Editing Labs

George Mason University does not currently have a computing requirement for students.   

However, the realities of current Post-Secondary Education require students to have access to a personal computer, and due to the intensive computing requirements, that are associated with Film Production and Post-Production, we encourage students to invest in a system with sufficient RAM, processor, and storage. We believe a Mac, or a PC is the best option for most students.  

We DO NOT recommend a netbook (such as the Chromebook) as a primary workstation.   

APPLE COMPUTERS – HIGHLY RECOMMENDED   
All our edit labs and auxiliary facilities are equipped with Apple computers. We find this platform to be very stable for editing and integrate well within the university.   

As an industry standard for video post-production, we find that these systems are the most sensible investment for our students and program.

Our general practice is to recommend a mid-range processor MacBook Pro or a mid spec’d iMac with upgraded ram and storage. Please review the technical requirements and recommendations letter for that year’s specific recommendations.

*We strongly recommend you purchase AppleCare+, which extends the 1-year Apple Warranty to 3 years and adds accidental coverage.   

Before enrolling in any Film Production Class, students must purchase a portable external hard drive for media storage and editing work. We require one and recommend two. You will use one for your primary work and one for back up. Projects may not be saved to our workstations. As you will bring the drive to classes and to the various editing labs, it must be portable.   

Headphones are required for all students when working in the editing labs. You will need a good pair to do everything from recording on-set audio, to editing your projects in our labs, to completing your final mix.  

Purchase headphones with 2 very important features:  

·         Studio grade headphones with flat EQ. Flat EQ headphones are designed to give an unbiased representation of high, mid, and low frequencies, so you can mix your audio according to what you have in your edit. (Beats by Dr. Dre and Bose are not recommended for this reason.)   

·         Headphones should be “closed back” with soft cups surrounding your ear that do not project sound outwards. We discourage earbuds for critical sound work.  

Before enrolling in any Film Production Class, students must provide their own SD Cards. SD Cards are the primary format used for recording media from our cameras and audio recording devices. Any other specialized media will be provided by the department.  

We encourage students to own between 2-4 SD cards, with some form of a storage case.  

During your time in the Film Program, you will be exposed to a variety of different editing platforms and post-production tools. These include Adobe Creative Cloud, Da Vinci Resolve, Final Draft, Avid Pro Tools, Apple Logic, and more.  

You are welcome to explore and purchase these products to use on your own systems. Please note that we update our stations annually in August. Please review our Software Update Policy and check for the current version we are running. Subscription-based software is either renewed annually and/or paid for monthly.   

Information on how to subscribe to or purchase the above-mentioned software can be found below. Please note, editing software requires certain computer specifications/hardware and you should pay close attention to these before you download them onto your machines. 

Adobe’s Creative Cloud: We currently use Adobe Premiere as the basis of how we teach editing at Mason. Although students will explore a variety of post-production tools, Premiere is one of the primary platform’s students use throughout the program.   

All students will need a free Adobe ID to use Creative Cloud software on campus computers  

(instructions will be made available in all classrooms and labs), but many students may opt to purchase their own license that they can use at home.  

Adobe offers special pricing on their software for Students and Teachers. You can access their pricing on Adobe's Website.  

Da Vinci Resolve: Black Magic Design offers a free version. The full studio version costs $295. More information can be found on the Black Magic Design Website.  

Final Draft (HIGHLY RECOMMENDED) is an industry standard tool for writing and formatting your scripts and may be required in some of your classes.  Similar to Adobe Creative Cloud, students can get access to Final Draft for free as part of their enrollment in screenwriting courses. However, some students may opt to purchase their own license to maintain their writing practice outside of screenwriting courses.

Adobe Creative Cloud

We are proud to offer the full suite of Adobe Creative Cloud software on all of our department managed computers, and students will also find creative cloud offered across a lot of different venues and resources here on campus.

While students are encouraged to explore a variety of other software and tools within post-production, Adobe offers an all encompassing package of software that will see most students all the way through their post-production workflows.

Our students primarily will use:

Adobe Prelude, Media Encoder, Premiere, Audition and After Effects.

However, many of our students will utilize the following software within their projects and other studies across the university:

Photoshop, InDesign,Lightroom, Illustrator, amongst many other options within the suite.

A full list of all the versions of this software we are currently running can be found on the Film & Video Studies Canvas page. Go to: Canvas > Courses > Film and Video Studies Majors Undergraduate > Modules > Post Production

If you are interested in purchasing Adobe Creative Cloud for use at home, please visit the student page on the Adobe site.

Da Vinci Resolve

Find more information and download Blackmagic Design's DaVinci Resolve.

*Note Da Vinci Resolve makes Beta Versions of its software available to the general public. Please do not download any beta software, as it is an unproven update.

Every version of Da Vinci Resolve can be accessed on the Blackmagic Design Support Page. Navigate to Da Vinci Resolve> Latest Downloads > Search by version number or date listed above.

A full list of all the versions of this software we are currently running can be found on the Film & Video Studies Canvas page.

Final Draft 

Final Draft is an industry standard tool for writing and formatting your scripts and it is installed in Film at Mason labs. Final Draft has a student license available. 

More information and to purchase.

A full list of all the versions of this software we are currently running can be found on the Film & Video Studies Canvas page.

