Last year we decided to switch from SD DV to HDV. (How much do I regret that decision?)
I have already blogged about the issues we had with just playing the material in QuickTime outside of Final Cut. In view of the problems we had we decided to switch back. We recycled the tapes and even took the precaution of pre striping them in SD DV. Then we sent the teams out to shoot. When they returned, we started the capture and logging. that's when the timecode issues started. OK, its one of the 3 Sony Z1's. Nope they all had the same problems. Its due to the deck we striped with being faulty. Possibly but unlikely. We guess its the original HDV timecode. Wouldn't you assume that recording over timecode would have erased the previous?
The advantages of HDV over Standard Definition 16:9 video are clearly outweighed because of the disadvantages. In fact if the time spent trying to get the stuff into the edit then out of the machines were spent on planning, shooting and editing the quality of the film would be more significantly benefited. ( Have I calmed down yet?) Rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.
Showing posts with label Foundation degree. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Foundation degree. Show all posts
Wednesday, 25 November 2009
Tuesday, 24 November 2009
Researching and web 2.0
The web is an amazing place to research but you need to be organised. Since you have to blog as well, but not combine the two?
If you set up iGoogle and Firefox carefully they can help you do this. I use both quite a lot. I have added 'extensions' that add functionality to the browser. For example Delicious bookmarks, add to netvibes, Evernote web clipper, Screenshot pimp, Zotero and Xmarks. I also use a portable version of Firefox so that these are configured and present when I use my browser. With your home page set for something you use all the time - set several - and they'll open when you launch the application.
Searching the web.
Searching with Google using + and - and "" to refine your search.
The advantages of using tabbed browsing should be obvious. Its also worth learning a few keyboard short cuts:
Google docs give me a suite of applications - online versions of Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. I can access these anywhere and share the documents created there too.
When you embed a Google Presentation it's worth noting that this is a feed. Any changes made to the file will be updated in the embedded version too. You need to make it 342 x 410 to fit the Blogger template.
Lastly, it's good and fair practice to credit and link back to your sources. Derek Pierce, as Beatsystem, kindly allowed me to use his music with students. Where you have uploaded your edits with his music you should credit him and link to his website. This way if someone wants to know more about the music he gets the click through. I should have reminded you at the time. Sorry Derek.
If you set up iGoogle and Firefox carefully they can help you do this. I use both quite a lot. I have added 'extensions' that add functionality to the browser. For example Delicious bookmarks, add to netvibes, Evernote web clipper, Screenshot pimp, Zotero and Xmarks. I also use a portable version of Firefox so that these are configured and present when I use my browser. With your home page set for something you use all the time - set several - and they'll open when you launch the application.
Searching the web.
Searching with Google using + and - and "" to refine your search.
The advantages of using tabbed browsing should be obvious. Its also worth learning a few keyboard short cuts:
- CMD + T opens a new tab
- CMD + L highlights the current URL
- CMD + C copies
- CMD + V pastes
- CMD + X cuts ( and places on the clipboard)
- TAB key shifts to the next field or box
Google docs give me a suite of applications - online versions of Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. I can access these anywhere and share the documents created there too.
When you embed a Google Presentation it's worth noting that this is a feed. Any changes made to the file will be updated in the embedded version too. You need to make it 342 x 410 to fit the Blogger template.
Lastly, it's good and fair practice to credit and link back to your sources. Derek Pierce, as Beatsystem, kindly allowed me to use his music with students. Where you have uploaded your edits with his music you should credit him and link to his website. This way if someone wants to know more about the music he gets the click through. I should have reminded you at the time. Sorry Derek.
Thursday, 29 October 2009
Solutions to recent transcoding problems
Transcoding is the process of changing a file from one format to another. Last week having edited as aif students needed to convert to a Wav file. Its common to have to do this converted from one to another and back again. The conversion to MP3 is also very common. These are all different CODECs.
Here is a post I wrote earlier this year about Switch - a free Mac app that makes it easy to convert from one audio format to another.
The file conversion site Zamzar is another favorite of mine. This works on all sort of file types - image, document, media.
The producers of Switch also make a free - multi platform audio editor called Wavepad Sound Editor, it looks good and will do the conversion to multiple formats too. The open source fav is Audacity - which I have found to be good. for simple stereo editing Sound Studio is neat and very mac-like. It only runs of Mac and doesn't convert to MP3 sadly, oh yes and costs $80.
You have to get used to understanding formats and develop your own toolbox and workarounds. There isn't an easy cheap one stop shop. Or maybe there is? Let me know.
Wednesday, 7 October 2009
The Art of student blogging 2.1
This post carries on from part 1 and details the practical aspects of writing your blog. I will also cover assessing reflective writing and list some blogs you might like to subscribe to.
How do you blog (using Blogger.com)? Here is a quick introduction from Blogger.
How do you actually blog?
