Hi all,

Well we are finally back from our extended assignment and looking forward to getting back to a more varied workload. I’m currently working on the movie settings blog and should have that uploaded in the next few days. Check back!

DrawDog

Sorry for the long delay, but unfortunately, our workload is currently very high with some tight and unforgiving timelines. We will get back to our discussion on home movies as soon as this job is completed. More later.

An electronics professor of mine used the water analogy often when discussing the flow of electricity… its actually pretty good when trying to explain complex concepts. Think of the Video Settings page for movie making as a handle on the faucet of your video. The highest quality, uncompressed video at full size (720 pixels by 480 pixels for SD or standard definition video) and 30 frames per second is the water equivalent of opening up the faucet so the water flows quickly. Web-ready video (like you see on YouTube) at a smaller size (360 by 240), a slower frame rate (7 to 15 frames per second) and high compression (blocky and color mapped) is the water equivalent of closing down the faucet so that a trickle flows down the pipe. The Video Settings page allows you to alter your video in a seemingly endless variation of ways to produce an output that meets your needs or requirements. So how do you decide what settings are best? First, you need to know who your audience is. Will the video be copied onto a DVD and only shown using a DVD player attached to a large, widescreen plasma display? Do you plan to encode the video so it can be watched on your iPod or smartphone? Is your intention to post the video to your website so that multiple visitors to your site can concurrently view it? The premise of this article was to convert old home movies to DVD so we will concern ourselves with that only. I will see about looking into publishing to small format devices and the web in another article.

Let’s talk about generation loss for a moment here. Generation loss occurs when copying an analog signal from one media to another. The classic example is making a copy of little Johnny’s first steps on VHS tape to send to the grandparents. Each time a copy is made, some signal degradation occurs. This typically results in color smearing and loss of detail and can be seen more readily with each subsequent copy such that the fourth or fifth copy bear little resemblance to the original. Generation loss does not occur when copying digital content… another reason for copying your old movies over to DVD. Once the original has been converted into digital form, any subsequent copies should be identical. As a side note, I always recommend that people make two copies of any important videos, a “working copy” to use and watch and a “safety copy” to stash away either in a safety deposit box or fireproof container in the basement. That way, if (when? the working copy gets scratched or otherwise compromised, the safety copy can be pulled out only long enough to make another working copy. Now back to our discussion.

A good argument can be made that there is no need to use video settings designed for the highest quality video when capturing lossy media such as VHS or even S-VHS/Hi8. I don’t have a problem with this especially when considering that most consumer tapes were at least 2 hours in length and many people would use the slower speed to get 4 or even 6 hours on a tape. The quality differences between the 2 hour setting and 4 and especially the 6 hour setting is fairly easy to detect. Since dropping your video settings back allows you to store more data on a DVD, it is possible to put up to 5 hours of VHS quality video onto a single sided, single layered DVD. If your home movies were shot on S-VHS or Hi8, which both capture video at a higher quality; you should cut that time in half. We’ll get into more specifics when I drill down into the individual video settings in our next blog. Feel free to contact us at drawdog@drawdog.com if you have any questions or concerns.

One of the things I am often asked by friends who know I shoot professional video is, “How do I convert all my home videos to DVD?” As much as I would like to give a one sentence answer, the current state of technology doesn’t allow it. The basic process for “converting” home movies to DVDs involves several steps that each may require different solutions depending on your particular situation. If your home movie camera or VCR is a few years old and lacks a high speed, digital connection such as firewire or usb, you will need an analog capture card that facilitates connecting the audio and video outputs to the computer. Unfortunately, such cards can be both pricey and troublesome. At worst, they could be beyond the expertise if you are not comfortable with opening up your computer to install them or with installing and configuring software to recognize and manipulate them. If, however, you have a DV camcorder and a late model computer, chances are there is already easy connectivity that makes capturing video to your computer’s hard drive a fairly trouble-free process.

For the sake of numbers, I am going to limit my discussion to Windows users only… perhaps I will outline the procedure for you Mac-addicts at another time. Windows comes with a very basic video editing program called Movie Maker. It is relatively simple to use and designed for the neophyte. It even allows some basic editing and titling should one be so inclined. One of the worst things about linear taping is that you typically record a lot more than you would want to watch again. If you have the time, I would recommend you use the opportunity to do a little house cleaning. I had a teacher in a photography class say that if you got one great picture on a roll of film (yes, I’m that old;-), you were doing good. A teacher of a video editing class later echoed the sentiment by saying, “tape is cheap… shoot more than you think you will need.” While chasing little Johnny around trying to get that one expression you think hung the moon, you likely captured a blurry wall, the dog’s tail, some dirty laundry or a discarded piece of clothing… well, you get the picture. I would recommend that you forgo saving those scenes for posterity.

