On-line sources for video content of all sorts, from artistic to instructional to experimental, are multiplying at a dizzying pace. Video collaboration, particularly collaboration “in the cloud,” is a quickly maturing concept. And behind these sites for online video collaboration is the basic motivation for film makers and graphic artists to find new muses and wider audiences. Clearly there is no shortage of inspiration for those of us who are as passionate about video as we are about music, art, science, technology, and more. One of my favorite sources for such inspiration is the exceptional TED.com.
TED talks have been around for a long time now and many of us are in the habit of regularly visiting TED.com to check out the latest on-line releases. On a recent web surfing excursion to TED, I came across an extraordinary piece featuring an exhilarating example of collaborative on-line video editing. (Videomaker has blogged on this topic recently: see Daniel Bruns’ excellent blog posted August 8thon the phenomenon of leveraging HTML5 for music video production by bands like OK Go, Arcade Fire, and Danger Mouse.) Some of you are likely very familiar with Aaron Koblin’s work. Koblin’s TED talk, “Artfully Envisioning Our Humanity” posted this past May is a marvel. If you haven’t already, you really need to check out Koblin’s TED talk.
Koblin has built an online environment wherein artists and videographers can contribute to a collaborative video featuring the late Johnny Cash’s final recording Aint No Grave (Can Hold My Body Down). It’s an astute choice, not only because this is a wonderful version of this song about living on through one’s legacy. Cash has been missed by many of us since his death in 2003. Koblin’s choice of Aint No Grave is also astute because there is no “holding down” the creativity of the still image contributors building a video and embracing Koblin’s site and his vision. As more and more images are added to the montage, it is clear that this site is tapping into both profound reverence for the artist (Johnny Cash) and into an enthusiasm for collaboration in video. The very nature of this project means that there is really never an “end-product” or a finished video, but rather iterative experiences that change with nearly every viewing, as long as the contributions keep coming and the video keeps evolving. Collaborative endeavors such as these inspire us to return again and again, to both add to and to admire the outcome. If you haven’t already, you really should check it out. (Visit The Johnny Cash Project.)
Many video producers toil to perfect their craft in simple DIY studios at home, or in temporary rented space, or simply out in the world with their camcorder in their hand. Unless you’re working closely with a cadre of fellow practitioners of the video craft (which luckily, many of you are), the work of video is usually less an act of collaboration and more often a solitary enterprise. You often shoot alone, edit alone, and release your video alone, hoping to capture a wider audience as your videos catch on via YouTube or Vimeo or elsewhere. But projects such as Aaron Koblin’s remind us that we can do amazingly creative things when we work together.
Making a professional presentation now has one more element to share with Google Docs – video playback. Being able to share your video is like having a YouTube channel, but you decide who may view with no other pesky titles. As with other Google Docs, many file types are supported, including WebM, .MPEG4, .MOV, .AVI, .MPEGPS, .WMV and .FLV. The size limit is the same as YouTube at 1GB and Flash is necessary for viewing. Support is not yet available, but common issues are likely the same as with YouTube.
Though video editing is not an option, there are numerous applications for sharing video, such as screening dailies, which are during-production views and critiques of a film crew’s work. More versatility and uncluttered sharing make Google Docs worth a look if you don’t already know its services.
In the ever increasingly complex world of company buyouts, Snapfish announced on Monday their purchase of Motionbox, a video platform for families and friends to share their memories online. To make things even more complex, this actually comes shortly after Motionb0x acquired the highly successful personal video blogging service Viddyou in October. While this may seem like a bold move for Snapfish, which deals mostly in printing and sharing photographs, it is upon closer inspection, a natural evolution for the company (which was bought out by computer giant HP in 2005). What Snapfish has realized is that even though photos are important ways to store and share memories, it’s no secret that with the dwindling cost of high end cameras and a veritable bevy of software to edit them with, that people have begun to turn to video as their main way of sharing memories with loved ones. At the same time, not everyone wants that video to be seen by thousands of complete strangers on sites like YouTube and Facebook, which is one of the biggest reasons for Motionbox’s existence. This same idea also held a lot of promise as an upgrade to Snapfish’s service, so HP naturally decided to join the fray by buying the already developed technology of Motionbox.
