I read older posts...What is the consensus on editing software for redacting? Different agencies use different formats (naturally). Is there something universal that works with most formats?

Depends on what you are editing, audio or video?

Todd Smith with the Lubbock County DA's office is the tech guru to ask. He will be hosting an afternoon informal tutorial on powerpoint and editing during the upcoming investigator school in february.

In general, for audio, we use a program called Audacity. Free download over the web, works well, simple to learn. There are so many different forms of file creation that you might need to use a converter to transform a file of one format into a useable format, but those, too are free over the web and easy to use.

For video editing I have been learning (or trying to learn) Adobe Primiere Elements. Cost was about $100 and it seems very capable.

You will need a speedy computer and a large hard drive no matter what software you use for video, it is demanding of processor speed and storage.

There are so many video formats that a converter will also be a necessity if you have multiple agencies you work with. It seems that each has a different recording format in our area.

Get in touch with Todd and he can give you much more information than I can.

He also has some spiffy techniques for managing photos in trial presentations.

Go Apple.

For details, contact Su Knight in our office, who handles all the formats with great skill, although every now and then she screams.