Archive for the ‘video’ Category
A Postage Stamp
This is something that has been bugging me more and more these days. It really came to a head when I was trying to view a sample video from a fairly major effects plugin provider. Unfortunately, the embedded video was so teensy, it wasn’t big enough to get any real impression of what the effect plugin was really doing. Yes, I could click the “fullscreen” button, but on my 28″ monitor, it looked like an 8 bit video game. And this is a company who should know better.
The fact is, the trend towards larger monitors has been with us for some time. The old 320X240 typical standard for embedded video is scarcely larger than a postage stamp at the resolution of a large monitor. There is no reason for video less than 640X480 in the case of a 4X3 example, or at the very minimum, 640X360 for a widescreen video. This is the bare minimum in my humble opinion. Another thing I can’t stress enough, is that you can always, and you should, upload higher resolution video clips, and then let your player, or Youtube, scale them down as needed.
Yes, I know there are some out there still using a 12 inch monitor at 640X480 total resolution, but no good ever came from catering to the least common denominator!
An example video shot with an iPhone 4 that I just happened across on Vimeo. Sure, a low end camcorder could challenge it, but this is a phone. I can remember when you had to “dial” a phone! Now I ask you, where’s my rocket pack??
Iphone 4 video test from Jesse Power on Vimeo.
The iPhone 4
Supposedly, over 600,000 pre-orders have already been submitted for the new iPhone. So much so, that AT&T’s system took a fall as the result of
the huge traffic influx. I wasn’t one of them, as my contract has another six months or so. I will definitely get one as soon as it’s offered. The feature that interests me the most is the video camera. Claiming to be able to capture at 720P, the idea of having a decent video camera in my pocket all the time would be great!
I could only find a small video on the apple site as an example, and it looks pretty good. You can’t however expand it to full screen from the website. I look forward to seeing more examples. Inbuilt editing is also a pretty slick new feature.
Sure, it won’t compare to dedicated HD camcorders, but it makes phone calls too! Usually….
And it only weighs 900lbs!
Before there was TiVo, there were VCRs. Before that, there were reel-to-reel VTRs. Generally considered to be the first home video recorder is the stunningly large Ampex Signature V combination reel to reel video recorder, console television and hifi system. Circa 1963, and would have set you back $30,000. By the way, this was in 1963 dollars! This gem weighed in at over 900 lbs! It also included a bulky camera too!
If you enjoy checking out this sort of thing, rewindmuseum.com is a fun website. As the website originates from across the pond, much of the gear covered was available only in europe. Well worth a visit either way.
I was actually looking into video stabilization apps, and stumbled across this. It’s a free plugin that yields an effect very similar to some of the “rotoscope” type animated films and commercials. While those films were much more labor intensive, this free plugin from NewBlueFX called “Cartoonr” achieves something very similar, and with little effort.
I did try this out myself in Vegas Pro 7, and by golly, it works pretty darn well. A number of presets are included with various looks, and settings to various parameters can be easily dialed around to your taste. Sure, it does slow down the render time. Surprisingly, not as much as I thought it would.
The Canon 5D MK II
First of all, I should apologize for that title. Secondly, who expected this odd situation where a DSLR might be one of the best video cameras on the market. At least in the lower end range of event video gear. By “lower end” I do mean cameras that sell below $5000. In comparison to current television production, 5K is a drop in the bucket. 30 to 50 thousand dollars is much more the range you’d expect to pay for a camera in your TV studio. Seems now, we have this very strange phenomenon, where a DSLR has stepped to the plate. In fact, the season finale, of one of the most popular television shows in history, is shot entirely with this camera.
And what camera you ask? The Canon 5D MKII. I should note here that I’m a Nikon fan, and have been for years. I have also owned several Canons, including the venerable AE1. I have also spent much more on dedicated video cameras that this. Most all from Sony, and the most recent was just over a year ago at about $3500. Make no mistake, it’s a fine camera. I’ve yet to see an answer to this phenomenon from Sony.
Now folks, life is not perfect, and this is no exception. Swish pans with this camera are to be avoided. Sound will require some attachments to be sure. The form factor isn’t ideal for the work that we do. At least it will take some adjustment. Again, sorry about the pun. I will say from what I have seen so far, the results are stunning. I hear it takes some pretty good snap shots as well. Please forgive once again. I think it’s reasonable to say that if you seek a new camera in the sub 5000K us$ range, perhaps you should look at the new 5D.
