Graham Raubvogel, a local film/video director, BHS student and inspired VCAM Producer, recently took first prize at the Santa Monica Teen Film Festival with his short film Keeping Time.
Graham’s award winning piece is about a young man named Oscar who is haunted by his past and struggling to move forward with his life. It is one of Graham’s very first short films (many of which can be viewed on his You Tube channel) and was shot during his freshman year at Burlington High School. It is clear he is a talented young filmmaker with a bright future ahead.
Congratulations Graham on all your hard work and momentous award! We’ll be keeping our eyes peeled for new projects in the future…
Check out Rebecca Kopycinski’s opening credits for her new show Burly Song. She designed them using Adobe’s CS3 here at the VCAM studio and in the process she has rapidly become quite skilled at After Effects. Burly Song will feature performances by musicians from our local independent music scene as well as special guest appearances from touring musicians performing in the Burlington area. You can look for Burly Song to premiere on VCAM Channel 15 next week!
EngageMedia.org has published a lengthy, detailed report on Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) video codecs and players. According to the site, “It is a review of available tools for the creation, playback and embedding of online video using FOSS codecs, and a look at the most pressing areas for development to enhance their adoption by social change video projects on the web.”
Non-FOSS codecs and players are plagued by patent issues and proprietary technologies that can inhibit usability and affordability for many video makers. According to the report, as media become further democratized, it’s important that the tools we use do not become locked down and owned exclusively by a small number of technology corporations. This report lays it all out and offers some best practices for video content creators. What follows is an excerpt from the report that focuses on some specific technology recommendations…
The use of two FOSS video and audio codec combinations are recommended:
Xvid/LAME Use of the Xvid codec for video and LAME codec for audio in the medium term as both codecs are well developed and generally well supported but are encumbered with patent issues that mean they may be plagued with legal issues into the future.
Ogg Theora/Vorbis Use of the Ogg format, Theora video codec and Vorbis audio codec as they are patent-free technologies that have seen great improvements in usability and the number and quality of tools available to create and play them is increasing.
There are many good FOSS players of both Xvid/LAME and Ogg Theora/Vorbis available, some more suitable for certain purposes than others. However the recommendation is that Transmission projects promote the use of one player application primarily, VLC, in order to share documentation and training resources more easily by adopting the same software:
VLC Use VLC as it is highly-developed FOSS media player for FOSS codecs available on all platforms.
The following transcoders are recommended to create Ogg Theora/Vorbis video files:
MediaCoder (Windows) Use MediaCoder as it is a very usable and highly-configurable FOSS transcoding application with good presets.
Simple Theora Encoder (Mac) Use Simple Theora Encoder as it is a very easy-to-use FOSS application for creating Ogg files with presets and configurability.
Ogg Convert (Linux) Use Ogg Convert as it is a very simple and usable FOSS application to create Ogg files amongst others.
The following transcoders are recommended to create Xvid/LAME video files:
MediaCoder (Windows) Use MediaCoder as it is a very usable and highly-configurable FOSS transcoding application with good presets.
Avidemux (Linux) Use Avidemux, an easy yet configurable FOSS transcoding application with good presets.
FfmpegX (Mac) Use FfmpegX as it is an simple yet configurable Shareware transcoding GUI application built on FOSS transcoding software.
ffmpeg2theora Install the FOSS ffmpeg2theora on the server to create Ogg Theora/Vorbis files automatically for the user, that can then be played back in the browser with other FOSS technologies
Mencoder Install the FOSS Mencoder on the server to create Xvid/LAME files automatically for the user where appropriate, for download. Alternatively use this to transcode to Flash video for playback in the browser using FOSS technologies.
One of the hardest editing skills to learn is editing picture to music. Learning to do it well is almost like learning to play a musical instrument.
Here is an example of some excellent music editing that actually matches Swedish lyrics with some totally unrelated film footage of a religious revival. The song is by the Swedish electronic pop band, Familjen…
