Flatbed Editor

A flatbed editor is a type of machine used to edit film for a motion picture.

Picture and sound rolls load onto separate motorized wheels, called "plates." Each set of plates moves forward or backward separately, or locked together to maintain synchronization between picture and sound. A prism reflects the film image onto a viewing screen, while a magnetic playback head reads the magnetic audio tracks. The two most common configurations are the "six-plate" (one picture transport and two sound transports) and the "eight-plate" (two picture and two sound transport) models. (You can see the edges of two of the plates on the six-plate model pictured at the right.)