

If you need to outsource your special FX needs like compositing or 3D, you can make uncompressed HD quicktime files of the shots needed and put them on a firewire drive. Then send the drive to your digital artist. Once the artist is finished with your shot, they will send your drive back with the special FX shot completed as an uncompressed HD quicktime or a still image sequence. Import the shot/s into your project, and drop it into the timeline. Art David of Wavelight Digital Images, Inc., says, � In compositing a layered effects shot in HD, the shear resolution gain makes life so much easier, and the end product so much more satisfying. When you are, say, trying to extract a matte from a blonde girl�s blowing hair, shot against a green screen, the extra pixels are instrumental in the clarity, and ultimately the believability, of the final effect.� Once your timeline has reached picture lock status in HD resolution, your online process is almost complete. Now you need to make a master of your sequence.

Now you can master your project to any HD format of your choice or in the very near future, you will be able to encode your final sequence to an HD format DVD. If you know your HD show is going to be broadcast, then you will need to make a D5 master. The D5 tape format is the industry standard for broadcast mastering.

HD editing doesn�t have to be scary at all. As you can tell, it�s really not that much different from editing in standard definition. So go out there and have fun creating some great HD programming. Happy editing!

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Check out this article in the May 2006 print edition of StudentFilmmakers magazine, page 24.