ATV-DigitalMedia

Production Music

2010-04-23T09:13:00.000-07:00

Why should I use production music?

First, it's legal to use. No copyright issues, no artist agreements to work out.
Second, you can use it in competition. You cannot generally use copyrighted material in contests unless you negotiate the legal issues out with the owner of the rights.
Third, it is inexpensive. If your masterpiece makes it to Sundance, you may find yourself suddenly having to pay someone a lot of money if you used a song you do not have the rights to use.
fourth, it is anonymous. It is not attached to anyone's memories. I.e., you may have had a great experience while listening to a certain song, and so it holds a good feeling for you. Someone else may have broken up with their boy/girlfriend recently and that same song was "their song" etc., and it holds an entirely different meaning to them. No one, generally, remembers hearing production music - so it is neutral.

Here are a few resources for production music. Most are free - or require just the payment of shipping and handling.

Footagefirm

Audionautix

Freeplaymusic

Treatment Example

2010-03-08T13:04:00.001-08:00

THE CHEATER  
(a Film Treatment)  
by J Serembe  

A high school student faced with a math test he knows he cannot pass seeks out someone he can copy from. We see Bill in class. Then a shot of the advisor telling the class about the test to be taken next class. We see a shot of Bill looking scared, and a shot of Jane next to him looking confident. We see Bill look at Jane. He knows that she will ace the test.

Next we see Bill following Jane. She looks nervous, looking at him. Finally she stops and asks him what he wants. He tells her that he wants to sit behind her in class and cheat. She says “no way - just study instead - loser!”

Next we see them in class. Jane is nervous, thinking that Bill is cheating. She looks over her shoulder to see him. The teacher calls her out. “Jane - you are cheating!” She looks at Bill. She can say nothing. Finally, Bill speaks up. “No, I asked her if I could cheat. She said no. So I studied instead.”

Final shot is them going out to a movie together.

To Convert .MOB files

2010-01-13T13:47:00.000-08:00

(To convert USB camcorder .MOB files for use with FCP)

1. Connect the USB camcorder to your Mac.
2. Open drive that appears on the desktop. Copy the .MOB files (in the "SD_Video" folder) onto your Mac.
3. Rename all the .mod to .mpeg and change the extension when prompted.
5. Download ffMpegX application
6. Run ffMpegX and open the first .mpeg file. Convert this to a .MOV, .DV, .AVi file or whatever format you need. Final Cut is best with DV (although uses a lot of bytes).
7. Repeat as necessary for all your .MPEG files.

You can now import into iMovie (which will in turn convert into .dv files which means you can then trash the .mpeg and .mov files) and do as you wish. This is also true for importing into Final Cut Pro/Express, or pretty much any other editing program.

If possible, get a Firewire compatible camcorder, generally one with a MiniDV tape and use that next time.

Free Video Editors

2009-10-05T15:04:00.000-07:00

Here is a list of FREE video editing aps. Check 'em out! Note that I have not tried all of these, and therefore cannot verify claims.

WINDOWS:

Windows MovieMaker 2
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/moviemaker/default.mspx orhttp://v4.windowsupdate.microsoft.com/en/default.asp

Blendermodel
shade • animate • render • composite • interactive 3dBlender is the free open source 3D content creation suite, available for all major operating systems. http://www.blender.org/

Virtual dub
A powerful freeware video editor with lots of features, including a choice of compression codecs, splitting, addition of audio tracks. http://www.virtualdub.org/

WAX
Wax is a high performance and flexible video compositing and special effects software. http://www.debugmode.com/wax/

ZS4 Video Editor
ZS4 Video Editor is video editing and compositing software which aims to provide media experts with a facility to combine a variety of media types (currently photos, videos and audio files) into one (or more) output file(s).http://www.zs4.net/free-software-downloads

Avedit
It works with .AVI files. Regardless of small executable size, this avi editor offers you unlimited power of digital video processing. Some high-tech tricks included into AVIedit allows you to perform with ease and fun the many interesting things, like video warping, color restore, noise reduction and so on...http://www.am-soft.ru/aviedit.html

