Digital Video

Faculty Innovating with Technology project

Gateway Technical CollegeSpring, 2007

Shoot

Transfer to computer to edit

Edit

Transfer to media and enjoy

Common Video Steps

Publish

Shooting

• “Get it right in the camera”– #1 time-saving and effort-saving technique

• Video camera microphones often pick up too much extra noise– Can buy an external mic at Radioshack

• If your camera has a microphone input

– Built-in microphone might work fine for you

Shooting Tips

• Off-center subjects– Rule of thirds

• Vary long, medium and close shots

• Zoom = BAD– A little very slow zoom – ok

• If not using a tripod, prop yourself on furniture and walls for stability

• Use camera motion sparingly

Shooting: Tips

• Unintended motion can ruin your video

• For stability– Sit– Lean against a wall– Hold the camera with both hands– Find a level place to park your camera– Use motion stabilization, if this is a feature of

your camera

Shooting: Rules for Motion

1. Don’t use motion to move from shot to shot

• In recording mode: stop; reframe the video, and then reshoot – don’t pan

Shooting: Rules for Camera Motion

• If you must use motion (Pan):1. Never pan back and forth

2. Pan from the waist and move your body• Don’t use your hands or wrists

3. When following a subject, try to keep him in the back third of the frame

4. Shoot for a few seconds while stable at both the beginning and end of the motion shot

5. Use the horizon as a horizontal cue

Shooting: Tilt

• Never tilt up and down– Tilt in one direction and then stop

• Tilt at the waist– Using your hands will introduce shake into the

picture

Shooting: Zoom

• Get to know your zoom controls in advance

• Zoom slowing to the desired framing, and then stop, even if it’s not ideal

• Disable digital zoom

Shooting: Lighting

• Shoot with the sun to your back whenever possible

• Use camera’s preprogrammed AE modes for sunlight, sports, spotlight and similar environments

• Avoid backlit subjects

Shooting: Sound

• Turn off all background noise you can– TV off!

• Use headphones to better gauge sound quality

• Use a directional microphone

Shooting: Sound

• There are several reasons why the built-in camera microphone may not be adequate– Omni-direction– Attached to the camera, it can pick up camera

noise– Headphones can help you hear what the

camera is picking up

Shooting

• Audio– Can split from the video and “overlayed” over

another part of the video– [example]

What camera to buy?

• Depends what you’re planning to use it for

• Check reviews at http://www.cnet.com

Transferring to your computer

• Also called Capturing• From camera, usually by cable

– Firewire (IEEE) or USB• Sony calls firewire i-Link

• Confirm the camera is on• Switch the camera from “record” to “vcr” mode

– Mode is also called play, review …

Editing

• Generally for assembling and transitioning multiple pieces of video

• Many different video editing software programs– Both Macintosh and PC

• From basic to exceedingly complex and feature-filled

Entry-Level editing programs

• Windows Movie Maker (incl with Windows) PC• Adobe Premiere Elements ($99 or less) PC, probably

Mac• iMovie and iDVD Mac• Roxio Movie Creator• Pinnacle Studio• Ulead Video Studio• Easiest?

– Mac iMovie and iDVD are easiest combination if you can get comfortable with the platform (incl with Macs)

Profession Editing Software

• Adobe Premiere

• Apple Final Cut Pro

Capturing from the camera using Windows Movie-Maker

Capturing from the camera using Windows Movie-Maker

Capturing from the camera using Windows Movie-Maker

Capturing from the camera using Windows Movie-Maker

• Capturing

Capturing from the camera using Windows Movie-Maker

Capturing from the camera using Windows Movie-Maker

Capturing from the camera using Windows Movie-Maker

Capturing from the camera using Windows Movie-Maker

Capturing from the camera using Windows Movie-Maker

Capturing from the camera using Windows Movie-Maker

• Capturing

Viewing Captured Clips in Windows Movie-Maker

Editing - Trimming the beginning and ending of clips

Editing - Trimming the beginning and ending of clips

Editing – changing from Clip to Timeline view

Editing – Saving the Project

Editing – Saving the Project

Splitting the clip

Splitting a clip

Titles, Transitions and Effects

Adding Titles in Windows Movie Maker

Transitions

Adding a Transition

Transcoding

• Most editing programs are able to output your final video into a format your audience can view (i.e. DVD)

• The process of transforming video from one format into another is called transcoding

• The most common transcoding that most people will do is to transform captured digital video into a DVD-compliant MPEG-2 format

Publishing

• Most entry level and some profession programs have VCD and DVD mastering tools

• Programs designed specifically for these tasks:– Apple iDVD– Roxio DVD Creator – Nero

Editing Steps

1. Add clips to timeline• Choose parts of the clips to include

2. Add transitions3. Add titles4. Publish5. Transfer to media

• Sometimes done while publishing

Can also often add musicCompress either in Save or Export step

Editing: Publishing

• Allows you to pick options for– Output formats– media

• Media– Back to camera– CD– VCD– DVD– To VHS tape– Can store small video files on a flash drive

Compression takes awhile

• Think about how much data we are manipulating– A single picture (frame) has hundreds of

thousands of pixels 640*480=307,200

– 29.97 frames per second for television

Other Video Techniques

• Webcams

• Adding to PowerPoint– Linking, not inserting

• Using Gateway’s streaming server Screencast videos