Digital Video and DVD Authoring

Introduction.

I. PRODUCTION PREPARATION: VIDEOS, IMAGES, SOUND, AND STORY.

1. Digital Video and DVDs-Getting Acquainted.

Converging Technologies

Digital Video Camcorders

DV Camcorders-Higher Quality and Lower Prices

IEEE 1394-"FireWire"-Connectivity

High-Speed PC Processors

DVD Format Adoption

MPEG-2 Video Compression

DVD Recorders

DVD-Authoring Software

Introducing Nonlinear Video Editing

Multiple Methods to View Your Videos

What's DVD Authoring?

Making Sure Your PC Hardware Makes the Grade

Enough Processor Power

Windows XP-Home or Professional Edition

Sufficient RAM

Large and Fast Hard Drive(s)

FireWire Connection

DVD Recorder

3D Video Card

Summary

2. Shooting Great Videos.

Choosing a Digital Video Camcorder

One or Three Chips-CCDs

Features Worth Strong Consideration

Two Features of Interest: Progressive Scan and True Widescreen

Features Not Worth Considering

Camcorders to Avoid Entirely

Doing Some Homework

Legacy Analog Camcorders

Sixteen Tips on Shooting Great Video

Plan Your Shoot

Adhere to the Rule of Thirds

Use Additional Still-Camera Composition Techniques

Get a Closing Shot

Get an Establishing Shot

Get a Good Mix of Shots

Lean Into or Away from Subjects

Keep Your Shots Steady-Use a Tripod

Let Your Camera Follow the Action

Use Trucking Shots to Move with the Action

Avoid Fast Pans and Snap Zooms

Shoot Cutaways to Avoid Jump Cuts

Don't Break the Plane

Get Plenty of Natural Sound

Shoot Enough Continuous Audio

Use Lights to Make Your Project Brilliant

Expert Advice from Karl Petersen

Summary

3. Creating Compelling Still Images.

Digital or Film Cameras-What Will Work Best for You

Digital Camera Buying Tips

Making High-Quality Photos-Tips and Tricks

Putting an End to Blurry Images

Composing Your Shots

Other Photo-Taking Tips

Compensating for Lag Time

Importing and Scanning Images

Importing Digital Images to Your PC

Selecting a Scanner for Your Video and DVD Projects

Explaining Scanner Settings

Scanning Images Using Manual Settings

Formatting Images for Videos and DVDs

Editing Images with Adobe Photoshop Elements

Summary

4. Acquiring Audio.

Selecting the Right Mic for the Job

Low-Cost Mic Solutions

Stepping Up to Professional-Quality Mics

Handheld Mic

Lavaliere Mic

Shotgun Mic

Boundary or Surface Mount Mics

Wireless Systems

Connecting Mics to Your Camcorder or PC

Making the PC Connection

Upping the PC Mic/Soundcard Ante

Getting the Most from Your Mics-Expert Audio Tips

Building a Simple and Inexpensive Voice-Recording Area

Voicing Solid Narrations

Summary

5. Making Marvelous Music.

Ripping Music CDs

Licensing Music or Buying Royalty-Free Music

Licensing Music

Using Royalty-Free Music

Creating Custom Music with SmartSound Movie Maestro

Introducing Two High-End Music Creation and Editing Products

Making Music with SmartSound Sonicfire Pro

Introducing Adobe Audition

Auditioning Audition and Sonicfire Pro

Summary

6. Story-Creation and Video-Production Tips.

Creating Your Story

Overall Story-Creation Tips

General Writing Tips

Specific Writing Tips

Story-Creation Tips from Bob Dotson

Bob Dotson's Storyteller's Checklist

Keep It Simple...and Short

Writing in the Active Voice

Mackie Morris's Writing Tips

The Good Writer's Dazzlin' Dozen

Storytelling with Video

Stephen Black's and Henry Stern's Scriptwriting Tips

Unblocking Creativity

Video-Editing Tips from an Expert-John Crossman

Summary

II. VIDEO EDITING.

7. Capturing and Editing Video with Windows Movie Maker 2.

Movie Maker 2-Pros and Cons

A Minimal Run-Through

Go Ahead-Give Movie Maker 2 a Try

Movie Maker 2-Pluses and Minuses

Overview of Video Editing with Movie Maker 2

Tour the Interface

Capturing Video

Gathering Other Assets

Using the Storyboard to Make a Rough Draft

Splitting and Trimming Clips on the Timeline

Summary

8. Jazzing Up Your Video with Windows Movie Maker 2.

Adding Video Effects and Transitions

Give Your Clips Some Visual Special Effects

Working with Titles

Editing in Extra Audio

Exploring Some Fun Add-on Packs

Microsoft Fun Packs

Microsoft Plus! Digital Media Edition

Pixelan SpiceFX

Exporting to DV Tape or PC File

Summary

9. Capturing Video with Pinnacle Studio Plus.

Video Editing: From Engineers to Artists

Old-Fashioned Editing

Getting Acquainted with Pinnacle Studio Plus

Studio Plus Pricing and Packages

Try Out Studio Plus for Free

Looking Over the Studio Plus User Interface

Fire It Up

Fire It Up Again

New to Studio Plus: An Overlay Video Track!

