Editing Video editing (section)

=== Linear editing ===
The first type of editing in the early 1900s was made with scissors, tape, and an editing table. Since editors could not view their edits while in the process, holding the film to the light was their only way of viewing their work. With the invention of the Moviola in the 1920s, a machine that allowed editors to see the film and make precise edits to deliver a better film.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |date=2019-12-30 |title=Evolution of Video Editing |url=https://www.skillmanvideogroup.com/evolution-of-video-editing/ |access-date=2023-10-27 |website=www.skillmanvideogroup.com |language=en-US}}</ref> this process was used for about fifty years and helped advance video editing.

In the 1950s, [[video tape recorder]]s (VTR) were invented and it was a defining element in the advancement of video editing. The VTR was the first device to use magnetic tape and was a revolutionary addition to video editing but had major drawbacks; the quality degradation caused by copying was so great, that a [[Quadruplex videotape|2-inch Quadruplex videotape]] was edited by visualizing the recorded track with [[ferrofluid]], cutting it with a [[razor|razor blade]] or [[guillotine]] cutter, and splicing with [[video tape]]. The two pieces of tape to be joined were painted with a solution of extremely fine iron filings suspended in [[carbon tetrachloride]], a toxic and carcinogenic compound. This "developed" the magnetic tracks (tape), making them visible when viewed through a [[microscope]] so that they could be aligned in a splicer designed for this task. The process allowed editors to play back their video but only at one speed and to mark the point of cut an editor had to be very precise. This process was used up until the late 1970s and early 1980s but the evolution of video editing continued. By the 1960s the EECO 900 was invented as well as the Ampex EDITEC which allowed for electronic editing and electronic editing controller.{{citation needed|date=October 2023}}

[[File:Mesa_de_vídeo_1.JPG|left|thumb|Vision mixer]]

Improvements in quality and economy, and the invention of the [[Videocassette recorder#Flying erase heads|flying erase-head]], allowed new video and audio material to be recorded over the material already present on an existing [[magnetic tape]]. This was introduced into the [[linear editing]] technique. If a scene closer to the beginning of the video tape needed to be changed in length, all later scenes would need to be recorded onto the video tape again in [[sequence]]. 
In addition, sources could be played back simultaneously through a [[vision mixer]] (video switcher) to create more complex transitions between scenes. A popular 1970-80s system for creating these transitions was the U-matic equipment (named for the U-shaped tape path). That system used two tape players and one tape recorder, and edits were done by automatically having the machines back up, then speed up together simultaneously, so that the edit didn't roll or glitch. Later, in the 1980-90's came the smaller beta equipment (named for the B-shaped tape path), and more complex controllers, some of which did the synchronizing electronically.