Hands On Review: JVC Timegate Nonlinear Editing System

It is our belief that no nonlinear edit system can exist without consistent attention to hardware-software integration, and dedicated field testing under real client-pressure circumstances by topflight editors. JVC has, apparently, succeeded in these goals, since the unit we tested, survived quite a beating during the production of two marketing documentaries under constant client supervision.

The Physical Plant

The box itself is like no other computer housing we've seen. There are no "octopus" cables running out of the back for audio and video. Seen from the back, Timegate looks like a D-1 VTR with flush-mounted digital video and audio BNC connectors, sync pass-through, component ins and outs, and four track analog XLR jacks. The unit is built to be rack mounted, standing a bit higher than a digital VTR.

Internally, the engineers on our staff were pleased to find a Movie 2 bus handling the data streaming, which handles 4:2:2 at greater than 250 megabits per second. This allows real time dual stream video to and from the hard drives at 50 megabits per second. Compression ratios can be adjusted from 30:1 down to lossless compression (less than 1.6:1) while maintaining real time effects.

There are five fans, strategically mounted to cool the wide array of digital video boards, including a Pinnacle Genie card, a Matrox DigiSuite board set and a serial digital interface card. The innovative card array creates a real-time editing system capable of four simultaneous tracks. Two of these tracks can support independent, real-time 3-D effects simultaneously and even dissolve between each other. The remaining two tracks offer real time character generation and a static, full screen background generator.

Extensive engineering was put into making the back plane highly resistant to IMF noise. Generally, the computer housing and layout emulate the best boxes on the market, coming pretty close to the current top standards set by Intergraph's TD series and Compaq's Deskstation 6000.

NT Backbone

Lighting up the Timegate is simple and quick. Running in WindowsNT means that the user can install a wide range of third party software tools. Our test model easily allowed for installation of Adobe Photoshop and After Effects, 3-D Studio Max, Executive Software's Disk Keeper (which is the only software we know of which allows for hard disk defragmentation in WindowsNT), NewTek's Lightwave and Software Grill's Pre Reader (which improves EDL management). JVC is looking for third party software vendors who wish to test their products on the Timegate and is publishing this list for use by customers. North's Inscriber is already incorporated for character generation. Using Inscriber, the user can achieve instantaneous playback of animated title sequences over whatever area of the timeline is active when Inscriber is invoked. At last, an NLE which takes us back to the live, CG playback days of Chyrons and Toasters.

With a bit of practice, we were able to create an elaborate edit that took two full-screen video shots, shrank them side-by-side on the screen and then flew a title behind the left frame, in front of the right frame, around the front of the right frame and then back behind the left frame - all in one, real-time pass!

Price Not Withstanding

The basic Timegate package, at $39,900 requires only a computer and video monitor, a set of speakers and a VTR. Turnkey systems, pre-assembled and tested to each user's individual needs, may be ordered through a growing list of JVC representatives. The basic Timegate includes 12 gigabytes of hard drives for image storage (enough for about 34 minutes at 4:1 compression), YIQ component, Y-C component and composite throughputs, all software, and a vast array of 2-D effects.

The only options available currently is the 3-D effects package at $7,500, and the serial digital interface (SDI) option at $5,500, which are both well worth the extra money. Up to 12 additional hard drives, in capacities of 9 to 18 gigabytes each, may be added at any time. Soon, JVC will announce release of an optional, user-friendly control panel to supplement most of the keyboard and mouse functions in the current model.

Our formula for judging the price of a system is the payback amortization time. If a system is so good that it can justify healthy rental rates or get expensive jobs done quickly, it is obviously going to pay for itself faster than if it was overpriced. In our opinion, the basic Timegate, could conceivably amortize itself in one, large editing job, or at worse, two or three commercials.

Learning Curve

Timegate is a very serious editing system that reaches far beyond its $39,900 basic price tag in complexity and facility. This is not a beginner's system or a system designed for an event videographer with only a casual need for editing. This is not to say that Timegate is difficult to learn. It isn't. We could consider it a nuclear level device and therefore suggest caution in its judicious application. Daddies take heed. Would you buy your film school grad a Ferrari for his first car?

The daunting aspect of converting to nonlinear or from one NLE to another is the threat of costly downtime necessary to learn the system. Timegate, we were happy to learn, emulates the most common NLE paradigm; as exemplified by Montage, Adobe Premiere, DPS's VideoActionNT and others, wherein the timeline is the focus of most editing control. Although many control functions, such as Trim, may be controlled from their own windows (the Avid paradigm), the necessity of venturing out of the timeline is minimal.

Our staff's training period consisted of about four hours of supervised instruction from a JVC trainer (an optional service from the local representative), which began about three days after we'd begun editing on the system. This was a perfect time to train, since it represents the maximum time needed to learn all the intuitive functions of the system, get a bit frustrated and then experience the "oh yes!" epiphanies that soon become unforgettable procedures.

Since our version was a beta system, the documentation was still in a primitive state, but already a hefty 150 pages, though we rarely had to refer to it. We cannot imagine that any seasoned editor, linear or nonlinear, not being able to learn Timegate in under three days.

Acquiring and Outputting

In the task of acquiring and printing to tape, Timegate provides complete edit control of two RS-422 (9-pin) capable VTRs simultaneously, making this NLE a full hybrid edit system, capable of executing an effect between a source VTR and the hard disk array video stream.

Since it is capable of transparent SDI quality, Timegate can be mated with a digital VTR for repetitive capture-edit-layoff-recapture routines whereby the longest time to create a multi-layered effect would be about twice the run time of each layer.