The help file on Movie Maker breaks down capture into several areas; capture the entire video from a tape in a DV camera, capture parts of video from a tape in a DV camera, capture video from a tape in an analog camera or VCR, and capture live video. So you have some basic options to choose from. For “nanny free” capturing, you can choose to capture the entire tape, then select “create clips when wizard finishes” to manually cut the captured video into “keep” and “discard” scenes. In our next blog, we’ll look at the Video Settings page which will determine not only the quality of the video captured, but the appropriateness of how and where you will be showing it.

One of the intricacies of graphic production involves the difference between two basic types of images, vector-based and raster-based. Raster-based images are made up of a grid or matrix of dots, typically referred to as pixels which is a nickname for picture elements. Such images can be edited in various graphic programs from Windows simple Paint all the way up to Adobe’s Photoshop. Pixels can either be squares or rectangles arranged in a grid that also can contain color information. Color information is described in bits, typically 8, 16, 24 or 32bit and refers to the number of color variations a single pixel can have. In pure black and white images, a pixel can only be two colors, black or white. In 8bit grayscale images, a single pixel can be one of 256 shades of gray. For RGB images, there are 256 variations for each color thus making a 24bit (3 x 8bit) image. Adding an alpha channel (transparency) requires an additional 8 bits of data thus making a 32bit image. Digital cameras and scanners produce raster-based images. Raster-based images are normally printed in the 150-350 dots (pixels) per inch range in order to look good. Printing low resolution (under 150dpi), raster-based images can produce a blocky or stair-stepped look because you are actually seeing the individual square dots.Because high resolution, raster-based images typically contain large grids of dots, their file size can be huge. And because of the nature of a grid, doubling the resolution produces a files size that is four times larger. Raster images typically are easily shared across various platforms, but can be more difficult than vector graphics to modify depending upon the resolution and content.

Vector-based images typically are generated using line drawing programs such as Adobe Illustrator, Coreldraw or Freehand and are composed of mathematical formulas that define shapes, lines, strokes, and fills. Vector-based images are most often modified using the application in which they were created in order to maintain the mathematic basis of their structure and definition. The single most important factor of vector-based images is that they are resolution-independent in that their quality does not suffer when enlarging or reducing their size. Because scaling only modifies the mathematic formulas, the image will look the same whether it is printed on a pin’s head or the side of a building. They are also easily used in animation sequences due to the inherent ability to modify specific sections without affecting other parts. Vector-based images do not support photographic imagery well and often can be problematic for cross-platform exchange (Mac to PC) although much of that has changed in recent years. Finally, because vector-based images are simply mathematical formulas, they typically have much smaller file sizes than raster-based images. The most common type of vector-based image is the EPS or encapsulated postscript format which originated on the Mac platform.

Microsoft’s answer to the Apple .eps (encapsulated postscript) are the Enhanced Metafile (.emf) and its counterpart, the Windows Metafile (.wmf). Because they are vector-based images, editing .emf and .wmf files can’t be opened using standard programs supplied with Windows. A metafile editor doesn’t come with the OS… you actually have to use something like Adobe’s Illustrator, CorelDraw or Freehand which makes no sense but that is the gist of it.

It is relatively easy to convert vector-based images to raster-based images… most programs that can produce such line art typically have an export function that allows you to produce a raster-based file at whatever resolution you require.  However, raster-based conversion to vector-based is a much more difficult task and may even be difficult beyond capability due to the decision making process involved. A few years ago, Adobe made a program called Streamline that attempted to tackle the task but it required a patient and judicious hand on the options to even come close to producing an acceptable result. The best results I’ve seen are done by skilled computer illustrators who draw from scratch either by eye or by “tracing” on top of a placed raster-based image.

Working with raster-based or vector-based images requires different skills and different programs. They are each best for certain applications and often it is knowing their strengths and weaknesses that helps to make that determination. If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to contact me at drawdog@drawdog.com .

I finally got around to building a video editing computer from scratch that could edit HDV. HDV editing boxes can be bought from turnkey vendors and if I were in a commercial production environment with a commensurate budget, that might be an avenue I would pursue. However, I typically do marketing-related videos for the corporate customer and while workflow is important, it’s not as critical to me simply because I don’t have the overhead either in facility or concurrent project volume. Most of my projects are video case studies structured as “problem-solution-benefit”… they rarely exceed 8 minutes in length.

