Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with Video

Video edit to include only action parts

ben5757 — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 05:41:12 -0800

What is the easiest way to edit a video file to only include the footage when there is movement in a defined area?

Recommend a graphics card for my new TV

muckster — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 09:59:50 -0800

Do I need a new video card to hook my PC up to my new HDTV? I have a Dell PC with a ATI Radeon HD 2400 graphics card. It has two connections, one DVI and one S-Video.

I used to convert the DVI to RGB and connect that to my Dell monitor at the max resolution of 1680 x 1050. The S-Video was connected to my tube TV, which worked just fine.

The new TV is a Toshiba 40" 1080p, so of course I'd like to feed it something better than S-Video. I tried connecting the RGB, which gives me a max resolution of 1360x768 -- but it leaves me with S-Video for the monitor, which is pretty freakin' ugly.

Here's the question: is there a way I can use a splitter or similar to feed the DVI (or RGB) into both the monitor and the TV at a resolution both will be happy with? Or do I have to get a new HDMI-ready graphics card? If I do, can you recommend one that might last me little while without breaking the bank? Under $100 would be great. I play the occasional game of TF2 but media is going to be the main use. Blu-Ray might be nice one day. I don't need to expand to a second monitor and would be just as happy cloning the same image on both screens. Thanks much.

Golf! On the internet! Now!

ignignokt — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 15:25:41 -0800

Help My Parents With Their Inexplicable Obsession Filter: Is there a way to watch the Golf Channel online for free or cheap? My parents pay for cable TV just so they can have the Golf Channel. (Yeah, I don't get why they love golf so much, either.) My dad wants to use this Internet thing to get around that. Is there a way? So far, I see that certain golf events are streamed on ESPN, but what they're looking for is to be able to just turn something on at any time and see more or less original golf content.

An alternate source of streaming golf video content will probably work, too - it doesn't have to be the Golf Channel.

Compact, HD camcorder with manual control options?

bondcliff — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 11:11:16 -0800

I’m looking to buy a compact, flash-based, HD-capable camcorder with the ability to shut off automatic controls such as white balance and auto-focus. In addition to the usual stuff one does with a camcorder I’d also like to use it for stop-motion, time-lapse, and some other projects where I’ll need to shut off white balance and possibly auto-focus.

Something like the Flip or the Kodak Zi8 would be ideal but I don’t see that they have the ability to shut off these automatic features. If I have to go for a more traditional shaped camera, that’s fine. I’d like it to be somewhat small and inexpensive. Preferably under $500.00.

It needs to be able to do at least 720p HD widescreen. Good quality, good frame-rate, etc.

I’d prefer flash based but if a hard-drive based camera is my only option I’ll go with it. Tape is right out.

In a pinch, a regular point-and-shoot camera will do as long as the video quality is decent and I can shut the automatic stuff off.

If what I want does not exist, please let me know that too.

A little guy's on-screen debut

umbú — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 13:28:05 -0800

Any tips in directing a toddler in a homemade short film? I'd like to have fun with my son, who is a playful, energetic two and a half year old. I'd also like to learn how to take and edit better videos with my new camera and computer. I've taken lots of basic home movies, but I thought it might be fun to make up a premise and have him do things that would move a little story forward. It's a project just for fun--nothing I intend to do anything with professionally.

What kind of plot do you think would work best with such a wiggly, distractible young protagonist? Has anyone done anything like this? If so, any tips would be welcome regarding how to make it a good experience during the filming, and how to make an entertaining final product.

What music is used in this funny Youtube video?

johnd101 — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 09:06:50 -0800

What music is used in this funny Youtube video? See Video I'm looking for the music used in this YouTube video?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_QRjEGqDCw
Video Link

or can you suggest something similar?

Thanks!

A Two-Part Question About Italian Dialects and The Mechanics of Breaking Glass Windows

jason's_planet — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 09:51:50 -0800

This is a two-part question about a video on YouTube. The first part of the question is about the Sicilian dialect of the Italian language; the second part deals with the mechanics of breaking a glass window with a crowbar. (You don't have to watch the whole video if you don't want to; there are two sections I'm curious about and each one only runs for a few seconds.)

Here's the video: the opening sequence of the early-seventies Italian crimesploitation flick "Il Cittadino Si Ribella", featuring the song "Goodbye My Friend."

Now, at about :51, there are a group of hooligans trashing an apartment. One of them happens upon a poster on the wall with the words "Italiani Ribellatevi". He mutters something that sounds like "Italiani Ribel-ad" before he tears it off the wall. Is this meant to be Sicilian dialect? I ask because it reminds me of the bits of New York Italian slang I've heard here and there, with "Gallamad" for "Calamari" and so on and so forth.

