38 the new and the old time data are compared step 40 if the second editing point is determined while the tape is being run in the forward direction the new time data second time data become greater than the old in that case the first editing point is set as the in point and the second as the out point steps 41 and 42 if the second editing point is determined while the tape is being run in the same reverse direction as the first editing point the new time data become smaller than the old in that case the first editing point is set as the out point and the second as the in point steps 43 and 44 in fig2 thereafter the editing section i e section between the in and the out points is calculated step 45 as described it is only after the time data on two editing points have been read that one point is defined as the in point and the other as the out point in the above description the in point is set first for the ease of explanation that is the editing point having the smaller time data is defined illustratively as the in point the editing points for each cut are established by simply operating the editing section determining key 74e whether or not the key 74e is operated is judged in step 54 of fig3 once the editing section is established the established editing section is displayed step 55 a typical screen given in that state is shown in fig1 with the editing section determined the black bar becomes white on the screen this makes it possible for the operator to verify visually that the editing points have.