Layout. The great thing about about Blogs is that they allow you to present your ideas and writing without worrying about the HTML code that underlies the blog - which is really a website. But you still need to think about how you make the limited number of choices about layout. Its easy to post your first blog and then experiment with different styles and looks - called templates. These will alter the form but not the content of the blog. Make sure your blog is readable. Grey text against black is not a good idea. Some of your selections can affect how they read when the blog is accessed by a Reader. Check!
Widgets. These can add great content to your blog and are quite easy to set up. Add, check and remove if they detract.
About you. Include some information about yourself - who you are, why you are blogging, what you hope to achieve, what someone might learn from your blog. You are more likely to get people subscribing if they have these information.
(Post)Title. Choose the title for your post very carefully. It needs to be simple and informative. Again Readers display the title. Subscribers might scan just the titles while deciding what to read. Then mark as read anything that doesn't appeal - missing your beautifully crafted post.
Structure. The opening paragraph needs to summarise the post, but in a way to raise interest. I often write this last - before publishing online. Its easier once you can see what you have said, to craft the introduction.
Links. Without any links the posting has no context. In an academic essay you are required to include quotes that support the ideas you are discussing. Then at the end of the essay there is a bibliography that relates to the reference. The idea being that interested readers can trace the reference back to the original source. How much easier is this on a blog! If you find a useful site and use it, link to it. If there is more information that relates to your post, link again. Be aware that if you want to link to a blog post make sure you use that posting's url (permalink) and not the blog's home page. (Whats displayed on the homepage will change.)
Multimedia. Not using images, video and audio is to criminally under use the blogging medium. A picture can say a 1000 words. Especially so if you are blogging for a media course. So include media, both yours and others (it's about context again). You can upload video and images to Blogger. They get stored on your account - Picasa. You can download Picasa as an application and use it instead of iPhoto (I think its better). However the free storage for Picasa is actually quite modest. You are better uploading to your YouTube or Vimeo account and embedding the video into the blog. Still images could be embedded from Flickr or Photobucket. (Keep track of your accounts and passwords). There are uploaders for iPhoto that will help you manage uploads. iPhoto will upload to Facebook and Picasa. Videonic will upload from your mac to Youtube. There is also Divshare - this will allow you to embed and stream audio and video from your Blog.
Writing. Just because its not an essay doesn't mean that you don't have to spell, Capitalise, punctuate, and paragraph. I expect to see all of these displayed to degree level. There's a spellchecker in Blogger. Use it , then check it - its US English. We require UK English! It's normal practice to have 2 spaces at the end of a sentence - it makes the piece easier to read. Use one space after a comma.
Organisation. Labelling (or tagging). You have the option to tag/label your posts. This is basic metatagging. It makes your blog easier to navigate. It makes sense for you, your readers and it's good media management. Things need to be organised so that you can store, search and find things. The labels allow you to catagorise your posts. If you are interested in the ideas of organisation - and they are relevant to you and your studies, watch this presentation by David Weinberger (or read his book - its an easy read!)
Content. Remember that your content needs to be legal, fair and decent. You must avoid libel, slander and deformation of character. Your blog is public and not private.
From a student point of view, this is where the bulk of the marks are likely to be given. It would help to start by thinking about what uses blogs actually serve. Whom are they aimed at? Here are some broad descriptions:
Your blog may need to have some journal type of writing (1). As well as your thoughts and ideas (4).
Description. What of what happened,what didn't happen, and what were the consequences etc.
Reflection. Detail the logic of decisions and choices. You should comment on alternatives you might have taken and whether that might have been better/worse for whatever reasons.
Context. You also need to contextualise your work and thoughts - relate them to other examples, current practice etc. A lot of student writing tends to cover descriptive writing quite well and be less effective in reflecting on and contextualising their work.
Lessons learnt. You should also comment on what you feel you learnt, what you feel you need to learn, illustrating it by explaining how you might perform the task/exercise if you were to do it again.
How do we judge 'reflective writing'? Broadly we might define reflective writing like this:
As with all things you get better with practice, but you can also learn a lot from just reading a range of blogs. Here are some you might like to read and subscribe to in your Reader (they may also provide context for some of your studies):
Phil Bloom Freelance Director of Photography and exponent of cinematic style video shooting. (Often on DSLRs).
Powertothepixel Great site that attempts to gather news and information about transmedia developments.
Wired magazine UK based version of the US techie site. Good for tech news with UK slant.
Readwrite More tech news this time based in the States, but very comprehensive and up to date.
Smashing Magazine Highlights design issues. Often something of interest.
Stu Maschwitz Stu wrote the DV rebel handbook and is a post production guru. Interesting and thought provoking. Some of his stuff on colour grading etc is very informative. (His books worth a read too. Check out the library.)
The Guardian (Media section) classic resource on the Media (Monday's paper issue - but there's more online)
Good luck with your blogging. If this has helped you, or you think it can be improved - leave a comment. That's also very much part of the art of blogging.