So what I needed was a low cost, high performance PC that could capture, edit, render and output a finished piece to DVD without terribly long rendering times and acceptable capabilities with regard to transitions and effects. Turnkey HDV boxes typically start in the mid threes for a barebone box and go up to 7-8K without breaking a sweat. But I wanted a box in the $1500-2000 range and since I didn’t need 7 or 8 stream capability, am not mastering any 8.1 audio and whatever graphics or animations I do use will be simple and concise, I could pass the savings on to my customer.

So let’s begin… I started with the motherboard and ended up choosing the ASUS P5K3 because it had a decent price point ($225), took DDR3 RAM, had a rich feature set and got good reviews on several websites. I had used the P5E on my last box and was very please with its ease of setup and layout.

Next I chose the Intel Q6600 Kentsfield Quad also because of the price point ($255) and bought the OEM in order to insure I was getting the SLACR sSpec with the G0 Core Stepping.  For cooling, I selected an ASUS Triton 75 heatsink ($44) because of its good reviews and chose a Scythe S-Flex 120mm fan ($25) to provide the greater than 45cfm spec needed. Even when the system is working hard, I typically am getting CPU/MB temps in the mid 30s C.

To that I added 2 Gb of Corsair DDR3 1333 RAM ($274) and three WD Caviar WD2500YS 250Gb 7200RPM SATA hard drives ($74 each). I wanted to install the OS on one drive and then stripe the other two for capturing and editing. Due to my typical project length and because I was on a network and could archive finished projects to the server and eventually tape backup, I didn’t feel I needed any larger drives.

For the video card, I lurked on eBay looking for an nVidia Quadro FX3450 which I eventually won “new, in the box” for $200. Another highly rated component, the speedy card’s OpenGL support will make working in Premiere and After Effects a breeze. I then chose the mushkin 550250 ATX12V/EPS12V 580W Power Supply ($89), not only to support the video card, but for future expansion since I may eventually add the Matrox RT.X2 and possibly some larger hard drives. It also had the modular cables which even though they interfered with the top case fan (I had to remove it), made cable management a breeze.

I added an ASUS DVD burner ($39) and loaded it all into a black aluminum Lian Li PC-60BPlusII mid-tower case $129) with a slide out motherboard tray and removable hard drive cage. Finally, I chose the Samsung 226BW 22” 2ms DVI widescreen LCD monitor ($299) due to this excellent comparison/review http://www.behardware.com/art/lire/662/ . I finished off with a Microsoft Comfort keyboard/laser mouse combo ($22).

All told, with shipping and minus rebates, the rig came out to a little over $1800. I installed Win XP Pro (SP2) and bought the Adobe Premiere Pro CS3 upgrade for $294 so even with software, I still kept the entire rig under $2300. Setup was non-eventful and the rig tested out quite speedy. I’ve already captured and edited some 1280 X 720 footage without incident.

Hardware prices and availability change constantly so you really have to do your homework to stay on top of what’s available on what box house’s website at what price. My component list changed 4 or 5 times before I finally pulled the trigger and quite honestly, before I even had components in hand, several items had either become unavailable or more desirable choices had surfaced. Sadly, that will always be the case and I’m not letting it damper my spirits… this is still a great box for the money.

Finally, I want to thank Gary Bettan and Jim Bask, the experts at www.videoguys.com for all  their assistance. They have a great website and are selfless with critique and advice… check them out!

If you have any questions or concerns, give us a bark at drawdog@drawdog.com.

We just recently had the opportunity to shoot a video for a corporate customer in the Atlanta area. During the first meeting with the principals, we kicked around some ideas for the storyboard. This is an area in which we have had some success in the past having produced a number of video case studies for clients in support of their sales presentations. With very little variation, every single case study came down to a very simple formula… “Problem - Solution - Benefit”.

Think about it… a company has some problem that they need to remedy with the hope of getting some benefit from the solution. (Otherwise, why would there even be a case to study?) From that basic model, we would typically establish in an opening short, who the customer was in terms of industry, location, expertise, portfolio (successes), size, mission, etc. We have always found it beneficial in this section to try and use some muckety-muck (Prez, Veep, Director) which tends to lend legitimacy to the whole piece since it gives the appearance of being “blessed” by the higher ups.
We then like to videotape talking heads of the supervisors and/or managers to get a real world explanation of the problem (if it wasn’t detailed by the muckety muck) followed up with the process for finding a solution and why a particular vendor was chosen.

