My husband has been working on a massive video project for almost two years now. Lots of trial and error with getting the processes right, and guess who’s in charge of the tech stuff? Moi. It’s taking so long partly because I just don’t have a lot of time. So, poor Pat (yes, he’s Pat, too) has to wait.
These last 12 days I’ve been on vacation. I haven’t done too much regarding my own work, but I have read a couple of books and did some posting, though not my regular routine, for that I’m sorry. I also did a few lessons for Spider Language. But I have had a chance to work on the video project.
I’m feeling pretty genius right now. LOL Perry Lawrence (AskMrVideo.com) would laugh because he IS a freakin’ genius when it comes to video (and a really nice guy), but well… it’s something I dabble in. I’m far from expert. BUT, I discovered something really key today, and I wanted to pass it along.
Chroma Key work has to do with using a green or blue backdrop when filming. The cost of doing this is minimal. There’s paint you can buy for it even, but we bought a frame with clips and a huge muslin screen. We want to add images to the video background while Pat’s speaking. So… He filmed a series of videos in front of the green screen this month, and it put the fear of God into me. I had no clue how to do something so intricate (Stop laughing Perry) to me.
I bought Sony Vegas a while back and I’ve been working with it regularly. It’s pretty powerful as video editing software goes, and I’ve learned a great deal about using it. But because it’s a tad complicated for non-video types like me, I bought a book to teach me more about it.
But my downfall is that I’m just the type that goes in and does things, you know? It’s how I’ve learned everything having to do with computers. I’m completely 100% self-taught on all of this stuff from blogging to video. I don’t read lots of directions, but when I do… I expect them to be easy to understand.
Not so with the Sony Vegas help. It’s rather obscure and confounds me most of the time… hence, the book. So, I looked up chroma key there, and it told me which FX (special effect) to use. No problem.
I got everything working, except I couldn’t get the image behind my husband. It kept showing up over his face. Argh…
Here’s where YouTube comes in. If you need to know how to do something, YouTube can often come to the rescue with videos from smart folks who know how to do just about everything.
So, I watched the first video and it showed me how to look at just the mask, to make the background (the green color) black and the foreground white (the subject, which in my case is Pat). Great… still didn’t help with getting the image in the background, rather than across his face.
So, I watched another video and picked up another tip and another video and saw something else, but, there’s ONE thing that nobody, not Sony, not the book, and not the three videos I watched don’t tell you.
You have to make another video track and add your image there!
Seems logical, but does it? When you’re dealing with a still image, well… it just didn’t occur to me to do that. It’s not a video, right? But then, I saw how one of the videos added an image below the video and the only way I know to do that is to add another video track! So, I thought, What the heck?
Sheesh.
Took me three hours to figure out that ONE little piece.
As videos go, this was the best one about using the chroma keyer in Vegas:
If you’re trying to do this stuff in Vegas… it makes it rather simple. But don’t forget! Add a new video track to apply your background, and then, you’ll be golden.
You realize, of course, that video is taking over the Web, right? I mean, with all the video sites online, it’s become so easy to just watch instead of read. We’ve been trained to watch since birth. Yes, even people my age grew up with television. But the Internet brought us back to the written word. The connections just weren’t fast enough to make video viable.
I remember way back in the late 90’s when I was amazed that someone could actually watch a video on a 56K modem, and was pissed because mine was only 28K. I had to upgrade!
Well…
How things have changed in a little more than a decade. Now, the Internet is full of site, sound and moving pictures. It’s awesome!
There are several ways that you can get online with your own personal movie. You can use a web cam, which is pretty inexpensive, or perhaps you have one of those newer laptops with the web cam built right in. Sweet. Yet, there are drawbacks to web cams. You can’t leave the computer.
In steps the Flip Video from Pure Digital Technologies. I have the Mino. No, not the HD version. Got mine before that was available. But as my husband says, I don’t need you folks seeing every line on my face. It’s bad enough, already.
But I love it. You turn it on, point, and record. That’s it! It even has it’s own USB connector, and you just open it up and transfer the film into your computer. It comes with software built right in, as well. You can’t do much editing with it, so you’ll still need Camtasia, Cam Studio, Windows Movie Maker, Sony Vegas, or another editing software to make the films A-#1, the Duke, but it’s fun.
Yesterday, Tellman turned me onto Seesmic.com, where you can post a question and start a conversation on video. I answered a couple of his, but I’m going to start posting questions of my own soon enough. It’s a blast! Only problem there is that I can’t seem to upload from the Flip Vid to Seesmic. I was able to make videos with my crappy web cam and post them, so before I really get into the swing there, I need a better web cam.
Anyway, if you aren’t into video yet, get into it! It’s an awesome SEO tool, as well. When you post to multiple directories, and use the proper keywords and descriptions, you’ll see traffic to your site. And now that Google has universal search going, your videos will actually show up in the SERPs. (Search engine results pages.) Cool, non?
Over the past year or so, I’ve become quite enamored of video. I’ve been making lots of short films for my blogging business, for Overcome Everything, and for a special project I’ve been working on for more than a year. If you want to get into a sci-fi video novel, this is my client’s site: http://CugelsCastle.com
Anyway, these are all different types of videos… screen capture, talking head, and Power Point. The first thing I did was buy Camtasia. Why not, right? Everyone uses Camtasia.
OK… Works great for most stuff, but when I started working with the video novel, I bought Sony Vegas Pro 8 Editing Workshop. Wow! I mean it’s so much more powerful! It’s very easy to add rolling credits, a watermark, and to edit. I totally love it. I know I’m only scratching the surface with the software, so I plan to learn tons more about that.
Cameras were a problem, too, believe it or not. We bought a digital camcorder last year and though that would do the best job for the talking head videos. Wrong. When it came time to render them, it was a total hassle. I had to reformat them, and then the sound didn’t always meet the facial expression. I worked that out with Vegas, but there were just a ton of glitchy things that happened.
Well…
Brian Edmondson, our resident video guy at Overcome Everything, told me to get the Mino Flip Video Camera. It’s like $150 less than we paid for the other camera we bought, so I didn’t think too much about it. Then, Brian made some videos with it for The LIst Building Club, and the picture and sound were so clear that I went out the same night that I had seen Brian’s videos and bought one for less than $200.
Wow!
If you’re doing video or contemplating it, the Flip Cam is the easiest way to go. I LOVE that thing! Plus, you can take it anywhere because it’s so slim and small. (Yeah, I was lucky enough to have waited until the slimmer version came out.) It’s just the best.
So, if you’re hesitating about doing video, don’t. It’s becoming more and more important online. And, I have some great advice for you, which can save you tons of aggravation and time:
1) Get a Flip Cam
by Douglas Spotted Eagle
2) Get the free version of Sony Vegas and work with it until you feel you’re ready to upgrade. Then, work with it for a while. Try not to get too frustrated. But if you do, there’s a book you ca buy: Sony Vegas Pro 8 by Douglas Spotted Eagle. I haven’t had to look much up, but it sure comes in handy when you’re scratching your head.
3) If you’re lucky enough to be in Stomper Net, watch the Stomper Vision videos by Mike Stewart. Awesome! If you aren’t in Stomper, buy the course. It’s totally worth it and helped me to understand Vegas a whole lot better.
by Douglas Spotted Eagle. I haven’t had to look much up, but it sure comes in handy when you’re scratching your head.