Mike J
--
Posted By Mike Johnston to Mike j's Blog on 9/03/2009 01:12:00 PM
How do you blog (using Blogger.com)? Here is a quick introduction from Blogger.
How do you actually blog?
Layout. The great thing about about Blogs is that they allow you to present your ideas and writing without worrying about the HTML code that underlies the blog - which is really a website. But you still need to think about how you make the limited number of choices about layout. Its easy to post your first blog and then experiment with different styles and looks - called templates. These will alter the form but not the content of the blog. Make sure your blog is readable. Grey text against black is not a good idea. Some of your selections can affect how they read when the blog is accessed by a Reader. Check!
Widgets. These can add great content to your blog and are quite easy to set up. Add, check and remove if they detract.
About you. Include some information about yourself - who you are, why you are blogging, what you hope to achieve, what someone might learn from your blog. You are more likely to get people subscribing if they have these information.
(Post)Title. Choose the title for your post very carefully. It needs to be simple and informative. Again Readers display the title. Subscribers might scan just the titles while deciding what to read. Then mark as read anything that doesn't appeal - missing your beautifully crafted post.
Structure. The opening paragraph needs to summarise the post, but in a way to raise interest. I often write this last - before publishing online. Its easier once you can see what you have said, to craft the introduction.
Links. Without any links the posting has no context. In an academic essay you are required to include quotes that support the ideas you are discussing. Then at the end of the essay there is a bibliography that relates to the reference. The idea being that interested readers can trace the reference back to the original source. How much easier is this on a blog! If you find a useful site and use it, link to it. If there is more information that relates to your post, link again. Be aware that if you want to link to a blog post make sure you use that posting's url (permalink) and not the blog's home page. (Whats displayed on the homepage will change.)
Multimedia. Not using images, video and audio is to criminally under use the blogging medium. A picture can say a 1000 words. Especially so if you are blogging for a media course. So include media, both yours and others (it's about context again). You can upload video and images to Blogger. They get stored on your account - Picasa. You can download Picasa as an application and use it instead of iPhoto (I think its better). However the free storage for Picasa is actually quite modest. You are better uploading to your YouTube or Vimeo account and embedding the video into the blog. Still images could be embedded from Flickr or Photobucket. (Keep track of your accounts and passwords). There are uploaders for iPhoto that will help you manage uploads. iPhoto will upload to Facebook and Picasa. Videonic will upload from your mac to Youtube. There is also Divshare - this will allow you to embed and stream audio and video from your Blog.
Writing. Just because its not an essay doesn't mean that you don't have to spell, Capitalise, punctuate, and paragraph. I expect to see all of these displayed to degree level. There's a spellchecker in Blogger. Use it , then check it - its US English. We require UK English! It's normal practice to have 2 spaces at the end of a sentence - it makes the piece easier to read. Use one space after a comma.
Organisation. Labelling (or tagging). You have the option to tag/label your posts. This is basic metatagging. It makes your blog easier to navigate. It makes sense for you, your readers and it's good media management. Things need to be organised so that you can store, search and find things. The labels allow you to catagorise your posts. If you are interested in the ideas of organisation - and they are relevant to you and your studies, watch this presentation by David Weinberger (or read his book - its an easy read!)
Content. Remember that your content needs to be legal, fair and decent. You must avoid libel, slander and deformation of character. Your blog is public and not private.
From a student point of view, this is where the bulk of the marks are likely to be given. It would help to start by thinking about what uses blogs actually serve. Whom are they aimed at? Here are some broad descriptions:
- A diary/daily journal - what you did, what you think,
- Commercial support - development and problem solving with users
- Interest groups - sharing information with like minded people on one subject, area or topic
- Personal thoughts and ideas - reflecting on topics and subject(s) that interest you
Your blog may need to have some journal type of writing (1). As well as your thoughts and ideas (4).
Description. What of what happened,what didn't happen, and what were the consequences etc.
Reflection. Detail the logic of decisions and choices. You should comment on alternatives you might have taken and whether that might have been better/worse for whatever reasons.
Context. You also need to contextualise your work and thoughts - relate them to other examples, current practice etc. A lot of student writing tends to cover descriptive writing quite well and be less effective in reflecting on and contextualising their work.
Lessons learnt. You should also comment on what you feel you learnt, what you feel you need to learn, illustrating it by explaining how you might perform the task/exercise if you were to do it again.
How do we judge 'reflective writing'? Broadly we might define reflective writing like this:
Excellent reflective writing has these qualities: Reflective language that describes, analyses and plans subsequent actions as a result of reviewing processes and events.
Good reflective writing has these qualities: Use of vocabulary, writing style and expression indicate engagement with the reflective process. Evidence of self-evaluation and awareness of the wider context.
Poor reflective writing has these qualities: Writing style mainly descriptive but some engagement with the reflective process. Reflection largely confined to the personal, with little attempt to connect to the wider context.
Very poor reflective writing has these qualities: Use of vocabulary, writing style and expression entirely descriptive, showing very little engagement with the reflective process.
