Archive for April, 2008
Creating Mobile Video
By Mike Kirsch, Director of DotLot, The Buddy Group
We don’t need to talk about the future of mobile video; it’s here already and we deal with it every day. Regardless of how much we use the feature, almost everybody’s phone is capable of shooting or displaying video. For a fee, most cell providers now have TV and other content available on demand via cell phones. The debate over what content is most popular for handset viewing is not yet settled, but it is clear at this point that we must be ready to produce video for this platform, regardless of what that video might turn out to be.
The first big challenge when designing video for the mobile platform is to identify what aspect ratio to shoot for. Television is relatively easy; we shot exclusively for 4:3 through the 20th century and then, with the dawn of HD TV we started to choose between 4:3 and 16:9. Web complicated things a bit, but we still tended to create videos in the aspect ratios dictated by our cameras, which means that many web videos are also either 4:3 or 16:9.
With mobile, we get a chance to find new aspect ratios. Two very popular screen resolutions for mobile devices are 240×320 (.75:1) and 176×220 (.8:1). The Apple iPhone has a 480×320 screen (1.5:1) and as other such “many-media” devices hit the market, we’ll see mobile screen sizes increase.[i] In the 2008 market, though, mobile screens tend to have aspect ratios of between .6:1 and .85:1.
Of course, we can take any 4:3 or wider video, slap on some thick letterbox bars and display it on a mobile device, but it would be far more engaging to release content that is formatted to fill mobile screens. This means we need to change some of the more traditional video rules. A .75:1 aspect ratio is taller than it is wide. This aspect ratio lends itself well to medium talking head shots and vertical motion graphic applications. Traditional new-style talking-head-with-graphic-box-over-the-shoulder doesn’t play well in this layout. Look to other options such as lower-thirds or lower-halves for supplementary info. VO also becomes a very useful tool to help back up textual graphics that might be difficult to read on a small screen.
Where the actual content is concerned, many of the same rules that apply to web video hold true here. Close-ups rule on small screens. It’s hard to identify details in big, wide expansive shots. Staying close allows us to draw focus to certain elements that might otherwise go unnoticed. Also, shorter videos play better. People often look for video content on our mobile devices when we’re between other events- on a train for two stops, waiting to board a plane, while walking between classes or even while in the bathroom. It is unlikely that you’re going to hold anyone’s attention for 10-15 minutes on a mobile device. Work on creative that can be absorbed in smaller chunks of no more than 2 minutes.
The next few months and years are going to help define the specifics of mobile video. There seems to be a trend towards bigger phones with more streaming capabilities. Helping us along the way is Adobe’s Device Central. This useful tool, included with CS3, allows an editor to preview videos as they would appear on any of the included device templates. The program allows for the adjustment of many parameters so that you can closely simulate the final output of a video intended for distribution on mobile devices. Keeping the end in mind as we plan projects for mobile platforms will allow us to stay on the forefront of mobile video.
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Online Video Advertising Forum Writes Great Video Article
The following article about the importance of video was sent out by the Online Video Advertising Forum…
Here are four reasons why you should be using online videos in your marketing strategy:
1. Video content drives news. Posting a video in response to a crisis or release a brand-flattering video can potentially generate news online that could translate into primetime broadcast coverage.
2. Search engines can pick up the video. Increase your chances of reaching your target audiences by getting your video messages included in search results.
3. It’s what people are watching. If a marketer can get a message out through video, there’s potential it will be distributed on iPods, homepages, mobile devices, and social networking sites.
4. Video goes viral. Every marketer wants their message to be what people are talking about, and utilizing video is a great way to reach this goal. Video is easily dispersed amongst peers and can be accessed and posted on a plethora of platforms.
DotLot @ NAB 2008! P.S. - We Love You!
By Dylan Highsmith, DotLot Editor, The Buddy Group
As we mentioned on Wednesday, Adobe had a very knowledgeable tech staff presenting personal tutorials on some of the neater features of NAB. At DotLot, a good deal of our workflow takes place within the CS3 suite, so we’d like to embellish on the nature of some cool features that you may or may not be aware of in CS3.
