I didn’t realize just how bad my yard sucks this summer until yesterday when I walked outside to shoot some practice video. Looking through the viewfinder of a camera really tells a truth that you can’t deny. Actually, I did realize it but this summer I have refused to face the bitter truth. I admit that this is probably the worst year I have ever had at yard maintenance. Partly due to circumstances and partly due to the fact that I have been lazy. I offer proof that my yard sucks with the video below. My yard has taken a back seat to everything else this summer. Luckily, from the street it looks ok, but it is awful for the most part. I promised my yard yesterday that I would do better. BTW, nothing in the video was staged. I shot it as it was. That’s why it’s so pathetic.
Yes, the yard looks like crap but this post is about testing out some video settings and just practicing for fun. No reason to waste footage, right?
I went outside to shoot some video clips for practice and to try different settings on my video camera. Recently, I upgraded my video editing software from Final Cut Express to Final Cut Pro. It’s time for me to take video production more seriously than just a hobby. I want to pursue more video work and possibly some professional and “paying” editing work. Final Cut Pro opens a new world to those who edit video. The interface is the same as FCE but FCP is professional software with only a zillion more options and features. More Hollywood motion pictures and TV shows are now being edited on Final Cut Pro. The same software is available to all of us for under $1000.
I wanted some new footage to drop into Final Cut Pro
Video camera settings used:
I shot the video with my Canon XH A1 
I shot in 16:9 (widescreen), High Definition, 24f (frames/sec).
Color preset, VIVIDRGB by Stephen Dempsey.
Here is a video on Vimeo that shows many different color presets that can be used on the Canon XH A1 camcorder. There are a lot of very talented people out there who build Canon XH A1 presets and freely allow others to download and use them. Many thanks to these people.
My tripod is a Davis & Sanford Provista 75XB
Video was shot in manual, in the AV mode. I used auto-focus in a couple of the zoom shots.
Final Cut Pro workflow details:
Straight editing. Nothing fancy.
No color correction at all. Video is straight out of the camera using the preset.
Once edited, I saved the video as a PNG (lossless), 1280 x 720HD. This will save your video with no loss and it will be a large .mov file. It takes a while and this video was 6.14 gigs before compression. High definition video creates very large files. A lot of people think that just saving a non-compressed Quicktime Movie file will save your original project. In my experience, this is incorrect. Quicktime will definitely compress your original files, PNG format does not.
Preparing video for the web:
Obviously, the file was much too large for the web. It must be compressed into a smaller file, all the while trying to preserve the quality of the original. I dropped the video into my favorite compression software called DV Kitchen. I love this software and it’s only $79. You can download a free trial at the link I gave you. i think the free trial is good for 20 days. I promise, you will buy DV Kitchen it if you try it out. It does much more than only compressing video.
Take a look at the 2 Ugly Yard videos below, both videos are identical, only 2 different formats. One is in quicktime movie and the other is in flash. Can you tell a difference? Which one looks and plays the best on your computer? Note: I am hosting both of these videos on my own Amazon S3 Account.
Ugly Yard Video #1.
If you can’t view the video on email, please visit the site
Ugly Yard Video #2.
General Fuzz is the artist of the music, if you would like to download it and use it, click here…reasonableability.mp3.
Remember when I said that DV Kitchen was more than just video compression software? It’s also an excellent tool to capture professional quality still photos from your videos. Below are stills from the video I captured using the DV Kitchen timefreezer option.
Well, I gotta go and cut some grass now. Have a great week.
2010 Bloggerlens.com
Hey Steve -
I’m a noob to video, but I’ve been trying to get into it a bit as I really enjoy taking the video and the editing process, and seeing what I can produce in final form.
Found your site from blogging genius Mr. Allen
Not sure what your final thoughts were on the .mov vs. flash. I thought the colors and depth really came through best in flash, but playback was a bit choppy. The .mov was a lot smoother. Which do you prefer?
I’ll have to look through your site and see what other tips you might have for someone new to video, or if you have any new posts in mind, i’d look forward to seeing them.
Pete
You were correct when you said Allyn was the blogging genius. I prefer the .mov format overall. I work on a Mac and that is the native most common output.
I convert a lot of stuff to flash because it reduces the file size greatly, seems to play faster and does not degrade the quality enough to make a big difference.
I hope you will find a few things here on bloggerlens useful Pete.
Thanks for the reply Steve. I’ve been browsing around, and have been enjoying your site. Your hyperlocal focus of your other sites is interesting to me. Not something I could do myself, but sounds like you’ve really got something great going on. BTW – that canon you used for these videos is one heck of a camera you got there.
I realized I spelled Allyn’s name wrong in the original comment…I get typing too fast some times. I have learned a lot from his posts, and enjoy the video blogging you guys do. I like my anonymity too much or I’d give it a try myself.
Glad you found a few things useful. Thanks for your nice comments.
ya know some ppl like the “wild” look.. especially that wooden planter, very nice. bird poop could go tho even for my prefs.
Unfortunately my wife does not like the wild look and ordered it cleaned up. One of these days, I’m going to tell her…oops here she comes, gotta go.