NEW PATH MEDIA

The measurements used for video editing are somewhat different from the ones used in Print media. A scanner will usually show you numbers that correspond for Print use only and Print uses DPI and pixels. Video editing doesn't care about DPI. It only cares about pixel size. Concentrate on pixels. If it becomes necessary to enlarge the pixel size of a picture the DPI parameter will need to be increased. Anywhere from 100 to 300 DPI should work depending on the original size of the picture.

So what pixel size is needed for video editing?  If a picture is needed to fill an entire TV screen then it is necessary to know which video format the editor is using.  Photoshop has some pixel presets for standard formats which is a good place to start.

   720x480 pixels - SD
   864x480 pixels - SD wide screen
  1280x720 pixels - HD (720)
1920x1080 pixels - HD (1080)

A picture filling the full screen of a TV using DV codec (SD) will need to come in at 720 pixels by 480 pixels.   If moves from one person to another in a picture are wanted then it will be necessary to make the picture even larger, something like 900x600 pixels. This allows the editor to make movements within the picture without having to lose any quality.

For example if you have a 4x6 photo and you need to edit that into a video. Using 100 DPI may only get you a graphic the size of 600x400 pixels. That will be too small to fill the entire screen. Increasing the DPI value in the scanner will increase the pixels. Keep increasing until you achieve the size you need. The important measurement in all of this is PIXELS.

Remember, if you need to make moves within the picture it means that you will need a picture larger than these full screen resolutions. How much larger depends on how much of a pan/tilt is needed.

I hope this helps.

This blog is in response to a question:

"Describe in brief the whole process including the precautions, do and don't during the process, hardware, equipments for shooting, and recording , sotfware use to editing."

As was stated in an earlier blog, pre-production is the most important step in a video production. Create a script on what you want in your video. A script can be as simple as bullet points, number of people and where it needs to be shot or it can be fully detailed text that can be memorized or put up on a teleprompter. This script helps to clarify what you need to do and the points you want to cover.  Will you need to be in more than one location? Will you need to bring props or additional people? The script lays out the framework and helps determine weak and strong points of the production. The video production company you use can help in this process or even write the script for you. It is very important to get a final approval of the script from all the people in higher positions before shooting begins.

Once a script is in hand, schedule a time. Depending on the complexity of the script, it can take a few hours to more than a day to shoot everything. Sometimes there can be difficulty in getting all parties available at the same time so it is adviseable to schedule the shoot a few days to a few weeks in advance. It's also good to have only one person in charge of this production and have them there at the site on the day of the shoot. This person will make all of the final decisions. If that person is only reachable by phone, then many delays can occur and can cost you extra. This person is usually called the producer. The producer needs to coordinate the work of the videographer and the talent and make sure the script is followed. The number of people involved in this production can grow according to the complexity and depth of the script.

The videographer/crew will set-up the equipment where both of you agree is the best location or just follow their lead. Unless you have done this a lot before you are going to have to trust them that they know what they are doing. You have hired them for a reason. This set-up process can take anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour or more to complete. During this set-up time is when the talent should be getting prepped. If at all possible, give them the script the night before so they can get a feel for what they need to do.  If they get it handed to them cold a few minutes before recording, there might be some more delays. When the vidographer has everything ready to go, the talent will need to have a microphone clipped on and step in front of the camera. There will be more adjustments once they are in position to make sure the lights are situated correctly and that the audio is good. More than one take is common so do it as many times as is necessary to get a good one.  And then get one more good one. When some people get in front of a camera they get nervous. Allow a certain amount of time for them to relax and get into a rhythm. If they are not getting any better. Call for a short break, get them a drink of water, go over the script and try again. If it still isn't getting any better, make a decision to pull the plug or forge ahead and live with the results. Some people are just better at it than others.  You should take that into consideration when deciding who steps in front of the camera.  Now sometimes there is no choice.  Maybe it's the head of the department and they are the only ones who can do it.  Try rewording the script or have them make suggestions as to wording that flows off of their tongue easier. You might think about cutting the script up into shorter pieces that are easier to handle. It can be edited together later.

Don't expect everything to go like clockwork. There is usually something that goes wrong. A light bulb burns out, batteries die, water spills, the sun goes behind clouds, a jet plane goes overhead, trucks back up, jack hammers bang away, talent gets tongue tied, phones ring...a lot can happen. Expect it to take hours not minutes for every step of the production process. Expect things to be done more than once. Allow changes to happen to fit the needs of the moment. Do not compromise on quality, even if does cost a little more. Most of the time you will look back and say it was worth it. If you keep the things you are unhappy with, you will notice them every time you look at the video. When the shoot is done, recheck the script to make sure you have everything on tape. Forgetting something now will make it very expensive to have everyone come back to do just one little thing. Allow 15 to 30 minutes for the crew to pack up the equipment and get ready to leave.

