Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with video and resolved

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.

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?

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?

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?

I want to watch this video again.

inging — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 11:11:58 -0800

ForgottenSongTitleAndArtistFilter: the song: bouncy and loud, sung by a solo female. The lyrics equate love with physical abuse. (Like being hit with love, or our hearts beating one another, something like that. It reminds me of the Cardigans "And then You Kissed Me.") the video: a mostly white backdrop, and said female vocalist cavorting around, dancing and shadowboxing. Possibly things are on fire? There is a bed, and pillows, and maybe even streamers. That's all I have. Please help.

Examples, real of fictional, of food being framed as elitist or snobby?

loping — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 13:25:27 -0800

I'm working on a video project about the backlash to Obama mentioning the price of arugula at Whole Foods. Can you think of any other examples, real of fictional, of food being framed as elitist or snobby? I'm putting together a video project about the ways certain foods get framed as elitist/liberal/snobby. I've thought of some examples:

The faux Whole Foods in Baby Mama
John Kerry getting called a snob for asking for a cheesestake with swiss cheese
Obama getting attacked for making a comment about the price of arugula.

I'm looking for more, particularly ones that are audio / video.

Help me track down my uncle's appearance on CNN's "American

Roach — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 09:17:44 -0800

Help me track down my uncle's appearance on CNN's "American Morning" this morning. He's an immigration attorney and is sometimes interviewed locally and regionally for issues related to immigration law. I guess he was recently interviewed for this CNN piece, which aired at 6:24 a.m. and 8:20 a.m. this morning. His name is Tom Roach.

Any idea how to track down the clip? I don't have a television.

Thanks!

Annexation of Texas Video Clip

kylej — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 14:49:45 -0800

What are some documentaries/movies/video clips that are about the Annexation of Texas? I need around five minutes of video for a presentation on the Annexation of Texas. Online clips would be good, as well as documentaries or movies (that are easily available).

Can I recreate Pixar (tm) in my basement?

tropikal — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 19:31:43 -0800

When it comes to editing and producing video, is it the CPU or the GPU the makes all the difference? I've read many different things and I work with video all the time and it seems that CPU power is what makes the difference when doing final processing and transcoding. Only GPU stuff is the GUI during editing. Rest after... The main reason I ask is, right now I use a 2.O Ghz Core 2 Duo Think pad, works fine but not great, and if CPU is the best way to process then would I be able to use something like an old IBM xSeries say this or maybe this Both of which are a lot cheaper than a "real" desktop PC or Mac and have more processing power to boot. I can deal with the size, and make mods for fan noise. Just not sure if it would actually work. Anyone actually do this? Know of someone IRL who has, maybe a link?

Prosumer Digital Video camera bought in NY to take to Middle East. Problems with video formats even in 2009?

xetere — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 10:01:15 -0800

Prosumer Digital Video camera bought in NY to take to Middle East. Problems with video formats even in 2009? Our director of Middle East Operations wants to go to B&H and go back with a prosumer digital video camera to record interviews and the like.

This will ONLY be used to create streaming video for our Web site/Intranet and DVD.

Still I wonder in this context whether or not NTSC/PAL still makes a difference.

I searched the archives and took a look at this thread and it seemed that the answer is "yes", but that was three years ago.

So is this still so in 2009? Can you set the format in modern Digital video cameras when you set up your camera for the first time?

(I seem to remember on my home one asking me for video format.)

They'll be using something like Vegas Video and 95% of output is for the Web, with a possibility of making DVDs.

Part of me thinks why can't they pick on up in Cairo - Consumer wise, it ain't the Gulf but it is *Cairo!*, but who am I to argue? I am charged with making it happen.

Oh yes, of course we know about different electricity standards and differing plugs, we can plug in the charger to a universal outlet they have. The computers in the office come directly from the States.

What's the most iconic blue-jeans video ad?

funkbrain — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 19:23:23 -0800

What's the most iconic blue-jeans video ad?

Help with Sony's Vegas Pro 9

tenaciousd — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 18:10:22 -0800

How do I use Vegas Pro 9? I can't find a lot of useful or free info on the web or on Sony's website. I'm in charge of shooting and editing video during my company's conference and meetings, which begin tomorrow. I don't have much experience with either, and I think I kind of jumped in the deep end with Vegas by downloading the 30-day free trial.

I'm not doing anything too fancy...a basic intro, cutting, overlaying the name of the speaker. But I really haven't found any helpful, basic, beginner-level manuals or information. My camcorder is a canon vixia hf200.

Any tips, sites or other resources would be appreciated. Thanks all!

Where's the video of the guy laughing on the subway?

slappy_pinchbottom — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 10:55:06 -0800

Where can I find that video of the guy who starts laughing on a subway car and it infectiously spreads to all the passengers? Can't believe my google-fu is failing me here, but there you go. (I was reminded of that video by this great recording of Alan Watts.)