All Mason Students, Faculty and Staff have free access to Microsoft Office. Download Microsoft Office for use on your computer.

A full list of all the versions of this software we are currently running can be found on the Film & Video Studies Canvas page.

Below is a list of additional software our program uses. We have made these products available on some workstations in our labs.

For up to date specific version information, or other resources related to the software below please reach out to Film and Video Studies Technical Manager Andrew Jorgensen or Post Production Coordinator Melanie Smedira.

• Avid Media Composer
• Avid ProTools
• Apple Logic X
• Apple Final Cut Pro X
• Apple Motion
• Celtx
• Entertainment Partners Movie Magic Scheduling
• Entertainment Partners Movie Magic Budgeting
• Red Pro Cine-X
• Make MKV
• Handbrake
• VLC
• DCP O-Matic
• Shotput
• Storyboarder

The Jason Cortez Creativity Lab (The Cortez Lab) is an editing and meeting room open to all Film and Video Studies majors and students enrolled in film production courses. It is located on the third floor of the deLaski Performing Arts Building. The room is open at times the deLaski building is open (view schedule info below). In addition, the Cortez Lab will be closed periodically for meetings and classes. Please see the room for any notifications of closure.

For card-swipe access or to book the space, please email Post-Production Coordinator Melanie Smedira with your name and G#.

MAX Room Capacity 12

Schedule

Open 7 Days A Week 7am-11pm 

(may be closed during campus closures for holidays & extreme weather)

Features

• 6 27" iMacs for video editing, each with an external monitor and second chair for collaboration.
• 65" Samsung TV for collaboration
• Meeting Table Seats 8.
• Whiteboard

Our primary sound mixing and mastering space for advanced productions. The suite is set up so students can patch their projects into a 75" 4K TV and studio grade speakers. The Advanced Sound Design Suite is open to all Film at Mason students.

If you are interested in reserving this suite please email Post-Production Coordinator Melanie Smedira.

MAX Room Capacity 8

Schedule

Open Monday-Friday 10am-5pm 

(may be closed during campus closures for holidays & extreme weather)

Features

• 2021 iMac with Pro Tools
• 16 Channel AVID S1 Controller and AVID Dock
• 4K 75” Samsung TV with Yamaha Studio Monitors
• 2 Midi Keyboards
• Studio Microphones Available to rent
• Foley Pit

Our primary color correction space for advanced productions. The Advanced Color Grading Suite is open to all Film at Mason Students.

If you are interested in reserving this suite please email Post-Production Coordinator Melanie Smedira.

MAX Room Capacity 4

Schedule

Open Monday-Friday 10am-5pm 

(may be closed during campus closures for holidays & extreme weather)

Features

• 2021 Mac Pro, 2x4k Benq Monitors, Da Vinci Resolve Studio
• Black Magic Color Wheels
• 4K 75” Samsung TV with Yamaha Studio Monitors

The third room in the Post-Production Suites is set up as a single edit bay, so students have a space they can go to when they know they have a lot of work to get through and not be easily disturbed. The Suite has dual monitors and studio monitors so students can work without headphones if need be. In addition to the editing station, there is a rack set up for ingesting archival footage across various formats. This suite is open to all Film at Mason Students.

If you are interested in reserving this suite please email Post-Production Coordinator Melanie Smedira.

MAX Room Capacity 4

Schedule

Open Monday-Friday 10am-5pm 

(may be closed during campus closures for holidays & extreme weather)

Features

• 2022 Mac Pro with Adobe Creative Cloud and Da Vinci Resolve
• Studio Monitors
• 50 inch Samsung tv and 32 inch Samsung monitor
• Archival ingest rack including VHS, DVD, mini DV and Laserdisc

The Film/Game Lab is where a majority of our post production courses are held. All the iMac computers in the classroom run both windows and mac OS to support both Film and Game Design Instruction. The Film/Game Lab is open to all students after classes during hours in which a lab monitor is present. It is located on the second floor of the Art and Design Building. Access to the room is only available when a lab monitor is present.

Please see the schedule posted on the door for up to date hours. To book the space e-mail Mary Bean in Game Design.

Schedule

Lab Hours: Monday - Friday 7pm-11pm 

(Hours may vary based on Lab Monitor availability, see schedule posted on the door for up to date hours or changes.)

Features

• 25 - 16" MacBook Pros (with 21" external monitors)
• Focusrite Audio Interfaces at 16 workstations
• 3 - 50" TVs spread across the room, mirroring the instructor workstation
• Dimmable Lighting

Innovation Hall Room 233 is a University Classroom. A significant number of Film and Video Studies courses are held in this classroom. It is available to all students when class is not in session, and the building is open.

Schedule

Lab Hours: Daily 7am-11:00pm when classes are not in session.

Features

• 25 - 27" iMac Workstations for student use
• 17 licenses of Final Draft
• 70" TV for class instruction, with stereo sound.

STAR Lab is a state-of-the-art multimedia computer and equipment checkout facility that provides the space and resources to complete creative projects. STAR Lab offers Mac and PC stations equipped with specialized video, multimedia, and game design software. This facility also has a variety of video production equipment available for checkout, as well as a video production studio. Student mentors with specialized knowledge of operating systems and applications are on hand to assist with troubleshooting.

For more up to date information on hours and to reserve resources click here.