Vol. 2, No. 4
VideoProducer

But let's not get ahead of ourselves. First things first. As with all cool software tools, step number one is to get your hands on a copy. You can install the VideoProducer software on your (Windows only, please) computer automatically from this site:

http://video.lycos.com/download

The list of requirements is pretty reasonable. If you're going to be shooting your own videos, you're going to want a digital camera and a microphone (not to mention lights, a foley artist, a key grip, a catering truck, and Benicio del Toro. Oh, and a dream.). But in the absence of such paraphernalia, you can still use VideoProducer as an editing tool to assemble a movie from clips and stills that you get from elsewhere -- a montage of all the baby videos your friends have been emailing you, for example, fading gracefully from one to the next, set to beautiful chimey music, and interspersed with stills of yourself as a baby, so everyone can compare doll-like you to their second-class infants.

So anyway. Enough about you. You've downloaded and installed the software. Double-click on the little icon and start it up. It should take you to video.lycos.com. Click on the My VideoCenter link. Your VideoCenter is where the action is. You'll be hanging out here a lot. There should be a list of the videos you've made (so far there's only the one that comes with the system, right?), options to deal with the videos, a graph of how much free space you have on the VideoCenter server, and one beautiful big button: "Launch VideoProducer." Press the button.

Through the miracle of ActiveX, you are brought to the Video Producer and offered a few options. You can record a video of your own, or import existing video footage. You can also adjust the settings of the Video Producer. Let's take a look at the settings first, just to satisfy our curiosity about how things work. Click the Settings button.

On the Settings page, you can select which video and audio input devices you want to use, and deal with their specifics. You can also set the working directory for the videos you'll be making, adjust the frame rate of capture -- higher frame rate equals higher quality -- and set the quality of the stream your users will see. There are four quality levels. The lower quality levels take up less space on the server, and look better on slower connections. So, for example, "Good Quality" -- the lowest level -- allows you to store 50 minutes of video in your 10 megabytes, and is easily viewed on even a 28.8k modem. But it can be a little grainy and jerky. "Best Quality," on the other hand, looks pretty darn good, but only four and a half minutes of it will fit in 10 megabytes, and users need a high-speed connection to view it. Different versions of the same video can coexist on the server, and users can choose which they want to see. Just be aware of your space limitations.

Recording video is both easy to do and somewhat out of the scope of this newsletter. "Screenplay," by Syd Field is the seminal book on how to write a hit movie. As far as VideoProducer is concerned, though, all you have to do is click Record, point the camera, and follow the prompts. You can also capture pre-recorded video from a VCR, which requires a video capture device. Refer to VideoCenter help for details on this part of the process.

Importing video into VideoProducer is likewise simple. Click the Import button, select the file you want to import, and click OK. The file will load.

All right. By hook or by crook (or possibly a little of each) you've put some video footage inside your VideoProducer. Congratulations. Now you can either simply upload the raw footage to VideoCenter, or you can head into post-production and make your movie slick. Let's try the latter.

All of the editing features of VideoProducer are snuggled away out of sight. To uncover them, click the Advanced Features button. A new pane should slide out of the window, giving you access to the Media Library and the Movie Editor. Voila! The Media Library is where you can keep your palette of video clips, sound files, and still images, and where you can create titles and effects.

Here's how it works. Say you've got two short video clips. Drag them down to the Movie Editor timeline, in the order you want them to appear. Now, as it stands, first one will play, then the next, with no transition. But we want a smooth transition. Click the Effects tab in the Media Library. You should see a choice of five transition effects to choose from, each neatly represented by an icon. Drag "VideoWipe" down so it sits between your two clips on the timeline. Now right-click the copy of it on the timeline, and select Properties from the pop-up menu. You can choose the duration of the transition and select from a dozen or so snazzy styles: Right To Left, Top To Bottom, Horizontal Venetian Blind, and so forth. The same approach works for the other effects. Play around with them and see what you get.

To create titles for your budding feature, right-click in the Media Library area and select "Create Title..." from the pop-up menu. A little window will appear. Here you can type the text you want, select the font, alignment, and color scheme, and set the duration of your title card. Click OK, and drag the completed title to the timeline.

Last but not least, your movie needs a soundtrack. If it's a darkly wry romantic comedy, click the "Randy Newman" button. For an atmospheric thriller, you might want to click the "Howard Shore" button. No. That's a joke. Adding music to your movie is as simple as clicking the "Set Music" button and choosing an audio file.

When you're satisfied with how it all looks, click the Make Movie button. It'll take a little while for the whole thing to render. When it's done, you can preview it, and if you're happy, upload it to the VideoCenter by clicking "Upload Now!" You are now a filmmaker. Put it on your resume.

From the VideoCenter, there are various options for distributing your effort. You can send it as "VideoMail," put it on your Website, and/or submit it to the public VideoCenter gallery. Coming soon: a "Submit Film To Sundance" link.

And that's that. Don't forget your friends when you're famous.

HINTS, POINTERS, AND TIPS O' THE TRADE :

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If you're having trouble figuring out what quality levels to upload your videos at, you can take a survey of your users and find out what they want. Democracy in action!

In order to view your videos, people will need a copy of Windows Media Player. It's a good idea to mention that fact on your site, or whenever you're distributing your video, and provide the following link to the software:

Productivity trick: come up with useful ways of procrastinating.

RESOURCES: VideoCenter Help

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