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The Moving Picture: Perils of Presentations

This past fall I gave six 6-hour presentations over eight weekends in six different cities, taught a 2-day seminar in Las Vegas, and helped present three 3-day seminars in northern Virginia. Lots of travel, which was fun, and I enjoy presenting, but

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HDV and the Sony FX1

After testing Sony’s HDR-FX1, I’m an HDV believer. It’s not the second coming of DV, but it can be extremely useful in a number of circumstances, including when you need to down-sample the results to SD formats. Conversation between Stephen Nathans, editor and myself, December 20, 2004:Nathans: So, now that you’ve spent more time testing with HDV, how do you …

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The Moving Picture: Follow the Format

Many of the questions I get from readers and see on Web forums relate to confusion about the formats and file types used in the video production process. Briefly, a format defines the file structure, or how the information is presented in the file. D

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The Moving Picture: MPEG-4 is Dead

I've been down on MPEG-4 for a while now, despite my respect for many of the folks associated with the standard. Given the adoption of Microsoft's Windows Media Video 9 by the DVD Forum, there's increasing reason to believe, to paraphrase an old Sout

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The Moving Picture: From Small Things, Big Things One Day Come

The nice thing about DV is that when it arrived, it arrived alone, at least in the prosumer/consumer space, which was too price-sensitive for DVCAM and DVCPRO. There was analog and there was DV, and that was it. Unfortunately, new products have signi

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The Moving Picture: The Problem with Streaming

The problem with streaming video is well, um, streaming. To "stream" video, or deliver it on demand without interruption, you must compress it to low data rates that squeeze much of the quality out of the video. In contrast, all streaming video&mdash

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Will MPEG-4 Fly?

Strong market forces are pushing for a standards-based resolution to the high-profile battle of proprietary streaming technologies pitting Apple’s QuickTime, Microsoft Windows Media Technologies, and RealNetworks’ RealMedia against one another. Broadcasters are seeking a unified standard that will allow them to use a single delivery method for both traditional programming and Internet offerings. Many publishers of electronic content see users …

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Streamcity

Article used for linking videos from Streamcity review Sorenson 360 player

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Down With Wintel, Man – A Modern Day Fable

It was a small, tastefully lit shop on the east side. The NC-terminal was strategically placed, towards the back, telephone cables barely visible. The price tag hung, like a war medal, over the monochrome terminal and sleek, designer keyboard. “Network Computer – $500 (monitor not included).” Candles and incense burned on the podium – I could smell it from the …

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Comparing the Sony HDR-FX1, Canon XL2 and Panasonic AG-DVC60

Planning a new 3-CCD DV camcorder purchase? Wondering which one best suits your videography needs? You’re in luck—This review compares three new 3-CCD models built with videographers in mind. They’re all leading contenders for the current pro/prosumer crown: Canon’s XL2, Panasonic’s AG-DVC60, and Sony’s HDV-capable HDR-FX1. Read on for the tale of the tape. Few things in life are more …

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