I am sharing my export settings as I know it gets quite tricky and I have had to resubmit to the BlackBoard twice.
So here are the settings for I used for compressing files and uploading across the multitude of different media types.
Premiere
Premiere CS 4 and CS3 may seem vastly different when it comes to exporting but mainly just on execution of the render, once you get past that the settings are still very similar. The big difference between the two is that in CS4 the Media Encoder opens as a separate App and in CS3 it appears to be a dialog box opening inside the main program rather than a separate App.
The settings I use are the same across the two so here goes.
Format: Quicktime
Range: Entire Sequence
Preset: Pal Source to Download 1024kbps
Export Video & Audio
768x576 25 fps Progressive ( I have an NTSC handycam unfortunately and this setting sorta matters about this for broadcast TV etc but not so much with Web distribution)
Audio: AAC 44Khz Stereo
Video Codec H.264
Quality: 50
Frame width: 768
Frame height: 576
Frame rate 25
Field order: none (progressive)
Pixel Aspect Ratio: Square Pixels
The rest can be left standard as I feel it does a fairly good job with presets for Bit Rate, but if you are trying to compress more for web distro at this point then you need to choose
a lower delivery preset than the one above.
Process is very similar in CS4 but when you select File, Export to Media in CS4 the Media Encoder opens up as a full size separate App.
This is the slowest of the two to Export and will take a while so sit back. The other trick I learnt is not to Export to DVD from Premiere. It must double the time frame if its a second. So I Export to Media and end up with a pretty large .mov file (my 2 min doco was 932MB) that you cant really use for web delivery but you can burn to disc. I hope this was acceptable from a Uni perspective but isnt as pretty as building a full fledge DVD with a nice menu etc but as that wasnt in the brief I took the fast option!
From here, if you want to compress for BlackBoard then import to QuickTime Pro and see below.
After Effects
In AE once your file is added to the Render queue, I go straight to Output To in the bottom right of the queue and select QuickTime movie. If you have got your compositions set right from the get go of each project you dont need to play with these settings to much. I do make sure that I know exactly where the files are being saved which I set in the Preferences section of AE at the beginning as well.
From AE I pretty much always recompress with QuickTime Pro. It sharpens things up and produces a nice compact file.
QuickTime Pro
As a video publisher this is one of the best tools I have purchased to date. No matter what you receive ie wmv, .mov, swf, mp4, mpv etc etc you can almost always open it in QT Pro and re-export it into something small and compacted at a high output that you can use. It is really worth the $79 to upgrade from the free version you get with iTunes.
My tips for this are simple. Always chose File, Export and not Export for Web.
This brings up the Save Export As dialog box and the important setting here is the Export drop down box in the bottom left corner. Select MPEG - 4 and then click on the Option button.
This is where I specify 640 x 480 or whatever size needed and just check that audio is being included if necessary and pretty much leave the other settings stock. They are very flexible if you do need them just don't forget how to find them again!
My 932MB file compressed through QuickTime ended up being only 22MB and quite reasonable quality mp4 file which uploaded quite quickly to BlackBoard and Cathie was able to quickly confirm that she could receive and view.
I hope some of this make sense and perhaps helps out.
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Final project uploads
I think I need to review all of the notes and triple check I havent forgotten something!
The weekend was NUTS.
Trying to cram it all in with such little time was just ridiculous and I blame myself and poor time management for the less than fantastic results I had hoped for! But I am always being told that I am being too critical of my work and self so I will just have to live with the outcome for now. I know it isnt terrible but I had hoped to do so much more, especially with colour correction and effecting some of the lower quality handheld footage shot at live gigs.
After Effects is simply amazing, I definitely wont be stopping playing with that anytime soon, the possibilities are endless. Seeya FLASH! Nice to know ya, but I have a new friend!!
Anyway, I will prolly post more stuff tonight after I review my notes and see if anything is missing, but for now if you are looking, here is my YouTube page with a stack of different flavours of bumpers, interstitials and of course my doco for MA3 which has just been the best learning experience.
http://www.youtube.com/danblack72
The weekend was NUTS.
