Editing Non-linear editing (section)

=== The 1990s ===
The term ''nonlinear editing'' was formalized in 1991 with the publication of [[Michael Rubin (author)|Michael Rubin's]] ''Nonlinear: A Guide to Digital Film and Video Editing''<ref name="Rubin">{{cite book |title=Nonlinear: A Guide to Digital Film and Video Editing |first1=Michael |last1=Rubin |date=1991 |publisher=Triad Pub. Co. |isbn=0937404853}}</ref>—which popularized this terminology over other terminology common at the time, including ''real-time'' editing, ''random-access'' or ''RA'' editing, ''virtual'' editing, ''electronic film'' editing, and so on.{{Citation needed|date=December 2016}}

Non-linear editing with computers as it is known today was first introduced by [[Editing Machines Corp.]] in 1989 with the EMC2 editor, a PC-based non-linear off-line editing system that utilized magneto-optical disks for storage and playback of video, using half-screen-resolution video at 15 frames per second. A couple of weeks later that same year, [[Avid Technology|Avid]] introduced the Avid/1, the first in the line of their [[Media Composer]] systems. It was based on the [[Apple Macintosh]] computer platform ([[Macintosh II]] systems were used) with special hardware and software developed and installed by Avid.

The video quality of the Avid/1 (and later [[Media Composer]] systems from the late 1980s) was somewhat low (about VHS quality), due to the use of a very early version of a [[Motion JPEG]] (M-JPEG) codec. It was sufficient, however, to provide a versatile system for offline editing. ''[[Lost in Yonkers (film)|Lost in Yonkers]]'' (1993) was the first film edited with Avid Media Composer, and the first long-form documentary so edited was the HBO program ''Earth and the American Dream'', which won a National Primetime Emmy Award for Editing in 1993.

The NewTek [[Video Toaster Flyer]] for the [[Amiga]] included non-linear editing capabilities in addition to processing live video signals. The Flyer used [[hard drive]]s to store video clips and audio, and supported complex scripted playback. The Flyer provided simultaneous dual-channel playback, which let the Toaster's [[video switcher]] perform transitions and other effects on video clips without additional [[Rendering (computer graphics)|rendering]]. The Flyer portion of the Video Toaster/Flyer combination was a complete computer of its own, having its own [[microprocessor]] and [[embedded software]]. Its hardware included three embedded [[SCSI]] controllers. Two of these SCSI buses were used to store video data, and the third to store audio. The Flyer used a proprietary [[wavelet compression]] algorithm known as VTASC, which was well regarded at the time for offering better visual quality than comparable non-linear editing systems using [[motion JPEG]].

Until 1993, the Avid Media Composer was most often used for editing commercials or other small-content and high-value projects. This was primarily because the purchase cost of the system was very high, especially in comparison to the offline tape-based systems that were then in general use. Hard disk storage was also expensive enough to be a limiting factor on the quality of footage that most editors could work with or the amount of material that could be held digitized at any one time.{{efn|In editing facilities rented by the hour or the day, a production's digitized rushes would usually be deleted at the end of the hire, so that the full amount of hard disk storage was available to the next client.}}

Up until 1992, the Apple Macintosh computers could access only 50 [[gigabytes]] of storage at once.  This limitation was overcome by a digital video R&D team at the [[Disney Channel]] led by [[Rick Eye]]. By February 1993, this team had integrated a long-form system that let the Avid Media Composer running on the Apple Macintosh access over seven [[terabytes]] of digital video data. With instant access to the shot footage of an entire [[movie]], long-form non-linear editing was now possible. The system made its debut at the [[National Association of Broadcasters|NAB]] conference in 1993 in the booths of the three primary sub-system manufacturers, Avid, [[Silicon Graphics]] and [[Sony]]. Within a year, thousands of these systems had replaced [[35mm movie film|35mm film]] editing equipment in major motion picture studios and TV stations worldwide.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=k9KkIsSb5x0C&q=media+100+editing+suite+history&pg=PA137 |title=Producing Video Podcasts: A Guide for Media Professionals |first1=Richard |last1=Harrington |first2=Mark |last2=Weiser |first3=RHED |last3=Pixel |date=12 February 2019 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=9780240810294 |via=Google Books}}</ref>