Avidemux
Avidemux is a free video editor designed for simple cutting, filtering and encoding tasks. It supports many file types, including AVI, DVD compatible MPEG files, MP4 and ASF, using a variety of codecs. Tasks can be automated using projects, job queue and powerful scripting capabilities.http://fixounet.free.fr/avidemux/

Atomic Learning's FREE Video StoryBoard Pro
http://movies.atomiclearning.com/k12/storyboardpro

SolveigMM AVI Trimmer
SolveigMM AVI Trimmer is a free video editor to allow you to AVI movie cut extremely fast and lossless. This freeware AVI editor software is small, smart, easy to use and involves no encoding/decoding processes. Video enthusiasts use AVI Trimmer to cut commercials, cut video files or edit video for YouTube. AVI Trimmer solves annoying out of sync problem. It operates with all known types of AVI including DV AVI type 1 and 2.http://www.solveigmm.com/?Products&p=AVITrimmer .

-MAC OS X:

iMovieiMovie that comes with every new Mac (OS X), now called iMoveHD and it's a part of iLife package. Note that this software is free only if you buy a new Mac. You can purchase it, however, if you just want the software.http://www.apple.com/ilife/imovie/

Blendermodel
shade • animate • render • composite • interactive 3dBlender is the free open source 3D content creation suite, available for all major operating systems.http://www.blender.org/

Avidemux
Avidemux is a free video editor designed for simple cutting, filtering and encoding tasks. It supports many file types, including AVI, DVD compatible MPEG files, MP4 and ASF, using a variety of codecs. Tasks can be automated using projects, job queue and powerful scripting capabilities.http://fixounet.free.fr/avidemux/

HyperEngine-AV
Multimedia authoring software for capturing, editing, organizing, processing, and exporting video, audio, and text to create DVD quality movies and slide shows.http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=131273

Atomic Learning's FREE Video StoryBoard Pro
http://movies.atomiclearning.com/k12/storyboardpro

ZS4 Video Editor
ZS4 Video Editor is video editing and compositing software which aims to provide media experts with a facility to combine a variety of media types (currently photos, videos and audio files) into one (or more) output file(s).http://www.zs4.net/free-software-downloads .

LINUX:

Cinelerra
CINELERRA, the first Linux based real-time editing and special effects system is a revolutionary Open Source HD media editing system. Long developed by Heroine Warrior with vital assistance from LMA, Cinelerra gives you real-time 1080p editing and compositing power on a state-of-art Linux video workstation. Developed for AMD64 OPTERON technology, the LMA CINELERRA system is a powerful and highly productive workstation for adding cost effective hardware and Linux software for Video and film production studios. The LMA CINELERRA system will support SMPTE-292 and SMPTE-259 native 10-bit resolution - the maximum resolution allowed in SMPTE SDI standards on OPTERON. CINELERRA was the first media editing system ported to support the AMD OPTERON 64 bit technology. CINELERRA has a number of effects built into the system including numerous telecine effects, video special effects including compositing, and a complete audio effects system. Cinelerra is featured on the APRO, the first 64 Bit Intellistation ever offered by IBM.http://heroinewarrior.com/cinelerra.php3More useful fork is herehttp://cvs.cinelerra.org/
Lives
LiVES began in 2002 as the Linux Video Editing System. Since it now runs on more operating systems, LiVES is a Video Editing System. It is designed to be simple to use, yet powerful. It is small in size, yet it has many advanced features.http://lives.sourceforge.net/

Blendermodel
shade • animate • render • composite • interactive 3dBlender is the free open source 3D content creation suite, available for all major operating systems.http://www.blender.org/

Kino
Kino is a non-linear DV editor for GNU/Linux. It features excellent integration with IEEE-1394 for capture, VTR control, and recording back to the camera. It captures video to disk in Raw DV and AVI format, in both type-1 DV and type-2 DV (separate audio stream) encodings.http://www.kinodv.org/

