HOME FILM
MAKING GUIDE
GUIDE FOR ASPIRING FILMMAKERS
HOW TO
BEGIN MAKING FILMS AT HOME AT A REASONABLE COST
Recent
radical advancements in computer chip technology have now made it possible
to create video that before could be done only with very expensive
equipment. The advent of the new mini-DV format and the development
of new digital video producing equipment means that now anyone can create
professional quality videos at a fraction of the previous cost.
Mini-DV format is used by both amateurs and professionals, so upgrading
equipment means you won’t have to throw away all your old footage, or deal
with expensive transfers. The really good news is that you can start
right now and make a good quality video for well under $1000, including
all stages of production.
The
production of a digital video includes the following
stages:
1 ) Shooting your film
with a digital camcorder.
2) Importing your footage into your
computer via a USB 2.0 or FireWire (1394) port.
3) Editing
with software.
4) Burning the
final product onto a DVD.
This guide will take you through all
of these steps and offer some recommendations for equipment and
software.
DIGITAL VIDEO
CAMERAS
Digital
video cameras are often classified into three groups: professional,
prosumer, and consumer. While professional-grade cameras can cost
more than $50,000, you can now buy a
good consumer-grade camera for as little as $350.
There are several
reasonably priced
camcorders on the market. For example, the excellent
Sony DCR-TRV460 Digital8 Handycam Camcorder costs as little $350.
This camera is particularly useful since it includes a remote control and
a memory stick slot. You can record to the memory stick as
well as tape for both video and still images. Or the
Canon ZR85 Mini-DV
Camcorder can also be purchased for $499.
Mini-DV
camcorders use mini-DV cassettes, which can be purchased for about $5
each, or for cheaper still if you get them in bulk. We recommend
well-known brands like Sony, Panasonic, and Maxell.
L ow-cost
digital camcorders deliver excellent video. However, to get clear
audio and to reduce extraneous sounds, you might want to invest in an
external directional microphone, such as an
ECM-Z37C
($149.99).
Be sure that your camera is USB 2.0 or FireWire
compatible.
DIGITAL VIDEO: IMPORTING TO YOUR
COMPUTER
Twenty years
ago, in order to transfer video to post-production equipment, it was
necessary to use a whole room filled with bulky, scary-looking machines
that were dedicated uniquely to this task. Now all you need is a
generic desktop computer or even a laptop!
The high
quality of digital video today comes from the fact that it is shot in
digital mini-DV format on your camcorder and it will remain digital after
you transfer it to your computer. This means that your video will
not degrade to a lower quality format, which is what used to happen before
the advent of digital video.
First, here are the minimum requirements that your
computer will need to be able to capture, edit, and play digital
video.
MINIMUM COMPUTER REQUIREMENTS
A few years
ago, minimum specifications would have been required to make your computer
digital video ready. Today, however, almost any computer on the
market will fulfill these requirements. In case your computer has
not been upgraded for a very long time, here are the minimum
requirements:
Pentium III
processor or higher
Windows 98
Version 2 (Not Version 1) or higher
At least 256
MB RAM One G recommended.
10 GB hard
drive or more
USB 2.0 or Firewire 1394 Port (USB 1.0 is too
slow.)
Sound
card
Monitor
supporting 16-bit color at 1024-by-768
PORTS
All new computers come with either a USB 2.0 port or a
FireWire 1394 port. Those with older computers should note
that a USB 1.0 port is not sufficient for transferring digital
video. If you have Windows 98 Version 2 (not 1) or a higher
version of Windows you can buy PCI or PCMIA cards for either USB 2.0 or
Firewire. Windows XP and the latest versions of Windows 2000 have
the drivers built in. Windows 98 Version 2 requires a separate USB
2.0 driver for each USB accessory.
You need
cables to connect to your camera which can be purchased in most stores (if
they do not come with the camera).
DIGITAL VIDEO
EDITING
Editing is crucial to making a good
video. The editing stage is when you can divide your footage into
clips, which you can subsequently shorten, modify or combine; add music,
narration, sound effects, special effects, and more.
VIDEO FORMATS
Since video editing programs differ
widely as to what input and output formats they can support, you will have
to understand different video formats in order to be able to choose the
right editing software. Currently the two most common video formats
are Microsoft AVI and QuickTime.
- AVI is a file extension
(.avi), standing for Audio Video
Interleaved. It is a simple
format best suited for most video editing purposes.
- QuickTime files, which are
defined by Apple's QuickTime standard, are native to the Macintosh
platform but will also run on Windows PCs with the QuickTime for Windows
drivers installed. They have an .mov extension.
Among the other video formats
are:
- MPEG, which
is a compressed
digital video format named after the Motion Picture Experts Group which
developed it. MPEG-1 is used for high-quality multimedia videos and
older video discs. MPEG-2 is the standard now being used for new DVDs,
which are destined to replace audio CDs and CD-ROMs.
- MMV
stands for the new Sony
MicroMV format used by some new high-end consumer Sony
camcorders.
- Windows
Media
format is a deliberately low quality, low
data-rate format designed specifically for Internet use (extension .wmv
for video files and .wma for audio files).
Some Windows Media Format files
may also have the extension .asf (advanced streaming format).
- Real
Media
format is also
specifically
designed to
stream video over the web.
- Digital
audio
files have an extension
.wav, .mp3,
or .mpa.
Most video capture cards (see
Digital
Video Capturing) come with basic editing software
which will enable you to tie together video sequences. If you want
to
experiment
further with video editing then you could look at some of these
programs.
EDITING SOFTWARE
Ulead Video Studio
8
($99.95), is currently the most popular video editing software for
beginning and intermediate videographers. It is amazingly simple to
use, but it also delivers all the fundamental tools needed to capture,
edit, add effects, music, add titles and output in multiple formats.
