Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with video

We need a Hallmark card... with video!

czechmate — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 04:26:06 -0800

Is there a way to record just a few minutes of video (like Hallmark does with cards) so our Grandfather can keep it by his bedside and watch it to his heart's content? My Grandfather-in-law is dying of cancer at the moment and we were told yesterday that he's unable to walk and does not have much longer to live. There's simply no way we can travel there to be with him. It's a mixture of my pregnancy and money. Last minute tickets to Czech (for my husband) are just out of our league.

We want to send him a video.. something small, telling him we love him. He can't talk on Skype anymore because he's unable to get out of bed. Is there a device that allows a few moments of recording and watching, like Hallmark does with recordable cards?

Is there something we could construct (cheaply) that will do this for us? Plus, something that can play whenever he touches a button so if he wants to play it over and over, he can?

Best video codec for embedding into PowerPoint?

limon — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 17:51:55 -0800

I'd like to embed video clips in a PowerPoint presentation. It would need to play correctly on both Windows and OS X. What codec is ideal? My first attempt won't play on Macs.

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.

Dance videos with new moves

pica — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 04:48:39 -0800

Give me some dance inspiration! I'll soon be putting on my dancing shoes and head out for a brand new saturday night. What new moves will inspire me? French tecktronik is great and the Beninese zinli (watch from 3:35) blows my mind - what do you suggest I bring with me out tonight?

How to create online video classes?

jabo — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 10:36:36 -0800

I need advice in setting up secure, online video classes. A student would pay for the class, and then be directed to a streaming video that they would be able to watch (not download) for a length of time (say a week).

I could use any advice, resources, warnings or general musings on how to accomplish this. Existing software or hosting solutions also welcome. I know html and css but only just getting my little toenail wet with php. Finally, this would be for a small business with limited resources (i.e. cash).

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!

Video Sharing Websites?

tangyraspberry — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 10:17:53 -0800

Can anyone recommend a video sharing web service for private viewing? In other words not you tube. I trying out Smugmug but, at $60.00/year, it's a little pricey.

Why are browser-based videos so slow on my computer?

dephlogisticated — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 19:22:11 -0800

Why are browser-based videos so slow on my computer? I can play high-quality video files off of my hard drive without any difficulty. But watching a video a fraction of the size and resolution in my browser (such as a Youtube video) results in constant skipping and stuttering, even after the video has loaded completely. Why is this? Is there anything I can do to fix it, short of a hardware upgrade?

Need help with a concept video. What are my options?

ben5757 — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 06:29:35 -0800

Lately I've had a few business ideas that I think need concept videos, which would involve moderate CG and production, to properly explain. What are my options, in the price range of nothing (film/graphics students?) to around $1000?

Adding ADDITIONAL audio to an avi file

Charlie Lesoine — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 15:23:01 -0800

How do I add an additional audio track to a .avi movie file in OSX? I downloaded a full length movie, it had stereo channel audio, but one of the audio tracks was still missing, possibly the center channel that was lost from a surround sound mix when it was bounced to standard 2 channel audio. I now have the missing audio file and need to add it to the other two. I could just remove one of the existing tracks, or turn the existing two tracks into a mono track and then add the 3rd missing track. It doesn't need to sound amazing...but I don't know what software to use to do this. Any ideas?

Looking for a camcorder with composite input

jstech — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 22:18:19 -0800

Do you know of any camcorders or portable video recorders with composite (analog) input? I recently received an old helmet camera from a family member, and it needs a separate recording device. So I'm looking for something portable to record from composite input. These inputs are usually TRRS connectors (like a headphone jack, but with four conductors: Wikipedia: TRRS), or the classic yellow-red-white RCA connectors. I'm looking in the $400 range, but I'm flexible.

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).

AniPod?

Oktober — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 12:29:15 -0800

I have a substantial amount of anime that I'd like to watch, but a less-than-perfect system for doing it. Pretty much all of it is in .mkv files (h.264 video and AAC audio) with subtitles, and I'd like to transcode them to a format that's playable on either my iPhone or my PS3 with subtitles intact. I've tried both handbrake and VLC, and I either get 1) no subtitles in handbrake or 2) encoder errors in VLC. So, hive mind, what am I doing wrong here?