From 1:50 to about 2:10, there's a scene where a guy smashes a shop window with a crowbar. Prior to doing so, he wraps the crowbar in newspaper. Now why would he do that? Is that for personal safety? Is the newsprint supposed to protect him from shards of broken glass flying back at him? Or is there some other reason?

So there you have it. A question involving the Italian language and breaking glass windows. And the song "Goodbye My Friend." I submit that this question is unique in the six-year history of Ask MetaFilter.

As always, many thanks in advance.

home page introductory videos

Bacillus — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 23:35:16 -0800

Do you know of any sites with home page videos introducing new concepts such as the P2 for Wordpress theme? I'm introducing a new concept to the Internet through my website which would be too difficult for people to understand with a plain text and image home page, I believe they would leave very quickly without a video presentation. I'm looking for some good examples which are informative and capture attention.

Can simply be introductory video with examples, even ones with a standing person giving an oral presentation although this is not what I will be using. I will be using something more along the lines of the P2 theme introductory video.

Is it wrong to masturbate to one's exes when in a relationship?

Anonymous — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 08:30:45 -0800

Autoeroticafilter: Are certain self-pleasuring activities not OK? I have pictures and video of a sexual nature of a couple of my exes. While I would never show them to anyone else and am careful to make sure they remain confidential, I don't plan on getting rid of them.

Since I still find my exes very physically attractive, and I'm not very turned on by most pornography I can find, I tend to make use of these materials for personal satisfaction. I don't think there's anything wrong with this.

What I am wondering about, is whether it is wrong to do this when I'm in a monogamous relationship. I've never had problems being faithful, and I would never date anyone who expected me not to masturbate, or who had a problem with me looking at pornography, but I'm not sure this is the same.

If it makes any difference, one of the exes I don't expect to ever be in contact with again and have no desire to reunite with. Another, I am good friends with and could imagine getting back together if the timing and geography were right, but we're currently platonic and respect those boundaries.

I don't feel that looking at this material changes my feelings towards these people; it just gets me off. But, I could see where if my SO knew, it might be upsetting. Since starting a committed relationship, I haven't been looking at these things because of my uncertainty. I have two basic questions:

Is using these materials for self satisfaction wrong when I'm in a relationship?

Should I talk to my SO about this? I'm not sure I really want to ask permission, since I don't think anyone has a right to tell you how to masturbate, but I really prefer to be open and honest about things. However, I wonder if this is one of those situations where it's better to just keep it to myself.

Disappearing sound when I try to watch videos. Why is this?

jenfullmoon — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 15:58:07 -0800

Disappearing sound on the computer. ONLY on Hulu, YouTube, playlist.com, but not mp3's. Complication: not having administrator privileges to deal with it. When trying to watch/listen to Hulu, YouTube, and online music players, sometimes the sound just stops working on the computer (running Firefox, happens both on Linux and Windows boxes). I haven't changed a darn thing on the settings, and playing mp3's works fine. But there will be no sound on anything video-related when it was working fine before. The only thing that fixes this is rebooting the computer. Happens on all of the ones I use regardless of platform.

Anyone have any idea why this happens, what causes it, fixes I can do without rebooting or being able to install fixes for it myself?

Legend of Zelda in MIDI

kaozity — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 10:09:32 -0800

I need help to create the Legend of Zelda "get item" sound in MIDI I am working on a robot that is capable of creating MIDI songs and I want it to make the sound of when you get an item in the traditional legend of Zelda games.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8UeyKyAXJ9I&feature=player_embedded

I cannot find the notes or a MIDI guide, all I find are downloads and playback of the actual sound clip. Help please :-)

Do I need an upgraded video card to watch HD video?

markblasco — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 12:13:59 -0800

Do I need an upgraded video card to watch HD video? We're buying a new laptop, and with all of the sales going on right now, it will probably be sooner rather than later.

We don't game on the computer (that's what the Xbox is for). I am not concerned with doing any graphics design (we have another computer for that), so I am wondering if going with the integrated Intel 4500M card is going to work fine for us (not the 4500MHD). We want to be able to watch HD video both on the computer and on the TV through HDMI.

Do I need an upgraded video card to watch HD video, or will having a computer with a Core 2 Duo and 3 gigs of memory work fine with the integrated video card?

Live sports on PC

paulyballs — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 15:50:10 -0800

What's the best way to watch live tv (sports mainly) on a PC? My gf's parents have a vacation cabin with only internet access and they want to be able to watch live sports while they are there. What's the best option. Her mother asked me about "Digital TV for PC" but I think it's a scam. They do have full cable at their main home so I was thinking of advising Slingbox. Anything else out there that won't require me installing hardware at their main home? Thanks!

