ABSTRACT
Virtually all film projects, whether they're destined for broadcast, DVD, or theatrical release, regardless of being shot on film, standard DV, or HD, are edited on a digital, nonlinear editing system (or NLE for short). Editing in the digital domain means that all visual and aural components of the project, no matter what their original form, must be transferred as digital data called media files and brought in to a computer running specialized editing software. In data form, any piece of visual footage or any piece of sound can be instantly accessed through a computer's random access capability and easily labeled, organized, duplicated, cut, arranged, rearranged, trimmed, mixed, and manipulated with a mere drag and click of a mouse. This simple fact is why, even in the technologically conservative arena of narrative filmmaking, digital editing completely revolutionized the postproduction process in only a few years (Figure 20-1).
