Timeline Analog 4: 1989-1991

By John Buck

Timeline Analog 4 (1989-1991) traces the amazing story of editing's evolution. Learn how Ubillos, Warner and the QuickTime, ImMIX and Avid teams built wondrous new tools for editing. The Timeline books are often updated at no extra cost.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tablo Publishing
• Release date: Apr 28, 2015
• ISBN: 9781925330182

John Buck

John Buck es presidente de GovernanceAlive LLC, una organización internacional de formación y consultoría con sede en Washington, DC, Estados Unidos. La firma también ofrece servicios de mediación y facilitación de reuniones. John ha realizado numerosas formaciones de sociocracia y liderado la implementación de muchos proyectos para una gran variedad de organizaciones, incluyendo proyectos de BOSSA nova. Presta servicio en la dirección de varias organizaciones. Realiza tareas de investigación y desarrollo. Por ejemplo, está trabajado con el laboratorio de software avanzado de Fujitsu para desarrollar Weaver, un software que ayuda a que las reuniones vayan mejor, tanto en persona, online y de forma asíncrona. John Buck tiene una amplia experiencia en gestión con gobiernos y corporaciones, incluida la gestión de grandes proyectos de tecnología de la información. Sus clientes están repartidos por todo el mundo e incluyen fabricantes de plásticos, escuelas, colegios y universidades, centros de atención a largo plazo, grupos de covivienda, ONGs, productores de alimentos y empresas de software. Posee un máster en Sociología Cuantitativa de la Universidad de George Washington.

Book preview

Foreword by William (Bill) Warner

They say that 'necessity is the mother of invention'. But what creates necessity?

Often, it is intense frustration with something you find really important. For me, I began editing in the early 1980s when consumer VCRs became available. The only editing method available to me was to copy from one tape deck to another. So I did.

I had no idea I was using a technology some people loved and other people loathed called linear editing.

Little did I know, but this linear editing was capable of inflicting intense pain on its users. It gave the joy of editing -- the ability make a story come to life right in front of you -- and it coupled this with a devilish characteristic that once you created your edit, you could hardly change it at all without serious consequences of time or quality. It was 1984. As an electrical engineer and product engineer, I at first thought this problem would go away on its own. Digital technology was here, and many people saw linear editing as the problem that it was.

I didn't realize that I had just poked my nose under the tent of a long, long story. The story of how film editing began, how it evolved, and how video editing started and how linear editing evolved.

They say ignorance is bliss. And in my case, it was.

Had I known the full story of editing when I began, it might have given me pause. Instead, I was given one of those great moments that spur people on. The joy of edting. The pain of linear editing. And then a third element. I thought a non-linear editor would arrive if I just waited. So I waited. And waited. After three years, I was doing even more editing. Now the pain was eclipsing the joy.

That was unbearable.

I had been thinking for three years about how to build a non-linear editor. And now, the father of necessity -- intense frustration -- gave me only one option.

We had to build a digital non-linear editor.

I am so indebted to the great team at Avid that built this amazing machine. I knew we wanted to build the best editor we possibly could. But I assure you, I had no idea of the scope of the over 100 year-old story that was about to include this little company from Burlington, Massachusetts.

Bill Warner, January 2018

Warner is the founder of Avid Technology and inductee of the Smithsonian's National Inventors Hall of Fame.

Dedication

The Timeline books are dedicated to Adrian Ettlinger (January 26, 1925 - October 23, 2013)

Adrian was a brilliant engineer, ground breaking inventor, astute observer and a much loved father during his life and career. In retirement he was a friend, advisor and mentor to me.

Adrian is without question the father of nonlinear digital editing and his contributions to the editing field have been recognised by industry groups and editors alike.

Thank you Adrian, rest in peace.

About the Author

John Buck has been an editor since he needed a way to cut his Super 8 mm camera rushes. Using a splicer and cement, he cut together parodies of TV shows for screening in a home cinema, and eventually graduated to local filmmaker festivals.