Best video rental stores?

davidriley — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 10:13:06 -0800

I make independent films and distribute them myself. I've started sending my movies to independent video rental stores around the country. I've sent my movies to I Luv Video in Austin, Scarecrow Video in Seattle, Video Underground and Hollywood Express in Boston, Acme Video in Providence, and others. What are the best independent video rental stores in your city? Don't say Netflix.

All I want to do is upload some band videos

chocolatepeanutbuttercup — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 20:31:51 -0800

Recommendations for converting a 35-minute DVD to discrete segments so I can post it on youtube? I have a 35 minute DVD of a music performance that I want to chop up into individual songs (six, I think) and upload to youtube. Please give me your recommendations on software that will do this. It's a local band and not copy protected. I've been trying to work with Auto Gordian Knot but I'm finding it a little more complicated than that name would seem to imply. Thanks for your help

Video-Editing for Dummies!

newfers — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 13:39:04 -0800

I'd like to make a presumably simple video in the style of a series of opening credits for a tv show. What's my cheapest way to do it, and how? I am attempting to make a short video for friends, and my idea is to have a 1-minute video playing and at 4 points during the video, a photo appears in the center of the video, with the friend's name underneath.
Each pic appears briefly, disappears (or twirls or shrinks, whatever - doesn't need to be anything special)... and then the next pic appears, until all 4 are done. It's kind of like a series of badly done opening credits.

Before I go ahead and purchase Premiere Elements, is there another easier or cheaper method to do this very thing, and if so, can you give very basic instructions? The only media I will be using will be the video clip and 4 image files to be placed within the video as it plays.

I use a PC primarily, but also have a MacBook Pro, so if iMovie can do this, I'd be happy, but I don't see the option as I played with the program. I'd prefer a PC solution, or a platform agnostic solution.

Too niche for the hive mind?

Baldons — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 19:52:11 -0800

Recommendations for "let's play videogame X" videos? I'm enjoying some of the "let's play" videos on youtube - it's like movie commentaries on dvd, but for videogame playthroughs. It can be fun! This is good, for example - first timers doing Gunstar Heroes, not knowing one thing about it, discovering things. Do you have recommendations about interesting, funny, outrageous, surprising "let's play videogame X" videos?

Which video game classics did I miss the last three years?

wolfr — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 11:05:31 -0800

I intend to make this weekend a gaming weekend. I haven't played video games in a long time. At least not as seriously as I used to. Do you have any suggestions? I have a brand new iMac and an Xbox 360. I do not have a copy of Windows on my Mac yet but could theoretically use Boot Camp to install Windows XP on a partition of the hard drive. So don't feel limited to Mac only games svp.

In the past my favorite games have been Baldurs Gate II, Arcanum, Battlefield 1942, Deus Ex and Tony Hawk II.

I was addicted to World of a Warcraft for a while. I like stories and character progression. I like games with original themes (e.g. Psychonauts).

It seems like the only games I've played the last year or two years have been: Grand Theft Auto IV, Bioshock, Fallout 3, Skate, Soul Calibur IV. All on the Xbox. All of them very casually, although I did end up finishing all except Bioshock (which was good, but not relaxing, with all the dark rooms and scary things).

I am downloading the free 2 week trial of Eve Online right now, but I'd rather not get crazy about an MMORPG anymore. While my time in the World of Warcraft was wonderful, the whole game remains a slot machine with a nice interface.

No racing and sports please with the exception of snowboard/skateboard.

Who has suggestions for me?

Wirelessly broadcast PC screen to multiple TVs?

neksys — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 13:25:46 -0800

The easiest way to do this is to tell you what I need: I want someone to be able to work on a laptop and be able to broadcast the video information on the screen wirelessly to more than 1 TV. My question is - how? Basically what I'm hoping to set up is a laptop/tablet PC with images that a person could manipulate. I want those manipulations to show up on a number of televisions. I do not need audio.

Its easy enough to do wired - there is an S-Video or HDMI out on plenty of laptops these days, so its no problem to split and run cables across a room to each television.

I need, though, a wireless solution. I have googled and found a number of these kinds of solutions but the quality appears questionable on some. The big thing is expandability - I want to broadcast the video signal to a handful of displays. Ideally the solution would be one broadcasting unit and the ability to purchase individual receivers.

Anyone have any experience with this that could give me any guidance? I should mention I'm in Canada - some devices that are available in the US or overseas are not approved for use here.

Who created this catchy, possibly Russian piece of music?

Captain Cardanthian! — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 12:10:15 -0800

What is the (possibly Russian?) piece of music in this video about a Moscow performance artist who shares his home with a llama? I think it includes an accordion and a mandolin. Shazam was no help, and I don't really know where to go from there. There are some vocals starting around 0:40, although I'm unsure if they're lyrics in a foreign tongue or simply time-keeping nonsense sounds. I've found the video a few other places on the web (youtube, metacafe), but neither offers any credit as to the source of the clip or music credits. The footage itself seems to lifted directly from this clip, credited to ITN, but that's all I've got. Can you help me, hivemind?

