This page was written by Christopher Spry and last updated on 07 June 2002 . It discusses how to turn digital video shots into a good quality film. This is work in progress, which I only started on 31 January 2001, so please be patient and let me know about errors or omissions.
I am an amateur videographer with several years experience using an analogue video camera. I am now trying to create good quality amateur digital video films. As a first step, in January 2001, I purchased a good quality digital video camera, a fast personal computer with a large hard disk, non-linear editing (NLE) hardware with editing software and a video cassette recorder (VCR), that can work with digital and analogue video formats, see 'Digital video: Background and purchasing decisions'. Now I am learning how to make good quality film from the videos I shoot. I see that each of the step to do this can involve considerable time and expertise. Fortunately, there are many helpful resources on Internet to guide the budding video author and I acknowledge the many people who have provided these links, which are discussed below.
Canopus 'DV Storm' I am using a PC with Windows 2000 Professional, Canopus 'DVStorm' with 'Premiere' 5.1c in PAL format. Specific comments refer to this combination of hardware and software. DVStorm is a relatively new hardware and software product for digital video editing. It is based on the professional 'DVRex' products. I include here some of the ways I have learnt to use DVStorm and which are not discussed in the manual. DV Storm users have their own User Group forum for posting messages and a compilation of 'Rex'-user information by Don Lamprecht.
There are many resources which advise on how to take film and video shots for amateur and professional work. Here are some selected links:
Here is an overview of many of the steps commonly used in making useful video film from 'raw' digital video footage. They are very similar to those used in analogue film work, with the major benefit that there is little loss of digital video quality during editing.
6. Trimming clips
There are often shortcuts, using the keyboard and mouse, within NLE software for many of the commonly carried out editing steps. Trimming clips is one of them. It is well worth finding the fastest and easiest way to use the computer to do these repetitive tasks.
7. Adding still pictures
When there is a need for a still picture within a production, NLE software can import a photo as a *.gif or other type of graphics file as a clip. Sometimes, it is worth taking the best 'still' out of a clip that has no motion or sound in it, and adding the still back as a stable clip of defined length. This is useful, for example, when a sign or map has been filmed and needs to be put into the final video as a title. There are many graphics files and images on Internet. ImageWolf, which costs US$29.95, is a search tool that can locate graphics and movie files on the web. Of course, copyright issues are involved if downloaded files are to be used in productions.
8. Adding transitions between clips
Transitions are the most important 'events' that an editor can add to video clips. Basic transitions are available in al NLE software, but the more expensive ones have more complex forms. There is a considerable advantage in being able to add and view transitions in real time, while editing. Editing software that is supplied with interface cards, such as the Canopus range, provide this. Note that transitions are not always needed. A good way to learn how to use transitions, is to watch how they are used in a good-quality film.
9. Altering the video, improvements and effects
10. Adding text for titles etc.
All good films begin with a title and end with the credits. And extra titles during a film can give it that extra appeal. Trick processors can offer all sorts of special scene changeovers and effects.
11. Chroma-key or compositing
Chroma-key, the method for removing background from a movie by subtracting a colour is also called 'Chroma-key Background' or 'Chroma-key Paint'. It is called Chroma Key because you 'key-out' a colour, using either blue or green. Quality is the same using either colour. See Blue Screen Studio. Chroma-key fabric is available if paint is not suitable for the background.
12. Editing the soundtrack
A good soundtrack is often more important than good video. Breaks and defects in sound quality are always noticed. Mark Tomlonson has written advice on sound recording including "Good recorded audio is 95 % microphone placement, 4% level setting and mixing, and 1% the right equipment." The amount of reflected sound suggests how close the subject is to the camera and determines where the microphone should be placed.
Hardware audio mixers are not required if you have NLE software which can combine several sound tracks.
13. Adding music and sound effects
Music and sound effects are added to video by recording them to a WAV file, then adding the file to the audio line of NLE software and rendering. This is called 'scoring'. It involves four steps: finding the right music; adding selected portions of music to the production; editing the music and/or visuals to create relevant musical events that synchronize with the picture; and acquiring the legal rights to use the music publicly.
Most NLE software requires sound files to be of a specific type. For example, 'Storm Edit' requires the WAV files to have a sample rate of 48,000 in stereo with 16-bit resolution, which can be prepared using 'CoolEdit 96'. 'CoolEdit 96' provides a simple way to create suitable WAV files on a computer from music CDs, microphone input or the line-input from other audio equipment.