Trying to cram it all in with such little time was just ridiculous and I blame myself and poor time management for the less than fantastic results I had hoped for! But I am always being told that I am being too critical of my work and self so I will just have to live with the outcome for now. I know it isnt terrible but I had hoped to do so much more, especially with colour correction and effecting some of the lower quality handheld footage shot at live gigs.
After Effects is simply amazing, I definitely wont be stopping playing with that anytime soon, the possibilities are endless. Seeya FLASH! Nice to know ya, but I have a new friend!!
Anyway, I will prolly post more stuff tonight after I review my notes and see if anything is missing, but for now if you are looking, here is my YouTube page with a stack of different flavours of bumpers, interstitials and of course my doco for MA3 which has just been the best learning experience.
http://www.youtube.com/danblack72
Saturday, April 25, 2009
Final Project Analysis and submission
I have done it. While I was working away frantically towards the end goal I didnt realise just how much content I had created.
I have burnt my final copies to a DVD and have the address to send it in tomorrow. Phew!
What a gigantic ball of fun has this been!?
In my creative zone I have created a Bumper for my original concept ARG, Humanoid:
A bumper for my Doco 'A Day in the Life of the Blow Waves'
An interpretation of an Interstitial:
And messed around with the idea of a Tag... but not sure that I got this right.
I have had heaps of fun and a few tense moments trying to work this all through and overall think that all I need is practise practise practise!
I have burnt my final copies to a DVD and have the address to send it in tomorrow. Phew!
What a gigantic ball of fun has this been!?
In my creative zone I have created a Bumper for my original concept ARG, Humanoid:
A bumper for my Doco 'A Day in the Life of the Blow Waves'
An interpretation of an Interstitial:
And messed around with the idea of a Tag... but not sure that I got this right.
I have had heaps of fun and a few tense moments trying to work this all through and overall think that all I need is practise practise practise!
Friday, April 24, 2009
Analysis of project update
I have been thinking about my aim to set out and create a version of the participatory documentary and I having been giving it plenty of thought over the course of the morning about how successful or not that has been.
What I haven't yet decided on is whether the narrative I intend to overlay, which really is the synopsis read in a newsreader style by me, adds or detracts from the participatory documentary aim. Plus no matter how hard I try to use a news reader voice it just sounds ridiculous.
One thing that I have really struggled with in this course is the definitions of the genres and sub sets of these genres. It was a very difficult essay for me and I dont think I did it very well.
Even in documentary there are so many academically documented styles and modes as per Lecture 11 I think it was. Putting these frames and fences around something that in the past I wasn't aware of as a simple punter of film watching has changed the way that I look at films forever. I now feel more insightful and armed with understanding about so many more aspects of films now that I am no longer just passively observing or only following a plot and storyline, I now immerse myself in the directors chair and think about what it might be like to be involved from that angle trying to get actors to work with my vision. I look at film and camera techniques used. I can even name some of them! I look at special fx and CGI completely differently and this course has amplified what I learned last trimester in digital animation.
I watched an old fiction classic last night intently, called The Butterfly Effect and was amazed at just how much more I got out of the movie with my new eyes and ears. The film itself is quite powerful graphically and has quite well chosen moderate special fx to convey the plot and emphasise a point which the audience must be involved with to understand. Although many topics were brought in for added viewer interest and shock value the film is largely about a psychology student with an interesting and colourful past who has memory blackouts and his journey to understand the things that have seemingly been lost and his struggle to control those blackouts.
Back to my documentary though, and I think I have got a few parts of different types of documentary style. For instance I believe I am acknowledging the camera and my involvement in shooting the interview section where the band members are talking about completing their profiles. I think I come from a position of argument but maybe I am being persuasive in the positive light I am taking to the bands success. That for me is inevitable because I do want them to be successful but I have tried to shy away from being overtly positive and let the footage tell the story. I believe I have truly stepped away from a position of authority or expertise! My handycam work is shaky when I want it to be dead still and still as a rock when I want the 'Blair Witch' effect.
Something I am doing until now subconsciously is the use of severe fast montage editing. It featured in my own MA1 assignment of me, and I have again gone and chopped up the photo shoot scenes. I think it is just a personal preference or style that I am leaning towards personally, but I disagree with Eisentsteins view in my shots because I don't think I am creating any sort of intellectual contexts just yet!
