EDL, What is It?

Edit Decision List.

EDL is a record of edits created in an offline editing system. It can be stored either as a computer file or printed on paper for reading. It’s just a listing of each shot in the piece with corresponding timecodes.

EDLs are limited in scope. A typical offline edit may have a number of titles, VFX composites and other elements which can not be reflected in an EDL.

For this reason it is advisable to use more advanced file formats when migrating a project between platforms. However, EDLs are still usable on projects that consist of straight cuts and simple transitions. EDLs are written in plain readable text which is not the case with more advanced formats:


0001 FH49 VA12 C 09:16:39:22 09:16:48:19 01:02:20:22 01:02:29:19

0002 FH49 VA12 C 09:15:20:21 09:15:29:20 01:02:46:16 01:02:55:15

0003 FH14 VA12 C 14:24:55:22 14:24:58:02 01:03:02:16 01:03:04:26

0004 FH14 VA12 C 14:26:07:22 14:26:09:18 01:03:04:26 01:03:06:22

0005 FH14 VA12 C 14:19:02:07 14:19:11:06 01:03:06:22 01:03:15:21

0006 FH14 VA12 C 14:21:42:05 14:21:52:11 01:03:15:21 01:03:25:27

0007 FH14 VA12 C 14:17:39:11 14:17:42:18 01:03:25:27 01:03:29:04