Edit decision list

An EDL describes an edit without carrying any of the footage. It records which source file, which in and out points, and where each piece falls on the timeline, in a format old enough that almost any software can read it. The modern uses are handover and rescue: sending a cut to a colourist working in different software, rebuilding a project after a file corrupts, or conforming an offline edit to the original media. XML and AAF have replaced it for anything complicated, since an EDL carries almost no effects or titles.