As with all things you get better with practice, but you can also learn a lot from just reading a range of blogs. Here are some you might like to read and subscribe to in your Reader (they may also provide context for some of your studies):
Phil Bloom Freelance Director of Photography and exponent of cinematic style video shooting. (Often on DSLRs).
Powertothepixel Great site that attempts to gather news and information about transmedia developments.
Wired magazine UK based version of the US techie site. Good for tech news with UK slant.
Readwrite More tech news this time based in the States, but very comprehensive and up to date.
Smashing Magazine Highlights design issues. Often something of interest.
Stu Maschwitz Stu wrote the DV rebel handbook and is a post production guru. Interesting and thought provoking. Some of his stuff on colour grading etc is very informative. (His books worth a read too. Check out the library.)
The Guardian (Media section) classic resource on the Media (Monday's paper issue - but there's more online)
Good luck with your blogging. If this has helped you, or you think it can be improved - leave a comment. That's also very much part of the art of blogging.
Mike J
--
Posted By Mike Johnston to Mike j's Blog on 9/03/2009 01:12:00 PM
Monday, 17 August 2009
Blogging for students part 1.
As part of the Foundation Degree in Media Production we require students to blog as part of their course work. This post explains what blogs are, how they work, and why you have to blog. There is a second post that covers the practicalities of student blogging.
It's important that you know:
Commoncraft have produced an excellent guide to blogging.
But blogging is only half the story. It's the filtering and finding of information - the 'broadcasting' or distribution of your blog, that makes up the other half. This is achieved using RSS. Or Really Simple Syndication. Lee Lefever (sounding rather tinny) explains again.
How can I use RSS? There are several ways. The first is by using a 'Reader'. Since we will be using Blogger.com which is owned by Google, its easiest to use the Google Reader since you'll already have a Google ID or email address. Once more (and I tried to find someone else to explain this, but Lee's version was way better an the others.)
Or you can create a web page that updates with the blogs or 'feeds' that you subscribe to. Examples of this are Netvibes, Pageflakes or My Yahoo. Google also offers the Google page. I like Netvibes - here is one I use to share FD Media Production blog feeds. The choice is really yours. Experiment, it's all free!
I favour using the Google Reader. Since I have a Gmail account, I use iGoogle and have set up my iGoogle desk top with the Google Reader widget. That way when I open my browser (its my browser's Home page) and I can see my Google desktop with all recent posts from feeds I follow. I can also see activity on my Facebook account, Gmail account, Twitter etc etc.
(Here's more about iGoogle, using a portable version of Firefox installed on a USB stick, and getting the most from Firefox. OK its geeky but its useful I think. The only way to 'get' this technology is to use it. Take it bit by bit. You don't have to get it all immediately!
Why blog? The best way to answer this is to think of the short term and the longer term. Here's the short term logic to using blogs rather than essays.
Traditionally students write to show that they have understood what they have been taught. It's also part of the way we assess and qualify the student. As part of the course we could ask you to write an essay. However with the Internet we have (arguably) a better way of you presenting your work and ideas, since you can embed media and link to items that have informed, inspired you or support your ideas. These elements are drawn together by your reflection on them. A key part of that is to show your work as part of similar work that has or is being done (placing your work in the context of others). Reflective writing, and practice, is necessary in order to develop 'learning autonomy'. This is where you take responsibility for your learning and development. Students usually find reflective writing difficult if you need extra help, learning support is provided at university and colleges.
Since we are working in an area (the Media), that's currently undergoing radical and constant change, you need to be part of that! Utilising the web, like this, is the most effective way of being up to date and part of the zeitgeist. There is an employability issue underlying this too - you need to understand the theory and practice of this way of working - Web 2.0. It's likely to play a large part in the way you consume and create media now and in the future. Your blog might well morph into your online portfolio and therefore become part of the supporting material for a job/freelance application. It might say more about you than a traditional CV. Here are some interesting comments, taken from the Film and Digital Exchange website, about creating an online portfolios from Chris Martin an animator and motion graphics artist.
Part 1.
Part 2.
Part 3.
The history of Web 2.0
Some interesting thoughts on Web 2.0 and where it might take us...
In part 2 I cover the practical aspects of writing your blog as well as explaining what good reflective writing (blogging) entails.
Mike J
It's important that you know:
- What a blog is
- Why you are blogging
- How to blog
- What they need to blog
- How the blog will be assessed
Many blogs provide commentary or news on a particular subject; others function as more personal online diaries. A typical blog combines text, images, and links to other blogs, Web pages, and other media related to its topic. The ability for readers to leave comments in an interactive format is an important part of many blogs. Most blogs are primarily textual, although some focus on art (artlog), photographs (photoblog), sketches (sketchblog), videos (vlog), music (MP3 blog), and audio (podcasting). Micro-blogging is another type of blogging, featuring very short posts.taken from wikipedia.
