A work in progress, aimed as a useful overview of video possibilities, current software, hardware and techniques, and leaning on the DIY side. A place where I’ll gather various links that help illuminate some of the creative potential and opportunities available with video.

Breaking it down :

Planning & Capture

Storyboarding?

Understanding Comics?

Principles to consider when shooting for the web. Mostly common sense eg web video tends to be smaller, so close ups work better than long shots. Just ideas to be aware of, not concrete rules.

Preparing for VJ performance? Variations of clips, templates, transitions, layers.

Production

Software? VJ Central. Wikipedia’s VJ software list.
Can personally recommend the mac based VDMX 5 from vidvox.net ( click for screenshots ).

Hardware? A smorgasbord of sources including mobile phones and even digital still cameras can now capture or create moving images, which can be easily repurposed with a variety of editing software such as imovie, final cut pro, adobe premiere or free software from avid.

Techniques?

Editing? ( In the Blink of an Eye – Walter Murch )

Arguments about resolution & production quality.

Processes & workflows.

Post-Production

Software? Adobe After Effects, Motion and many, many other applications can go beyond the edit, and provide rich processing capacity. As well as these traditional tools, many VJ applications provide capacity for real-time exploration of effects and manipulation.

Hardware?

Real-time FX

Recording & remixing.

Processes & workflows.

Distribution / Performance

The Engage Media Guide to Digital Video Distribution has an excellent overview of the technical aspects of video. The BBC has a succinct guide for understanding RSS, and why it is meaningful for distribution. Why are we entering a ‘subscription age?‘

Videoblogging is thriving – in terms of tools, audiences and clips.

mefeedia: directory of videoblogs.

Videoblog mailing list – lots of discussion here, even browsing the archives will illuminate.

Freevlog’s guide to making your own videoblog for free.

Fireant : awesome video blog subscriber application.

Vlogmap – joining the global video-blog dots.

VJing & live audiovisual peformance, real-time cinema.

Technical needs : projectors, screens, cables, adaptors.

Software needs : appropriate codecs, resolution, responsiveness.

Liveness. Flexible, modular clips that allow improvisation, adaptibility.
More Info on all above : vjforums.com

machinima: a film genre, referring to movies created by using video game engines ( to build virtual sets and/or characters ).
The subscription age : a succinct analysis of how our use of the web is changing, and clearly outlining how RSS, feeds, blogs and podcasts are part of this change.
Second Life : a privately-owned, partly subscription-based 3-D virtual world, in which many are experimenting with video broadcasts.
This Spartan Life : Popular talk-show available as a podcast, created within the game Halo.
DIY DVD Label…

( lulu.com ) : self-publishing model.
revver.com: get paid for viewers watching your clips.
Social media. Conversational media.

Mobile phones? ( Easy export of .3gp files within quicktime pro, a mobile phone friendly format. )

100+ video storage sites, review of the best

JumpCut.com – includes a crazy inbuilt editor that allows editing or remixing of your own video, photos, music, or someone elses from the site.

“Any time you update your movie on Jumpcut, your movies embedded elsewhere will be updated instantly without you having to do anything.”

Filtering Video ( DIY TV Channel ) :

http://videobomb.com/ – vote for videos.

http://www.getdemocracy.com/ – application that allows easy subscription to video ‘channels’.

http://digg.com/view/videos – videos ranked by popularity.

http://cliptip.blogspot.com – music video blog.

http://videos.antville.org/ – meta-music-video-blog.

http://typolis.net/shortsville/ – short film group blog.

http://www.screenhead.com/ – funny, viral, popular clips.

http://engagemedia.org/ – melb based, independent media channel creator.

Further Resources

Mark Pesce – hyperdistribution : Sydney Film Festival video podcast talking about the challenges of creating and distributing good online content.

More Context?

July hosted the worst week ever for TV ratings in the U.S., whilst simultaneously youtube.com boasted 100 million videos per day, and social networking site myspace.com laid claim to becoming the site most visited by the US population.

There are now more than 2 Billion mobile phones in existence, and as Mark Pesce notes “More people listen to the podcasts of Radio National than listen to the live broadcast,” and “more people read the Sydney Morning Herald online than read the print edition.”

See also the Skynoise Guide to Harnessing Networked Media, produced for a workshop @ the Straight Out of Brisbane festival 2006.