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As the World Turns Nonlinear
New, Improved Editing Tool for Venerable Soap Opera
by Kevin Lewis
 Videotape Editors Matt Griffin, left, and Bob Mackler in their new edit room. Photo by Kevin Lewis |
At JC Studios in Brooklyn, videotape editors Robert Mackler and Matthew Griffin recently welcomed their long-awaited, brand new, state-of-theart Sony Xpri system, on which they edit the long-running daytime drama As the World Turns. The Sony replaces their decades-old Grass Valley system and marks the latest advancement in post-production technology that has taken place at this location over the past century. In an irony not lost on history buffs Mackler and Griffin, their new digital workstation inhabits the site of one of the oldest filmmaking facilities in the country: the lot of the former Vitagraph Studios (see accompanying story).
Griffin has been working at the studio since 1993, when then owner NBC produced another soap opera there, Proctor & Gamble’s Another World, until 1999. Mackler, who has been with As the World Turns (also owned by P&G), since 1988, moved over from CBS Broadcast Center in Manhattan with the series in 2000 when JC Studios bought the studio from NBC. The 50-year-old series is the only client currently at JC Studios, its base for both production and post.
With the editors’ old Grass Valley 351 editing system and 2200 digital switcher, As the World Turns had to be taped approximately six weeks prior to airtime to allow a sufficient window for post, but with the Sony Xpri, the show’s lead time has been cut in half to about three weeks. When Mackler and Griffin, with the help of associate director Carol Sedwick, have to produce 250 shows a year, on a roughly 50-week schedule, this represents a true liberation. (As the World Turns was the last daytime drama to be produced live until it switched to videotape in 1975.)
“It took a while, but with all the research we did of all other systems, the Sony proved to be the best for our needs,” says Griffin. “With a heavy day-to-day post-production schedule, the Xpri’s rendering speed, user-friendly interface and great tech support, it gives us more time to explore deeper creative choices ––and less time worrying about simple fixes.” “We’ve already seen the changes happening,” adds Mackler. “We just aired our very heavily effected 50th anniversary episodes and they are getting rave reviews.”
 The edit station with the Sony Xpri monitors and keyboards. Photo by Bob Mackler |
In the pre-digital editing days, videotape editing was very time-consuming and difficult, according to Mackler. One can imagine the editors’ sigh of relief when the Sony Xpri––a PC-based, long-form, nonlinear editing and finishing tool using the Windows 2000 platform–– had finally arrived. It is resolution- independent and capable of integration with third-party plug-ins. Its dual digitizing capability ensures that two standard definition streams of video can be digitized simultaneously, regardless of tape format. The Sony Xpri system consists of three separate computers: one for editing, another for recording the studio feeds and the third for show laybacks to DigiBeta tape and extra digitizing. Each computer has its own separate render farm attached, which is a separate computer, Mackler points out, adding, “So if I am working on a project and need to render an effect, I do not have to stop editing.”
All of the material for an episode is now stored on a storage area network server (SANS), which contains 4.5 terabytes of memory and is accessible from any one of the Xpris. “The edit and edit assist machines also have Adobe After Effects, Adobe Photoshop and GenArts Saphire Effects plug-ins integrated directly into the Xpri software,” explains Griffin. “We now have the capability of sending any piece of video to After Effects, creating an effect and automatically updating that piece of video in the timeline. The Saphire plug-ins more than double the amount of effects that actually come standard inside the Xpri software. With all this software, JC Studios now has quite a powerful edit suite.” says Griffin. Griffin and Mackler previously used Abekas 51 DVE (digital video effects) and the Zaxcom Audio Board with the Grass Valley system.
 The console housing the Grass Valley 2200 digital switcher and Super Edit editor in the old edit room for As the World Turns. Photo by Bob Mackler |
The editors appreciate the ease with which overtime seconds can be edited out of the show. If ten seconds of footage has to be edited out, it is marked and, according to Mackler, “Then you hit ‘delete’ and the entire show moves down ten seconds. It’s a nonlinear editing environment so we don’t have to do things in order.” In less than a minute, the editors have fixed the show and are ready to move on to the next task. “Whereas before, when we were on tape, we would have to sit for an hour waiting for the whole show to come down,” he continues.
Adding effects on the Sony Xpri is much smoother, and yet the effects can be more complex now than with the old linear system, according to Griffin. “Previously, we had everything on tape and had to dump it onto another tape and gang-roll the effects to make one effect,” he says, adding that with the Sony and Adobe’s After Effects program, “We can layer the effects on a timeline and make adjustments here and there.
“You have more control and betterlooking effects––and we don’t have to go through the layering of multi-tapes and pre-read,” Griffin continues. “If we make a mistake, we don’t have to start all over again. We have the flexibility to go into any effect that we are layering and tweak it.” Before, if the producer wanted to change something, Mackler and Griffin would have to build the effect all over again. “You can really go over the top with the effects now,” Griffin summarizes.
Sedwick says that the new technology has not really changed her relationship with the editors. “Our artistic aspirations may change, because we now have greater capability,” she explains. Daytime dramas are traditionally dialogue-driven. But will action overshadow dialogue thanks to this greater capability? “This show will always be dialogue-driven,” she explains. “It’s the characters who are the most important thing on the show. Without them, we would have nothing.”
“Years ago, this was a very dialoguedriven show, when everything was ‘done up’ in the studio; effects and music were recorded directly to tape,” clarifies Griffin. “Today, in the studio, they say, ‘Do it in post; let’s move on.’ The challenge now is to keep a true soap opera format but with a little flair. Got to grab that audience any way you can and with the Sony Xpri, it allows us to do that.”
Nonlinear or not, Mackler and Griffin certainly excel at their jobs. They both have received Daytime Emmy Award nominations this year for Best Videotape Editing of As the World Turns. The Daytime Emmys were scheduled to be awarded April 22.
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