First off, it was neat to see the integration of Photoshop’s Vanishing Point feature into AfterEffects. Simply by plotting a square mesh of each face of a photograph of a two-dimensional building, AfterEffects is able to interpret that information to generate a three dimensional object. Meaning, you can take any image of any flat-planed object from Photoshop, and within a matter of minutes have a three-dimensional representation that you can light and move a camera around in AfterEffects.
Also the brainstorm function in AE CS3 is an interesting feature that was demonstrated. Brainstorm takes any simple animations that you may have done, and extrapolates several other animations using the same parameters that you keyframed. Then, it allows you to preview them and choose your favorites, and continues making successive approximations based on your preferences. This is a very interesting feature if you are hitting a wall generating some motion graphics and want to see an array of different options without trying them one at a time; it really cuts down on a lot of trial and error.
Now we’re off to plan our upcoming client projects and figure out which of the cool new toys we saw at NAB will be the most useful and appropriate. We already own CS3 – the rest is up to budget approval. Did we mention we love our CEO? He’s great! Long live Chief Buddy Pete!
DotLot @ NAB 2008! Day 4 Update
NAB has been great. There’s a lot of new products, technology, and techniques that we uncovered on Thursday and would like to share with you.
As we progress more and more into digital file acquisition, we need to find ways to store, file and archive these files. There are several solutions for digital media storage in the market. Many companies are robust in their hardware solutions but seem to lack the software management tool to make it a complete solution. But one company that stands out to have both the hardware and software solution is EditShare. EditShare offers a multi-user storage and editing environment that allows teams of editors to work on a shared project space. What makes this great for DotLot is that it works with the Adobe Suite and allows for multiple editors to work off of the same files. EditShare can also designate specific amounts of hard drive space to an editor or to a project. In addition, if the editor or project needs more space, then with a few clicks of the mouse more space can be allocated. And since this storage solution connects on a 10 Gigabit Ethernet (the first storage solution to offer this speed) the ability to have multiple streams of HD going to multiple workstations won’t be of concern.
Another great discovery is from Gridiron. We’ve seen and heard about Nucleo in the past, but the progression seen in its latest version, Nucleo Pro 2.0, is something for any After Effects user to consider. Nucleo offers background rendering, which is awesome as many MoGraph artists can continue to tweak and make progress on their work without having to take a gaming break. This product also allows for better usage of any PC or Mac multi-processors. When rendering, Nucleo will render several frames at once which cuts the full render time significantly depending on the number of processors in your machine. The last impressive solution this product offers is “Commit to Disk”, which replaces layers with rendered footage to optimize previews. This is great, especially if you have the background approved but still need to tweak the titles of other layers. You can “Commit to Disk” on the background and decrease your rendering time. Cool, huh?
Gridiron also brings another cool product to market. It’s called Flow. How many times have you sat in on another project and the edit or graphic artist has all sorts of sub-sequences or files used in the presentation and has stored them everywhere but where you think they are? This little program automatically tracks and manages all the assets used by illustrating everything with a diagram. Flow tracks each asset for changes and allows you to revert to previous versions. For instance, if your AE sequence has a Photoshop file in it and you decided to change something within that file, Flow will track the changes. Then, if the client decides to go back to the previous version, you can revert back to that file with a couple of clicks, and the whole path is listed out in Flow. Done! Love it. There are many other features we like about this product that we might go into more depth on later.
Overall NAB was a great show to attend. It was very informative and full of new products and techniques to try out. Thumbs up!
DotLot @ NAB 2008! Day 3 Update
By Jonathan Neubauer, Senior Production Buddy, DotLot, The Buddy Group
On Wednesday a handful of things impressed us far more than anything else.
By far and away, Autodesk (NAB booth SL1420) had one of the best booths at NAB. They clearly and precisely showed off their post-production software and its capabilities. A combination of theatrical tutorials and hands-on computer stations allowed guests to better understand the power of programs such as Lustre, Flame, and Smoke. We sat in on a few of these tutorials and were incredibly entertained as well as informed. There is a reason why Autodesk is considered one of the leading software companies when it comes to post-production, and they clearly demonstrated it.