Avidemux
Avidemux is a free video editor designed for simple cutting, filtering and encoding tasks. It supports many file types, including AVI, DVD compatible MPEG files, MP4 and ASF, using a variety of codecs. Tasks can be automated using projects, job queue and powerful scripting capabilities.http://fixounet.free.fr/avidemux/

Kdenlive
Kdenlive is a non linear video editor for the KDE environment running on Linux.http://kdenlive.org/

ZS4 Video Editor
ZS4 Video Editor is video editing and compositing software which aims to provide media experts with a facility to combine a variety of media types (currently photos, videos and audio files) into one (or more) output file(s).http://www.zs4.net/free-software-downloads

Advanced Students: Documentary

2008-10-20T21:16:00.000-07:00

An event documentary. The story should be told through the use of interviews, B-roll, music and [narration - optional] Documentary should evoke a mood appropriate to the subject. Music should also be appropriate to the event/topic. There must be no blood/gore, profanity, or negative messages (such as glorifying gang life, drug use, etc.) It could be a documentary on the school dance, on the school itself, on the making of a particular school project, covering an event such as the Day of 1000 Volunteers, etc.

Requirements:
Titles
Music
Establishing shot
Three interviews
B-roll (covered by music/interview/narration)
It should invoke an overarching mood
It must obey the Rule of Thirds, Leadroom, Headroom
Decent sound quality (any dialog must be heard)
NO inappropriate themes
NO unnecessary filters, special effects, etc.
NO backlighting.
Running time: 5 to 9min.

Due Dates:
Subject due: TBD
Interview questions due: TBD
Final cut due: TBD

Beginning Students: Chase Sequence

2008-03-17T15:28:00.000-07:00

A chase /race sequence involving an emotion. The story should be told by way of the action and the editing, not through dialog, but dialog may be included. There must be no blood/gore, profanity, or negative messages (such as glorifying gang life, drug use, etc.) It could be about running to catch a bus, running a football to the end zone, catching a runaway pet, and etc. It does NOT have to be a horror pic. Extra points for cleverness!

Requirements:
Music or titles may be added but are not required.
The chase must involve an emotion (hate, love, fear, etc.)
It must include the following shots: LS, MS, CU
It must use these angles (at LEAST): Eye level, Low angle, high angle
It must involve the following features:
– An establishing shot,
– A match cut,
– A reaction shot
It must obey the Rule of Thirds, Leadroom, Headroom
Decent sound quality (any dialog must be heard)
NO inappropriate themes
NO unnecessary filters, special effects, etc.
NO backlighting.
Running time: 2 to 5min.

Due Dates:
Storyboard due: TBD
Final cut due: TBD

Advanced Students: News Feature

2008-03-17T15:13:00.000-07:00

A second option for Advanced Students by permission only: The News Feature (ENG). It can be about a student, a faculty member, a class, or something else that occurs on campus such as a story about the flaf football team, After school activities, etc. It should be 60 to 90 seconds long. There must be no blood/gore, profanity, or negative messages (such as glorifying gang life, drug use, etc.)Other requirements are listed below.

Requirements:
Title: (Story title over black)
Lead-in: (Interviewer telling us what we are to see) [example below]
Interview: OSS (Over-shoulder shot - with interviewee looking at YOU) [example below]
Interview over B-roll (B-roll - ancillary footage of pertinent stuff) [example below]
Commentary over B-roll [example below]
Lower-thirds for all (titles on the lower "third")
Music (at beginning and end)
Tag: (Interviewer telling us what we have seen) [example below]
Begin and end in black (five seconds each)
It must obey the Rule of Thirds, Leadroom, Headroom
Decent sound quality (any dialog must be heard)
NO inappropriate themes
NO unnecessary filters, special effects, etc.
NO backlighting.

Due Dates:
Scripts & shot list: TBD
Final cut: TBD

Examples:
Lead-in:

Interview OSS (over shoulder shot):

Interview over B-roll:

Commentary over B-roll:

Tag: