Previewing DV clips and other digital source material on your computer monitor is fine if your video project will only be seen on another computer. But if your project will ever be viewed on a TV, many editors find using both VGA (computer) and NTSC (television) monitors an indispensable...
It's a very common set of questions readers ask us: "When I'm shopping for a video editing computer, what should I look for? Should I buy a Mac or a PC? What are the minimum system requirements for a desktop machine that can handle the rigors of nonlinear editing?...
Let's get real. We work and play in a visual medium where even scripts and storyboards strive for a certain look. Whether you're a writer, director or producer, if it doesn't look right, it lowers your chances of getting seen. But here's some software to help with that next...
Out there in the great home video marketplace, clearly VHS is fading, and DVD video is on the rise. The big hold-up has been a way to record DVDs in the same way that we use our analog VCRs to record videotapes today.
Until very recently, the only way to...
The home DVD production dam started breaking down when computer manufacturers started equipping their products with DVD burners.
But almost as quickly consumers realized that making a DVD isn't as simple as popping a tape in a VCR and hitting the Record button. That's because in order to make...
In the first television revolution since the 1950s, 2006 will mark the year when America goes digital. In that year, by government mandate, digital television (DTV) and HDTV (high definition) will be a reality. Of course, many Americans will upgrade to widescreen high definition TVs over the next few...
If you've seen a high-definition (HD) television program on a wide screen high-definition TV and said, "Wow!" then you already know what HDV looks like. HDV? Don't run to your dictionary. If you find it, HDV will be defined as the Hepatitis D virus. In the past, no one...
Long ago, in a studio far, far away, audio engineers labored with fragile plastic ribbons covered
with a mysterious rust-colored substance. Their task: to coax audio recordings onto and off of reels
filled with these ribbons. While there was a great deal of science involved, a generous dose of...
Audio cables can be the weakest link in the chain of sound recording. When deploying external microphones, videographers need to know the difference between unbalanced and balanced cables.
The best way to understand the difference between balanced and unbalanced cables to think in terms of signal separation. You can remember...
What do you do when you need more storage in a hurry, but are either reluctant to open your computer and install a new drive or need the ability to move your files to another computer? The easiest way, by far, is to connect an external hard drive to...