I have just re read the lecture in a short interlude from this post and discovered that a part of the definition of The Participatory Mode (No 4, Pge 14 lecture week 10) that there are no voice of god commentaries, no unmediated observations etc... so if I write a creative narrative that tells us about the band and about what you are seeing, have I steered off course and off genre? If so, does it matter? And what does it become?
I tell ya, this genre stuff confuses the claptrap out of me! Ayeh Carumbah!
What I haven't yet decided on is whether the narrative I intend to overlay, which really is the synopsis read in a newsreader style by me, adds or detracts from the participatory documentary aim. Plus no matter how hard I try to use a news reader voice it just sounds ridiculous.
One thing that I have really struggled with in this course is the definitions of the genres and sub sets of these genres. It was a very difficult essay for me and I dont think I did it very well.
Even in documentary there are so many academically documented styles and modes as per Lecture 11 I think it was. Putting these frames and fences around something that in the past I wasn't aware of as a simple punter of film watching has changed the way that I look at films forever. I now feel more insightful and armed with understanding about so many more aspects of films now that I am no longer just passively observing or only following a plot and storyline, I now immerse myself in the directors chair and think about what it might be like to be involved from that angle trying to get actors to work with my vision. I look at film and camera techniques used. I can even name some of them! I look at special fx and CGI completely differently and this course has amplified what I learned last trimester in digital animation.
I watched an old fiction classic last night intently, called The Butterfly Effect and was amazed at just how much more I got out of the movie with my new eyes and ears. The film itself is quite powerful graphically and has quite well chosen moderate special fx to convey the plot and emphasise a point which the audience must be involved with to understand. Although many topics were brought in for added viewer interest and shock value the film is largely about a psychology student with an interesting and colourful past who has memory blackouts and his journey to understand the things that have seemingly been lost and his struggle to control those blackouts.
Back to my documentary though, and I think I have got a few parts of different types of documentary style. For instance I believe I am acknowledging the camera and my involvement in shooting the interview section where the band members are talking about completing their profiles. I think I come from a position of argument but maybe I am being persuasive in the positive light I am taking to the bands success. That for me is inevitable because I do want them to be successful but I have tried to shy away from being overtly positive and let the footage tell the story. I believe I have truly stepped away from a position of authority or expertise! My handycam work is shaky when I want it to be dead still and still as a rock when I want the 'Blair Witch' effect.
Something I am doing until now subconsciously is the use of severe fast montage editing. It featured in my own MA1 assignment of me, and I have again gone and chopped up the photo shoot scenes. I think it is just a personal preference or style that I am leaning towards personally, but I disagree with Eisentsteins view in my shots because I don't think I am creating any sort of intellectual contexts just yet!
I have just re read the lecture in a short interlude from this post and discovered that a part of the definition of The Participatory Mode (No 4, Pge 14 lecture week 10) that there are no voice of god commentaries, no unmediated observations etc... so if I write a creative narrative that tells us about the band and about what you are seeing, have I steered off course and off genre? If so, does it matter? And what does it become?
I tell ya, this genre stuff confuses the claptrap out of me! Ayeh Carumbah!
Thursday, April 23, 2009
The Blow Waves bumper
This is way fun, I could sit here and crank a thousand different options out playing with layers and multiple special effects on top of one another.
This one was a good twisty unexpected outcome by combining just three basic layers, solids and a text layer, importing the graphic and then applying a background fx (the curtain) then on top of that laying down some fractal noise and jigging with it a bit before adding a lens flare and some glow and the outcome is quite cool!
I've also loaded a new version to my YouTube page with some extra footage and changed titles sequence. I have found the whole experience a bit rushed due to my indecision but on the whole filming the band and then very quickly editing a rough cut and then interviewing band members and manager Fred to get their perspective on what the story should be has been very productive. I have felt really immersed in this project and that has made a big difference.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LyLqQm9uGZM
One stumbling block I have had with the technology is dealing with a monitor that isnt enormous really sucks when you have huge timelines and intimate sharp cuts to do in Premiere, and the way the layers are different between Premiere and AE is weird to me. I get used to working in one and then have to change a core principal between the two is confusing. I wish I could also grasp the conccept of working in compositions and layers in AE and how to effectively work between the two with sections of footage in a project line in Premiere and a Special FX composition in AE. I cant quite work out how to match the too.