After being fired from his first full-time job as a junior advertising agency producer, John struggled to explain his skill set to the employment official. His father advised him to get a job that people can understand what it is that you do. The manager of a production company saw potential, and offered him a role as an editor on the midnight shift. John turned his Super 8 mm cutting abilities to 3/4, 1 and 2" tape.

He edited everything from commercials to auctions. High fashion to sheep teeth.With a skill that people could understand he left Taimac, and began editing in earnest at local television station TVW-7. With a 6pm deadline, an accommodating boss and a talented senior editor to guide him, Buck became an editor.

He took those skills across the country to a job on the international TV show Beyond 2000 where he helped create award winning programs. Eventually it was time to branch out on his own, but he was unable to afford the Avid that was so mesmerizing at a trade demo.

Backed once again by his parents, he took a chance and bought a Media 100 digital nonlinear editing system. One unit became two, and three and four. A one man band became a thriving business.

Thanks

This book series would not have been possible without the help of many people. Everyone has my appreciation but a few people deserve an extra shout out.

Candace Machein sent her father's files to make sure Kurt was remembered. Joe Roizen's family did likewise. Tom Werner, Bob Pargee and David Crosthwait shared material that others had trashed while Carter Elliot bundled up pamphlets and drove them to Fedex.

Marc Wanamaker shared his amazing Hollywood archive. Egon Grafen discovered archived KEM material, Heidi Heftburger found the best Svilova images, Ekaterina Gracheva did the same with Russian filmmakers. Bernd Perplies helped with German inventors while Hakan Lindberg shared his images of editing in Sweden, and Christelle Naili sourced the long lost Italian Moritone.

Pauline Duclaud-Lacoste ensured her great great grandfather Georges Melies was honored, while Bob Phillips shared his own photos of Jack Mullin and Bing Crosby. Sumio Yamamoto and Kyoko Takahashi found materials in Toshiba's vaults.

Tarek Atrissi designed the book, and Sharleen Chen created the outstanding cover.

Brett Wayn chimed in with measured advice. Gene Simon, John Delmont, and Barry Guisinger added humor to their notes just when I needed it. Loran Kary, Glenn Reid, Nick Schlott and Ralf Berger patiently explained the challenges of writing software code. Steven Cohen reminded me, Editors are people, editing systems are the tools, don't mix that up.

Phil Hodgetts gave good advice, John Maizels opened doors, Ron Barker pushed me to try harder, and Chet Schuler insisted on getting it right. Bruce Rady, Bernie Laramie and Bill Hogan remembered when others forgot. The ladies at the Jerzy Toeplitz Library inside the AFTRS in Sydney found dozens of books, manuscripts, articles and trade magazines to check facts. The team at Stanford University had everything set for my short visit.

Al Alcorn, Steve Wozniak and Steve Mayer replied when their inboxes must be full every day.

The people who invented desktop video Eric Peters, Jeff Bedell, Tyler Peppel, Carl Calabria, Ivan Maltz and Randy Ubillos answered all of my questions, many that they had heard before, with a smile. They never let me doubt my plan.

I have to tip my hat to the text editors, Bob Glover and Gary Buck. They volunteered to read this book over and over, and diligently worked through the raw manuscript, corrected it and made great improvements.

Dave Pretty taught me more about filmmaking, and business at Marketforce in a month, than a college course had in a year. Max Pepper explained the value of a flatbed as we cut dozens of lemonade and burger commercials. Ross McDonald rescued me from an unemployment office and gave me a job. Drew Gibson taught me the BVE ropes.

My long time friend Dan Flanagan pushed me to apply for a job in broadcast news. It was advice that changed my life. I owe John Rudd a lifetime of thanks for hiring me at TVW7, and giving me the freedom to experiment.

Fellow editors Ray Furness, Nick Glover and Ray Neale guided me in the craft of editing, even when I pretended to know everything. Peter Abbott and Tim Worner encouraged me to hone my editing skills while Steve Christiansen, Jacqua Page, Dave Galloway and Michael Horrocks believed in me, and my editing company.

Laura Gohery helped me turn it into a success. Bill Orr, Pete Hammar and Ralph Guggenheim were endlessly helpful before the idea of a book even existed, and continued with insight throughout its writing. Ralph's enthusiasm is infectious, Pete's advice forthright.