Commoncraft have produced an excellent guide to blogging.
But blogging is only half the story. It's the filtering and finding of information - the 'broadcasting' or distribution of your blog, that makes up the other half. This is achieved using RSS. Or Really Simple Syndication. Lee Lefever (sounding rather tinny) explains again.
How can I use RSS? There are several ways. The first is by using a 'Reader'. Since we will be using Blogger.com which is owned by Google, its easiest to use the Google Reader since you'll already have a Google ID or email address. Once more (and I tried to find someone else to explain this, but Lee's version was way better an the others.)
Or you can create a web page that updates with the blogs or 'feeds' that you subscribe to. Examples of this are Netvibes, Pageflakes or My Yahoo. Google also offers the Google page. I like Netvibes - here is one I use to share FD Media Production blog feeds. The choice is really yours. Experiment, it's all free!
I favour using the Google Reader. Since I have a Gmail account, I use iGoogle and have set up my iGoogle desk top with the Google Reader widget. That way when I open my browser (its my browser's Home page) and I can see my Google desktop with all recent posts from feeds I follow. I can also see activity on my Facebook account, Gmail account, Twitter etc etc.
(Here's more about iGoogle, using a portable version of Firefox installed on a USB stick, and getting the most from Firefox. OK its geeky but its useful I think. The only way to 'get' this technology is to use it. Take it bit by bit. You don't have to get it all immediately!
Why blog? The best way to answer this is to think of the short term and the longer term. Here's the short term logic to using blogs rather than essays.
Traditionally students write to show that they have understood what they have been taught. It's also part of the way we assess and qualify the student. As part of the course we could ask you to write an essay. However with the Internet we have (arguably) a better way of you presenting your work and ideas, since you can embed media and link to items that have informed, inspired you or support your ideas. These elements are drawn together by your reflection on them. A key part of that is to show your work as part of similar work that has or is being done (placing your work in the context of others). Reflective writing, and practice, is necessary in order to develop 'learning autonomy'. This is where you take responsibility for your learning and development. Students usually find reflective writing difficult if you need extra help, learning support is provided at university and colleges.
Since we are working in an area (the Media), that's currently undergoing radical and constant change, you need to be part of that! Utilising the web, like this, is the most effective way of being up to date and part of the zeitgeist. There is an employability issue underlying this too - you need to understand the theory and practice of this way of working - Web 2.0. It's likely to play a large part in the way you consume and create media now and in the future. Your blog might well morph into your online portfolio and therefore become part of the supporting material for a job/freelance application. It might say more about you than a traditional CV. Here are some interesting comments, taken from the Film and Digital Exchange website, about creating an online portfolios from Chris Martin an animator and motion graphics artist.
Part 1.
Part 2.
Part 3.
The history of Web 2.0
Some interesting thoughts on Web 2.0 and where it might take us...
In part 2 I cover the practical aspects of writing your blog as well as explaining what good reflective writing (blogging) entails.
Mike J
Monday, 20 July 2009
Using Youtube or Vimeo?
YouTube is a great service and I use it alot. But there are some advantage of using another service called Vimeo. The main one is that you can upload videos and control the people who have access to it. So that rough cuts and work and progress can be shared or collaboratively worked on , privately. As far as quality goes I thinks its about even. YouTube has improved recently with the addition of HD and more importantly support for 16:9 playback. I, personally, find YouTube to stream more consistently. But then I think my home ISP (Tiscali) is to blame for this!
The basic account at Vimeo is free with limits on the number of HD files you can upload a week and the max weekly data upload. Thats 1 HD video and 500 mb respectively. Plenty for normal use. The video that you upload is converted by Vimeo and then the orginal is deleted after a week, leaving the compressed version to view and download. So its NOT a storage service for your videos!
You need to compress the video, initially. This is to maximise your data useage, mimimise the upload time and create the best looking online video. There are a number of ways of doing this. Here are the vimeo guidelines:
Codec - Choose H.264 for the video codec. Choose AAC for the audio codec.
Frame rate – 25 per sec. If there is an option that says "current" just go with that.
Keyframes - Every 25 frames. This is basically how often the compressor references your uncompressed video.
Data rate - 1800 kbits/sec for standard definition 4:3 video , 2500 kbits/sec for widescreen DV, or 5000 kbits/sec for high definition. Making these numbers higher will increase both quality and size.
Size - 720 x576 for standard definition 4:3 video, 1024 x 576 for widescreen DV, or 1280x720 for high definition. It is also best to export 1920x1080 or 1440x1080 video as 1280x720 too.
Deinterlace - Yes. If you do not deinterlace, you will often get weird-looking horizontal lines in your video.
Sound sample rate - 44.100 kHz
Audio quality - 128 kbps.
To convert SD DV use the free handbrake application. Instructions here. If you have FCP here are instructions. If you want to use Compressor (from the FCP studio bundle) instructions are here with a downloadable 'droplet' for you desktop to make it even easier.