The sheer power of programs such as Flame is incredible. The tools it provides for compositing, lighting, and 3D modeling/lighting are fantastic. One of the most impressive features we witnessed was with rotoscoping. The Flame artist hand drew a mask (using a Wacom tablet) around a person. He then converted the points to tracking points, and analyzed the scene. The mask adjusted automatically, rotoscoping the shot in a matter of minutes. He was then able to manipulate the points to finesse the mask. All masks in Flame also have B-splines, allowing fine tuning of feathering and opacity. The new features of Flame 2009 seem even more incredible, including seamless integration with P2 media, (ensuring Panasonic’s power in the post production workflow).
Adobe’s dedication to its customer base was clear at NAB (NAB booth SL3220). They had one of friendliest and most informative booths at NAB. Their hosting staff was incredibly knowledgeable, friendly, and social - making sure we found everything we needed. The tech staff did a great job at demonstrating their CS3 suite either in theatrical presentations, or more personal tutorials. We learned a handful of things about the CS3 suite we had not known previously. The depth of the CS3 suite continues to amaze us on a regular basis. Adobe truly does allow its users to efficiently and effectively explore their creativity, continually improving on the leading industry products.
We also had a great experience checking out Sapphire at the GenArts booth (NAB booth SL14516). We were given an amazing demonstration by a motion graphics artist, further convincing us of the strength of their plugin suite. Even during the tutorial we were thinking of ways to incorporate the plugins into projects we’re currently working on. A successful sales pitch.
DotLot @ NAB 2008! Day 2 Update
Today was a day of gimmicks at NAB. We saw a bunch of things that had great cool factor, and a couple more that will be really practical.
File this one under “super cool but currently irrelevant for the web”: Ultra High-Definition (UHD). If you didn’t wander all the way to the back of the central hall, then you missed this incredible display. Japan’s NHK Enterprises (NAB booth C12105) was showing off its UHD system. The new camera is almost the size of a Smart Car, draws 900W of AC power and looks like an old studio camera from the 1950’s, but it doesn’t shoot like one - not by a long shot. UHD-format video has a native resolution of 7680×4320 - sixteen times the size of a standard HD image! The system also boasts 22 channels of audio; 10 speakers surround the viewer at ear level, 9 more are placed above the viewer and there are 3 channels at floor level.
We watched a brief demo that was displayed on four 4K monitors. The experience was similar to that of watching an IMAX movie. The sound was totally immersive and even the smallest details were incredibly crisp; in an extreme wide shot of a football stadium we could read the writing on a sign that someone was holding up. According to the NHK rep, their target is to have the UHD format be accepted as the broadcast standard in Japan by 2025 and to bring that same integration to the States by 2040.
For something a bit more practical to the DotLot way of life, we visited Panasonic (NAB booth C3512) to check out the AG-HPX170. This P2 camera is cousin to the wildly successful AG-HVX200. It retains all of the shooting mode features of the HVX200, but eliminates the tape drive in exchange for an HD-SDI 4:2:2 output. Look for the HPX170 to hit shelves this fall at a price point similar to the HVX200.
3D has long been romanticized in the world of cinema as the next great thing. Since the 1950’s, it has been used to “resurrect” movies whenever box office receipts start falling. With the recent acceleration in installations of digital projectors at movie theaters nationwide, we are currently watching yet another 3D explosion with films such as the U2 and Hanna Montana 3D concert films. Could web be the next domain of 3D content? It’s hard to say for sure, but if any company can make that concept a reality, it’s American Paper Optics (NAB booth C11225).
No, they don’t shoot 3D video - that’s DotLot’s job. What they do is produce the cardboard glasses that get sent to consumers via direct mail, magazines and in-store handouts. Anaglyph, Color Depth, Polarized… we counted at least 6 different types of 3D glasses. Which one would be best for web? Is 3D even a viable format for the internet? We’re not sure, but we are definitely insipred and over the next few months DotLot is going to start conducting some tests to find out.