Despite the fact that Thelma Schoonmaker is one of the most awarded and talented editors ever, she answered my questions as if she were unknown and idle.

Ted Horton and Vincent Zimbardi supported me with editing challenges through my transition from editor to editor/author.

Andrew Morris starred in my 8mm movies, listened to my plans, gave me work and remained an unwavering friend throughout. Donna, Manny, Tillster, Miranda, Elena, Mario, the Colettes and Wild Matt encouraged and humored me.

Bill Warner (above right) changed editing forever. Without Bill there would be no Avid. There would be no book called 'Timeline'. He encouraged me at every turn, welcomed me to his home, selflessly assisted my research, lent me documents and tapes, drove me around Boston, twisted former colleagues' arms to talk, and opened up his heart to the project. Without reservation.

Bill has faced challenges that would humble most, and never gave up. He is an inspiration.

The Bucks, Waddells and Kuehs have been hugely supportive.

Mum and Dad gave me the freedom to dream.

Tan gave me patience and understanding.

Preface

In the spring of 1924, a small Germany company Lyta Cinema Works built the first dedicated editing device. A few months later the American made Moviola went on sale in Hollywood and become a huge success but it was sixty five years before a digital equivalent arrived for professionals.

In the intervening years individuals, and teams imagined tools that could join images together in the blink of an eye. They trialled technology, experimented with the impossible, quit secure jobs for the unknown, and ran out of money. All the while, they tried to ship the best editing product possible. For many years their stories went untold.

Hoping to solve an amicable dispute with Boris Yamnitsky, who had just acquired Media 100, I found myself at the local library staring at books that talked about 'how to' edit but not how editing came to be. My casual conversation was now a niggling annoyance. I turned to the web and found two names listed in submissions to the U.S Patent Office about electronic editing.

Adrian Ettlinger and William Warner.

One had created something called the CBS RAVE, and the other, Avid. They graciously took my phone calls, retold stories of electronic editing's rich history, and connected me with lesser known individuals who had created the tools we use today. Adrian and Bill not only helped, but they actively encouraged me. Bill made time to talk, linked me to others and poured me coffee in his kitchen.

Adrian braved the wet streets of Manhattan to tell me, over lunch at the Chiam, about a remarkable period of innovation. My part-time quest changed again when two key contributors passed away. Art Schneider and Jack Calaway both made huge contributions to editing, yet their efforts had gone largely unheralded.

I decided to record the history of editing before it fades.

Timeline zigs and zags from people to places, within companies, across continents. People's lives rarely run from A to B.

Former Xerox scientist David Canfield Smith told me:

In any revolution, technological or otherwise, there are interesting characters. In fact, the characters often are the story.

This edition

This edition Timeline: Analog Four is the fourth in a series that is specifically designed for students of film and television and small screens everywhere. It will take you about 4 hours to read.

I am updating it regularly with new interviews and images - at no extra cost to you. This version has new exclusive interviews with Andrew Soderberg, Duncan Kennedy and Gavin Miller. It also includes excerpts from Hansen Hsu' interview with the QuickTime.

The right of John Buck to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patent Act, 1988. Any unauthorized distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author's and publisher's rights and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly. Besides it's uncool to copy.

I have made recorded contact with all known copyright owners. Email me if you wish to make corrections. ([e-mail])

(c) Copyright John Buck 2019

Timeline 4

I'm no door-ist, but if there are too many scenes bookended by doors, the editor's duty is to kick them down.

- Joe Walker, editor Blade Runner 2049, 12 Years a Slave

20: Non-print, Non-linear

As the world adjusted to the Black Monday stock exchange collapse, Apple announced new products at the 1987 MacWorld Conference & Expo in Boston, Massachusetts.

Apple debuted Mac System 4.2 and System Software 5.0 which supported the new color Macintosh models, added the MultiFinder (allowing switching between running applications) and background printing with the LaserWriter printer.

