Owning a desktop computer won't help you with standard video production techniques. Computer or no computer, you must still master the basics of camcorders, audio, lighting and so on.
Where the computer is a big help is with any project that 1) requires organization; and 2) lends itself to automation....
Bookkeeping is the one area of running a video business that many videomakers give short shrift. Yet they do so at their peril. We're not just talking about the IRS--although adequate record keeping can help prevent tax problems.
There is even more at stake here--namely the very future of...
For many independent videomakers, the leased access provision of the Cable Act of 1992 is the key to getting programming on the air. The provision requires cable system operators with more than 36 activated channels to make a portion of their capacity available to all comers for a reasonable...
King of the Hill
Sony's latest camcorder, the Hi8 CCD-TR700, reigns as new king of the Handycam line. And rightly so: this little unit boasts numerous niceties, including a 10x multispeed zoom lens, color viewfinder, optical image stabilization, a full complement of manual controls and rewriteable consumer (RC) time code...
Editing Powerhouse
Sony SV-S7000 Hi8 VCR
Sony
Sony Drive
Park Ridge, NJ 07656
www.sony.com
($2000)
Sony has taken some heat, in this magazine and others, for being slow to grant certain key features to consumer-level Videomakers. In the case of Hi8, at the top of the "most wanted" list are the capabilities that bring real...
What's the one factor that usually separates the video novices from the burgeoning pros?
Talent.
When you tackle the trials and tribulations of working with real live talent, you know you've become a pro.
For the sake of this article and for most videomakers' purposes, we will define talent as any purposeful...
Makeup and Clothing Tips For Video
Bright lights glaring, camera in tight, tape rolling... cue talent
Oops...what's that glare where your subject should be? This is no time to realize the talent's forehead reflects light like a beacon, or the color of the talent's clothing clashes with this upholstery.
Makeup and...
Modern still cameras are so easy to use that you can snap a pin-sharp, correctly exposed photograph even with a bag over your head.
We should all be grateful for modern automatic controls; the less there is to worry over the more we can concentrate on framing. But trouble arises...
Manufacturers load camcorders with all sorts of electronic doodads that let the user create amazing effects like slow motion, freeze frame, fades in and out, picture-in-picture, strobe and superimposed titles.
But there's a feature on every camcorder often overlooked by professional and amateur alike. Whether controlled by all electronic switch...
A Baker's Ten to Improve Your Special Effects
Most videomakers fall into one of two groups. First, the snapshotters, people who record scenes until their tapes are hill, then view the disconnected events using the search button. Second, videomakers
and pros, who edit their tapes and employ all the techniques...
