All glories to Sri Guru and Sri Gauranga

Tips: Video and Slides

 
Video (RealPlayer is best for the Web);
Slides (QuickTime is best) with or without commentary.

Video

Camera use and care:

    • Don't wipe the lens, only blow the dust off or use a camel hair brush. Preferably use a plain filter to protect the lens.
    • Don't point it into the sun or towards brightly reflecting objects. In place of film there is an electronic sensor behind the lens, and it apparently burns easily. (One of our sannyasis has burned his twice. So be warned.)
    • Keep the camera still, especially for the web, and let the subject's action be the focus of attention. 'No tripod, no shoot' is the safe motto for web video. Zoom and pan to a minimum. Why? Because the fewer pixels the software has to redraw on each movie frame, the sharper the video will be.
FIRST:

Shooting and importing from the camera. Take good note: Final Cut Pro uses a 'Timecode.' WHILE SHOOTING take care not to break the timecode on the camera. It breaks if there is any gap between one shot and another. Safest is not to show anyone your shots or take the tape our of the camera until tape is finished. If you do, then before you start shooting again, YOU MUST rewind at least 8 seconds before the end of what's already recorded.
Why? Because when you come to import onto a computer a project with broken timelines you are likely to face a whole headache hit-and-miss affair of guessing where the breaks are. To be safe, 'format' a new tape by first recording it from start to finish with the lens cap on, in that way the camera lays down a timeline the full length of the tape.


Processing Movies for the web:

Video takes up a huge amount of disc space, so web video is invariably a compromise ratio of quality versus file size. Currently the best ratio by far is achieved by RealMedia files. These are played on free RealOne and RealPlayer software readily available online for Macs and PCs from http://real.com.
These are produced using the programme RealProducer, also freely available at real.com.

After final editing of the dv stream (full quality) video keep it safe by recording a copy onto fresh tape. Then export the final video with picture size 244 x 188 pixels, using Motion jpegA or B: 25 frames per second, BEST quality. Then converted in RealProducer using the Corporate LAN setting. This makes it slightly over 1MB per minute, thus making a web movie of 12 to 15 minutes a reasonable possibility. Sure you can make a bigger-and-better version too, but fewer people will have the internet facility to be able to download it.
Note that the free RealProducer doesn't give you any chance to change several settings including the size and the frame rate, it simply uses what's given to it.
An example on the web is:
http://scsmath.com/video/040425_kunda_new_fountain.rm

PREVIOUSLY followed the following method, but the quality is really a bit too poor: frame rate 10, then processed with RealProducer as 'single ISDN'.


Slides:

Processing Slides with synchronised audio for the web:

    SLIDES are better processed in Photoshop, adjusted to the size of the slide-show (350 x 270 pixels seems to be a good compromise), sharpened and saved as PICT files, then added to the timeline of Final Cut Pro. Add the sound track, remembering where the frame changes will occur after export. Export at 0.2 frames per second (i.e. one frame each 5 seconds) at full quality.
    Then, in MediaCleanerPro, save it as a as jpeg quality 20%, using Qualcom PureVoice 8 kHz Full Rate for sound reduction. DON'T compress Video header, otherwise you'll limit your audience (including one of our Macs). DON'T 'Maintain Long Frames' or you'll increase the size by 50% for nothing.
    An example on the web is:
    http://scsmath.org/memories/02/020919btvnd_app.mov

And a couple of additional notes that may be helpful along the way:
Ntsc dv stream to pal: import into browser then sequence of a Final Cut Pro timeline. Double click it in the timeline. Motion: Scale to 120% and Aspect Ratio = 0 (it isn't when u import it).

DVD: in System X. Toast 6 can export DVD files as DV stream. And Toast 6, if you make a DVD but without adding the Data files (there's an option in the 'Advanced' section, then it will play files consecutively and continuously. It doesn't take any time at all to process an already existing DVD video file, BUT it won't export just a selected part of DVD file.

For using FinalCut Pro for editing video on a Macintosh, a useful site of information and tips: http://www.kenstone.net/

Useful tips: Pictures | Web pages | Audio | Video | Slide shows


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