In acquisition, Timegate automatically builds SMPTE code-controlled batch capture EDLs, including the settings on the included wafeform-vectorscope. These EDLs may be stored under unique names after each capture session for later reuse. Captured clips are sorted into whatever gallery is open when the capture begins. Clip naming, noting and sorting are supported.

The galleries feature a standard drag-and-drop routine. One can quickly assemble a cuts-only edit by grouping the clips in a gallery, highlighting the group, and then dragging it to the timeline. Clips or sequences may be played directly from the gallery or timeline.

The Timeline

The video portion of Timegate's timeline has four tracks to handle video with two of them capable of simultaneous 2-D video effects, and optional 3-D effects available for immediate delivery. All the effects play instantly without rendering, even at the highest resolution level, which is lossless at 1.3 to 1. To initiate an effect, one merely opens the effect menu, selects the effect and drags it to the timeline. To change an effect, just drag the new effect icon over the effect you want to change.

Unlike lower tier NLEs which feature animated icons as mnemonic devices for selection, Timegate allows the user to simply click on any icon to reveal a control panel. Hit the play key in the control panel to see a real time playback of the effect on two sample frames. Intuitive controls for each effect can be adjusted in real time and saved as project defaults. The same control panel pops up if the effect icon is double-clicked in the timeline, but this brings up the actual production footage for adjustment instead of the sample frames and when the changes are executed, the changes will only be stored in the timeline version of the effect, not the global version.

With the 3-D effect option, operating Timegate is like sitting at the controls of a Pinnacle Aladdin 601. Clicking on the effect in the timeline, the two clips are shown in mid transition and merely by pulling sliders, the parameters of the effect - angle, rotation, radius, edging, cropping, whatever - are seen, instantly, on the monitor.

In addition to the two video effects tracks, Timegate also features a track for a real time background generator. Select a pattern, control its colors, its frequency, and angular rotation, drag it to the timeline and it appears instantly behind any scenes or text. The final video track is dedicated to graphics and titles, using Image North's Inscriber software.

Generally, Timegate's controls are easy to learn without documentation, and the real time playback of virtually every effect, including slow-motion, freeze frame, even reverse and fit-to-fill, makes learning and experimentation and instantaneous joy! This is the way to learn an NLE, not by reading a book. Timegate even imports all common picture files and animation sequences, making it ideal for finishing animations that can be created in WindowsNT on the same machine.

An interesting feature of Timegate is its capability to execute "dynamic priority shifting" which allows any layer of video or titles to shift view-priority during playback. Using this feature one can create intricate effects where one layer travels over and then behind another in real time

The audio portion of Timegate supports eight inputs and outputs, four analog and four AES/EBU digital. Internally, an eight channel mixer is available on the timeline and can be viewed simultaneously with waveform, equalization, gain level or panning with rubber band nodes. Elaborate adjustments for ramp fades are also featured. All audio controls can be actuated during playback in real time and the graphical controls, such as fader knobs moving up and down, follow playback.

Beyond the Four Tracks

While multiple layer effects beyond Timegate's four tracks can be created using third party products, like Adobe After Effects or Eyeon Software's Digital Fusion, these require rendering time proportionate to the complexity of the effect. However, users of Timegate can also employ the systems VTR control capability to lay its real time effects off to tape and then reacquire them as new digital clips.

This solution makes the Timegate's Serial Digital Interface (SDI) option ($5,500) highly desirable. Using an SDI-capable VTR, like the JVC-BRD80, Timegate editors can perform a "Record to Multilayer" function without image degradation. We tested the system with a complex sample scene up to 30 generations without artifacting or loss of quality. A cross wipe with the original footage was indistinguishable from the 30 generation copy.

Using "Record to Multilayer," one click of the mouse, sends the record VTR to an appropriate point, records the assigned clip and then plays the clip back into the Timegate as a composited layer, ready to use in the gallery. The entire routine takes a couple of seconds plus twice the actual run time of the clip. Record to Multilayer, once executed, places the effect in the gallery, ready to incorporate with three more layers, saves hard disk space and provides a safety backup on the VTR at one time. By archiving the tape of each layer, rebuilding at a later time is facilitated.

Fit for the Future

Because Timegate is based on industry standard hardware, integrated by JVC's engineers to function within a proprietary graphical user interface (GUI) , there is a high probability that current Timegate owners will see an extended lifetime for their machines. The open architecture and JVC's tradition of offering cutting edge advances in video technology portend the incorporation of technological advancements as soon as they are released to the OEM market.

In an age where videographers are offered the option of crafting their own desktop computer video tools or buying them pre configured, the issue of price is always paramount. While all of the elements of the Timegate, except, of course, the GUI, can be purchased by an end user and self-configured at considerably less cost than JVC's sticker price, the time spent in debugging, configuration, downtime (often in front of a testy client) make the difference in price inconsequential.

Considering that JVC's base price includes free software upgrades and toll-free 12-by-5 EST technical support for one year, (worth about $7,000 when compared to other NLE manufacturers) the option to build your own becomes nearly absurd.

Executive Summary

As a turnkey system, ready to work out of the box, running a highly intuitive interface, Timegate makes excellent sense, even in this most volatile times of technological change. Its SDI capability and mild compression ratio, ideally suited to JVC's Digital-S (4:2:2 at 50 megabits on 1/2" tape) format or any other 4:2:2 VTR, makes us believe that this is a system which could last several years before obsolescence. JVC has announced that it will continue to develop HDTV extensions to Timegate as new technology develops, paralleling JVC's VTR philosophy of keeping its anticipated 100 megabits 4:2:2 VTRs reverse-compatible with existing Digital-S machines.