Many video editing systems are computer-based. This type of system includes capture hardware that is installed in a standard computer along with editing software. A computer has not really "lived" until it is asked to edit video. The computer's resources are used to their full capacity. Anyone who has used or built such a system knows that they can be temperamental and sometimes unstable. The software may also be difficult to learn. This type of configuration may be too intimidating and even frustrating for some who would just like to be able to turn on a box and edit some video. Enter the VEA or Video Editing Appliance.

A VEA is similar to a computer in that it incorporates a CPU, hard drive, keyboard and mouse. However, that is where the similarities end. VEA's may be hooked up to a standard television for operation. The software in a VEA is propriety and does not run under an operating system, such as Windows. Its only function is to edit video.

We took a hands-on look at two of the most popular VEA's on the market today. It didn't take long to understand the advantages that a video editing appliance has to offer. It also became apparent that these products would be perfect for many churches desiring to create their own productions.

MacroSystems US
Casablanca Avio ST (Retail Price: $1,295.00)

The slogan for MacroSystems (formerly Draco) and their line of VEA's is, "Works right out of the box". We found that to be true. We connected the Avio to a standard television, plugged in the trackball and turned it on. After a quick software update via the Avio's Smart Media card port we were ready to edit.

There are four menu sections on the main screen. Choosing the settings sub-menu allows the video and audio quality level to be set for up to three separate editing projects. Video quality may be set as high as level 6, which is comparable to DVD. Higher quality levels result in more disc space and consequently lower video capacity. At the highest quality setting, the Avio can store up to 167 minutes of video.

Once the quality levels are set, the next step is to capture (record) some video footage onto the Avio's hard drive. We connected our Sony TRV-900 camcorder to the Avio's S-video input and RCA audio inputs. Firewire input was not available at the time we reviewed the Avio, however, by the time you read this it will be available as an optional feature. Upon entering capture mode, our video footage could be viewed full screen. A box with recording controls appeared in the lower part of the screen. Capturing video was as simple as operating a VCR. Clicking the record button in the control box started the capture and ended with another click. We captured several pieces of video, which were automatically named. Each clip is referred to as a scene. A time remaining indicator let us know how much recording time we had left on the Avio's hard drive.

From the record screen we jumped directly to the edit screen using one of Avio's hot buttons. Our scenes were represented in four small boxes, in which the first frame of each capture was shown. We played back our clips by clicking on a scene and clicking play. The image quality was good with very few noticeable artifacts or color loss. In fact, it is doubtful that an untrained eye would be able to discern any difference from the original footage. We renamed our scenes appropriately.

The clips were ready to be dropped into the storyboard area of the edit screen. Before doing that we made some modifications to the scenes. The Avio allowed us to trim our clips to remove unwanted frames. We also added some slow motion effects, which had to be rendered but didn't take long. When we modified a clip a new scene was created, leaving the original clip intact. We added our clips to the storyboard by clicking a scene and then clicking "Insert".

At this point we added some transitions between clips. Transitions that would be performed real-time showed a green triangle next to the transition name. We simply clicked a transition and clicked "Insert". We could then watch the transition by clicking the play button. The Avio features some interesting transitions, which were fun to experiment with.

Next we added some text with Avio's built-in text generator. After clicking the scene on which we wanted the text to appear, we entered the title section. The titling screen includes an on-screen keyboard, which must be operated with the trackball unless the optional keyboard is purchased. We typed in some text and adjusted the font type, size and color. Other attributes that could be adjusted included transparency, outline, and the ability to fill the text with a texture. The text could be repositioned to any area on the screen. A background could also be added behind the text and assigned a color, texture and transparency. Multiple pages of text could be entered. If there were three pages of text and the scene is nine seconds long, each page would appear for three seconds. Finally, we were able to determine how the text would enter and leave the scene. Scenes with titles needed to be rendered. Overall we found the titling feature to be easy to use once we experimented with the various options.

We realized that adding narration and music would be essential to church applications, so next we explored the audio options on the Avio. Any sound could be captured through the Avio's RCA audio inputs. When using a microphone, an outboard mixer was necessary. We captured some royalty-free music from a standard CD player using Avio's audio capture utility. It had controls similar to video capture. The audio could be manipulated in several ways. We trimmed the audio down a bit and added a fade-in and a fade-out. When back at the edit screen we dropped our audio onto the music track. In addition to the music track there is a narration track, on which we could add another piece of audio.

