.EDL

Introduction

An edit decision list (EDL) is a plain text list of the cuts in an edit: which part of which source tape goes where in the programme. The CMX 3600 format comes from the CMX editing systems of the 1970s and 1980s, which controlled tape machines, and it is still the most widely understood way to pass a simple timeline between editing, colour and finishing software.

An EDL holds only cuts, dissolves, wipes and a few notes, usually for one video track and a few audio tracks. Effects, titles and multiple video layers are lost, so EDLs are used where a simple, reliable list is all that is needed.

Structure

The file starts with a TITLE: line and usually an FCM: line saying whether the timecode is DROP FRAME or NON-DROP FRAME. Each edit, or event, is one line of fields separated by spaces: a three-digit event number, the source reel name, the channels (V for video, A, A2 or AA for audio), the transition (C for a cut, D for a dissolve with its length, W for a wipe), then four timecodes: source in, source out, record in and record out. Lines starting with * are comments, often naming the clip.

TITLE: ROUGH CUT
FCM: NON-DROP FRAME

001  TAPE01   V     C        01:00:10:00 01:00:15:00 00:00:00:00 00:00:05:00
* FROM CLIP NAME: INTERVIEW.MOV
002  TAPE02   V     C        02:03:00:00 02:03:04:00 00:00:05:00 00:00:09:00
* FROM CLIP NAME: STREET.MOV

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