Big Ten Network football on streaming video?

ragtimepiano — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 09:34:08 -0800

Can I get Big Ten Network football games on streaming video online? Does anyone know if this is possible, and if so, how to do it?

Need more live punk rock, please.

Ufez Jones — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 17:47:46 -0800

I work too much and don't get out anymore. Help me acquire some (more) great live punk rock albums/DVDs. I'll keep it clean and just let you know what I have and what I'm into all at once:

CDs I already own:
Avail - Live at the Bottom of the Hill / VMLive Fireside Bowl / At the King's Head Inn
Buzzcocks - French
Subhumans (UK) - Bristol Bootleg
Bouncing Souls - Live (2xCD)
Dropkick Murphys - The Singles Collection Vol 1 (McColgan era, only half of which is live)
NOFX - I Heard They Suck Live

DVD:
Minutemen - We Jam Econo Disc 2 (live stuff)
Dead Kennedys - Fresh Fruit for Rotting Eyeballs (the bonus disc that came with the 25th anniv. edition of FFfRV)
American Hardcore - the Doc, which has a lot of great live footage

What else should I add to my collection? Looking for stuff that is well-recorded and well done.

Stitching a video into a panoramic image

TheyCallItPeace — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 08:24:58 -0800

How can I turn a movie taken with a digital point-and-shoot into a photographic panorama? I have seen demos of software that will do this. From a movie of a scenary, a panoramic shot is digitally created, much like photostitchers like hugin, Autopano, etc create panoramas from series of photographs.

I could extract the frames of the video, and feed them into photo stitching software, but that sounds like a much slower process than I have seen in the demos I described above (where the panorama building was pretty much real-time).

Does anyone know of any software that is out there which does this? It would be awesome if it is open source as well.

I'mANoob..Tube

Mael Oui — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 22:08:44 -0800

Technostupid question filter: How to make unwatchable YouTube files from the Temp Files folder watchable on my computer? I watch loads of stuff on YouTube daily. Sometimes I download videos directly using KeepVid, but usually I don't bother. It used to be that I could navigate to my Temporary Internet Files folder, and all the videos that I had watched would be there. They'd be listed as something like 'get_video,' and I would drag each to my desktop and add '.flv' to the end of their name to watch them. I never had a problem watching YouTube videos (with VLC) this way.

Now all videos show up as .flvs automatically but none of them play. For instance, I now have 'video[1].flv' to 'video[11].flv' in the folder. Clicking on the files opens VLC, but there's no video or sound. There's just a bar scrolling through the would-be duration of the video (the time does display on the bottom bar of the window). Are these .flv files useless? Are any of them watchable or can they be made to be watchable? Why is it that I could get the files to work on my computer before by manually adding '.flv' but now actual '.flvs' (from YouTube) won't play? Am I making any sense? Is there a free, safe program that will make these videos watchable? I guess I'd prefer a small file converter program than another video application. I don't think VLC's to blame..?

This is on a Win2k computer. I'm still using an old IE to access YT. And I'm on very slow dial-up. *gulp* I LOATHE asking tech questions.. be gentle!

I love listening to people from Northern England

reenum — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 20:39:30 -0800

Looking for podcasts or radio shows with women talking in Mancunian accents or similar Northern English accents. I love Manchester accents and want to listen to more of them. I used to watch 'Frasier' only to hear Jane Leeves speak, and also loved the accent used by the character Betty Slocombe in 'Are You Being Served'.

Podcasts, audiobooks, or any other aural media I can take with me and listen to are wanted. Thanks a bunch.

Old-time gamers - need a recommendation for an out-of-date video game system for 5-year-old

notcomputersavvy06 — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 05:35:18 -0800

Recommendations for an obsolete video game system for a 5-year-old So, my 5-year-old is interested in video games. We've been using the newly manufactured games that simply plug into the TV and have old-timey (my era) games - frogger, pac man, etc.
I'd like to give him some variety on the cheap. Local craigslist postings are replete with old-time video game systems like playstation and nintendo ds but I know nothing about these video game systems (or any others for that matter). I'm looking for one that is somewhat simplistic (not too many buttons, paddles or sticks) and, although now obsolete, during its time, had games that were young kid oriented.

How to delay Mac sound output?

i_cola — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 06:53:45 -0800

I want to delay the sound output from my Mac Mini so I can get it to sync with video from a different source. I've got a radio commentary (available via Safari or iTunes on the MacMini) that is up to a minute ahead of the TV feed I'm watching on my laptop. I want to watch the TV feed with the radio commentary roughly in sync.

Is there a software solution out there that will allow me to adjustably delay the entire audio out from the MacMini?