Bill Atkinson's WildCard, now called HyperCard, drew most interest. Atkinson described HyperCard (above) as:

'...an attempt to bridge the gap between the priesthood of programmers and the Macintosh mouse clickers.'

Apple CEO John Sculley went further:

'In many ways, HyperCard is just as important as the personal computer itself'

HyperCard was designed to let users combine various media elements called stacks into one. The Wall Street Journal described HyperCard as:

'...a major development in the industry, changing the way information is organized and used.'

In time schools created interactive learning materials with it while industrials like Renault used HyperCard to build inventory databases.

Matthew Laser explained HyperCard in Art Technica:

HyperCard allowed you to create stacks of cards, which were visual pages on a Macintosh screen. You could insert fields into these cards that showed text, tables, or even images. You could install buttons that linked individual cards within the stack to each other and that played various sounds as the user clicked them, mostly notably a boing clip that to this day I can't get out of my mind. You could also turn your own pictures into buttons. Before the World Wide Web did anything, HyperCard did everything.

Atkinson realised much the same, later.

I missed the mark with HyperCard. I grew up in a box-centric culture at Apple. If I'd grown up in a network-centric culture, like Sun, HyperCard might have been the first Web browser. My blind spot at Apple prevented me from making HyperCard the first Web browser

HyperCard wasn't going to be the first web connected application nor was it the best way to deliver animations, video and audio in future. Apple need a different way to deliver media elements. And it needed to pivot away from hardware to software. Both seemed unlikely to happen.

Tyler Peppel oversaw product concepts that included optical media, CDROM, video hardware, SoundManager. His group created a sports wristwatch, a desktop phone with touchscreen and portable electronic book with Toshiba.

Very few made it to market because it was something of a Darwinian development environment at Apple. Out of 40 product concepts maybe then 5 get prototyped and maybe 1 got to market. We did make 200 hundred or so of the Toshiba touchscreen CDROM book device but we had issues with bringing the battery life and the price point together in a package that made sense.

The work had led him to see a key flaw in the Mac OS.

In a sense the catalyst for change at Apple came from the fact that the time-based concept called multimedia was becoming popular and it should have been a natural area for Apple to be in but we had nothing. John Sculley told me, We need to get into this, but of course it wasn't that easy. I started looking at how we could leverage the company's multimedia potential.

The Mac was extremely popular as a graphics layout and publishing tool but the OS had been built quite a few years earlier with the paper/folder/file metaphor in mind and as a result there was nothing to account for time-based events in media.

There were crude timers that just measured cursors moving across but nothing for data. There was no way to start unless we had a way to address time based events in the operating system, so we had to address a pretty sophisticated challenge from day one.

Andrew Soderberg, later a QuickTime hardware evangelist:

For good reason everyone thinks of QuickTime as being all about video and audio, but from the start of development, it was all about temporal data. Events happening in time, in a sequence. It could just as easily have been famous for the underlying technology to home security systems.

Managing when things went on or off. Like HomeKit is today. Or Notifications on your iPhone is today. In QuickTime you can have multiple 'tracks', and they can all do their own thing as long as they are all in this one temporal QuickTime container.

Everyone now imagines 'tracks' as meaning video or audio tracks but that wasn't necessarily the use case behind the development. It really didn't matter 'what' was on the track, as the software came along and saw an event on the track, it reacted as programmed at a point in time. It was a 'document' over time, with no start and no end.

But as Tyler says, this was going to be a big deal. A big deal to change for Apple. And proof of that was when we later released QuickTime for Windows, it wasn't just a plug-in that was added to Microsoft's operating system, we practically created another time based environment inside Windows to allow QuickTime to run.

Peppel created a product specification for an extension to the Mac OS to handle time based multimedia elements like video, graphics and audio. Middle management's disdain for change echoed that of Ampex in the 1950s. Charlie Ginsburg's development of Ampex's videotape machine was stalled or stopped several times in favour of the company's existing audio products.