I have also been trying QuickTime Pro and MPEG streamclip as ways of compressing the footage. I'll post about these soon.
Good luck.
Mike J
The basic account at Vimeo is free with limits on the number of HD files you can upload a week and the max weekly data upload. Thats 1 HD video and 500 mb respectively. Plenty for normal use. The video that you upload is converted by Vimeo and then the orginal is deleted after a week, leaving the compressed version to view and download. So its NOT a storage service for your videos!
You need to compress the video, initially. This is to maximise your data useage, mimimise the upload time and create the best looking online video. There are a number of ways of doing this. Here are the vimeo guidelines:
Codec - Choose H.264 for the video codec. Choose AAC for the audio codec.
Frame rate – 25 per sec. If there is an option that says "current" just go with that.
Keyframes - Every 25 frames. This is basically how often the compressor references your uncompressed video.
Data rate - 1800 kbits/sec for standard definition 4:3 video , 2500 kbits/sec for widescreen DV, or 5000 kbits/sec for high definition. Making these numbers higher will increase both quality and size.
Size - 720 x576 for standard definition 4:3 video, 1024 x 576 for widescreen DV, or 1280x720 for high definition. It is also best to export 1920x1080 or 1440x1080 video as 1280x720 too.
Deinterlace - Yes. If you do not deinterlace, you will often get weird-looking horizontal lines in your video.
Sound sample rate - 44.100 kHz
Audio quality - 128 kbps.
To convert SD DV use the free handbrake application. Instructions here. If you have FCP here are instructions. If you want to use Compressor (from the FCP studio bundle) instructions are here with a downloadable 'droplet' for you desktop to make it even easier.
I have also been trying QuickTime Pro and MPEG streamclip as ways of compressing the footage. I'll post about these soon.
Good luck.
Mike J
Tuesday, 16 June 2009
Students work for semester 2 2009
Here is a short collection of students work from 2 modules that I teach, Introduction to video (first year Broadcast Media) and Making a film (second year Creative Studies). There are more examples on the Broadcastlab's YouTube channel.
I hope that you enjoy them.
I hope that you enjoy them.
Tuesday, 19 May 2009
transcoding to MP3
I hate it when Apple remove a function or facility from some software. We get so used to companies adding utility. I recently wanted to create some MP3 files from .aiff files. Easy, I used to use iTunes. Possibily the only thing its useful for. Except the newest version I have doesn't seem to allow you to do this anymore.
cheers, Mike J
The solution was to use a free application called 'Switch'. This worked like a dream and with much more control and features than iTunes. Great.
When working with FCP, its easiest to disarm iTunes. I hate the way it hijacks audio CDs and automatically opens them in iTunes. I turn this off, and re set the default application. (Select the file in the finder, then click command (apple) + i.)
When working with FCP, its easiest to disarm iTunes. I hate the way it hijacks audio CDs and automatically opens them in iTunes. I turn this off, and re set the default application. (Select the file in the finder, then click command (apple) + i.)
Now when I load an audio disc , I preview it in the Finder and when I open it , it opens in QuickTime. If I want to use the track in FCP then I save it to the media assets file of the project, and transcode it to 48K at the same time. No iTunes, no glitchy playback, all the assets in the right place.
The offical Apple way of bringing audio into FCP with Batch export is DAFT.
The offical Apple way of bringing audio into FCP with Batch export is DAFT.
cheers, Mike J
Friday, 1 May 2009
More issues with HDV and FCP
As we move through the production workflow with the students doing 'making a film' at BSU, more problems with FCP and HDV are emerging. There is a little trick to get FCP to recognise the capture deck that's not obvious.
IF the last project created was anything other than HDV, and you open your HDV project and try to continue logging and capturing - you can't. The deck (device control) will not link to the Mac. After trying 2 leads, 2 decks and 2 machines I found that if I changed the easy set up to HDV and created a new project. Then closed it. I could then, on returning to the original HDV project, connect the deck and log and capture. What a pain!
The pictures look nice though.
IF the last project created was anything other than HDV, and you open your HDV project and try to continue logging and capturing - you can't. The deck (device control) will not link to the Mac. After trying 2 leads, 2 decks and 2 machines I found that if I changed the easy set up to HDV and created a new project. Then closed it. I could then, on returning to the original HDV project, connect the deck and log and capture. What a pain!
The pictures look nice though.
Friday, 6 February 2009
Why take Black and White images?
Its easy to take colour pictures but black and white images are still very popular. They are often seen as more 'arty' than colour ones. The Magnum in Motion images are often in black and white. Photographer Harold Davis explains here why there is a case for still using black and white in the digital age. See his Flickr monochrome set here.
Here are a couple of ways of doing this in Photoshop. Importantly they allow you to manipulate the tonal values rather than just removing the colour uniformly from the image.
Posting 1 and some more techniques posting 2.