20. Making CDs and DVDs containing digital video
CD writers are common now and they are being used to store digital video, which can then be played back on standard CD and DVD players. Because a 654-MB CD can only hold about 2.5 minutes of high quality digital video in AVI format, higher compressions are usually used: MPEG-1 and MPEG-2. Many modern video editing cards and software can be used to prepare MPEG-1 and MPEG-2 compressed versions of digital video. For example, 'TMPGEnc' is free MPEG-1 and MPEG- 2 encoder software. It has a home page in Japan. The MPEG-compressed files are then written to a CD with a CD writer (CD-R), using a program such as Nero.
'DVD' provides excellent quality video, sound and data on a CD-sized disk, which can be played on home DVD players and on DVD-equipped PCs. Video and audio are compressed to MPEG-2. There are 'DVD Writers' and DVD FAQ web sites with information on the different types of CD, DVD formats and drives. A DVD contains about 4.7-GB data and is able to store over 2 hours of MPEG-2 video. A 654-MB CD-R disk can contain about 18 minutes of MPEG-2 DVD video. Unfortunately, DVD writers that create DVD-ROM disks are still expensive. There are cheaper DVD writers that create a different format for DVD called 'DVD-RAM', but they are not generally recommended, because they will be replaced by DVD-ROM writers, once they cost less. The Pioneer 'DVR-103/A03' is one of the first DVD-R writers designed for consumers. It is supplied with G4 Power Macintosh computers. It is a DVD-R / DVD-RW /CD-RW/CD-R drive, that writes and rewrites to CD and DVD media. A Panasonic unit is being sold under several names, that can read and write DVD+RW (yet another DVD 'standard'), DVD-R and DVD-RAM. It can read, but not write, CDs. Fortunately, DVDs created from DVD-R and DVD+R drives can be read by any DVD player. John Beale has detailed advice on creating DVDs using a Pioneer DVR-A03, from AVI files created with a Sony TRV900 miniDV camera, Canopus Raptor, Premiere and TMPGEnc MPEG-2 encoder
'SVCD' is digital video stored in 480 x 576 pixels with MPEG-2 compression and a maximum bitrate of 2,600 bit/sec at 25 fps with up to four subtitles and with audio from 32 - 384 kbit/sec MPEG-1 layer 2 or MPEG-2 with up to two audio tracks (for PAL). SVCD on a 654-MB CD can contain up to about 35 minutes of video. It contains about twice the number of pixels as VCD and so is of better quality. The quality is also affected by the type of encoder used and in high motion scenes the video can be 'blocky'. Some people store the video footage from their DV cameras as SVCD. Encoding SVCD can be slow: up to 10 minutes for each minute of digital video. Viewing SVCD: SVCD plays back well on nearly all PCs, with a suitable CD player and MPEG-2 codec. Some DVD players can play SVCD, including models by Wharfedale, Sampo, Apex, Pioneer 333 and Afreey with a software DVS/SVCD player. SVCD can be recorded onto VHS tape for those who do not have a PC or do not have a DVD player or one that can play CDR/CDRW.
Software from Cinemacraft will capture D1 serial video and convert it to MPEG-2 in real time. Canopus 'Amber' and 'DVRex Pro' are hardware encoders with the same functions.
Nero has a SuperVideoCD 'template' for creating 'SVCD' CDs. Commonly, the MPEG-2 file is first created with 'TMPGEnc'. Select 'Create SVCD' and not 'VCD'. Ensure that the video format is interlaced in the 'MPEG configuration' dialogue box. This ensures optimal playback on TV screens. The 'Advanced' tab in this box should be 'Interlaced', '4:3:625 line (PAL)', 'Fit to frames (preserve aspect ratio)'. Click on 'New compilation | Super Video CD | File Options tab | ISO Level 2 | ISO 9660 | Allow path depths of more than 8 directories | Allow more than 255 characters in path | New'. Drag and drop the previously prepared *.mpg file from the file browser window to the track window then 'Write CD'.
'IAuthor' is an expensive product that cab producing interactive SVCDs with multi level menus. The SVCDs it generates do work on the majority of DVD players.
LSX-MPEG Encoder 3.5 is a Premiere plugin that can output SVCD from an AVI timeline, but costs US$180.
Gareth Horne has a method for creating SVCDs from DV footage uses a combination of freeware, shareware and commercial software, which are available in trial form.
'VCD' is digital video stored in 352 x 288 pixels with MPEG-1 at 29.97 fps or 1,150 kbit/sec (for PAL). The audio is 224 kbit/sec MPEG-1 Layer2. It has about the same or slightly better quality than VHS video. A VCD CD can contain up to 74/80 minutes (on 650MB/700MB CDs respectively) of full-motion video with good quality stereo sound. A VCD can be played on nearly all standalone DVD Players and all computers with a DVD-ROM or CD-ROM drive, with the help of a software based decoder or player. VCD will playback on Windows Media Player which has MPEG-1 as a standard codec. The CDs can also be played with MPEGPlayer which is free.
