I just got accepted to Hulu.com, a video site that has legal, original episodes from multiple big-time networks. Unfortunately for you, it's beta and private. But, you can apply and they'll get back to you in about a week...
For now, here's a gift from them to me to you:
Showing posts with label video. Show all posts
Showing posts with label video. Show all posts
iTV
Someone's Got My #
I know I'm getting tricked into marketing for this show, but my gf worked on it so I guess that just makes this post cronyism.
The original post was titled Rev Raikes is a Slacker on Walt's Blog
If Yer Bored
I was recently asked to assemble a list of worthwhile movies for a friend with MythTV, a free, tivo-like PVR (personal video recorder) for Linux. Now you reap those "fruits".
If you don't have either of the previous 2, you can download some of the following titles with iTunes or another service. Definitely do not use Azureus P2P (peer-to-peer) downloading software or something like Mininova to find them. You will go to jail and make your mama cry. Here goes, hope you enjoy:
SCIFI/horror/comedy
If you don't have either of the previous 2, you can download some of the following titles with iTunes or another service. Definitely do not use Azureus P2P (peer-to-peer) downloading software or something like Mininova to find them. You will go to jail and make your mama cry. Here goes, hope you enjoy:
SCIFI/horror/comedy
- Children of Men
- Save the Green Planet (Korean/mind-blowing)
- Slither (w/ guy from Firefly/Serenity)
- Serenity (best recent sci-fi)
- The Descent (hits all the phobias)
- Science of Sleep
- Flushed Away (animation)
- Doom (pretty good for The Rock)
- Factotum (Bukowski bio)
- Lucky Number Slevin
- The Illusionist
- Casino Royale (the new one, '07)
- Crank (guy from the Transporter)
- Smokin' Aces
- The Wicker Man (Nick Cage)
- The Black Cauldron (animation)
- New Legend of the Shaolin
- Fearless
- Curse of the Golden Flower
- Who Killed the Electric Car?
- An Inconvenient Truth
- The Corporation
- This Film Is Not Yet Rated (freaking awesome)
- Heroes
- Ugly Betty
- My Name Is Earl
- Lost (duh...)
- BBC Horizon: Parallel Universes
- How I Met Your Mother
This is by no means a complete list (or even ordered), just some recent views.
I Want My *%&$ Back
I know I have been posting tips purely on Mac matters lately because I have access to some pretty high-end stuff at work, so here's one for the masses (like me when I'm @ home):
I wanted to get one of my videos back from Youtube that I misplaced in my piles of unlabeled discs to post on another site I just joined. It's not super-easy, but fairly painless.
First, if you haven't switched to Firefox...why the hell not? Stop using IE (highly vulnerable/unweildy) or Safari (clunky/site-support spotty), because it has a mass of need-specific tools you can add to it. The one I picked for downloading Youtube (and supposedly Google) video was Ook? Video Ook!...I know, but the usefulness outweighs the bad name. This add-on puts a little icon on your browser status-bar (but you can put it elsewhere with the options). Depending on your system, you either single- or left-click on the icon when on a video's page to download an .FLV file.
Now what can anyone do with a Flash file (that's what an .flv is)? This is where VLC comes in. Like Firefox, this massively useful, tiny video player is free and runs on the major operating systems with zero hassle. Again, why are you still using Win-Media Player or Quicktime for which you can't find specialized codecs for different formats? If you don't know what codecs are, then you need VLC. It has all of them (except a couple that are only being used by trouble-makers and I don't run inot those often).
So you open VLC and
- click File
- choose Wizard (Streamin/Exporting Wizard for Mac)
- when the window pops-up, choose Transcode/Save to File
- under Select a Stream, click Choose and find your fresh [videodname].flv download
- Click Next (duh)
- Check Transcode Video, choose Mpeg-2
- Check Transcode Audio, choose MP3
- Click Next, choose where you want your file to go and name it [whatever-you-want].mpg
It'll do stuff, how long depends on the length of the movie. Then, boom (or bam or wiffle, etc.), you have your video back.
