Convergence, multimedia. There, I’ve said it. These are words that strike fear and loathing into the hearts of purist photographers and, I must admit, I was one of them. I remember having countless arguments with more forward-thinking colleagues about the future of our profession.

But like it or not, it’s here to stay. Traditional publishing markets like newspapers and magazines are losing readership to the internet, and the iPad may well accelerate that. So the sooner we realise that multimedia adds to our range of tools for telling stories or for being creative, the sooner we can embrace it and start thinking about regaining the large audiences we once enjoyed with our editorial work.

The thought of shooting video, with its moving images and the addition of sound, may seem intimidating, but let me assure you that it’s not that bad, as long as you approach it with an open mind. The same principles apply, and the phrase “garbage in, garbage out”, which began in computer programming and is often heard in editing rooms, is always worth bearing in mind when you begin thinking about making a film. It’s not down to your camera or the software you use to edit that’s the most important thing, it’s the content and what you’re trying to convey.

Better tools provide more options and technically better results. But while a Leica S2 will deliver a technically much superior image to a Holga, if it hasn’t got any soul to it, the Holga image will win out every time. I recently saw two music videos by Richard Jobson, one-time singer with The Skids; the first was shot on a Canon 7D with just a 50mm lens, and the second was on a camera phone with some still images worked into the video during editing, and they were both equally stunning.

The theory is straightforward. It’s all about the timeline. If you imagine how you would construct a slideshow, it’s the same concept. You need to choose the best video clips that work together and stick them down on a timeline.

Easy to edit
Most people will discount the bundled software on their computers, but Apple’s iMovie, which comes with all its Macs, is astonishingly capable, allowing you to put together a video with ease.

As most people will be shooting video for the first time with DSLRs, like the immensely popular Canon 5D Mk II (of which 40% of buyers are buying primarily as a video camera, according to the director of photography of 24, Rodney Charters), iMovie will let you use the footage straight from the camera without needing to convert it (for ease of use and speed of rendering transitions, it’s best to convert the H264 video files to Apple’s Pro Res codec before editing on the higher end packages). It also allows very quick and easy changes in exposure and colour, as well as basic sound editing. To help with transitions between clips, there are 20 included. It came as a surprise to me to learn that the Bui Brothers from LA edit the majority of their videos on iMovie.

Another surprise is Aperture 3, which is also a very capable HD video editor, allowing clips to be trimmed and used in a slideshow with several tracks of audio. It also allows for simple titling. The slideshow can then be output as a movie in several formats and sizes and plays just like a movie edited in a video-editing program. Aperture 3 allows very simple mixing of stills and video clips, and all in all, for quick web video when the deadline’s tight, it can work wonders. As a side note, regardless of which software I’m using to edit video, Aperture 3 has become my multimedia hub and is the place I store all my video and audio clips. If I need to work on something more complex, I then export the chosen clips to other editing software.

Moving up in complexity and allowing for much more intensive editing of video and audio is Apple’s Final Cut Express, which offers among many things an open format timeline, meaning you can easily have DV (PAL and NTSC) and HD footage simultaneously on your timeline, and it also supports AVCHD. It’s also much easier to create a cinematic look by using the many plug-ins and transitions available. Express also has the same precision tools found in the high-end Final Cut Pro, allowing for extremely precise trimming and editing using industry-standard tools. As far as audio, it allows for full multiple track audio (up to 99 tracks) with a wide variety of audio filters. It also handles animated text using Live Type allowing for creative text effects for titles.

Studio choice
At the real high end is Apple’s Final Cut Studio, which is a full editing suite comprising of Final Cut Pro, Soundtrack Pro, Compressor, Motion, Color and DVD Studio. This suite is extremely powerful and absolutely capable of editing fully, from scratch, a Hollywood standard feature film, and has been used by many filmmakers for this purpose. Final Cut Pro takes over from its Express version with support for practically any video format, creating full broadcast and cinema quality and compatible output. It also has full support for the expanded Pro Res family of codecs, allowing absolute quality with several flexible options depending on requirements. It has more than 150 transitions and filters and supports full multi track and multi take video, allowing for some very complex editing. Soundtrack Pro offers full multi track editing with absolute control and, with more than 50 audio effect plug-ins, allows for complete sound design. The rest of the suite caters for converting native formats to Pro Res formats, and full output into a variety of delivery formats, complete title designs of the highest quality and complexity. Colour grading is also catered for allowing certain looks to be achieved.

For PC users there’s the Adobe Premiere family, the Avid collection and Sony’s Vegas. Regardless of computing platform or experience, there is a video-editing program for every level of experience. My advice would be just dive in, have fun and learn as you discover.