Even better would be the ability to delay the audio from a particular application & I'd like the option to be able to sync both feeds on a single Mac.

How to record sound with my camera?

dealing away — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 13:13:17 -0800

I can't figure out how to record video w/ sound in my Olympus SP-565 UZ camera. When we record and then attempt to play it back (after downloading it into computer) there is no sound. We've played with the settings, looked at the manual, searched online and still can't find it or figure it out. We bought at a Ritz Camera store but we no longer live anywhere near one anymore. Anyone know how to do this? Thanks so much for any advice.

Question Re: "Tubthumping" Music Video

WCityMike — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 21:57:47 -0800

I was watching the Chumbawumba "Tubthumping" video, and while it's obvious that most of the women in the bathroom scenes are men in drag, I wasn't so sure about one: am I right in saying that the woman we see mouthing to "pissing the night away", "oh, Danny boy, Danny boy", and "don't cry for me, next door neighbor" is the lead singer in drag?

My brain hurts. So what's new?

miss lynnster — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 11:28:58 -0800

The title sequences and credits are looking blurry on the videos I'm posting to WordPress. I need to find out the tricks to posting the best quality video possible to my blog, but I'm new to this. Help! To show you what I'm talking about, look at the video that's currently on the front page of my site. See how the titles and credits look like crap? It's KILLING me. (Don't judge the video please. Yes, I've ordered a tripod. Don't have one yet.) I've searched the web for advice on this but haven't found any tips yet.

I'd never done this stuff before so I've been learning everything the hard way. I'm using the Modularity theme from Graph Paper Press, and it has a function to "post HD video." They say to take a MOV and save it as a FLV. I created the movie in imovie and then saved it for web (should I save it as something else? I liked the sound quality better on the "CD" format, but it was a larger file). I downloaded Sorenson Squeeze to try various formats of FLV. The file got SO much larger after it was turned into an FLV that I couldn't upload it to wordpress... I can only upload things that are less than 8MB. So that was frustrating. I tried 1MB, 2mb, 768, 512... this particular video was saved as "medium."

Since I'm a graphic designer at heart, this blurry type is physically paining me. I want to get better at this stuff so down the road it can look really good, clean, crisp, and sound nice too. Thanks in advance for your expertise. :)

"Rotate image 90 degrees" for VIDEO?

rexruff — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 18:42:40 -0800

Is there software that will "rotate image 90 degrees" for VIDEO ? Y'know how basic digital still cameras do video now? (Canon Powershot A590) Well, I was doing video and turned the camera on its side to grab a tall shot, like a dummy, as if it was a still. So now my video is on its side. Do you know of any video transfer software that will rotate my (one particularly beloved) video ninety degrees counter-clockwise?

I know, I know, laugh all you want....

Picking a new compact video camera

remi — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 13:43:07 -0800

I have a Canon PowerShot G10 taking great pictures and VGA-resolution videos. I'm now looking for a video camera that will allow me to capture videos in HD. Any ideas? There are a few video projects I have. One of them is to document my one-year stay in Japan starting this October. And maybe, if everything goes well, I'll turn all of what I've recorded into a documentary, but I don't want to plan too big.

I know someone else asked for advice here for choosing a camera for filming documentaries, but the answers were a bit general. Last year, the community here recommended me the PowerShot G10 when I was asking for recommendations for a good compact photo camera. Today, I am hoping for someone to point me in the right direction with their recommendations in brands or models of video cameras. So far, I've enjoyed my G10, and I'm sure I'll get great advice here for a video camera.

A few years ago, I was the proud owner of a JVC GR-DVL725U camera. By today's standards, of course, it was a bit bulky, and transferring video from its MiniDV tapes via RCA cables or Firewire to my computer was a time-consuming process. However, its picture and sound quality was satisfactory.

Now, I'm also sure I can buy something that is smaller, works better, and is more efficient. A few months ago, a saw a Panasonic 3CCD camera, which looked interesting. I like Canon digital cameras, but I don't know what to think about their video cameras. I shy away from the Sony brand because of its proprietary technologies -- including their Memory Sticks, since I'm a heavy user of SDHC cards.

As for specific features, I'm not too certain what I should look for. I'll probably need a camera that stores videos on SDHC cards with HD video, manual zoom and focus, remote control, RCA/S-Video/Firewire output, light, internal stereo microphone, external microphone port, etc., but I think these features are usually the standard. I saw some cameras which have some interesting special effects, like time lapse, but I want to focus on quality video and audio, while having a camera that is easy to bring with me anywhere (i.e. not a large and heavy camera like those used by news reporters). The cost is not a problem.

Finally, unlike before, I have some video editing software on my Mac, including Final Cut Express. (I was previously using Linux for editing video. It was really painful at times.)

Any suggestions on what camera I should buy?