Old vhs tapes lose quality when you make copies of them, while digital video can last for a long time when the original is the source for the copies.
Equipment that uses tape and digital media:
- Mini DV camcorder record with tape, but can be transferred to imovie
Tapeless filming equipment:
- DVD camcorders: mini dvds that hold about 20 minutes of video, but will not play in regular dvd players, or in a mac
- Hard drive camcorder record hours of video, but when space is full, footage needs to be transferred to a hard drive
- Memory-card camcorders: memory cards are expensive
Recording Formats
MPEG (1,2, or4): Motion Picture Experts Group (the asscociation of people who made up the format) (format for tapeless recordings)
AVCHD: Advanced Video Coding/ High Definition (high def format by sony and panasonic 06, so it is the format of Blu-ray discs and hd dvds. A dvd camcorder of this type records 15 minutes of good quality video on a disc. (not compatible with imovie 08)
Camcorder features:
- Firewire connector: jack for connecting camera to mac
- Analog Inputs: allows for connection for old pre-DV equipment
- LCD viewfinder:(liquid crystal display) screen that shows what is being filmed (technology used to produce image.
- CCDS: (charged couple devices) three chips/ electronic plates which are covered with thousands of light sensors that convert light rays into a digital signal. (more expensive than one chip cams, but deliver much better color.
- Image stabilizer: feature that records less video, in order to eliminate small "bumps, shakes and jerks". Comes in "Electronic" and "Digital" stablilization, both used for cheaper camcorders.
- Optical Stabilization: an alternative that uses two transparent plates separated by special optical fluid. The plates create a prism effect when the camera shakes keeping the shots clearer than electronic digital stabilizers.
- Manual controls: Includes having the option of turning off anything automatic, which becomes helpful sometimes.
- Optical zoom: the times a camera can zoom to magnify an image (like a telescope) as indicated by the numbers on the body of a camera.
- Backlight mode: camcorders today set the aperture automatically, the image is analyzed and the brightness is adjusted according to how bright or how dim the scene is
- Flexizone or Push Focus: allows you to a specific spot in the frame to serve as the focus point, even if its not the center of the picture
- night vision mode: infrared transmitter on the front of the camcorder measures the heat given off by various subjects (acts like night-vision goggles).
- Still photos,
Useless features
- Title generator
- audio dubbing
- special effects
- date/time stamp
- control-l
- digital zoom
A professional video should have adequate lighting and should use zoom mostly for close-ups (while slowly walking towards the person).
Where to buy
Storage Problem
Chapter 4: importing video
Prpject Library: create a new one with "file> new" where new movies are placed
storyboard: where the video will be edited, movies will be represented as filmstrips (frames form each clip)
Viewer: where footage is watched
Toolbar: location of onscreen controls
Event Library: where raw footage is placed (organized by event)
Event Browser: raw unedited footage is stored, where you can organized filmstrips of individual footage can be organized.
Playhead: little handle of a normal scroll bar (shows where you are in the footage)
small Plug goes into part of camera labeled "FIREWIRE", i.LINK, or IEEE 1394.
- Camera is turned on. Switch to play mode. (import window should turn on automatically).
- Specify what you want to save (leave on automatic to import the whole tape), (or manual to import some of whats on the tape. Playback control buttons can be used to control the camcorder, and scan what you want to be imported.
- Indicate what you want to save.
- Specify an Event-
- Import Settings- if importing in a high-def camera choose large or full
- Click Ok- automatic importing happens without interruption, imovie auto-rewinds the tape when it reaches the end. Manual settings allows the use of playback controls to shuffle through it to find certain parts.
importing the whole movie is faster than clicking stop and only recording certain scenes
Automatic scene detection- imovie separates events by detecting breaks in time, each shot is turned into a new clip
importing from tapeless cameras
-since they store videos as files on a computer, imovie justs needs to copy the files in the computer hard drive. Connects to the mac using a usb cord.
-instant access to individual scenes on the camcorder meaning, making it easier to import wanted shots. (you can also import the wanted scenes.)
(camcorders that store video on sd cards (memory cards) card readers makes it so the camcorders battery isn't used up while video is transferring) (AVCHD footage will take a while to import because imovie has to convert ti to a edible format.)
(84 in imovie)
Importing from DVD camcorders
-is the same as importing from a tapeless camcorder with a few differences -imovies dont import from DVD camcorders that use AVCHD video (most high-definition DVD camcorders)
-most DVD camcorders offer multiple recording formats (DVD-video and DVD-VR; one plays in more DVD players, another lets you erase scenes before committing the DVD to plastic).
-Choosing DVD format (standard) is the way to go, choosing DVD-VR will cause imovie to think you just inserted a DVD and wont be able to record the video.
Importing live from a camcorder or isight camera- captures video straight from camera & sends it to imovie
Importing old movie projects-(imovie ignores sound and special effects when importing, so do so with caution.
*AIC apple intermediate codec retains quality of video, be is faster to edit,play etc.
Dragging Video in from the finder
Importing footage from Non-DV Tapes
-tip: use a recent sony/canon camcorder (Canon Mini DV acts as a converter and turns signal from your old analog tapes into a digital one to be edited in imovie) (not all camcorders do that)
-tip 2: record onto your DV Camcorder
-tip 3: use a media converter> analog to digital converter ( a box that sits between the mac and VCR (103)
Chapter 12
Imovie also handles photos to be used as slideshows, still images/ freeze frames and export individual frames as graphic files.
Uses
- With video photo albums, photos can be integrated with crossfades, titles, and music. (photos are imported directly from iphoto or harddrive) even though iphoto can do the same with a looping feature
- Effects such as fighting sound title cards such as a color "BAM" when someone is fighting
- With the use of the photo browser, the contents of the iphoto library can be displayed
- photos can be inserted into movies
Photobrowser: iphoto lite shows a scrolling panel of thumbnail images
Imovie stores away a copy of the photo.
Ways of adding photos
- Photofilmstrips: photos that come between to filmstrips and becomes one in itself, (its timing can be adjusted by using set duration command). Imovie automatically gives it a time duration.
- Photostripes can be made by dragging a photo on top of a video clip. It covers a third of the screen. 3 advantages
- Easier to adjust (use mouse to shorten or lengthen, drag it from left to right)
- If photo dosent cover up the whole screen, you get video letterbox bars instead of black letterbox bars
- cut-aways are easier to create (even cut-aways to photo)
- with photoshop, an effect can be used to see video through the photo
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