Peppel's time based software idea was put to the side. For the sake of hardware. Within Apple's in-house Advanced Technology Group (ATG), Steve Perlman was working on hardware supported video compression. Perlman christened his hardware compression device, QuickScan and John Sculley showed an interest:

We had a very talented engineer named Steve Perlman, who also having challenges getting along with the mainstream engineers and so I moved Steve over to my office and so he sat outside my cube. Why was this all significant to me? Because to me it was just another step along the way to the Knowledge Navigator.

Duncan Kennedy recalls:

For about three to five years there was a major effort within Apple to develop hardware based video projects.There were projects trying to leverage HyperCard or projects like QuickScan but no one was really doing software based video.

Around the same time, Bruce Leak graduated from Stanford and applied for a job at Apple Computer.

I had 4 interviews, got turned down in three of them but finally found a job in System Software. It was a dream job for me. The Macintosh was the most interesting computer out in the world.

EDUCOM

John Sculley delivered the keynote at EDUCOM 1987 in Los Angeles. After an introduction he played a short video called The Knowledge Navigator, which showed a real life scenario between a University professor and a device that could access a large networked database of hypertext information. It used a software agent, depicted as a bow tie wearing assistant, to help in searching for information.

The vision brought together a wish list of computer experiences that was unbound by Moore's Law or contemporary technology. David Bunnell called it

...something between a product announcement and a sci-fi story.

Sculley later told Laurie Flynn at Infoworld:

This tool is one that really has all the key technologies underway in the 1980s that we're going to need by the end of the century.

While it impressed the audience, the reception elsewhere was measured. The product video was not widely reported until Sculley repeated the demonstration of Knowledge Navigator at MacWorld in early 1988. This time the video played to Apple devotees, developers and journalists and it seemingly set Apple apart with a clear vision for its future.

Alan Kay later told Mark Brownstein:

The Knowledge Navigator is John's version of the Dynabook. It's been inspirational. Everyody at Apple us thrilled that John is supporting a concept. ...it helped to focus people, it became more real. We're getting the company to start thinking about systems. The systems will empower the individual through things that are networked.

The concept video also reminded everyone of a technology conundrum. What could be imagined was often not able to be built. Apple's Group Product manager Tyler Peppel cautioned in an interview for InfoWorld:

Knowledge Navigator is not a product plan but a vision of where we could go.

Jean-Louis Gassee was Apple's President of Products:

Multimedia is not poised for success like desktop publishing was in 1985. Those who think otherwise will be in for a major disappointment. I have every confidence that the required hardware building blocks will eventually become available and affordable, but the transition from desire to reality will be much slower than in the case of DTP.

Pundit Jonathan Seybold cautioned in the LA Times.

People habitually overestimate the speed with which something happens in the short run and underestimate the impact in the long run.

In future, the Knowledge Navigator became an Apple product suited to many professionals including editors. A handheld device able to edit graphics, multitrack audio, broadcast quality video and real time special effects capabilities. But an iPad with Final Cut X and Siri was more than twenty years away.

STOLEN GOODS

Fifteen months of work culminated in October 1987 with the launch of Digital F/X's first shipping product. Jason Danielson recalls the technical preview of the DF/X 200 Production System at SMPTE in Los Angeles:

We were scrambling to get all the code written and complete before we opened the booth which had a banner that said we were A Paintbox and ADO but in a single box. The trouble was then that the system kept bugging out so we decided to take the banner down.

With its modern GUI and digital throughput the DF/X 200 signalled where the online postproduction industry was going. Here was a single unit capable of compositing and special effects without any image degradation. Danielson recalls:

It was different from anything you had ever seen but as a brand new company trying to persuade people to 'bet their whole farm on us' we needed to get back to the lab after SMPTE and get it right. Many of our first customers were critical in helping us grow the product incrementally and turning it into a real workhorse.

While most of the attendees flew home from the SMPTE show, the Digital F/X team had chosen to have their only prototype driven home by an employee in a rented truck.

We couldn't risk having it packed in a commercial container and the time delay that would happen. Our deadline, that we thought at the time, was very tight and we figured it was quicker to do it ourselves and recommence work in the morning at Mountain View.

The DF/X 200 prototype and spare boards were stolen from the rental truck overnight. Clarke