For tomorrow’s Day 3 update, we’ll be looking at a lot of post-production solutions including plugins and accelerators for Premiere and After Effects.
DotLot @ NAB 2008! Day 1 Update
Hello there fellow DotLotters!
We drove out to Las Vegas to check out all the stuff that’s going to make our industry even better in the year to come and thus far, we’re finding what we came for.
First, the candy! The RED booth (NAB booth SL3820) has been a dream magnet for a few years now. DotLot has had several RED ONE cameras on our stage over the past few months and we thought that NAB would be a good palce to talk to lots of RED ONE users and get our hands on some cool accessories for the cameras. Leave it to RED, however, to whet our appeties once again, with the announcement of two new concept cameras slated for release over the next few years. Following tradition, RED teased us with prototype body designs that look great but have limited tech specs at this time. EPIC is touted as a 5K resolution camera, which would make even the RED ONE seem like a starter camera.
Also shown was a handheld camera called SCARLET, which is going to be a 3K camera released in “2009″ for around $3K! This small but powerful camera would truly bring super-large resolution shooting into the hand of the masses. If the release version of this camera even comes close to this target, then it will knock down the cost of super-resolution acquisition, once again following in the long line of technological advancements that bring high technology into the hands of the masses. This would level the playing field and once again signal that content and not budget is king. Long live content. www.red.com
Speaking of conent, are you ready to monetize? If you’re anything like DotLot, then you’re always coming back from shoots with extra footage or shooting fun clips here and there in your spare time. A new stock library makes it easy for you to put your SD and HD content up for sale. Pond5 (NAB booth SL10730) allows registration of a free account for content producers and users. You can browse the entire library online and buy clips via direct download. As a producer, you upload your clips and set your own price, sharing revenue with pond5 50/50. www.pond5.com
Rosco (NAB booth C8208), whose 5711 chroma green paint we just used to cover our green screen Studio B has a great booth, and they sent some really friendly reps to answer questions. They spent some time giving us tips and also showed us a chroma green vinyl dance floor material that we might use t ocover the floor of our studio. This material can be mopped clean just like Mom’s kitchen, meaning no more post-shoot repainting. Now we just have to get our Moms to come clean up after us. I guess we never really grow up, after all. www.rosco.com
Do you shoot with camera stabilizers? Be sure to visit Camera Motion Research (NAB booth C10412) to see their prototype GS2. This gyro stabilized handheld stabilzer takes all of the rock and sway out of your moves. You have to feel it to believe it, but it truly makes even the steadiest shots more steady. www.camotionllc.com
On Tuesday we’ll be checking out a ton more gear including Panasonic (NAB booth C3512), who now has a cousin to the HVX200 that eliminates the tape drive and concentrates fully on P2 acquisition. This camera features an SDI output via BNC and lots of other cool features. www.panasonic.com
Until then…
DotLot Digital Studios Now Posting to YouTube
The DotLotDigitalStudios account has been created on YouTube and is the home for all the new videos being produced by DotLot. By subscribing to the channel, you’ll have access to all the latest and greatest videos being made available by the DotLot team. So far, we’re featuring some of the quirky viral videos we’ve produced for The Buddy Group, as well as our demo reel and some digital video How To videos.
YouTube: Not Just a Trend Anymore
By Brad Strickman, DotLot Editor, The Buddy Group
If you say “online video” to most people, their response will be “YouTube”. YouTube has become a major staple of modern pop culture and is only growing in strength. It now has over 77.3 million videos and 2.89 million user channels, which is growing more and more every day. It is ranked as the 4th most visited website in the United States between Myspace and Facebook(1). Love it or hate it, it has created an enormous presence in the online world as well as pop culture and those who understand the how it functions and how to optimize how they use will benefit the most.
A Major Misconception
YouTube is not a television. Although many viewers will simply watch videos or embed them without logging in or commenting, but this is not representative of why YouTube is so incredibly successful and powerful.
