Online Video Production Blog

When I started this blog my intention was to come up with original content, I intend to do that but I also feel it is important to highlight great answers written by other bloggers.  I dont want this site to become a pointer to other sites rest assured I will continue to comment and write my own articles.  One of the most common issues I hear when it comes to editing, shooting and encoding (in fact a student here at TAFE just said "Why is this still picture flickering on the monitor)  comes back to interlacing issues.

Problems present as "shimmering" still pictures, jerky or jumpy moving shots to footage that "doesn't look right".  Usually it is caused by multiple software packages treating footage or stills differently or more correctly interpretting the interlaced image differently.  I wont keep writing about this as a far more intelligent and eloquent blogger than myself has written an excellent page of information with diagrams etc on this subject.  Check out http://www.100fps.com

 

This is a guide to producing simple but good quality videos using easy to find, and cheap, equipment and software.  For this exercise we will be using a basic Mini DV video camera and Windows Movie Maker Software.

 

 

 

I revamped this website in November 2008 after owning the domain for over 4 years and having a pretty crappy Joomla site here for most of that time. I always thought I would "get around to it" at some stage. I never did.  Recently though I started working on three other sites (www.dailydevotions.com.au, www.theclique.tv and southmorang.nccc.org.au)and felt that it was time to spend a bit of that time and acquired knowledge on my own personal site.

I must admit that the idea of possibly earning a few adwords dollars and building my personal brand did cross my mind but as I have got into it, I have found that I actually enjoy the writing side of it. I recognise that people may not enjoy reading what I have to write but that kinda isn't the point at the moment. I am enjoying creating this site and hopefully, in time, there will be a repository of my knowledge that may benefit someone else.

My mother works at a major supplier of mountain bread here in Melbourne Australia, she sits on the end of the sales@ email address and as such gets a mix of legitimate and spam mail.  Knowing my interest in SEO she forwarded me this email.

Now I think there is something highly ironic about a company offering SEO services and guaranteeing to get top position "in major search engines" that 1. doesn't have a website itself, 2. doesn't even rank for their own company name (thats not rocket science, I have ranked number one for camthecameraman for over 3 years!! and I make no big claims about that no one else is even trying) and 3 they promise to "evaluate your site for free" and havent even checked to see that the Mountain Bread Company does indeed rank top spot for the phrase "mountain bread" in its local google search and number 2 in google worldwide.

A question I spotted on twitter:

"Stupid FCP Question Of The Day: Does the blinking look of interlaced DV footage on a computer monitor go away when played on a TV? " from @kennbell

My answer would definitely be, check, and check often.  Its hard to understand what you are talking about exactly but typically I would say, if the flicker looks bad on the computer monitor chances are it will look worse on a TV monitor.

Just finished reading this article about Microsofts plans for Windows 7, the update to Windows Vista due ......well whenever they get around to it.

Interesting the supported formats that the new windows will bring, it will hopefully simplfy the playback and encoding of video, removing the need for lots of individual programs like virtualdub, windows media encoder, quicktime pro etc etc.

It would also seem to be a bit of a snub to the movie industry that has always seemed to dictate Microsofts decisions on these matters. The movie industry HATES transcoding and Microsoft is going to make it easier.  Maybe with the release of Windows 7 my Mum will be able to copy videos on to her iPod without having to give me a call!!

I read this review of the Tivo in the age and thought it was a great insight.  It is well written and talks not about the "tech specs" rather how it was used by the writer and her family.  I like reviews that tell me something new.  From her install experience to how it changed her viewing habits it was great.

Watching Jim Stewart's vlog today on YouTube I saw that it was displayed in widescreen.  Jim has for a number of months, maybe years, recorded in widescreen or 16x9 format but has had YouTube pop black bars at the top and bottom (letterbox) his pictures.  Clearly YouTube is catching up with the new world of 16x9.

I saw this article in the age online to confirm that YouTube is indeed going to offer widescreen viewing from now on.  This is also confirmed on YouTube's Blog. This will be a bonus to those people who love watching videos online on their spiffy new widescreen laptops or home plasmas and LCD's.

When possible, always use still images that are at least as large as your project resolution. If you use smaller resolution images and then zoom in on them, they lose visual quality. Sort of like a digital zoom on a camcorder. You end up with blocky chunks.

When creating still images from scratch avoid using 1 or 3 pixel lines, these tend to flicker badly on a television monitor, you will not see them in the Source or Program Monitors. If you must use thin lines try using a motion blur to blur them a little.

 

 I just got this question on facebook from one of my students:

 

hey Cam - do you know/have you heard anything about there being no copyright attached to anything posted to the web as at 01/01/09 for US sites ? a photographer at work made mention of it  I forgot to mention it to you