Editing Non-linear editing (section)

== Broadcast workflows and advantages ==
In [[broadcasting]] applications, video and audio data are first captured to hard disk-based systems or other digital storage devices.  The data are then imported into servers employing any necessary [[transcoding]], [[digitizing]] or [[Transfer (computing)|transfer]]. Once imported, the source material can be edited on a computer using any of a wide range of [[video editing software]].

The end product of the offline non-linear editing process is a frame-accurate [[edit decision list]] (EDL) which can be taken, together with the source tapes, to an online quality tape or film editing suite. The EDL is then read into an edit controller and used to create a replica of the offline edit by playing portions of the source tapes back at full quality and recording them to a master as per the exact edit points of the EDL.

Editing software records the editor's decisions in an EDL that is exportable to other editing tools. Many generations and variations of the EDL can exist without storing many different copies, allowing for very flexible editing.  It also makes it easy to change cuts and undo previous decisions simply by editing the EDL (without having to have the actual film data duplicated). [[Generation loss]] is also controlled, due to not having to repeatedly re-encode the data when different effects are applied. Generation loss can still occur in digital video or audio when using lossy video or audio compression algorithms as these introduce artifacts into the source material with each encoding or re-encoding. [[codec]]s such as [[Apple ProRes]], [[Advanced Video Coding]] and [[MP3]] are very widely used as they allow for dramatic reductions on file size while often being indistinguishable from the uncompressed or losslessly compressed original.

Compared to the linear method of tape-to-tape editing, non-linear editing offers the flexibility of film editing, with random access and easy project organization. In non-linear editing, the original source files are not lost or modified during editing. This is one of the biggest advantages of non-linear editing compared to linear editing. With the EDLs, the editor can work on low-resolution copies of the video. This makes it possible to edit both standard-definition broadcast quality and [[High-definition video|high definition]] broadcast quality very quickly on desktop computers that may not have the power to process huge full-quality high-resolution data in real-time.

The costs of editing systems have dropped such that non-linear editing tools are now within the reach of home users. Some editing software can now be accessed free as [[web application]]s; some, like [[Cinelerra]] (focused on the professional market) and [[Blender (software)|Blender]], can be downloaded as [[free software]]; and some, like [[Microsoft]]'s [[Windows Movie Maker]] or [[Apple Inc.]]'s [[iMovie]], come included with the appropriate operating system.