The other area that still really needs work is the sound composition. It is very hard and roughly edited needing more colour and tweaking in spoken parts and observatory interviews.
I think the bumper is looking interesting but in honesty I think I will revisit the lecture on bumpers and interstitial (which coincedentally is the hardest word in the English language to pronounce and say correctly) segments and freshen up on exactly one should look like!
Everyones projects are looking amazing, some people have really grasped the complexity of compositing layers and soundtracks with special effects while others have done great titles and bumpers, it keeps inspiring me which is great in the distance learning community.
This one was a good twisty unexpected outcome by combining just three basic layers, solids and a text layer, importing the graphic and then applying a background fx (the curtain) then on top of that laying down some fractal noise and jigging with it a bit before adding a lens flare and some glow and the outcome is quite cool!
I've also loaded a new version to my YouTube page with some extra footage and changed titles sequence. I have found the whole experience a bit rushed due to my indecision but on the whole filming the band and then very quickly editing a rough cut and then interviewing band members and manager Fred to get their perspective on what the story should be has been very productive. I have felt really immersed in this project and that has made a big difference.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LyLqQm9uGZM
One stumbling block I have had with the technology is dealing with a monitor that isnt enormous really sucks when you have huge timelines and intimate sharp cuts to do in Premiere, and the way the layers are different between Premiere and AE is weird to me. I get used to working in one and then have to change a core principal between the two is confusing. I wish I could also grasp the conccept of working in compositions and layers in AE and how to effectively work between the two with sections of footage in a project line in Premiere and a Special FX composition in AE. I cant quite work out how to match the too.
The other area that still really needs work is the sound composition. It is very hard and roughly edited needing more colour and tweaking in spoken parts and observatory interviews.
I think the bumper is looking interesting but in honesty I think I will revisit the lecture on bumpers and interstitial (which coincedentally is the hardest word in the English language to pronounce and say correctly) segments and freshen up on exactly one should look like!
Everyones projects are looking amazing, some people have really grasped the complexity of compositing layers and soundtracks with special effects while others have done great titles and bumpers, it keeps inspiring me which is great in the distance learning community.
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Major project progress update
Well it has been a mad week since our visitors left, and work has been totally mental so I have been having really late and less than a lot of time to spend on this project which really needs LOADS of time to work on.
Feeling the pressure right now and just very tired mentally.
But I am pushing on, so here is a very first cut of all the footage spliced together and a very basic title slide that I threw together using presets in AE. Thats it. No narrative, no colour correction, no spiffy splicing just rough edits with the razor tool and thrown together on a timeline. I have done some rearranging a few times following my concept brief layout which has also been such a great learning this trimester. After struggling with it last year and then having to use it again I can really see the value now and think that future projects will lean heavily on their use in the early days of developing concepts to develop digital video.
So this project has a long way to go, and I have not a lot of time but I am hoping by dedicating every minute of my spare time over the next two nights and then the entire weekend I might be able to shape it up into something quite fun to watch.
For those of you following me you will know I changed concepts right in the middle and so you might be thinking how does this fit the brief? When I spoke with Cathie she did mention I could put forward my own ideas and after struggling with my ARG concept for a few weeks I suddenly had a flash of inspiration that was just such a late bloomer when if I had of thought of it earlier I could have been so much further along that I am now.
Oh well... so the main takeout from this little sneak preview is not to judge too much about what isnt there (especially the narrative as that is the key to telling the story behind the imagery) I would like to get your thoughts on what you can see so far.
It might look better quality wise on my YouTube page:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qvaaXyQPLck
And I have been playing with the title sequence that I will use on the front and back of the intro but again it isnt much more developed yet than what is in the video but I have been playing with composits and layers of some graphics to give it more visual appeal.
Feeling the pressure right now and just very tired mentally.