If that's all too difficult for you, check these guys' article. They're hawking somebody's wares and suggest something called greasemonkey, which adds another layer of complexity. But whatever ou do, get Firefox & VLC. They make life easier. VLC isn't the best thing for transcoding, but it plays video awesomely. And if you want a one-stop, free install, that one's it.
Working with High Definition Video
I recently took a class (with the kind patronage of my boss) in the use Final Cut Pro. If you haven't had the pleasure of working with it, it is one of the most useful, hands-on video-editing suites available. It is also very intricate.
Therefore, as I understand how to better use it, I will be posting primers on video processing and manipulation. We (that is, WSU LC-NOP) recently acquired a high-definition (HD) camera and are trying to discover it's possibilities. While it's images are stunning, the new technology ads an extra layer of complexity. Below is a guide to capturing footage shot on such a camera.
For Final Cut Pro & the Sony HDV 1080i mini DV camera:
- Open a new project
- Go to & click "Final Cut Pro" in the top toolbar
- Choose "Audio/Video Settings" from the drop-down menu
- When the dialog window pops-up, it shows the Summary tab first.
- In this tab, under Sequence Preset choose HDV - 1080i60
- under Capture Preset choose HDV
- under Device Control Preset choose HDV Firewire
- Now go to the Sequence Presets tab and make sure that HDV - 1080i60 has a check-mark
- Go to the Capture Presets tab and make sure that HDV has a check-mark
- Go to the Device Control Presets tab and make sure that HDV Firewire has a check-mark
- If that is all correct, click OK and select your Sequence 1 by single-clicking on it (you have to do this to be able to access the sequence settings - a must for capturing in this format)
- Now go to Sequence in the top toolbar and choose Settings
- In the dialog box, the General tab is the 1st to show
- Under Frame Size, choose your desired size (something HD for sure, like 960x720, but make sure that it is in 16:9 Aspect Ration if you shot your footage in Widescreen)
- Then set Pixel Aspect Ratio (to the same as the above choice and definitely HD), check Anamorphic 16:9 if desired
- Then set the Quicktime Video Settings to HDV 1080i60
- Then Click OK and you should be ready to Log & Capture
Sometimes it's something as simple (and upsetting) as merely not clicking on your Sequence before you set the preferences (see #6 in the list).
This Death is Not Yet Rated
The Death Star Is at the Mechanic's /
A Estrela da Morte Está no Mecânico
Originally uploaded by Alex Castro.
This evil, ugly, malignant dwarf has held our culture captive for nearly 40 years. He has kept us safe from ourselves. He is in large part the reason nothing good has come out of Hollywood for decades. He was the head of the motion picture ratings group - and now he is the subject of unfounded hero worship.
I like to sound informed, but the only reason I know about him and am going on this rant is because of the documentary This Film is Not Yet Rated. This is an amazing movie that you will probably never see due to its attack on the MPAA. Viewing it makes it hard to believe that people all over CA aren't popping champagne corks this day, including those currently extolling his virtues.
His boyscout maxims that litter the aforementioned film & are being broadcast posthumously are a thin veil for draconian ideology. He said things like, "There isn't anything in the world that can't be made better." It sounds good on the surface, but has a fascist aftertaste. I mean who says what better is or what is purely censorship? I say he's made the world better by leaving it.
Other Valentiisms:
- I sleep each night a little better, a little more confidently, because Lyndon Johnson is my president.
- No one today knows what is indecent.
- The VCR is to the American film producer and the American public as the Boston Strangler is to the woman alone.
Google Video
For lack of anthing interesting to say (for several weeks it seems), I am going to post my knowledge of how to get your stuff on Google Video.
This info starts from the DVD rip and goes to the finality of uploading to Google. I include the DVD info because one of the things I do at my job is to transfer individuals' VHS memories to DVD. One person that comes in likes to get his stuff on the web, hence this little tutorial...oh, btw did I mention that this info is for Mac? If you are using a PC, the process is so much easier and there's tons of info out there for that.