Although M-JPEG became the standard codec for NLE during the early 1990s, it had drawbacks. Its high computational requirements ruled out software implementations imposing extra cost and complexity of hardware compression/playback cards. More importantly, the traditional tape [[workflow]] had involved editing from videotape, often in a rented facility. When the editor left the edit suite, they could securely take their tapes with them. But the M-JPEG data rate was too high for systems like Avid/1 on the Apple Macintosh and [[Lightworks]] on PC to store the video on removable storage. The content needed to be stored on fixed hard disks instead. The secure tape paradigm of keeping your content with you was not possible with these fixed disks. Editing machines were often rented from facilities houses on a per-hour basis, and some productions chose to delete their material after each edit session, and then ingest it again the next day to guarantee the security of their content.{{Citation needed|date=November 2009}} In addition, each NLE system had storage limited by its fixed disk capacity.

These issues were addressed by a small UK company, [[Eidos Interactive]]. Eidos chose the new [[ARM architecture|ARM]]-based computers from the UK and implemented an editing system, launched in Europe in 1990 at the [[International Broadcasting Convention]]. Because it implemented its own compression software designed specifically for non-linear editing, the Eidos system had no requirement for JPEG hardware and was cheap to produce. The software could decode multiple video and audio streams at once for real-time effects at no extra cost. But most significantly, for the first time, it supported unlimited cheap removable storage. The Eidos Edit 1, Edit 2, and later Optima systems let the editor use ''any'' Eidos system, rather than being tied down to a particular one, and still keep his data secure. The Optima software editing system was closely tied to [[Acorn Computers Ltd|Acorn]] hardware, so when Acorn stopped manufacturing the [[Risc PC]] in the late 1990s, Eidos discontinued the Optima system.{{citation needed|reason=Entire paragraph is unsourced and there is nothing helpful in [[Eidos Interactive]].|date=October 2020}}

In the early 1990s, a small American company called Data Translation took what it knew about coding and decoding pictures for the US military and large corporate clients and spent $12 million developing a desktop editor based on its proprietary compression algorithms and off-the-shelf parts. Their aim was to democratize the desktop and take some of Avid's market. In August 1993, [[Media 100]] entered the market, providing would-be editors with a low-cost, high-quality platform.{{citation needed|reason=Entire paragraph is unsourced and there are no helpful sources in [[Media 100]].|date=October 2020}}

Around the same period, other competitors provided non-linear systems that required special hardware—typically cards added to the computer system. Fast Video Machine was a PC-based system that first came out as an offline system, and later became more [[online editing]] capable. The [[Imix video cube]] was also a contender for media production companies. The Imix Video Cube had a control surface with faders to allow mixing and shuttle control. Data Translation's Media 100 came with three different JPEG codecs for different types of graphics and many resolutions. [[DOS]]-based [[D/Vision Pro]] was released by TouchVision Systems, Inc. in the mid-1990s and worked with the [[Action Media II]] board. These other companies caused tremendous downward market pressure on Avid. Avid was forced to continually offer lower-priced systems to compete with the Media 100 and other systems.

Inspired by the success of Media 100, members of the [[Adobe Premiere Pro|Premiere]] development team left Adobe to start a project called "Keygrip" for Macromedia.  Difficulty raising support and money for development led the team to take their non-linear editor to the [[NAB Show]]. After various companies made offers, Keygrip was purchased by Apple as Steve Jobs wanted a product to compete with Adobe Premiere in the desktop video market. At around the same time, Avid—now with Windows versions of its editing software—was considering abandoning the Macintosh platform. Apple released [[Final Cut Pro]] in 1999, and despite not being taken seriously at first by professionals, it has evolved into a serious competitor to entry-level Avid systems.