Show Your Work 2004

[Don Donatello]

commercial , how long is it taking to render to mpeg 2?

mpeg2 has more compression then DV.avi .. mpeg 2 looks very good 1st generation when you go from DV avi to mpeg 2 - don't know about premiere but Vegas can edit mpeg2.. if it is all just cuts no problem. the problem is when you apply FX's /transitions to the mpeg file then it has to uncompress it apply Fx's then recompress it back to mpeg 2 and that is where the weakness is in mpeg2 .. it doesn't handle that 2nd generation mpeg2 very well ...

[Tim Frank]

I don't have all the details on the final production of the DVD yet but basically its an hour long "commercial" (or at least we're shooting the commercials but the final dvd's will be an hour with other productions done into it). I'm guessing we'll be doing fades, though that hasn't been figured out yet either. Is Mpeg2 DVD 2ng gen or 1st...I didn't even know there were 2 versions.

I was looking at DVD recorders but I began to think how exactly it would work...it doesn't seem to allow you to go strait from your comptuer to the DVD recorder unit. So you'd spend 60 min dumping to tape, then 60 min dumping to the dvd recorder while it burned real-time. Now that I think about it a nice dual xenon computer would probably be able to do that in the same amount of time. We're still looking at our options and since the first few times we start exporting to DVD we'll be using my existing 2.66Ghz P4 and DVD Burner so we'll get an idea of how long it will take to do this.

[Rob Lohman]

The problem is that MPEG2 is a complex compression. Any speed
increases will usually result in a lesser quality image.

With that being said the following standalone recorders are
available for which you can download demo versions. So try them
out and perhaps one will be faster then the current solution,
although I doubt it will be very much faster.

The best way to get a speed increase is to get a dedicated
MPEG encoder board for your PC, get an external MPEG encoder
for your PC (there are a couple) or get a standalone DVD
recorder.

Canopus ProCoder (available in Express version, quite cheap)
TMPGEnc (cheap as well, free version available)
CCE (expensive)

[Peter Sieben]

Hi guys,

The first part of a small fun-experimental movie-project ARENAHOJ about deserted places is finished. You will find it at www.orphic.nl/odm/html/videoprojects.html
The QT compression is not very accurate yet, sorry for that.

Peter Sieben

[Rob Lohman]

Interesting Peter! Looking good. Let us know when part 2 is
available.

[Tim Frank]

Any idea on where I might be able to purchase a external, or internal mpeg encoder (hardware)? That seems like the only other feasible alternative. Even with a computer with fast processors and lots of Ram I think the time improvement will be minimal, maybe even just a minute difference for another $1000 in hardware possibly.

I'll do some run-throughs and time them, then I'll compare the quality to see if its a noticable difference or not. I think in the end we'll stick with using the computer to encode and decode, because we'll be making multiple copies, but if a hardware MPEG encoder could speed that up significantly that might be something we can look into to invest in.

[Mark Grgurev]

Hey, everybody it would be cool if you guys can post some of your films.

[Mike Rehmus]

We have a place to do list where your films are posted. You have to find someplace to host the film though.

[Peter Richardson]

Hey guys--The trailer for my documentary is online as of about 30 minutes ago and I'd love to get everyone's feedback (and use up the bandwith from our internet service for this month). The web address is:

www.bicoastalfilms.com

Enter the site, click on "investors" and type in the password: bicoastal (password protected so that people who appear in the film don't see trailer before film is done...very touchy subject). You can read more about the story in the "press" section.

Tech specs: Shot with DVX100 over course of about 6 months. We have about 87 hours of footage and are editing on Xpress Pro with G5. No color correction on the trailer. The music is from the Hours so don't tell Phillip Glass or Miramax. The trailer is basically being used to keep those who have invested money in the film happy, and to attract other investors, though we've really aren't spending any more money. We will start submitting to film festivals as soon as the film is done editing (maybe about 4 months) and then see what happens. OK, curious to hear the feedback.

peter

[John Locke]

Tried to access it, Peter...but it's attempting to link to a desktop file rather than a file on the server. Please check the link.

[Rob Lohman]

Canopus has three products in their line, check this link.

Two internal cards and one external box it seems. Do read
through the specifications thoroughly to make sure it supports
encoding from digital footage in the PC.

AOpen also seems to have a product, check it out here

[Rob Lohman]

This forum (DV For The Masses) is where everybody is posting
about movies they have put up somewhere else. So take a look
through this forum to see what everybody is up to. As Mike
points out, this site cannot host the actual movie files for you.

If you are interested you can look at a Global Indie Series
that I'm part of.

[Rob Lohman]

Actually it's linking to a movie over the network to another
machine which the internet user doesn't have access too,
ofcourse.

[Spencer Houck]

Hi everyone, Devin and I have been hard at work here at Ohio University and have a few new things to show for it.

First of all, our feature 15 minute short "10:17" is online. Please go check it out at : http://www.par-t-com.net/1017_feature.html, its been 6 months in the making and we would like some more feedback. Here is a post to leave feedback for "10:17" to: http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthrea...threadid=20372

Next up is the video production course, 200c, that Devin and I are enrolled in here at Ohio University. This is the bare bones first hands on production course we've been able to take, and our first projects are just now online. For backround, the guidlines to project 1 were: to be a 2 minute narrative with music and video only featuring straight cuts.

Here's Devin's "She Sits So Close" : http://www.par-t-com.net/she_sits.mov
(Right click and save as)

And Spencer's "Redemption" : http://www.par-t-com.net/redemption.mov
(Right click and save as)

We were going for more difficult dramatic pieces, b/c we expect the majority of the class will make slapstick comedies. (You'll notice the use of the mini50s we made in some of the pieces) Please let us know how you think we did!

And as always, the rest of our shorts can be found by clicking here: http://www.par-t-com.net/media.html

Thanks, and enjoy watching,

Spencer Houck
Devin Doyle

[Nicholi Brossia]

I like them both. I've been watching your movies since you started posting links on here, and thought they were so-so. However, the latest two show big improvement. The most pronounced being that both held my attention throughout the entire piece. Its all about finding the right rhythm and sticking to it. Keeping a slow pace like that is sometimes difficult, especially with no dialogue, but you guys did a very good job.
The one shot that really stood out to me was the dolly-in from "She Sits." It added a slow, almost omniscent perspective to the whole scene, similar to the first dinner shot in "American Beauty." Excellent use of camera movement.
I don't quite understand what happened in "She Sits." Was he daydreaming? flashing back? is she just really clumbsy?
"Redemption" is a story that everybody understands, because we've all been there more than once. Even though it was a simple idea, again, you did a great job of setting a pace that defines the mood. I also like that the story progressed in a circle of sorts, referring to the end taking you right back to where you were in the beginning. I like that.

Good job, guys.