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Posted by PTravel on 07/02/06 22:04
"Neil Smith [MVP Digital Media]" <neil@nospam.com> wrote in message
news:2baga21er8amteg5lbv028v151s3l6bq3u@4ax.com...
> On Sun, 02 Jul 2006 17:14:47 GMT, "PTravel"
> <ptravel@travelersvideo.com> wrote:
>
>
>>> It's just generically labelled as "Ken Burns" style video. MS
>>> Photostory can do a good job of creating this content style without
>>> needing any fussy NLE tricks or expensive hardware :
>>>
>>> http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/digitalphotography/photostory/default.mspx
>>>
>>> I'm sure you could re-import the video into your NLE. In this program
>>> it creates the file as WMV using the windows media v9 image 2 codec,
>
>>Your suggestion is that, rather than using Premiere Pro, which the OP
>>already has, he should buy a consumer-level program that generates WMV?
>>And
>
> Photostory is free, so there's no need to invoke cost here.
Well, that's worth the price. ;)
> I'm not
> clear that "consumer level" is relevant to the discussion, which was
> about what can be used to generate this effect. PS is one of probably
> a wide range of options, but it benefits from ease of use, so if he
> wants quick results then it's a good trial reference point.
The OP has Premiere Pro, which is capable, not only of doing the basic
effect, but offering infinitely more control over the process, including the
ability, for example, to handle any resampling artifacts, camera position,
etc. WMV is a lossy format, so you're introducing an additional layer of
coding/transcoding to get it into and out of the NLE, which will further
degrade the image.
>
>
>>THEN import it into his NLE to add the video?
>
> Video is video - I don't see the problem
Video isn't video. DV-codec-encoded video can be imported and exported from
Premiere without loss. WMV-codec-encoded video cannot.
> : Use PS to generate the
> image sequence then import the video as part of the overall
> presentation, just as you'd have to import say a DV sequence or audio
> track.
And lose quality in the process. Premiere Pro (which, I assume, is what you
mean, not Photo Shop), can import stills in virtually any format, including
PSD and TIFF, both of which, for example, will maintain the alpha channel
which is critical for the pseudo-3D effect described by another poster to
the this thread. Premiere Pro's resizing algorithyms don't introduce
unnecessary artifacts and, to the extent that artifacts are visible due,
e.g., to very thin vertical lines in the still, Premiere Pro has a variety
of approaches to eliminating it (anti-alias, gaussian blur, etc.). Once the
stills are in Premiere Pro, all of the correction available for video is
available for the stills, i.e. gamma can be adjusted, contrast center
adjusted, hue adjusted by color channel, saturation adjusted -- none of this
is possible with Photostory.
The resulting video from Premiere Pro will look far, far better than an
imported WMV sequence from Photostory.
>
>
>>Sorry, but I can't imagine a worse solution. There is no "expensive
>>hardware" required and Premiere Pro is exceptionally easy to use to
>>produce
>
>
> You've misunderstood the context. The OP stated he had all this
> shit-hot hardware at his disposal, I asserted that building an image
> sequence had no special resource requirements.
The OP asked about using what he had, not about whether it's possible to use
something else. What he has is a good prosumer setup all through the image
chain. Clearly, he is (1) concerned with video quality, or he wouldn't have
bought this stuff in the first place, and (2) capable of producing
technically high-quality video. He also posted his inquiry in
rec.video.production. No offense, but a recommendation to use a consumer
product that will produce degraded video compared to what the OP has is
really off-topic.
>
> In particular, this phrase "I have reasonable starter gear"and "I am a
> rank noob at video" indicates his level of experience with Premiere
> may require undue work to get the equivalent result, though it would
> be an interesting learning process.
Which is why, in my post, I explained how simple it was to do this with
Premiere Pro. His "reasonable starter gear" is both reasonable and
"starter" for a low-end professional, not for a casual consumer who only
wants to shoot the kids' birthday party, and doesn't care at all about video
quality.
>
>
>>this particular effect. Moreoever, it will do it with infinitely more
>>control than some toy consumer program. WMV is a lossy format that has to
>>be internally transcoded by most editors.
>
> The OP already stated he *has* WMA audio, so he's going to be using WM
> codecs as part of the tool chain. Perhaps he has WMA lossless, who
> knows.
So what if he has WMA audio? First of all, WMA is a pretty decent audio
codec, at least at higher bit rates. The OP doesn't mention what he has,
but, in all probability, it will sound as good as, for example, 128kbit mp3,
which sounds fine even on a good home theater audio setup. WMV, on the
other hand, was designed for high compression rates and small file size so
that video can be shipped around the internet easily (WMV9 isn't relevant to
this discussion). Like mpeg2, it is a lossy format. Unlike mpeg2 (at least
in Premiere Pro 2.0 or 1.5 with an additional plugin), it cannot be edited
in Premiere Pro without transcoding to Premiere's internal format. This
introduces an additional transcode step and will degrade the resulting
video. If he imports his stills and manipulates them entirely within
Premiere, no additional transcode is necessary.
>
> <shrugs> While I respect your input here, I can't see where you've
> provided an alternative scenarion in enough detail for the OP to get
> to his required result. Care to try again ? </shrug>
By accident, I had hit "reply" instead of "reply group," when I responded to
the OP so my response went directly to him. This is what I wrote:
"You don't have to pan across photographs with your camera. Import them in
to Premiere Pro. It works best with Adobe's PSD proprietary format. Keep
your resolution to no greater than 4000 x 4000 pixels. Drag the image to
the timeline. Click on the Effects Control tab in the Monitor WIndow and
select Motion. Using Position and the key frame control you can move
around the image, and using Scale and the key frame control you can zoom in
and out. This is the easiest way to do it, though there are other tools in
Premiere Pro that will accomplish the same thing."
I won't re-print the OP's personal response to me because I think it's
impolite to do so, but suffice to say that he thanked me for my explanation
and is now using the directions I provided. I understand that you wrote the
above because you weren't aware of my reply to the OP.
>
> HTH
> Cheers - Neil
> ------------------------------------------------
> Digital Media MVP : 2004-2006
> http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/mvpfaqs
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