Our little production was now ready to record back to tape. With couple of clicks it was done. We found the Avio to be easy to use and fairly intuitive although we missed some of the advanced features and flexibility that our computer-based editing system had to offer. Aspiring video producers looking for more features could take a look at the Avio's big brother, Casablanca. However, for many churches the Avio has everything needed to produce great looking videos at a great price. The image quality is very good and the system is stable. MacroSystem's Avio is a great choice for churches that want to take their media ministry to a higher level.

For more information go to www.casablanca.tv.

Applied Magic
Sequel (Retail Price: $1,995.00)

Sequel by Applied Magic is a video editing appliance including many real-time effects, transitions and titling features. We connected the mouse and keyboard, which are both included, and a computer monitor with speakers. We had the option of using a television for our display source. The keyboard was specially labeled with functions specific to the Sequel software. This made the whole experience fast and easy. After turning on the Sequel, the main editing screen appeared. The main screen includes a quarter-screen preview monitor, a resource bin and a storyboard.

The first step was to capture some footage. We entered the record mode by clicking a button with a red dot, which made it easy to find. The capture settings allowed us to choose if we were going to capture video, audio or both. We also could select a "Snap Shot" mode. Next we chose our video source. The Sequel has composite and S-Video inputs on both the back and front of the unit, which we found convenient. We connected our Sony TRV-900 Camcorder to the Firewire input (which is optional) and selected "DV" as our video source. Next we selected DV as our audio source. The Sequel is fully equipped with front and rear stereo inputs, an auxiliary input and a microphone input. We found the microphone input to be very helpful when recording narration, as we did not require any outboard audio gear. There are six levels of capture quality. We chose "Broadcast Quality", the highest setting, and noticed that at this setting an indicator showed that we could capture about 70 minutes of video. When we switched the storage method from normal to "extended", the available space increased to 130 minutes. We were also able to adjust the brightness, contrast and saturation of the image.

When we turned on our camcorder, a device control box appeared. With these on-screen controls we could start and stop playback of the camera. We could also mark the in and out point for our capture and let Sequel do the work for us. This allowed us to make frame accurate captures, saving hard disk space and trimming time during editing process. After capturing a few clips we returned to the main screen by pressing the edit mode button on the keyboard.

The footage that we had just captured now appeared in the clip bin, along with a clip black "footage" and another one of white "footage." We inserted a black clip by simply dragging it from the bin and dropping it into the timeline. We did the same with three of our captured clips. Finally, we dropped in a black clip at the end. At this point we pressed the "full screen" button on the keyboard and pressed the space bar. This started playback of our video, which filled the monitor without any dialog boxes. All of our clips played back with standard cuts in between them.

Clicking on a clip and then clicking "details" produced a box with various controls for adjusting the clip. Here we could set the in and out points. We could also change the brightness, contrast and saturation of the image, as well as RGB color correction. With a control called "White Magic" we could click on an area of the image that is supposed to be white and automatically white balance the picture. Audio adjustments also were made in the details section. Every change we made in this section were performed in real time, with no rendering required.

Pressing "transitions" on the keyboard changed the clips bin to a bin showing the transition effects included with the Sequel. We clicked on a dissolve effect and dropped it in between two clips. Upon playback the dissolve was executed beautifully. Being able to see immediate results full screen was very helpful. We also added some real-time color effects to the clips, such as sepia and solarize. We also added a real-time slow motion effect to a clip.

Next we moved on to creating a title by pressing the title key. A variety of fonts were available and we learned that we could load any true type font into the Sequel. We typed in our title and then added an outline, drop shadow and extrusion, all completely configurable. Text attribute colors could be changed and the text could be resized in any direction. We named the title and returned to the editing screen. The title was now stored in the graphics bin, which was accessed by pressing the "graphics" key. We also imported a couple of still graphics using the Sequel's CD-ROM. We dropped our title onto the graphics track in the time line. The text appeared on top of the adjacent video, where we could resize and reposition it. When in the "details" box we could adjust the transparency of the text. Our text addition played back real-time.

Finally, we captured some audio directly from the built-in CD-ROM and added it to one of the two the audio tracks in the timeline. After adjusting the volume controls the production was finished. Putting our video onto tape was simple. We just started recording on our VCR and played back the video from the Sequel and recorded everything in real time.

We found the Sequel to be advanced in many ways. The CD-ROM, external drive interface, PCMCIA slot, and third-party support are a few features that allow for plenty or expansion possibilities. Any church looking to produce great looking videos on an easy-to-use comprehensive video editing appliance should take a look at the Sequel from Applied Magic.

For more information got to www.applied-magic.com.

Tim Eason runs ChurchMedia.net, a comprehensive, online resource center dedicated to churches using media in ministry. Tim also travels the country consulting churches and leading workshops.