I have a further technique that has worked well for me but I might experiment with some of those too.
enjoy, Mike J
Here are a couple of ways of doing this in Photoshop. Importantly they allow you to manipulate the tonal values rather than just removing the colour uniformly from the image.
Posting 1 and some more techniques posting 2.
I have a further technique that has worked well for me but I might experiment with some of those too.
enjoy, Mike J
Thursday, 13 November 2008
Embedding PowerPoint presentations and MP3 problems
This week we had a number of presentations on sound pioneers. I suggested to the students that they upload their presentations and embed them on their blogs. Richard set to immediately after the session. You can see his presentation on Brian Eno on his blog.
In order to do this he used slideshare net. You don't need to join up. Go to the home page - Select UPLOAD. Select the file you want to embed on your blog. Just upload your .ppt file. It uploads quickly - but without audio files etc. You then complete this form. Click PUBLISH and its done. You may have to wait a few minutes as its processed. You should be able to see the uploaded files by selecting My slidespace.
Some of the students have been using the free audio editor Audacity to do some prep editing before working with Soundtrack Pro. There is an issue with exporting the edited files as an .mp3 file - for sharing with Divshare for example. James has posted instructions to get around this. Thanks James.
In order to do this he used slideshare net. You don't need to join up. Go to the home page - Select UPLOAD. Select the file you want to embed on your blog. Just upload your .ppt file. It uploads quickly - but without audio files etc. You then complete this form. Click PUBLISH and its done. You may have to wait a few minutes as its processed. You should be able to see the uploaded files by selecting My slidespace.
Some of the students have been using the free audio editor Audacity to do some prep editing before working with Soundtrack Pro. There is an issue with exporting the edited files as an .mp3 file - for sharing with Divshare for example. James has posted instructions to get around this. Thanks James.
Problems with Soundtrack Pro
In class we have been using Apples Soundtrack Pro to do audio work. On a recent editing exercise we had problems exporting from Soundtrack as an .mp3 file. Naturally the solution is simple but not, I think, obvious. When exporting from a multi track project there's no problem. If you try to export from the Wave Editor you can't export to .mp3. This was what we were trying to do. Instead you have to import it to an empty multi track project THEN the export option allows you to export as .mp3 as long as you have selected master mix! Phew!
Friday, 31 October 2008
Interesting ideas
Reading through all the post the Fd students have been doing recently. I saw particularly struck by one video on jessies blog. Stop motion animation is relatively straight forward - we did some in the induction week for fun. But they take time - and they are fairly familiar to us. Jess found one that takes the idea and technique further. Goodness know HOW long this must have taken!
MUTO a wall-painted animation by BLU from blu on Vimeo.
The future shorts website and Youtube channel are great. They showed an excellent selection of short films at the Little theatre this week in Bath. One film - made in Bristol also uses stop motion. Again the idea and technique have been taken further than usual.
Lastly I have been interested in 'light writing' for a while. The technique relies on long exposures from a locked off camera with someone drawing with a bright light or touch etc. If offers an inoffensive way of adding graffiti to a building! There are plenty of great examples with this effect but this movie adds the technique of stop motion too. Stunning.
Keep blogging, Mike J
MUTO a wall-painted animation by BLU from blu on Vimeo.
The future shorts website and Youtube channel are great. They showed an excellent selection of short films at the Little theatre this week in Bath. One film - made in Bristol also uses stop motion. Again the idea and technique have been taken further than usual.
Lastly I have been interested in 'light writing' for a while. The technique relies on long exposures from a locked off camera with someone drawing with a bright light or touch etc. If offers an inoffensive way of adding graffiti to a building! There are plenty of great examples with this effect but this movie adds the technique of stop motion too. Stunning.
Keep blogging, Mike J
Tuesday, 28 October 2008
Audio processing - tips and tricks
We have been working recently with Apple's Soundtrack Pro version 2.0. I have used version 1 a lot in the past and I really liked it. The new version has more features and I have to admit that I have found it more difficult to pick my way around it. We also had quite a few crashes - I don't know if its was bad luck or bugs. But it was frustrating.
One area that is impressive with Soundtrack is the noise removal and normalising functions. These are very nicely explained by Genius DV.
This article covers normalising, this one noise removal.
A more basic option is to use the amazing 'levelator'. This free application available in Mac, PC and Linus, optimises an audio file. Once downloaded and installed files are dragged to a panel in the centre of the screen. There are no controls/prefs. It just works saving a file next to the original one with the addition of the extension.output. Very neat. It works a treat on speech based audio. Its fast too.
One area that is impressive with Soundtrack is the noise removal and normalising functions. These are very nicely explained by Genius DV.
This article covers normalising, this one noise removal.
A more basic option is to use the amazing 'levelator'. This free application available in Mac, PC and Linus, optimises an audio file. Once downloaded and installed files are dragged to a panel in the centre of the screen. There are no controls/prefs. It just works saving a file next to the original one with the addition of the extension.output. Very neat. It works a treat on speech based audio. Its fast too.