Previous video editing training is not necessary to start using this
software. The Ulead website also offers a comprehensive
video tutorial
that
takes you through all the steps from capturing your video to the computer
to outputting in on CD or DVD.
Pinnacle
Studio 9 ($99.99) is similar video editing software.
A word of advice, those who have already mastered
Ulead Video Studio
8 or
Pinnacle
Studio 9 may want to advance their video editing skills with more
powerful editing tools, such as
Pinnacle
Studio Deluxe 9 ($199), which includes the new AV/DV analogue and digital capture
card enabling high quality capture from any source,
or
Ulead Media Studio Pro
7 ($299), which contains a complete set of advanced video editing
tools.
The differences between the cheaper and
more expensive versions of editing software are related to how well they
can do four basic tasks involved in editing:
- Capture
- Mix Sound
- Transitions
- Output.
Important
factors include software speed (the time it takes to do actual hands-on
editing work, including combining clips, rendering transitions and effects, etc),
the number of import and export formats supported, real time preview,
customizable interface, the number of tracks, fonts, special effects, and
transitions.
So unless you are set on making an MTV-type
infomercial with 3D geometrical figures flying all over the place, the
above programs should fulfill all your video editing needs.
The more expensive and powerful video
editing programs used by intermediate to advanced videographers are
Adobe Premiere
Pro 1.5 ($699) or its previous version, cheaper but still very powerful
Adobe Premiere 6.5 (Adobe website doesn’t carry it anymore but you can buy
it from many online retailers for about $450).
Excellent video editing and finishing products can also be at Avid.com
Lastly, Apple’s Final Cut Pro
HD ($999)
is an industry standard for professional videographers and documentary
filmmakers working on a Macintosh platform.
DVD
RECORDING
Once you’ve
shot and edited your film, you will probably want to show it to other
people. The old way to make your video available was to export it
back to mini-DV tape and make VHS copies from it. Now, however, with
the availability of the DVD format, you can burn your movie directly on
DVD.
DVD has become the most popular and powerful consumer electronics
format. Due its small size, versatility, large storage capacity, and
low price, it will eventually replace CDs, which can hold only
600MB. DVDs can hold up to 4.7 GB, which is enough for a 2-hour
feature film.
DVD
authoring software is the process of collecting video, audio, various menus,
submenus, and options, subtitles, etc. into an interactive branching
structure that will eventually become a playable DVD. You need two things
in order to make a playable DVD: DVD authoring software and a DVD
burner.
DVD
AUTHORING SOFTWARE
Several
companies offer this software, including Sonic Solutions, Apple, Ulead,
Pinnacle, and more.
Consumer
authoring software ranges from $50 up to around $250. All of the
available programs have the same basic functions, meaning you can put your
video on a DVD with some rudimentary chapter points and a menu. The
interface is very simple as most use a template-driven system where you
choose a pre-designed interface and then customize it for yourself.
The most
popular budget DVD-authoring software is
Sonic MyDVD
Studio 6
$69.99.
MyDVD 6 will
convert videos into DVDs from almost any source, including AVI, MPEG-1 and
-2, QuickTime, and Windows Media. The clear but elegant interface
will allow you to capture and burn video in a matter of clicks and
create custom menus, submenus, and chapter menus. A slightly more
expensive $149.99 version (MyDVD
Studio Deluxe Suite 6
) includes CD-burning capability, archive/backup
software, and a media player.
Popular
budget DVD-authoring programs with similar capabilities include
Ulead DVD MovieFactory 3
($50);
Pinnacle
Systems Instant CD/DVD
($80); and
iDVD 4
for Apple ($50).
Some of the
more expensive programs, such as Sonic Solutions
DVDit! 5.2 ($299), or the even fancier
Ulead
Systems DVD Workshop 2 ($495) offer support for 16:9 (widescreen)
video, surround sound audio streams, region coding support, advanced error
checking, motion menus, etc.
DVD
BURNERS
Some
high-end computers today already come with a built-in DVD burner and most
likely, in a few years, it will become the norm for all computers as the
prices go down. There are two kinds of DVD burners: internal and
external. You must have Windows 98 Version 2 or higher
(not Version 1 to record DVDs.)
This year the speed increased from 4X to 8X.
However, as with the introduction of 4X it is hard to find the 8X media
right now.
Good internal burners are manufactured by Sony and
Hewlett-Packard. Regarding Sony, we suggest either the
Sony DRU-710A for around $129.99, or the
Sony
DRU-540A
for $159.99. Concerning internal Hewlett-Packard DVD
burners, try the
HP DVD Writer 630i for $129.99.
If you
prefer not to worry about opening your computer and installing an internal
burner, you might want to get an external one. External burners
receive data from your computer through either the USB 2.0 port or
FireWire port.
External burners are available from Sony and Hewlett-Packard.
We suggest the following models:
Sony
DRX-710UL/T ($229.99), the
HP DVD Writer 630e ($199.99), or the
HP
DVD Movie Writer dc5000 ($249.99) (includes RCA jacks for importing
video).
WRAPPING UP
Here is what you can expect to spend using this guide
to purchase some of the products we suggest.
Camera:
$350
Optional
microphones: $60-150
Editing
software: $100-300
DVD Burner:
$100-300
DVD
Authoring Software: $50-300 (may be included with DVD burner)
ADDITIONAL
INFORMATION
Here are s ome good web resources
for software reviews and recommendations:
WFF
Links for Film Makers
Videomaker Magazine
PC
Magazine
CNET
ZDNET
Digital
Producer
DV Magazine
Desktop
Video |