QUICK & DIRTY GUIDE TO VIDEO CONVERSION
(If using DVD-disc/VOB-file)
Rip to harddrive using Handbrake program
-using "MP4" file format
-& "AVC/H.264 Video" codec
-set avg. bitrate at 750 (Google suggested min.)
-adjust picture settings to desired size (320x240 min.)
-audio should be fine (lang1:unknown/44.1k/128kbps)
this will create an ".mp4" file
General Transcoding:
(either from ripped file or locally generated)
Using Quicktime Pro, open the desired video(s)
If multiple videos need to be spliced together, copy desired footage/ trim movie to desired points/ paste parts at play-marker points
(if file is already a ".mp4" file)
Save video (not "Export") as "Self Contained movie"
this will create a new file that is a ".mov" file
(if file is not already an ".mp4")
Go to >File>Export
At bottom of dialog box find "Export">Choose "Movie to MPEG4"
select "Options" directly to the right of "Export"
-Under Video tab (1st screen)} File Format: set to "H.264"
-Data Rate: 750 kbits/sec
-Image Size: choose (min. 320x240)
-Frame Rate: 30
-Under Audio tab} Audio Format: set to "Pass through"
-select OK
When that produces a ".mp4" file, open that back up in Quicktime and save as per above instructions.
The Google upload program seems only to accept MP4 encoded MOV files. Use the Google Video Uploader application as it appears to be more stable than browser upload.
IF SERVER WARNING APPEARS
Do not become discouraged. This happens frequently. The program is in "beta" stage.
Try re-logging in, shutting down the program & bringing it back up, whatever works at the time.
(Do no remove files from queue. They should be there when the program comes back up, unless it crashed or you forced it to quit)
Then check "I certify...blah blablah" and click the upload button again. Upload should resume from previous point of glitch (i.e. upload status percentage). Rinse & repeat as needed...
If you notice the upload speed stalling at a certain number, selecting "Cancel" will not destroy any upload progress either. Try that and then (wait for the program to respond again, takes time) select "Upload" again.
This will save you hours of trying over & over to get past that glitch point by removing and re-adding (as I initially did) with no successful result.
Cyberpunk
Watch this amazing commentary on social evolution by Assistant Professor of Cultural Anthropology at Kansas State University, Michael Wesch, then read on:
Web 2.0 ... The Machine is Us/ing Us
As I was checking my gmail to find the link to this vid that a colleague sent me, I noticed that the ad-pane on the side had referenced the content of the email to assist me in my shopping/research needs. Neither is this the first time that I have noticed this phenomenon, nor is it scary to me that my personal info is being used in this manner; especially after viewing material as moving as the above.
When I was a teen reading William Gibson novels (creator of the term cyberspace) I used to dream about a time when humans could mesh with technology and any sensory/communicative treasure was a mere thought away. While we are a long way off from realizing VR or having cables sticking out of our skulls, we are being conditioned and conditioning the neural-net for symbiosis.
This thing that pretends to be a toy does so in order to trick humans into playing with it, to addict. When we play we shine. We can plug into the muse, or whatever one may call that collective id.
The human mass organism is subconsciously conspiring to get back that extra-sensory ability that we may have had eons ago, and this is the tool. The web is more than a series of wires and nodes. It is a different face for the timeless ether the Stygian witches tapped, a crystal ball, a meditation on the beauty of our ugliness.
We are as great & horrible, caring & efficiently cold and wildly astounding as the universe that spawned us. Look into the shimmering void and see yourself.
in honor of this post, anyone that asks me for a gmail account will be given one while they last. i am not a shill, i just have tons of them to give away.
just leave me a comment on this or any future posts.
I'm fine
Watch GBS-TV. It's free and funny. That's why I'm fine now. I was not earlier. Anyway, how could someone be a sour-puss when the moon is so full, beautiful and peeking through the clouds. Well, it is here anyway. I'm sorry if you don't have clouds. Move to the Northwest (U.S.). O.k., that's all the advice I will dispense.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