Thursday, 23 October 2008
manipulation of provided material
All the FD students were provided with an interview, some vox pops and a poetry performance. They had to edit and create an interesting radio package with these elements. The edit had to be completed in 3 hours.
Sean's edit
James's edit
Jessie's
Laura's
Megan's
Chris's
Hannah's
Richard' s
Fiona's
Ciaran's
Nathan's
Matt's
Sean's edit
James's edit
Jessie's
Laura's
Megan's
Chris's
Hannah's
Richard' s
Fiona's
Ciaran's
Nathan's
Matt's
Monday, 20 October 2008
More FD blogs
Some more blogs have been set up here are the names and links:
Here is hannah's blog.
Here is chris's blog.
Here is Sean's blog.
Here is Nathan's blog.
Here is Laura's blog.
Here is James's blog.
Here is Ciran's blog.
Here is Richard's blog.
Here is Fiona's blog.
Phew! that should be all of the group. Now you should subscribe to each others logs in your Google readers.
Here is a video from Youtube that might help you. Good luck.
Mike J
Here is hannah's blog.
Here is chris's blog.
Here is Sean's blog.
Here is Nathan's blog.
Here is Laura's blog.
Here is James's blog.
Here is Ciran's blog.
Here is Richard's blog.
Here is Fiona's blog.
Phew! that should be all of the group. Now you should subscribe to each others logs in your Google readers.
Here is a video from Youtube that might help you. Good luck.
Mike J
welcome to the new FD bloggers!
After last weeks session on setting up blogs here are the URL's of the FD students. Why don't you visit and put a comment on them?
Matts blog . Fantastic start Matt and a great example to the others! Here are Matt's audio projects.
The vox pop
The Cojack interview
Jessie's blog
When I have the other blog addresses I will add them. In the meanwhile you have to confirm your email address now with DIVSHARE before you can share your files etc. I need the EMBED codes to place the players in a post - like I have with Matt's.
Mike J
Matts blog . Fantastic start Matt and a great example to the others! Here are Matt's audio projects.
The vox pop
The Cojack interview
Jessie's blog
When I have the other blog addresses I will add them. In the meanwhile you have to confirm your email address now with DIVSHARE before you can share your files etc. I need the EMBED codes to place the players in a post - like I have with Matt's.
Mike J
Sunday, 13 April 2008
Radiohead push the technology
Having upset the apple cart by releasing their last album (Rainbows) for as much as you want to pay - or not. Radiohead have set up a competition for anyone to storyboard a video for them. Hosted on anibom.com . You can upload an animated storyboard (or just a storyboard) to the site. The 10 "semi-finalists" will be selected by audience ranking. Each semi-finalist
will be given $1,000 to create a one minute video clip based on their storyboard. The winning video selected by Radiohead will receive $10,000 provided by aniBoom to create the full music video within a time period to be determined by aniBoom. The final video will receive web-wide distribution with marketing support by aniBoom. Great idea. Take a look at the entries.
will be given $1,000 to create a one minute video clip based on their storyboard. The winning video selected by Radiohead will receive $10,000 provided by aniBoom to create the full music video within a time period to be determined by aniBoom. The final video will receive web-wide distribution with marketing support by aniBoom. Great idea. Take a look at the entries.
Tuesday, 1 April 2008
Useful FREE Apple seminars
Apple offers a range of seminars with are delivered online. Here are some that might appeal to you:
The Podcast Recipe: Producing a successful show. Find out what it takes to perform a great-sounding podcast, produce a professional show, and promote a podcast to reach as many people as possible.
Enhancing Video Podcasts with Final Cut Studio. Add chapter markers, titles, images, and URLs to your podcast and produce video and sound with Final Cut Pro, Soundtrack Pro, QuickTime Pro and Compressor.
Making Music on the Mac with GarageBand . Tune in to this free online seminar and learn how to transform your Mac into a musical instrument and record new and inspiring masterpieces.
Creating a Rich Media Podcast with Final Cut Pro . Brian Storm shows news professionals how to use Final Cut Pro to take digital storytelling to a whole new level with rich media podcasting.
The Podcast Recipe: Producing a successful show. Find out what it takes to perform a great-sounding podcast, produce a professional show, and promote a podcast to reach as many people as possible.
Enhancing Video Podcasts with Final Cut Studio. Add chapter markers, titles, images, and URLs to your podcast and produce video and sound with Final Cut Pro, Soundtrack Pro, QuickTime Pro and Compressor.
Making Music on the Mac with GarageBand . Tune in to this free online seminar and learn how to transform your Mac into a musical instrument and record new and inspiring masterpieces.
Creating a Rich Media Podcast with Final Cut Pro . Brian Storm shows news professionals how to use Final Cut Pro to take digital storytelling to a whole new level with rich media podcasting.
Friday, 11 January 2008
Blogs in Plain English
Here's "blogs in plain english'. It explains the how and why of blogs rather well. Could you do better?
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