Timeline [Kindle Edition]

John Buck (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review

John's Buck's Timeline is a fascinating recounting of the history of editing technology. A behind the scenes look at the brilliant engineers who were seeking ways to manipulate pictures and sound, from the scientists working in high-end labs of large corporations to late night tinkerers working from their kitchen tables. From razor blades and glue to the abstract world of cyberspace. Even though I was there through much of the transition from film editing to non-linear I did not see the scale of dreamers around me looking for ways to digitize the process beyond meager budgets in a competitive market place. Buck brings to life this vibrant historical look at the evolution of post production.

Editing veteran Stuart Bass has cut the TV programs "MacGyver", "The Wonder Years", "Arrested Development" and "The Office".

Product Description

In the spring of 1924 Lyta built the first dedicated device for editors but it would be more than sixty years before digital equivalents, like the EMC2 and the Avid/1 arrived. In the intervening years individuals and teams imagined wondrous tools that could turn images into entertainment in the blink of an eye. 

Timeline 1 contains exclusive interviews with all the key players including Adrian Ettlinger, Bill Butler, Ralph Guggenheim, Gene Simon, Bill Orr, Dave Bargen, Ron Barker, Herb Dow, Chet Schuler, Bill Warner, Bruce Rady, and Andy Maltz. Here is an insight into the development of the CMX-600, Ediflex, Convergence, D-Vision, Montage, EditDroid and many other systems from a personal perspective. The EMC and Avid systems changed editing because they freed editors from the mechanical constraints of their craft. No more lost trims or analog video errors. 

Timeline 1 and its companion book Timeline 2 shine a light on the remarkable tools that editors have used for all of the ages.

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Product Details

• Format: Kindle Edition
• File Size: 869 KB
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services
• Language: English
• ASIN: B0057CQOC4
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• Lending: Enabled
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #103,801 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

More About the Author

John Buck has been an editor since he needed a way to cut his Super 8mm home movie rushes for screening in a makeshift neighborhood cinema, and to enter his work in young filmmakers' festivals. After being fired from his full-time job as a junior agency TV producer, John was advised by his father to 'get a job that people can understand what it is that you do'. He returned to editing, and created a thirty year long career that spans MTV Awards, SuperBowl commercials and high rating TV shows. He looked for a comprehensive history of editing in book form, but couldn't find one. Buck then spent four years researching and writing 'Timeline - a History of editing'.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars An Almost-Overwhelming History of Editing Technology, February 20, 2012

By 

Marc Wielage (Northridge, CA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Timeline (Kindle Edition)

This is a remarkably well-researched, exhaustively written story of editing, going back to the 1920s and moving across the next century as the world of film and TV moved from film and cement to digital files and computers.

Many important names in the history of videotape, camera technology, production, and post-production appear throughout the book -- many with some remarkable stories to tell about the sometimes-accidental nature of great inventions that led to many lucky accidents. Ampex, Grass Valley, Avid, Final Cut Pro are all there, along with older names that provide great nostalgia to anyone who was there, including Montage, Editdroid, Ediflex, Media 100, and many others, along with a bewildering array of now-obsolete video formats, including 2" quadraplex, 3/4" U-Matic, 1" C, and several others that are now merely quaint footnotes in technological history.

Author John Buck has managed to track down many (if not most) of the individuals who were there as these devices were created, and some of their stories are hilarious, sad, and inspiring -- sometimes all three at once. I think the book could benefit from an editor; it's probably too long by a factor of 50%, but I can't deny there was a lot of terrific information, much of which I saw myself throughout the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s. If nothing else, it'll give modern-day editors a historical perspective on *why* and *how* editing systems developed over time, and why the ease of a $500 modern digital editing system did not appear overnight.

3.0 out of 5 stars 3 1/2 stars short of really great overall, November 25, 2011

By 

G. Robinson "Extensive reader" (CO) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Timeline (Kindle Edition)

This is a great resource on the history of editing video/film. Unfortunately it gets too bogged down in people in a lot of places and some material is repeated. Nicely organized foot notes but some assertions aren't adequately supported. e.g. Fairchild was not the only company doing work in the early days of transistors--GE, Gruman, and others were also prominent in the germanium days and TI produced the first silicon transistor. AFAIK Fairchild did originate "Would you call a cross dressing nun a transsister?".

There are a lot of annoying typos in the book which is why I didn't give it a 4 star rating.

Rather specialized but by far the most comprehensive account of the early days. Pretty much stops at the founding of AVID.

5.0 out of 5 stars Timeline is a window to the proud history of modern edting tools., November 24, 2011

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The Consumer - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Timeline (Kindle Edition)

In 1983 as I was following the career path of a film editor I came in contact with new world of digital editing. John Buck has done a tremendous job of fleshing out the story of the pioneering companies and engineers who dedicated themselves to supporting the art of editing.

I thought I had a pretty good handle on the evolution of digital media, but Mr. Buck has shown me a world far beyond my editing room, into kitchens and converted warehouses were obsessive video geeks banged out code, and into boardrooms where gamblers bet on technology that was only a dream. I didn't realize how many of the systems I used for cutting TV had gone through mass transformations as manufacturers gave up on products and others bought them up. It was very expensive to do the necessary R & D to bring systems like Ediflex, Montage, Final Cut Pro and Avid to the small specialized market of editing. Big companies like Orrox and Ampex had limited success, little start-ups ruled the day. John Buck captures the story well.

Timeline and Timeline 2 are good books to read if you want to understand the engineering that got us to today's modern digital editing systems.