Be aware that some production companies charge time differently. Some will start the clock when they arrive at the site and stop the clock when the leave.  Others charge a "door-to-door" rate which starts from the time they leave their own office and stops when they get back to it.  Drive time in these situations will make a difference. Some call a full day 8 hours, others call a full day 10 hours. Half days are similarly structured. Know when overtime starts and how much it costs. Know if additional equipment costs more or is included in the rate. If you are using tapes, how much do they cost? Is it a tapeless workflow, are there any extra charges associated with that? Is a contract required? Would a contract benefit you, them or both of you? Be aware of the "work for hire" clause and if you want to include that in your contract.

As far as hardware and equipment for shooting, that will be determined by who you hire for this video production. You can usually have a small choice but they are the ones with the gear. You can say I want HD (hi definition) or SD (standard definition) video shot but that determination is more relevant to what you want for your end product. There are 4 major camera manufacturers these days.  Sony, Panasonic, Canon and JVC. Each one of these companies offer many tiers of cameras. From the consumer, pro-sumer and professional models. In all
there are probably 50 or more different cameras to choose from. You shouldn't concern yourself too much with this as it is the video production company that will decide on the camera, unless you have very specific needs. Be prepared to pay for those needs. One thing you should be aware of is whether you want to go tapeless or use tape. This will only make a difference to you if the people who shoot the event are different from the ones who edit the video. At that point you will have to figure out how to get the shot video to the editor. Which is why it is very advisable to talk to both parties before starting a shoot. Otherwise you will have video that the editor has major difficulty in using or transferring to their system. Which will ultimately cost you more to figure out a solution. The other point to keep in mind is what size do you want your video shot in. Do you want wide screen 16x9 or normal 4x3. If you choose HD it will automatically be 16x9 but if you choose SD you can have it shot in either size.  That is something you need to figure out at the beginning of this process. Where is this video going to be displayed and through what medium? There is no right or wrong, just what works for you.

Once the editor has the video make sure they also have a script. Without a script the editor has no guidelines.  They are flying blind and it takes a lot more time to edit without one. Also, if you drop video into their hands without letting them know what type of video it is you could add a massive amount of costs to this production. They may need to rent additional equipment to get it into their computer or they may have never worked with that type of format before.  There are currently about 20 to 30 formats to choose from. Each format has it's own issues, so an editor having worked with something before has more weapons at their disposal.

Get the editor all of the elements they need for the edit at the very beginning.  Do you want music, graphics, pictures, extra video, etc? If so, are you choosing it or are they.  If they are, get them involved in this process from the start. Also, make sure to deliver them the correct size/type of graphic/picture file. Don't expect them to pull it off of your web site. Those items pulled from your page will NOT work very well in any edit situation. It will degrade the quality of your video. Find out from the editor the size of the graphic they need and what file format they want. This can take some time to gather from your departments so getting everyone involved at the same time you are working on the script is best. PowerPoint presentations are NOT a good source either, other than reference. The slides created for a computer don't fit video very well and usually require a total rework.

There are three major editing software platforms you will run into.  Apple's Final Cut, Adobe's Premier and Avid. They all do the job so the preference is pretty much up the editor you choose. This may become more important to you if you use several editors or want another editor to work on an older project done by someone else. Then you need to make sure all their systems match.  Going from one edit system to another is not pretty and
sometimes causes major headaches. The version of each system is also important for the editors to know. There is some backward compatibility issues that can interfere with the process.

Small changes can be easy to do while others can be major. Find out where in the process the change occurs and how much it will impact the entire process. An example is changing one picture. That can be fairly easy to do unless a lot of other elements are tied to the picture.  So if you change the picture, you need to change 10 other things that can be a lot of extra work. If changing the picture only affects the picture, then that is relatively simple. Another example may be if you have just been handed a DVD, looked at it and now want the picture changed. That is another story. You would need to go back to the edit, change the picture, re-export the video, convert that video into a DVD and then burn a DVD. That could easily cost another hour or more of time.  Depending of course on how long the video is. Try to be aware of how much work is involved when making a change.

I hope this helps to explain the process of video production a little better. If you have any more questions, please let me know.

This question does not concern the content of the video itself but instead focuses on the container that the content is delivered in and how it will act on your web page. You will need to have an answer to this question when you decide to make a video otherwise you can easily become overwhelmed with minutiae that you don't understand or want to deal with. This paper will try to help you wade through some of this mess. There are a multitude of choices and it would be good for you to know a little more about them, what the options are and the terms used to describe them.

Terms to know:

        Format (Windows Media, Flash, QuickTime)
        Codec
        Data Rate (Bitrate)
        Frame Size
        File Size

• Windows Media (.wmv) pretty much comes in one flavor these days.
• Flash (.swf, .flv, .f4v, .f4p) has several extensions that work in their different version players. Some players can also accept QuickTime. So the player version of Flash used on your site is important to know before ordering a video for Flash.
• QuickTime (.mov, .m4v, .mp4, H264) has these extensions plus more depending on the device or platform used.

