Week 4

Part 1 : Creating A Video

How to create a time lapse video from photographs, using Quicktime Pro.

(Note – QT Pro comes in two flavours – QT Pro X – which is used by default, and the more powerful QT Pro 7 – which can be found in your utilities folder within the applications folder. We’ll be using QT Pro 7.)

Basic guide for importing an image sequence in Quicktime Pro and exporting it as a video file. (video tutorial/demo)

Links for creating a time lapse with iMovie, Final Cut Pro, Premiere, Vegas.

How to make a time lapse with Final Cut Pro X.

Considerations for making a high quality time lapse with a DSLR camera (exposure settings etc).

Part 2: Understanding The Parameters for Exporting A Video

Understanding a video file, before we look at hardware…. what is video?

• Exporting parameters ( beyond vimeo’s useful introduction to compression for the web)
• What is an aspect ratio?
• What is anamorphic video? (Or letterboxing? Or panning and scanning?)
• What is a pixel aspect ratio (PAR)?
• How is resolution measured for video?
• What are popular frame dimensions of a video file?
• What is PAL? What is NTSC?
• What is interlacing? (How to avoid interlacing)
• What’s the difference between standard definition and high definition?
• What is Frame Rate? ( A demonstration of frame rate and motion blur)
• What are key frames?
• What is data rate (or bit rate)? ( some data / bit rates for video )
• What is a codec?
• What are some advantages and disadvantages for popular codecs?
• Which codecs are best for projection? The web? A DVD? A mobile phone?
• What is a container format? ( A list of container formats. )
• What is timecode? (QLab, installed on campus, can trigger events based on timecode )
• What is colour space / colour sampling?