Checking Out Pinnacle Systems Video Capture Hardware

Two Video Capture Options

Capturing Digital or Analog Video and Still Images

Analog Video Capture

Capturing Still Images from Your Camcorder

Summary

10. Editing Cuts-Only Videos with Studio Plus.

Assembling Your Assets

Creating an Instant Music Video with SmartMovie

Using a Storyboard Approach

Editing Your Cuts-Only Video on the Timeline

Adjusting the Ruler Timescale

Trimming and Match Edits

Summary

11. Enhancing Your Video with Transitions, Effects, and Titles.

Using Transitions with Restraint

Transitions with a Purpose

What Transitions Can Do

Adding Transitions

Using Special Effects

Checking Out Specific Effects

Putting Still Images in Motion

Using Supers to Help Tell Your Story

Adding Titles to Your Videos

Using the Shape Tools

Summary

12. Audio Production with Studio Plus.

Voicing Narrations and Adding Music

Voicing a Narration

Adding Music

Making Music with Studio's SmartSound Module

Adding Other Audio

TV News-Style Editing

To A/B or Not to A/B?

Adding Cutaways

Working with J-Cuts and L-Cuts

Working with Audio Effects

VST Effects-New to Studio Plus

Adjusting Audio Levels and Surround Sound with the Mixer

Summary

13. Advanced Editing Techniques, Add-ons, and Exporting.

Advanced Two-Track Editing Techniques

Using the Picture-in-Picture Tool

Spicing Up Your PiPs

Two Other Picture-in-Picture Effects

Keying Out Parts of a Clip

Testing Third-Party Audio Effect Plug-Ins

Unlock Effects for Use in Projects

Algorithmix Effects

NewBlue Audio Essentials

Reviewing Third-Party Video-Effect Plug-Ins

Bravo Studio Packs 1 and 2

BWPLUGINS and BWPLUGINS 2

Dziedzic's Effects Packs 1 and 2

eZedia eZeMatte and eZeScreen

PE CameraPOV

proDAD Adorage and Heroglyph

StageTools MovingPicture and MovingPicture LE

Overview of Studio's RTFX Packages

RTFX Plus

RTFX Mega

HFX Creator

Exporting Your Finished Product

Summary

14. Two Additional Recommended PC Editing Products.

Overview of the Video Editing Market

Studio Plus and Premiere Elements Raise the Bar

Changed Plans

Professional NLEs

Touring Adobe Premiere Elements-Things Look Different Here

What Makes Premiere Elements So Different

Minutely Detailed Control

Professional But Not Impenetrable

How Do Studio and Premiere Elements Compare?

Premiere Elements Charts a New Course

Taking Adobe Premiere Pro for a Test Drive

Demonstrating Premiere Pro's Power

Exploring Premiere Pro's User Interface

Looking at Layering

Playing Clips Slower, Faster, or Backward

Changing Video Effects Over Time-Using Keyframes

Editing Audio

Adding Text with the Adobe Title Designer

Summary

III. ENTRY-LEVEL DVD AUTHORING.

15. What DVDs and DVD-Authoring Software Can Do for You.

Enhancing Your Media with DVDs

DVDs Improve the Viewing Experience

Delving into DVD Projects-Personal to Professional

Home DVD Projects

A First-Time DVD-Authoring Experience

Videographer DVD Projects

Using Prosumer Techniques on Personal Projects

Business DVD Projects

Designing a Business-Oriented DVD

Commercial/Professional DVD Projects

Creating Interactive DVD Fun for Children

Discovering What DVD-Authoring Software Can Do for You

Menu Creation and Functionality

Button and Text Features

Special Features

Burning DVDs and Making Masters for Mass Production

Compliance with DVD Specifications

Overview of DVD-Authoring Products

Entry-Level Video Editors with DVD-Authoring Modules

Standalone Entry-Level DVD-Authoring Software

Standalone Prosumer DVD-Authoring Software

Summary

16. Getting Your Gear in Order-DVD Recorders and Media.

Clearing Up the DVD Recording Format Confusion

Dash R/RW Versus Plus R/RW Versus DVD-RAM

DVD+R/RW-Better, But with a Bitter Aftertaste

Selecting a PC DVD Recorder

Narrowing Your Search

Multiformat DVD±R/±RW Drives

Single-Format DVD-R/RW and DVD+R/RW Drives

DVD Dash R and DVD-RAM Combo

Evaluating Three DVD Software Movie Players

Cyberlink PowerDVD

Intervideo WinDVD

Sonic Solutions CinePlayer

Using Sonic Solutions CinePlayer to Test Drive Your DVD Recorder

Summary

17. Burning Data DVDs.

Selecting Recordable Media

Using Windows XP to Copy Files to a CD

Burning a DVD

RecordNow!-A Bundling Favorite

Taking a Quick Tour of Roxio's Easy Media Creator

Summary

18. Authoring DVDs Using Studio's DVD Module.

Overview of Studio's DVD-Authoring Process

Menu Track Characteristics

Other DVD-Authoring Options

What About DVD Parts?

