March, 2014

• 27 March

  Adjusting Brightness and Color in YouTube

  I’m pretty good getting the color and brightness right on clips that I upload to YouTube, but sometimes it’s a bit tougher with webinars, especially when they are self produced. I was checking some past webinars produced on YouTube Live for a seminar I’m producing at Streaming Media East 2014 and noticed that my face was way too dark in …

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• 26 March

  Tutorial: Encoding With HandBrake

  This is one of 42 lessons from my course Video Compression for Web, Disc and PC/TV/Console Playback, on Udemy. It covers how to use HandBrake to encode for streaming. As you may know, HandBrake is a free cross-platform encoder that does a great job encoding using the x264 codec. It’s especially useful when encoding for iBooks.  There’s about 20 seconds …

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• 26 March

  On Demand Webinar: Encoding for iBooks Author Now Available

  Note: With the June 2014 release of iBooks Author, the procedures discussed here no longer work. Good luck with your iBooks Author encodes. I held the webinar, Encoding for iBooks Author, on March 25. The webinar, which was sponsored by TalkPoint and used their new self-serving Convey webinar system, went off without a hitch. I’ve attended so many webinars lately …

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• 24 March

  Make This Look Like That – Improving Color and Brightness in Premiere Pro

  Many encoding pros spend an inordinate amount of time tweaking obscure H.264 compression parameters, while the fastest way to improve quality might just be optimizing the color and brightness of your source videos.  You can see that in the image on the left. Because I shot this video in a conference room lit by overhead fluorescent lights, the video lacked …

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• 21 March

  A Buyer’s Guide to Live Encoders

  Producing a live event in the near term and need to choose an encoder? My article, A Buyer’s Guide to Live Encoders, from the fabulous 2014 Streaming Media Sourcebook, is up on the Streaming Media webiste. Here’s the brief intro which details what’s covered in the article.  All live events start with an encoded stream produced by a live streaming encoder. In this …

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• 21 March

  A Buyer’s Guide to Cloud Encoders

  Considering a cloud encoder? My article, A Buyer’s Guide to Cloud Encoders, from the fabulous 2014 Streaming Media Sourcebook, is up on the Streaming Media webiste. Here’s the scintillating intro which tells what’s covered in the article.  There are many instances where cloud encoding is both efficient and cost-effective. For example, if you’re working with files already saved to the cloud — perhaps …

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• 20 March

  Review: Livestream Studio HD51

  My review of the new Livestream Studio HD51, is up on the Streaming Media Producer website. If you’re looking for a turnkey switcher encoder with HDMI and SDI input, it’s a great option. Here’s the intro to tell you what’s covered.  Livestream Studio HD51 is the latest in a line of production switchers from Livestream. Two aspects of the product …

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• 20 March

  Choosing a Capture Card for FMLE

  I received this email the other day from the Division Manager of Web Based Services for a large southern city. He said: While doing research, I found your “Choosing a Live Streaming Encoder” presentation on YouTube. I found it very informative and took many good notes. We will most likely end up going with a Dell server running Windows Server …

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• 20 March

  A Buyer’s Guide to Live Streaming Services

  My article, A Buyer’s Guide to Live Streaming Services, from the fabulous 2014 Streaming Media Sourcebook, is up on the Streaming Media webiste. Here’s the intro, designed to grab you by the throat (metaphorically, of course) and force you to read the balance. Well, if you’re interested in live streaming, you might find it worth a read.  So, you’ve decided to …

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• 19 March

  Encoding for iBooks Author Webinar: Download Free Proof of Concept iBook

  Note: With the June 2014 release of iBooks Author, the procedures discussed here no longer work. Good luck with your iBooks Author encodes. In my upcoming webinar, Encoding for iBooks Author (register here), I claim that “by the lessons learned in this webinar, you’ll be able to include more minutes of videos in your iBooks, or the same number of minutes …

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