YouTube is a community; a community of engaged users. Note that they are referred to as users, not viewers. YouTube is an application/program that users interact with. This interaction consists of viewing, subscribing, commenting, vlogging, and much more. Just like any community, online or offline, there are certain social guidelines/codes/ethics/practices.
YouTube Stars
One sign that YouTube is becoming a major piece of pop culture is that recognizable stars are emerging. Here are a few of the most current stars.
Chris Crocker
In case you were living under a rock, here’s a quick reminder why we know who this guy is: http://YouTube.com/watch?v=kHmvkRoEowc
He is a great example of a YouTube celebrity. That video appeared on the Daily Show, the Colbert Report, almost every local news channel and talk show. Through YouTube, he was able to cross over into other mediums and become a well-known star. Need further proof?
http://YouTube.com/watch?v=zbr1EiIC2Ro&feature=bz302
He has developed such status as a YouTube celebrity that anything he posts will garnish more than a million views. What’s more impressive, however, is the 21,000+ comments. Users’ entertainment is not based on the content, but based on the community. Most of the comments are directed at other users, not necessarily the content or the channel.
HotForWords
http://YouTube.com/HotForWords
HotForWords is a great example of a self-made star. She has been on YouTube for a little over a year, and has truly harnessed the marketing powers of the site. It is incredibly interesting to watch the evolution of her channel.
Here is her first episode:
http://YouTube.com/watch?v=_s-u3ZN_YXs
Compare this to her most recent video (as of the date this was written):
http://YouTube.com/watch?v=jCaeymyVvw8&feature=user
She has incorporated graphics, music, humor, and much more. HotForWords is the poster child for 3 forms of YouTube Marketing; thumbnail pic, clever titling, and tagging.
Thumbnail Pic
As all YouTube users know, a good thumbnail pic can easily acquire thousands of hits. A good thumbnail pic will always be clear, crisp, and often have a person. Sexually implicit images are notoriously great choices, and will always acquire lots of views. HotForWords has mastered this.
How does one go about picking their thumbnail? YouTube does not randomly select a thumbnail. It gives you three options. Option 1 is the exact middle of the video. Options 2 and 3 are at the first third and 2nd third, not as precise. Therefore, if you make sure that an engaging image appears, usually a still frame, at one of these points in your video, you can set it to be the thumbnail. This technique is exploited by many YouTube users, but nobody does it better than HotForWords.
Watch out though, the community will call you out if it is clear that you are doing this simply to get views. Make sure your image is relevant to the rest of content. Lots of users have been harshly criticized for overexploiting this technique.
Clever Titling
This is the same idea as picking a thumbnail. Users will be sifting through thousands of videos. What makes yours stand out? How about calling it “Hooker” and having a thumbnail of a hot blonde in a bikini. The viewer does not need to know what the video is actually about (the origin of the word hooker). A view is counted by the video being started, not finished.
Clever titling is just another way to hook viewers. Another practice, which is not as successful but often used, is to reference the title of another highly popular video. Once again this can be dangerous if your content is completely unrelated
Tagging
Tagging involves referencing other YouTube users. A much better example is discussed below.
Feuds
One of the most viewed and also most hated people on YouTube is sxephil (www.YouTube.com/sxephil). Part of this emerges from his feud with HotForWords. This feud increases both of their number of viewers, as users will take sides, posting comments and video responses. The users become engaged and are entertained by more than just the content of the original video.
http://www.YouTube.com/watch?v=LyuwSEYBAPg
Most Subscribed Channels:
http://YouTube.com/members?s=ms&t=a&g=0&p=1
Contests
An incredibly popular way to engage the YouTube community is through contests.
http://YouTube.com/contests_main
Often times, these contests are created by large/well known corporations, businesses, or products, and are a form of marketing. Companies such as HP, Schick, Post-it, and Tide have all unleashed campaigns. Many of these campaigns are backed by other advertising in other mediums, such as Tide’s “Talking Stain” campaign, which was launched via a superbowl advertisement.