Converting PowerPoint to video or flash (again)

The Dutchman — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 19:04:04 -0800

Converting PowerPoint to video or flash (again) I know this question was just asked, and two years ago but none of the answers suit my needs. I have a PowerPoint presentation with animation that I need to convert into really good, smooth video or flash with all animation in-tact. Camtasia was choppy. Camstudio went kinda crazy when anything moved. Slideshare kills all the animation and blacks out some images. iSpring keeps the animation but seems to briefly show through layered graphics, which ruins the more complex effects I've created, plus it distorts graphs and some bullets. SlideBoom has the same layered graphics problem as iSpring.

To give you an idea of the quality I need, this is a portfolio of my PowerPoint design work that I want to embed on my website and/or send to potential clients in hopes that it will make them want to hire me.

Any ideas?

What's the deal with Flash video on OSX? I can't click the play button!

Glum — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 14:12:28 -0800

Why do Youtube (and other flash videos) become unresponsive on my Mac when they are embedded in other sites? [iMac and MacBook Pro, Snow Leopard (and previous OS), Firefox & Safari]

Often, when I come across an embedded YouTube clip (and sometimes videos from other services like Vimeo) on my RSS feed or in a website I am visiting I am unable to click on it successfully. Trying to access the controls (play, pause etc) becomes almost impossible. I have found that if I right click to pull up the Flash menu, but then deselect it, I do then get one chance to click on the Flash object (with it going white in the process).

These objects almost always work perectly if I click through to watch them in their original location.

My browsers have been doing this for several versions, over the last two versions of the OS and the last three versions of Flash, on both my Macs. I have the most recent versions of all software.

I've read that Flash is very unreliable on OSX - with memory leaks etc. - but this doesn't seem to be that (although, of course, I don't actually know what it is).

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Help download this flash video

corpse — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 13:13:49 -0800

I'd like to save the video from this article and convert it to a avi or something windows can play. I've tried several utilities, but can't seem to get it. Any ideas?

CaptioningFilter

yellowbinder — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 09:15:19 -0800

Have a number of videos for display online. Need closed captioning option. How do I go about doing this? So I'm doing a series of videos for the web, almost done, and now we're faced with the task of closed captioning them. I've never done this before.

The best case scenario is that they play online in the player, you click the CC button, and the captions appear. But I haven't seen an online video host with this feature, and I've never made a video with a hidden text track before. Everything is being done on Macs in Final Cut Pro.

Any suggestions, both in terms of how to make the videos, and what online host has these capabilities in their player?

Multimedia-filter: Looking for help from all you Network and digital media Gurus in making my first house totally awesome. Movies, Televsion, Music, Wifi, Streaming Content and 50mgbt broadband within.

Cogentesque — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 05:03:13 -0800

Multimedia-filter: Looking for help from HDTV, NAS, Media Servers and Network Gurus' in making my first house totaly awesome. Movies, Televsion, Music, Wifi, Streaming Content and 50mgbt broadband within. Ok guys, this is my first new message on metafilter, so thanks for everything thus far - to business.

The Premise:
In two weekends time, my girlfriend and I are moving into our first house together in Southampton (UK).

Thankfully she is very accomadating and shares the same views with me reguarding the wonder of technology and allure of gadgetry and thus: we have decided to go down the "cyberhouse" network route - all be it slowly.

What we currently have
50mgbt line and a Television package from Virgin.
2 relatively high-spec PCs downstairs (in the lounge) (XP/Vista soon upgrading to Windows 7 im sure)
A new TV - to be bought - (http://www.ebuyer.com/product/154997/show_product_reviews?offset=10&review_type=both&review_order_by=RLF - ebuyer's own)
1 ipod touch
Host of parts to make a low spec PC.

What I would like in my cyber house
DVD's playable on the TV
Normal channels (Virgin package) playable on the TV
Video (films, episodes) from PC's playable on the TV
Music, both downstairs and upstairs: DAB radio/Cd's/Downloaded Music/Online Radio (last.fm etc would be great)
The ability to change the music remotely (ideally, different sources for different rooms)

Some ideas I've been looking at so far
KVM Switch and a long HDMI cable for my computer to use TV as alternative screen - enabling videos from pc to be played
NAT Storage hiding somewhere in the network
Popcorn Hour to play video from PC
Sonos music system to play upstairs and downstairs
Media pc configured to do the job of sonos and popcorn hour (apparantly this is very tricky?)

What do you think metafilter? Remember that we are definately "on a budget" but I much more trust your collective ideas and conceptions than my own - so what would you reccomend should be my immediate course of action?