CHECKING IN WITH ... VIDEO EDITOR:

We can see it now. You’re having company over for the holidays and you want to relive those memories from childhood, so you pop in a video of that epic snowball fight when you were 9. Uh oh — the tape appears warped. What to do? Get down to the Video Editor in Newport Beach and have them transfer those memories to DVD. The Video Editor is celebrating its 15th year, offering a 15% discount on service through Jan. 31. We figured it was prime time to check in with the Video Editor’s president, Steve Kosch.

What exactly does the Video Editor offer?

The Video Editor offers businesses and individuals affordable video production for sales, marketing, training or a sports team year-end video. We are the low-price alternative to video editing, CD/DVD duplication and transfers from any videotape format to crystal clear DVD.

So it’s been 15 years since you started your business. Tell us some of the biggest changes you’ve seen over the years.

We have been in the Newport North Center at MacArthur Boulevard and Bison Avenue for 15 years, and stability is a key. Clients like that we are going to be around and back up our work. Back in 1993 when we opened for business, the big sellers were our 8 mm film and photo transfers to VHS tape. Our first video computer back then was called a TV station in a box, and it was marvelous technology at the time. Today, we use the industry standard Final Cut Pro editing software on Macintosh computers, and we can do anything you see on TV or the movies. Yellow Page advertising worked the best for us in 1993, but now it’s the Internet age and our website, www.thevideoeditor.com, is what draws attention. Today companies are having us put their videos on YouTube and other social media networking sites. Today we even send videos via e-mail. Sorry, FedEx.

What service is in the most demand these days? Is it still transfers of those scratchy home 8 mm movies and wedding videos?

Our biggest service today remains transfers of people’s home video library to crystal clear DVDs. We have boxes of old tapes come in every day, and sometimes we can take 20 videotapes and condense them into just 10 DVDs. Our business video production service and video editing remain our second most used services.

How do you see the business changing in the next 15 years?

When I worked with KABC-TV, CNN etc. video was expensive, bulky and required a high degree of video technical knowledge. The Video Editor was designed to make video production affordable and easy for individuals and businesses alike. We will continue to live by that mission statement in the next 15 years as we transition our focus to be a more business-to-business company. By using our media capabilities to help business segments train, educate and motivate their employees and customers. We can provide corporations with intangible assets that can prevent misunderstanding, lawsuit or legal liability, as well as promote products, new technology or innovation for any industry.

How have advances in personal computers affected your business? Are more people able to do the transfers with software at home?

Today, while some people can edit on their computer, The Video Editor is still a viable business because people get stuck and equipment doesn’t always work for them so we are like a tow truck to the rescue. People can use their own computers, but if they are looking for speed, quality and a professional product our trained operators are creative and ideal.

What video editing software do you like best and why?

We use a $1,200 video editing program called Final Cut Pro that works on a MacPro computer. Consumers can use iDVD on Mac or they can use Windows Moviemaker. Mac is more consumer friendly.

What are some of the more bizarre things customers have brought in for a transfer?

Because of our length in business we have reached into many facets of life. We do video work for doctors showing their surgeries, police departments and private detectives with surveillance videos, universities, businesses, sky-diving, reality TV audition tapes, demo tapes for actors, athletes, cooking stars and more. It is a fun business.

Mac or PC?

Either — I lean toward Macs because of their ease in use.