- See VCDHelp, 'FAQ' and 'VCD FAQ'
- Try the LSX-MPEG Encoder v 3.0, which will convert AVI to mpeg1, mpeg2, and VCD. It also comes with a Player 1.2, which is a MPEG-2 decoder for Windows Media Player.
- 'VideoPack4' from 'Roxio' is included in WinOnCD which can create menus and link them as chapters into a VCD.
- WinDVD outputs either VCD or SVCD to CDs, using a CD writer. AVI files can be output to CDs as VCD and SVCD using WinDVD.
'QuickTime' There are many programs that will edit QuickTime files under Windows
- QuickTime Editor Pro from Apple enables the video and sound to be edited.
- Sorenson Video Pro v 2.2 can also make QuickTime movies. Version 3 will be released in early April 2001 to coincide with the release of QuickTime v 5.
- QuickEditor for Windows v 6 is shareware.
'Indeo' There are examples on Internet of avi files presented with Indeo compression.
There are other rarely used options to write to CDs: DVDit! outputs MiniDVD and MyDVD writes cDVD.
To make a CD that will 'autorun' an MPG or AVI file, create a file called 'autorun.inf' with Notepad containing the lines:
[autorun]
open=mplayer2.exe filename.mpg or filename.aviWhen you burn the CD, include the autorun.inf file, mplayer2.exe, which is like about 5-kb and the filename.mpg or filename.avi file. You can test it on a CDRW before burning to CDR. Note that 'mplayer2.exe' can not be used for commercial distributions.
21. Making streaming digital video clips
'ASF' files provide streaming video whose quality is only suitable for casual viewing. They contain video and audio compressed to MPEG-4. One hour of video occupies about 120-MB.
Bandwidth The quality of streaming video clips largely depends on the bandwidth available to view them. It should be at least 200-kbps. You may need to lease server space offering a high bandwidth, in order to achieve this.
Making streaming video clips QuickTime, Windows Media and RealPlayer produce very similar quality clips, at similar bandwidth. Find some clips you do like the look of on the net and examine their properties in the player to see what bandwidth and encoding they are using. On2 provide examples of excellent streaming video, which need an ADSL connections for best results.
Clips in browsers Clips can be designed to be played with video software or within web browsers. Information is available on how to play clips in browsers with plugins: look up 'embed video' or 'embedding' at site-design site. The Windows Media and Media Encoder 7 are free with an 'Encoder 7 FAQ' and MSDN has information on how to use MediaPlayer 7, including a page with the relevant code snippet for web browsers'. It is used on web sites, including free public sites, which also provides information and advice on preparing and importing video to their site.
Sound in clips Because streaming video is of relatively low quality, good sound quality is particularly important. VideoPublications recommend that you prepare the video using the free software called RealProducer. If you have a video-editing tool, such as Asymmetrix Digital Video Producer or Ulead's 'Media Studio Pro' or Adobe Premiere, you can separate the audio and video tracks in the .avi file, edit these tracks separately, and combine them afterwards. Many of these programs can be downloaded from CNET. The sample rate of the sound should be 22kHz or higher at 16 bit, not 8 bit. Higher sampling rates are not audible after streaming. You can also use GoldWave (shareware) to manipulate the audio track. Make sure the window-size (in pixels) of your .avi video is one of the following formats: 176 x 144, 176 x 132 or 160 x 120. If not, use the Fast Movie Processor (shareware) to resize the .avi video file. (Video is displayed in the 176 x 132 format on VideoPublications). Now make a streaming video file using the free version of RealProducer. (Only '.rm' files <1-MB bytes can be used at VideoPublications). Finally, make a title picture in .jpg format of your video file. Use for example SnagIt (shareware) to capture a picture in .jpg format and upload the streaming video .rm file and the .jpg title picture file using the Publishing Form on VideoPublications. Microsoft have Media streaming video help.
Specialized streaming video sites Canopus Video provide users of their products with a way to show their video in streaming format, hosted on a Canopus site. It can be used for public or private viewing with Windows Media Player. The input is Canopus DV AVI and the output is Windows Media WMV, default encoded bitrates 100, 250 and 512Kbps and custom bitrates of 28.8Kbps to 3Mbps. At present the storage limit is 10MB or about 5 minutes of 250-kbps video.
Viewing streaming video This can be done with free software. However, the quality may be improved using one of the dedicated players such as 'PowerDVD'.
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© cspry@sghms.ac.uk. Department of Biochemistry & Immunology, St. George's Hospital Medical School, London SW17 0RE, UK. Phone +44 20-8725 5819; fax +44 20-8725 5821.
