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OK, now its time to work on the Tools

The last time that I worked on my page about Tools was when I was using Final Cut Express… ok, I can’t remember when that was.

The Notes are about the films, once they are made and the notes are written, its over. But the Tools, they are ever changing!

To help me focus on what I need to work on, I’ll add some comments here to either set me up or give me guidance. This blog is my conscience.

Start with the tools and lay it out chronologically. When I was starting out, the greatest thing for me was two simple things; one could make a great video out of stills (thanks, Ken Burns) and two, a very simple circa 2002 digital camera could make 4-5 second videos that could be turned into a short film.

It was such a heady feeling to make a MOVIE! (then I learned it was supposed to be called a FILM). Tomato, potato.

I’m going back to talk about the tools…

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Video Redesign on WRP

Recently, I spent a fair amount of time re-organizing my films on WRP. I had a few goals:

1) Bring my site into the 21st Century, so quit using a js script to open a new window to display the movie.

So, how are all the cool kids doing it? YouTube and Vimeo. No thanks, color me old school and not into “insert your video site of choice that displays your video in horrendous quality along with bizillion ads.”

2) Have a common well-thought out format for all films AND forget about trying to create a reference movie that will check for access speed, QT version etc.

3) Add the ability for iPhones/Touch’s to be able to view the films.

First came DVcreators’ DVKitchen. Fantastic! It provided EVERYTHING I could possibly want… for about a day. It is a nice program and it provided a great starting point for what I wanted to do. I highly recommend looking at it. I’ll repeat… it is a GREAT starting point for a video site!

Now I had a nice way of showing my films; cross off #1.

DVKitchen showed me the value of spending a bit of time understanding your bit rate and film quality. One word, SampleLab. Thanks! (again). Using SampleLab as a starting point, I created multiple compression formats in Compressor. This allowed me to determine the ideal combination of film size and viewing quality. I was amazed at the difference between each film. (I’ll create a note regarding H.264 to help explain this one.) Cross off #2.

After much experimentation, with MakeRefMovie from Apple and Quicktime’s Export for the Web command, I decided that a reference movie wasn’t all that. Due to the my inherent difficulty with reference movies and the fact that iPhone-type devices love a vertical format, I decided to create a vertical-oriented iPhone-only website.

Cross off #3.

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Compressor (and multiple cores) is your friend

This is a big deal.

In addition to what this note says note says, you can use other computers to render your files. It has taken me a little while to figure this out. This tutorial describes just using one computer but you can do the same for multiple computers. I did try this on a Dual 1GHz G4 and it slowed things down, so make sure that the additional computers have sufficient power.

Read the tutorial to learn a bit more, here’s my overview:

1) Install Compressor and QMaster on your non-FCP computer and use the Quick Cluster option. It will make things much easier. On the FCS 2 install disk there is a installer just for this action.

2) When you want to compress, click Submit and select your FCP computer to serve as the cluster controller.

3) Sit back and watch your files get rendered in 1/4th the time.

I use a MacBook Pro because I need the portability. I used to use a MacPro Quad 3.0… now I use both when I need to render video. What a lifesaver.

As for Digital Rebellion? Great site for video! Thanks, Jon!

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FCP’s DV Compatibility issues

While creating the previous post on iMovie 09, I ran across a very interesting post by David Pogue, related to his desire to combine Flip footage with footage from a high end Canon HD camera.

He was attempting to combine two vastly different video file types; Flip’s H.264 and Canon’s AIC. Final Cut Pro was re-rendering every time he did an edit, causing his workflow to slow dramatically.

His solution was to ensure that both files were rendered to the same format before continuing to edit.

Sure, sounds simple when I say it…

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iMovie 09 and Ken Stone

iMovie 08 was a bit controversial on introduction last year. It was substantially different than the previous versions of iMovie, so much so it angered most heavy users. It was clearly a version 1.0 release and Apple was atleast kind enough to keep the old version iMovie HD around so we could still use it.

This January, iMovie 09 was released and this new version has made all the difference in the world. Many of the missing or incomplete features were fixed and some significant additions were made, most notably “precision editing”.

I’ve used all of the previous versions of iMovie, Final Cut Express and Final Cut Pro. I must say this new version is a lot of fun to use.

So where does Ken Stone come into this picture?

Ken Stone has a great video website called www.kenstone.net. On it he has great articles, reviews and tutorials on all things video. His focus is pro video and I’ve learned a great deal from his site.

Ken has published a significant review of iMovie 09. He recognizes the application for what it is. He states; “[iMovie] ’09’ is truly an amazing application, much more able and sophisticated than it would first appear. Automated video import process, browser organization, clip skimming and editing, text and animated titles, transitions, video effects, backgrounds, sound effects, audio control, voiceover, green screen, background music, speed control and direction, photo manipulation (Ken Burns effect), markers and chapter markers, color correction, waveforms, themes, animated maps, video stabilization, picture-in-picture, L-cuts, Precision Editor, full screen playback, the list goes on. iMovie is a full fledged editor, I think that you are going to be surprised at what it can do and how intuitive it is.”

If you are interested in video and you use a Mac, I strongly recommend two things; take a look at iMovie 09 and read Ken’s review. As he said, it won’t replace FCP but it might make some projects a whole lot easier!