I should add here that the “run and gun” video cameras from Sony, Panasonic and Canon in this range are well worth a look. These cams still have some features that are designed for event video shooters, and they do a great job. I might not take the latest 5D on the next event shoot, but I will darn sure be working it in asap.
http://www.pcworld.com/article/194158/season_finale_of_house_filmed_with_canon_dslr.html
If you’re a fan of either of these folks, you’d probably enjoy this. Alec reveals a nugget of advice for actors to be. Love him, hate him, he’s a good actor. You might just get something out of this. Hopefully, you’ll be entertained a bit, and that’s good enough. Personally, I enjoy Adam’s podcast, and have enjoyed many a film of Mr. Baldwin.
This problem has driven me nearly crazy until I found the solution, and I’ll bet it’s done the same to many of you out there. You’ve just created a MP4 file with Sony Vegas, Premier Pro, or some other NLE, and it won’t play until the file downloads completely. Arggg! Why is it that other MP4 files will stream, and mine won’t?!?!
As it turns out, for some mind bending reason, a number of video editing apps do not output the correct Mp4 file header to allow the video to begin playing once the first few seconds have been buffered. I cannot fathom why this is. It’s certainly not the case with WMV (Windows Media) or MOV (Quicktime) files. In fact, Vegas has a checkbox for both file types that correctly encodes the file for streaming.
I finally ran across this great little app called “MP4 Faststart”, and it actually corrects the problem. It simply processes the file, and updates the header to allow a progressive download as the video plays. Amazingly, it’s free. Well actually, it’s donationware, and I think you’ll find it’s worthy of a few bucks to the developer, as it will save much head banging.
A great article I just ran across on Boingboing, about the Real Networks DVD case. If you aren’t aware of this blog with the funny name, you should be. They produce some great content. This is such a well written article on the subject of the RealDVD application. In short, RealDVD would have allowed you to extract the contents of a DVD you already paid for, legally, and put the contents on your computer, or your iPod. Unfortunately, they lost the court case. Now, only criminals will have this privilege.
When RealNetworks Settled on DVD Copying, We All Lost – Boing Boing.
Adobe Flash
The iPad reminded me of the strange confusion around Adobe Flash. Many were surprised that the iPad will not support flash. I can’t say that I was surprised at all. As many readers might know, the iPhone does not support flash. There actually only a few smartphones that do support flash, and only do so to a limited extent. Apple in particular, has a ax to grind with Adobe, as the flash player seems to occasionally cause system crashes in OSX. Apple feels this is a problem with Adobe’s code.
There is however some confusion about a couple of important aspects of Flash. What first comes to mind is the eye candy websites that use flash to animate all sorts of buttons and effects. Some elegantly so, and others to a ridiculous extent. Flash (and Shockwave) has been used to create many animated presentations, and applications and games as well. There is however an almost completely separate function supported by flash player, and that is video playback.
Originally, the flash player was designed to play a particular video file format known as FLV. This is a video file format specific to the Flash player. For years, this has been the method of choice for delivering video on the web. Youtube, and many similar sites, used this method for years. It of course required that you have Adobe Flash player installed on your computer. Most of you out there know all too well the prompt from your web browser, asking that you install the Flash Plugin.
There were many competitors over the years for alternate methods of online video delivery. Windows Media, Apple Quicktime, Real Media, and so on. A refreshingly new trend has however been afoot these past years, and that is the MP4 file format. Also known as Mpeg4, this actually represents a bit of a convergence. An odd thing indeed, when so many incompatible file formats and applications plague all things computerized these days. Not only does Apple support Mp4, it’s actually the chosen video format of the iPhone, and iPod touch. This was no doubt a factor that influenced the move towards mp4 video delivery that Youtube now embraces.
Where does Flash come in? As it turns out, as of version 9, Adobe flash player supports playback of mp4 files via a web page. The great thing about this is no additional plug-in is required to play the video. That is, if you have flash player installed, and of course that your device supports flash. While I do have some background in web development, I’m hardly a programmer. I wonder why that mp4 video playback via the flash player can’t be supported alone, and simply disable all of the other Flash functionality? Seems to me, this just throws the baby out with the bathwater.