One of the more recent contests of note is being executed by Vancouver Film School.
http://YouTube.com/watch?v=iap2qfP1XGE
Vancouver Film school has come up with a clever idea that has proven successful many times. They are holding a contest through YouTube. Contestants submit videos which will then be narrowed down and voted on by the YouTube community to determine the winners of 3 scholarships.
Social Projects
MadV’s Humans Project:
http://YouTube.com/watch?v=R0VS_3XmEpY
Social projects are similar to contests, but there is no prize. MadV is one of the best at these types of projects. He presents an idea/concept/question in video form regarding a social issue/idea and then requests that everyone else replies. His Human’s Project has received over 400 video responses and more than 2500 comments. It was featured on the homepage in March.
Games
http://YouTube.com/watch?v=zzIMbjA5m8s
One of the most popular/recent games is “5 Facts”. For all intensive purposes, it functions the same way a chain letter does, but requires more personal involvement. It started by Nerimon posting a video explaining the game, and getting the ball rolling. One creates a vlog in which they reveal 5 interesting facts about themselves. At the end, you tag 5 other users, and they respond with their own vlog, creating a chain.
YouTube and Politics
YouTube has become a platform for political candidates to reach out to voters. Each presidential hopeful has their own channel where they post videos of recent interviews, news coverage, and debates. These channels have become a great example of how YouTube is an engaged community. The candidates’ marketing team uploads videos in which people will have heated discussions about, post video responses about, and create active conversation. A political debate is occurring that almost anyone in the modern world can be a part of and express their opinion about in a handful of ways. As we get closer to the actual presidential election, there will be even more activity as more and more users become engaged and involved.
“Viral” is Not a Mystery
Another myth that needs to be debunked is the idea that there is no control over viral marketing. Most people believe that there are ghosts in the machine that somehow make Video A viral, while Videos B-Z are never seen by anybody. They believe there is no rhyme or reason to the success of some videos and the failure of others. That is not the case. Just like any form of marketing there are strategies, best practices and techniques.
The best read on this can be found here:
http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/11/22/the-secret-strategies-behind-many-viral-video
DotLot Best Video Practices for the Web
By Mike Kirsch, Director of DotLot, The Buddy Group
In general, what’s best for standard video is best for the web; all the standard rules for overall production value still apply. Get a great script, great talent, great set and lighting design, great editing and great graphics. It’s in the details where web video production diverges somewhat from traditional media.
Planning
The web has traditionally been treated as a digital graveyard for previously produced videos. As more consumers spend their free time and money online, it becomes increasingly important to involve digital content producers at the ground floor of all video campaigns. Users respond to repurposed video, but they flock in large numbers to original content. Planning the production of your web videos to coincide with the production of media for traditional outlets will maximize your investment and save money in the long run.
Interactivity
A major asset the web brings to video is interactivity. No longer is time on brand limited to the length of your video. With proper planning and smart programming, users will spend more time exploring, altering, clicking and replaying your video, elements you just can’t replicate on standard TV.
Framing
The web literally brings new dimensions to shooting and presentation of video. Especially where banner ads are concerned, video no longer just has to fall into a square. Shooting for a specific banner size will maximize the effectiveness of an ad. Framing video properly for a website allows for the consumer to be delivered the message that is cohesive with the entire site.
Speed
As broadband connections proliferate and become the norm, web video gets closer to being able to handle the type of full-motion video we’re used to seeing on TV. Until then however, digital content has to be tailored to the connection speed of the average expected user. This means knowing when to limit pans, zooms, resolution, busy motion graphics and even the number of cuts in a video.
Timing
Scriptwriting is as important online as it is for television, and so is timing. First-response videos must be kept short in order to speed initial streaming times and keep a user’s attention. Secondary and other videos can be longer, but web overall is best served with several short, meaningful videos.
Technology
Knowing not only the technologies to use, but how to use them is critical. The ability to make use of transparent layers with Flash has revolutionized the capabilities of video display on the web. It is also possible and easy to inundate with too many layers and bog down the site performance. Knowing how to balance the technological “cool factor” against current capabilities and limitations can often define the difference between a great site and a choppy site.