As for the site itself, HP says the “current Motionbox site” will remain open until August 10, after which the service will be moved over to Snapfish.com. Unfortunately this means that for users of Motionbox, their videos will need to be downloaded from the site before it moves over to Snapfish. Thankfully, for this trouble, Snapfish is giving Motionbox Premium members a free year of Snapfish’s video service.
November 12, 1970 marked the birth of a story so outrageous it was often considered an urban legend. A 45-foot dead whale, weighing a whopping eight tons, washed up onto a beach in Florence, Oregon. Due to the sheer size and increasingly putrid smell of the deceased cetacean, the Oregon Department of Transportation decided the best solution for removal was to blow it up using a half-ton of dynamite.
Moments after the dynamite detonated, it became painfully clear that this was not the best course of action. As smelly chunks of whale blubber came raining down, bystanders ran for cover. A car parked a quarter-mile down the road was crushed under the weight of one of the larger pieces that fell. Fortunately, no one was hurt and a great lesson was learned: Always have a camera rolling.
If it hadn’t been for the gentleman with the camera, the story of Oregon’s exploding whale may have slipped into urban legend obscurity. You, too, can help preserve a moment in time. Next time you hear of something fishy happening in your town, grab your camera and start rolling. You never know what kind of footage might fall into your lap!
Grab your camcorders and mics, (and maybe some zombie make-up!), and get ready to video-tape the first of what promises to be an annual event: the world’s largest “Thriller” dance!
In tribute to Michael Jackson, and because it’s good clean fun, someone started up the international Thriller dance-a-thon that is supposed to go on all over the world – at the same time.
A website, Thrill the World, was created just to organize this event, and you can find out there where the Thriller dance is going on in your neighborhood, or try to get one started… but hurry, the dance is happening this coming Saturday. Read the rest of this entry »
Schneider Optics is now offering their well known and liked diffusion filters in easy to install round sizes. Read on for more details.
Schneider Optic’s renowned Classic Soft®, HD Classic Soft®, Black Frost™, and Hollywood Black Magic diffusion filters are now available in popular round sizes specifically for today’s leading SLR, digital SLR and DV cameras.
A favorite tool of Hollywood cinematographers thanks to their ability to “hide the trick,” Schneider precision optical glass diffusion filters are routinely requested by top talent who appreciate looking their best. And getting the image right in-camera also means big savings over costly, time-consuming post-editing. Read the rest of this entry »
I’ve been having an interesting conversation with school instructor Dylan Bennett over a blog post I made on Monday about a viral video on YouTube.
The video is a well choreographed piece by film students in Montreal using a popular song.
Mr. Bennett was commenting about how, as a video production instructor, he strives to teach his students not only the video producing skills and techniques but also the rules and ethics that go along with being a video producer.
We often write in Videomaker about how legally and ethically one shouldn’t use copyright music without permission, and how, even recently, YouTube has taken down people’s fun videos because they used 10-seconds of a song without permission from the copyright holder. But, apparently, the rules are changing.
Mr. Bennett sent me this blog post that Google put up this week, saying it’s OK to use copyright music, TV shows, or other approved media on YouTube… “if”… and it’s a big IF. If the record company/TV network/copyright holder sees a financial benefit to them.
Adobe announces its latest additions to the Adobe Elements and Photoshop family today with it release of its consumer video editing program – Premiere Elements 8 and Photoshop 8. Adobe created Elements with the intent of reaching the consumer and hobbyist market with it’s low priced video editing software, but has moved the editing program along into a robust application that can keep pace with the big boys.
Rather than throwing in more effects you don’t need, this latest update has a lot more under the hood and has added some better tools to organize your video and photos.
What’s new? There’s an auto analyzer that you can use to tag your images for fast and easy searches. You can also sync your video and photos across several computers and the program has face recognition, helping to zone in on just the images you want from, say, “Carsen’s Birthday,” and it will learn who your subjects are and can find all images of them across the files.
Here’s some advance copy from our First Look review, to be uploaded Wednesday morning: Premiere Elements 8 adds additional automated tools: Smart Trim removes the least interesting, lowest quality footage; SmartFix corrects shaky footage and color and lighting problems; and SmartMix balances music and sound effects without overpowering dialog or background audio. Plus, the new Motion Tracking feature finds moving subjects in your footage so that you can add graphics, text, and even video effects that automatically move with them.