Creating a Single-Menu, Single-Button DVD

Higher-Level DVD Authoring and Menu Editing

Editing Menus

Using Multiple-Nested-Menus

Burning Your DVD Project

Summary

19. Stepping Up to MyDVD 6.

Introducing MyDVD 6

MyDVD Flavors

MyDVD 6 Features

Some Features That Are New to MyDVD 6

How MyDVD 6 Stands Up to Studio

Checking Out the MyDVD 6 Interface and Feature Set

Capturing Video with MyDVD

Why Capture or Edit Video with MyDVD?

Editing Video with MyDVD

Summary

20. Authoring DVDs with MyDVD 6: Chapter 1.

Assembling Video Assets

Adding Part Markers

Adding a Slideshow

Organizing Assets into Menus

Summary

21. Authoring DVDs with MyDVD 6: Chapter 2.

Previewing Your Work in Progress

Adding a First-Play Video and Fixing Some Links

An Imperfect First-Play Methodology

Editing the Menu Style

Fixing Two Other Project Features

Introducing Custom Templates

Importing a Style

Recording Videos Direct-to-Disc

Burning Your DVD Project to a Recordable Disc

Summary

22. Creating Custom MyDVD Templates with Style Creator.

Introducing Sonic Solutions Style Creator

How Style Creator Works

Taking a Close Look at the Plug-in

Installing Photoshop Elements

Installing the Style Creator Plug-in

Changing a Template Background

Setting Text Boundaries and Font Characteristics

Text Features

Examining Button Characteristics

Editing Buttons and Button Elements

Working with Other Button Layers

Testing Your Template Edits in MyDVD

Summary

IV: Intermediate-Level DVD Authoring.

23. Introducing DVDit! 5.

Planning Your Project

What's the Message?

Who's the Audience?

Presenting Your Media in the Best Light

Keep It Simple

Keep It Short

Take It for a Test Drive

Organizing Your DVD's Menu Structure

Nested Menus

Use a Flowchart

Buttons Should Do What They Say

Introducing DVDit! 5

What's Missing in DVDit! 5

Checking Out the DVDit! 5 Interface

Touring DVDit! 5's Interface

Summary

24. Creating Menus with DVDit! 5.

Adjusting Preference and Project Settings

Four Preference-Setting Categories

Changing Project Settings

Trimming Videos and Adding Part Points

Gathering Assets and Creating a Slideshow

Adding Assets in Edit Mode

Adding Assets in Author Mode

Creating a Slideshow

Laying Out Menus and Submenus

Summary

25. Editing Menus with DVDit! 5.

Adding and Building Buttons

Working with Text

Scaling Buttons, Graphics, and Text

Arranging, Aligning, and Ordering Objects

Adding Drop Shadows and Adjusting Object Opacity

Setting First Play and Linking Media and Menus

Setting First Play Is Easy

Linking Media and Menus

Summary

26. Advanced DVDit! 5 Authoring Techniques.

Creating Custom Buttons in Photoshop

Check Your Work

Cool Tips and Tricks

DVD Menu Outros and Intros

Creating a Chain of Videos

Adding Appendix Buttons En Masse Using the Titles Details View

Quickly Duplicate Buttons, Graphics, or Text

Fine-Tuning Button Subpictures and Navigation

Setting Subpicture Highlight Characteristics and Opacities

Adjusting Menu and Media Properties

Menu Button Routing

Forcing a Button Selection

Setting Title End Actions

Adjusting Menu Types, Durations, and End Actions

Adding ROM Data

Summary

27. Burning DVDs and Dealing with DVD Duplicators.

Checking Menu and Media Links and Project Flow

Selecting Transcoding Settings

Preferences-Setting Finish Parameters

Project Settings-Transcode Settings

CBR Versus VBR

PCM Versus Dolby Digital Audio

Bit-Rate Calculation

Using DVDit! 5 to Record Your DVD Project

Test Your DVD

Printing Labels Directly on Your DVDs

Going the Mass-Replication Route

Walking Through the Replication Process

Using Sonic Solutions's Publishing Showcase

DVD Trends

DVD Ubiquity

Microsoft Windows XP Media Center

OpenDVD Format

Integration with Web

High Definition TV and DVDs

Long Live the DVD Format

Summary

Index.