But I am pushing on, so here is a very first cut of all the footage spliced together and a very basic title slide that I threw together using presets in AE. Thats it. No narrative, no colour correction, no spiffy splicing just rough edits with the razor tool and thrown together on a timeline. I have done some rearranging a few times following my concept brief layout which has also been such a great learning this trimester. After struggling with it last year and then having to use it again I can really see the value now and think that future projects will lean heavily on their use in the early days of developing concepts to develop digital video.
So this project has a long way to go, and I have not a lot of time but I am hoping by dedicating every minute of my spare time over the next two nights and then the entire weekend I might be able to shape it up into something quite fun to watch.
For those of you following me you will know I changed concepts right in the middle and so you might be thinking how does this fit the brief? When I spoke with Cathie she did mention I could put forward my own ideas and after struggling with my ARG concept for a few weeks I suddenly had a flash of inspiration that was just such a late bloomer when if I had of thought of it earlier I could have been so much further along that I am now.
Oh well... so the main takeout from this little sneak preview is not to judge too much about what isnt there (especially the narrative as that is the key to telling the story behind the imagery) I would like to get your thoughts on what you can see so far.
It might look better quality wise on my YouTube page:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qvaaXyQPLck
And I have been playing with the title sequence that I will use on the front and back of the intro but again it isnt much more developed yet than what is in the video but I have been playing with composits and layers of some graphics to give it more visual appeal.
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Participatory Documentary - A day in the life of a Blow Wave
Today has been all about setting up and organising my project, well my second attempt at my project that should be, now that I am doing a documentary I needed to start from scratch. But it has been a good day. The project is formed in Premiere with scratch disks setup on a a remote portable HDD as there is a lot of raw AVI files that take up heaps of space, and new BINS created and split into three parts, Movie files, graphics files, and soundtracks.
Everything is organised and named, some footage is trimmed but most is just raw imports and I have started to pour through the bits and pieces as the story forms in my head.
The graphics are imported and I have four unreleased to public singles from the new Blow Waves self titled EP as the soundtrack.
I feel good about this one, its going to come together well.
I have also done a new Concept Brief but as it is a word document I dont see how I can attach it to this blog which is a shame. I am working on a storyboard to help get my story sorted out but I have a good idea of it in my head so I am not too panicked bout that but it will help me draw the story out of the observational aspect of the footage. Tonight I am off to see the band play live and hope to get more inspiration from that, and today I actually filled in for the guitar player who was at his day job while they sound checked. I learnt the song this morning and went to the venue at 2pm and played it! What a rush! Pity I couldnt film that and include it in this doco!
I was watching funniest home video this evening and was inspired by a bumper sequence introducing the top 4 funniest home videos and I am going to try and emulate that for my title sequence and bumper.
The text was 3 dimensional and had created these 'wakes' behind them as they bounced onto the screen. I have seen it before and find it difficult to explain but am thinking I could work up an effect to emulate it in AE.
Tomorrow is a big day and hoping to come out with some rough cuts to post up. The clock is certainly ticking to be this far behind!
Everything is organised and named, some footage is trimmed but most is just raw imports and I have started to pour through the bits and pieces as the story forms in my head.
The graphics are imported and I have four unreleased to public singles from the new Blow Waves self titled EP as the soundtrack.
I feel good about this one, its going to come together well.
I have also done a new Concept Brief but as it is a word document I dont see how I can attach it to this blog which is a shame. I am working on a storyboard to help get my story sorted out but I have a good idea of it in my head so I am not too panicked bout that but it will help me draw the story out of the observational aspect of the footage. Tonight I am off to see the band play live and hope to get more inspiration from that, and today I actually filled in for the guitar player who was at his day job while they sound checked. I learnt the song this morning and went to the venue at 2pm and played it! What a rush! Pity I couldnt film that and include it in this doco!
I was watching funniest home video this evening and was inspired by a bumper sequence introducing the top 4 funniest home videos and I am going to try and emulate that for my title sequence and bumper.
The text was 3 dimensional and had created these 'wakes' behind them as they bounced onto the screen. I have seen it before and find it difficult to explain but am thinking I could work up an effect to emulate it in AE.
Tomorrow is a big day and hoping to come out with some rough cuts to post up. The clock is certainly ticking to be this far behind!
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