• Flash works in both PC and Mac platforms.
• Windows Media works in all PCs and with some Macs if users have downloaded a Windows Media player.
• QuickTime works in all Macs and is beginning to work in most PCs.  That is, if someone has iTunes or QuickTime player loaded onto their PC. YouTube recommends, but is not mandatory, that the master video be delivered in QuickTime for their conversion process.

Some people come into video production thinking it won't cost very much and think it takes just a few hours to do.  Sometimes it can be that way but most of the time it isn't. Some of the factors that can determine the cost for digital video productions are:

• Experience
• Equipment
• Time
• Production Value

Here are some rather important points to understand when starting video production jobs.

1. Pre-production is really, really important. This is the easiest and best way to reduce a lot of expenses and keep your project on time and on budget.  It takes time but this time is cheaper than the time for a crew to shoot, the talent to perform and the editor to edit. This is the point in time where you can do most of the hard decision making, and it doesn't cost anything.  Changing your mind at any other point usually results in extra costs and pain.

2. The first point to be determined is how and when this video will be delivered, what are the deliverables? Is this destined for the Web or DVD or Broadcast TV or something else and by what date?  These answers will help determine which path to take when getting that video complete.  A video for broadcast TV requires many more requirements to get it on air then a video for the Internet or a DVD. There are some big costs that can bite you at the end if you are not prepared from the very beginning.  Each broadcast facility will require something different so get their specifications beforehand. Once you have decided on the video's final destination, you can work backwards to determine what kind of video production you need and which video prodcution service can create it for you.

3. This brings me to point number three and this is a question I ask every client.  What format do you want this video shot on?  There are currently a few dozen options and if you don't know this answer you may pay more than you need to or come up with a product that is less than optimum or end up with a major mess on your hands.  Currently there are two basic options, HD (hi definition) and SD (standard definition). SD is old school and comes in Beta, DV, DVCAM, DVCPRo and other formats. The basic commonality between these are their dimensions: 4x3 (standard tube TV).  Now DV is 3x2 but it is close enough that it doesn't cause too many headaches.  To mess things up more SD can also be shot in 16x9 (wide screen mode) while all of HD (hi defintion) is shot in 16x9.  This distinction will help you to make sure to shoot the video in the right format from the beginning.

HD video can be shot on at least four different tiers of video quality. You may need tier #3 or you may need tier #1.  Budget and expectations will determine which type of video production company you choose. If the video is for the web, does your web master make room for the 16x9 or 4x3 box? What is the page designed for? If it is for DVD, do you want the video full screen for an old style standard TV or will you accept a letter box video (that's when you have the black bars at the top and bottom so video doesn't have to be cut off at the sides) or is this going to broadcast TV? If you do decide to shoot in HD then remember that a DVD is a SD medium.  It can play back through a Blu-ray player or a DVD player and looks great on a new HD TV, but it is still a SD disc. If you want true HD video shown on an HD TV then you will need to get HD video content onto a disc which is generally more expensive.

So, first decide which format you want, 16x9 or 4x3. This decision will answer a lot of other questions down the road. Sometimes the deliverables will tell you the answer to this question or how future-proof do you need to be.

4. At this point you will be able to better communicate with whichever digital video production company you call. The videographer and the editor will ask you some of these questions and you will be able to answer them in a much better fashion. You will be able to tell them what format the finished product needs to be, where it is destined for and when it needs to be done. Now is the time to coordinate between the field crew and the editor to make sure they have compatible systems. Just because HD was shot in the field does not mean that the editor can edit with it on their system.  There are several formats out there and they don't always play nicely with each other. Generally speaking there is always a workaround but it is easier and cheaper if those workarounds are figured out ahead of time.  The videographer will be able to tell you what options they can offer you for an HD or SD shoot and what codec their camera does. I will not go into the different codecs at this time because there are a multitude of options presently available. With this information the editor will be able to tell you if they anticipate any problems with the type of video being shot.

5. OK, the edit is finished, you have the final video in hand and you are one happy camper. But what about all of the tapes or files from this effort? Do you want to archive any of it or is it a one-off that you will not need to deal with again?  If it is the latter than you can walk away and not have any more worries until the next video you produce. If on the other hand you have a pretty good idea that in 3 months or 6 months that you are going to want to update a sentence or a graphic or something, then you will need to come up with a plan for storing everything. An editor will normally purge files off of their computer shortly after an edit so you may need to come up with another option when you are ready to update. You can pay a fee to have the editor archive it for you or you can pay the editor an additional expense to have him offload all of the files onto an external hard drive or two and then keep those drives on a shelf for when that update is necessary. Or you can buy the hard drives at the very beginning of the editing process, hand them over to the editor and when the edit is through just walk away with the drives.  If you have all of this safely stored then it will only take a minimum amount of time to do an update and save you tons of money.