Read the rest of our advance review of Adobe Elements 8.0 online here http://www.videomaker.com/article/14751/
More From Adobe’s Press Release:
Adobe Photoshop Elements 8 & Adobe Premiere Elements 8 software gives you power and ease of use so you can create extraordinary photos and incredible movies, easily manage and protect your photos and video clips with automatic online backup, and access them anywhere you are. And now, Adobe Photoshop Elements 8 & Adobe Premiere Elements 8 Plus includes everything in the award-winning software and more:
• 20GB of online storage—enough for up to 15,000 photos or four hours of DVD-quality video
• Ongoing delivery of new, easy-to-use tutorials
• Ongoing delivery of fresh seasonal artwork, inspiring templates, movie themes, video effects, and all-new Online Albums
It’s all accessible with your Adobe ID. For more details, visit www.adobe.com/go/membership_elements. Adobe Photoshop Elements 8 & Adobe Premiere Elements 8 Plus, $179.99 (Available on Adobe.com, U.S. only) A savings of $20 off the first year of Plus, if purchased with the software bundle.
Already have Photoshop Elements 8 & Adobe Premiere Elements 8? Upgrade to Plus via the product for $49.99 a year.
Where are all the shooting gigs? How do you find them? Craigslist? Your local newspaper want ads? Some other vague work-for-hire site?
I just got back last night from shooting a 3-day gig with my brother down in central California. His specialty has been architectural, environmental, lighting and product images, my specialty has been all about people: interviews and sound recording. Together we made a pretty good team and wondered how we’d shop ourselves around better.
Serendipity made a visit to my email this morning, with the announcement of the WorldofShooters.com site. It’s very easy to zero in on your expertise and gear type, and easy for others looking to hire you to zone in on their needs, too.
With more and more companies downsizing, the freelance producers that can grab their gear and go are going to get the gigs when companies send out their plea for work. World of Shooters has you register by the type of still camera or video camera that you use, so everyone can easily sift through the first question: What do you shoot with?
The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers; better known as ASCAP, is targeting videos on YouTube for royalty payment for it’s professional creative members. This is a good thing for producers who work hard at making their product, only to see that someone has “borrowed” some of that property clips for their own use. But the average consumer who just wants to make a simple video using a well-know song as their music bed might get confused.
According to this recent report from Digital Media Wire, if you make a cute little video using copyrighted music, and place it on your own personal blog or non-commercial website, you won’t be targeted, but if you post it for the masses, you will. Or something like that. As copyright laws for intellectual property goes, it’s always muddy, and only attorneys seem to be able to interpret them. Read the rest of this entry »
r video content of all sorts, from artistic to instructional to experimental, are multiplying at a dizzying pace. Video collaboration, particularly collaboration “in the cloud,” is a quickly maturing concept. And behind these sites for online video collaboration is the basic motivation for film makers and graphic artists to find new muses and wider audiences. Clearly there is no shortage of inspiration for those of us who are as passionate about video as we are about music, art, science, technology, and more. One of my favorite sources for such inspiration is the exceptional TED.com.
ne environment wherein artists and videographers can contribute to a collaborative video featuring the late Johnny Cash’s final recording Aint No Grave (Can Hold My Body Down). It’s an astute choice, not only because this is a wonderful version of this song about living on through one’s legacy. Cash has been missed by many of us since his death in 2003. Koblin’s choice of Aint No Grave is also astute because there is no “holding down” the creativity of the still image contributors building a video and embracing Koblin’s site and his vision. As more and more images are added to the montage, it is clear that this site is tapping into both profound reverence for the artist (Johnny Cash) and into an enthusiasm for collaboration in video. The very nature of this project means that there is really never an “end-product” or a finished video, but rather iterative experiences that change with nearly every viewing, as long as the contributions keep coming and the video keeps evolving. Collaborative endeavors such as these inspire us to return again and again, to both add to and to admire the outcome. If you haven’t already, you really should check it out. (Visit The Johnny Cash Project.)
Schneider Optics
I’ve been having an interesting conversation with school instructor Dylan Bennett over a blog post I made on Monday about a 
Where are all the shooting gigs? How do you find them? Craigslist? Your local newspaper want ads? Some other vague work-for-hire site?
The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers; better known as 
Recent Comments