Finally, we like to videotape the knowledge workers - the folks who actually use the product - to give their take on how the solution has benefited them. We might follow up with a closing remark by the muckety muck that ties the whole video together and it’s a wrap.

One of the problems we consistently ran into when trying to videotape non-professional, onscreen talent was nervousness. There is a reason that public speaking is such a common fear, many people find it difficult.  But speaking to a circle of glass with a red blinking light above it is tantamount to the same thing. So we always shoot talking heads the first day, then review the footage that evening to figure out where we may have to cut away from the subject using B roll footage in order to edit the audio stream so as to clean up the message and delivery. We then have a pretty good roadmap of what cutaway footage is needed to assist that process.

I remember one situation with a particularly difficult subject who could deliver their spiel perfectly in practice, but once the red light came on, would become a basket case. The solution was to pretend to reach around and turn off the camera, but in reality merely switch off the tally (red blinking) light. We then told the subject that we were just going to do another couple of practice runs. They aced the delivery once they thought they weren’t on camera. Make it happen.

The end game is to present the case study in a simple and straight forward manner. We don’t use a lot of flash or whizbang graphics that would take center stage, instead letting the message be the star. That way we keep post production short, and if the raw footage gathering goes well, we can get product into the customer’s hands in a timely fashion and for a reasonable rate.

One of the issues we come up against all too often in our interaction with customers is the concept of resolution on screen and in print. Specifically, with regard to images or photos that display acceptably on the web page but end up looking “blocky” or “blurry” in print. This is a result of the difference in resolution between the printed page and the computer display monitor. Resolution is measured in dots per inch or lines per inch, commonly referred to as either “dpi” or “lpi”. Lines per inch is a measure used in printing that comes from fineness of the line screen used in the process. Dots per inch comes from a monitors matrix-like display of so many dots or “pixels” (picture elements) wide by so many dots or pixels tall. A monitor’s screen resolution is often designated as 1024 x 768 or 1440 x 900 and typically a monitor’s resolution is on the order of 72 to 96 dpi. That means that monitor with a resolution of 1024 x 768 should end up being 14.22″ wide (1024 pixels wide divided by 72 dpi) and 10.66″ tall (720 divided by 72). That’s about the size of a 15 inch monitor. There is another specification called dot pitch which we won’t be going into here but suffice to say that a monitor’s physical size should correlate to screen resolution. You wouldn’t want a 22 inch monitor running a screen resolution of 640 X 480 and conversely, would not want to run 1280 X 1024 on a 10 inch monitor.

Print resolution is much higher… typically in the neighborhood of 300 dots per inch although there are situations in high quality printing applications where much higher resolutions are used. You will also see different resolutions applied to different types of printing such as photos, line art, pure text and such. Even the type of paper plays a part in resolution because how the ink is absorbed into the paper can also affect resolution.

But for our purposes in this discussion, the simple difference is that printed images need to be approximately 4 times larger than what is displayed on screen to be of the same size. Let’s look at an example… you have an image that is 900 pixels wide by 600 pixels tall displaying on your 15 inch monitor running a screen resolution of 1024 by 768. The approximate size that image will display on screen is 900 divided by 72 or 12.5 inches wide by 600 divided by 72 or 8.33 inches wide. The reality is that the image will almost completely fill the monitor screen. But when you print that image out on your laserjet, the image shrinks in physical size to 900 divided by 300 or 3 inches wide by 600 divided by 300 or 2 inches tall. On an 8.5″ X 11″ piece of paper, the image is no where near as impressive. That is why you will sometimes see a print button on web pages containing images. When you select that option, a much larger version of the image is sent to the printer so what you see on the screen is similar to what prints out on the page. Hopefully this gives you a better idea of the differences between print vs. screen resolution. If you have any comments or questions, please email us at drawdog@drawdog.com, we look forward to hearing from you!

Hello! The purpose of this blog is to establish a series of articles dealing with the ins and outs of DTP or “desktop publishing” in the broadest sense of the term. I say broadest sense because in the digital age, publishing has come to mean outputing to the final form. In the old days, that meant printing on paper… today, that can mean printing on paper, publishing to an address on the internet or writing to a CD or DVD. We define DTP as using a desktop (or laptop) computer to design and produce various forms of presentation for output to some form of media. That can be video or audio or page layout or image editing or any number of other creative genres. It is using a computer to paint with a rather broad brush…. and it has changed and will continue to change the way we communicate. Very exciting!