Apple Final Cut Express 4 - Manual (Page 35)

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Video Formats
Before you begin editing, you need to decide what video
format you will capture, edit, and output. The format you
choose determines your post-production workflow.
This chapter covers the following:
 About Nonlinear and Nondestructive Editing (p. 35)
 Video Formats Compatible with Final Cut Express (p. 36)
 Audio Formats Compatible with Final Cut Express (p. 36)
 Video Format Basics (p. 37)
About Nonlinear and Nondestructive Editing
In the past, video editing was a time-consuming process. With linear editing, video
editors had to edit everything onto a tape sequentially, one shot after another, from
the beginning to the end. If you wanted to insert a series of shots in the middle of your
edit, you had to reedit everything forward from that point.
Final Cut Express lets you do nonlinear, nondestructive editing. Unlike traditional tape-to-
tape editing, Final Cut Express stores all of your footage on a hard disk, allowing you to
access any frame of your footage instantaneously. Without the constraints of linear
editing, you are free to combine shots in different orders and change their durations until
you arrive at the exact sequence you want. Video and audio effects, such as scaling,
position, rotation, speed changes, and multiple layers can also be applied and played
back in real time. No matter how you process your footage, the underlying media is never
touched. This is known as nondestructive editing, because all of the changes and effects
you apply to your footage never affect the media itself.