What do you charge for a freelance scriptwriting gig?

Anonymous — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 12:03:09 -0800

I've been asked to write a series of scripts for online videos and I have no idea what to charge. Do you know the going rate for this type of service? I was approached by a university to write a series of scripts accompanying online videos they plan to place on their website. The videos are between 5-7 minutes long. I would have no hand in the editing/production part of the videos -- they're looking for a scriptwriter.

I am a seasoned comedy writer with many years in radio and print, but I've never had to set my own price. (I've always worked as part of a production team.) I just started freelancing and would like to obtain more work through this university, so I want to make sure the price I set is something they'll work with in the future.

Any thoughts?

Best 27" iMac Arm?

fairmettle — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 05:21:50 -0800

What are the best options for a desk mounted VESA compatible articulating arm for the new 27" iMac? Up until recently, I had an old G5 iMac and although the included stand was an elegant design, I was never very satisfied with the limited range of motion it provided. So now that it has finally come time to purchase a new iMac, I would like to get a well built, stable articulated arm that provides a wide range of viewing positions.

I'm interested in hearing any ideas, experiences, and/or suggestions for a mounting arm that would provide convenient and safe positioning for the weight (20.5 lbs.) and width (27" diagonal) of my new machine.

Some examples that I have been looking at are the Ergotron MX and the iLift, and the Innovative 7500.

With the new iMac's large screen size and my particular room set-up, I would like an arm that is long enough to be viewable at my desk for work and from my bed which is right beside it for watching DVD's.

Out of the models I listed above, the 7500 has the greatest range of movement (27" horizontal and 18" vertical - here is a YouTube video showing it). In my research so far, it seems that if you want to find a longer arm you need to go up to the medical/dental type suppliers such as the ICW Elite (with a 42" reach or longer).

Please don't send me into my next iMac purchase unarmed - - any and all thoughts and suggestions would be most appreciated!

Here's Looking at YouTube

deCadmus — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 21:07:53 -0800

My sweetie gave me a Flip (UltraHD) for my birthday. I've never had a video recorder before... besides the obvious recording of fambly events and such, what sorts of cool, interesting, and potentially artsy things can I do with it? I've actually somewhat carefully skirted the world of video for a long, long time, worried at some level that I might be bitten with a virus that would make me an annoying Spielberg / Lucas / Kubrik / Capra wannabe.

Maybe I'm grown up enough now to keep things in perspective. Maybe.

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?

Help me make a video visual for a kids halloween party

pearlybob — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 09:50:46 -0800

Help me find a Halloween "video mash-up" for a kids party I am hosting a halloween party for a group of kids, ages 4-17. I have a great playlist of Halloween songs, Thriller, Monster Mash, Purple People Eater, etc. The room we are in has a large pull down screen and a projector. I would love to have a video playing on the screen that is a compilation of famous scenes from Halloween-ish kids movies. No audio needed, the music for the dance will be playing. I just would like to have something going on on the screen (Disney Halloween, ET, Ghostbusters, etc.) to add to the ambiance. I don't have the time to do this myself. OR do I? Does anyone have any ideas on where I could find this or easily (and legally) make one myself?

edit detection

yegga — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 01:41:10 -0800

I'm interested in detecting edits in a given video stream. Is there any literature out there on edit detection? The idea is to take in an arbitrary video stream as input, and detect 'edits', 'scenes' or 'cuts' in the stream. Further, to try and cluster similar kinds of edits/scenes/cuts.

How would you go about researching this?

Some examples:

http://cat.inist.fr/?aModele=afficheN&cpsidt=1579591

What was that video called?

The Winsome Parker Lewis — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 17:06:27 -0800

What's this kids sing-along video I'm remembering from the '80s? When I was very young (in the mid to late '80s) I had a VHS sing-along tape that I watched all the time. Just to satisfy my own weird curiosity, I'm trying to figure out what it was now. It's like an itch that I can't scratch.

The theme was using your imagination. At one point somebody says "it's scientifically impossible… but imaginatively true" or something to that effect. I remember that all the sets were very sparse. There were a number of kids, and a pirate villain who becomes friendly at the end.

Some of the songs that I remember:

Yellow Submarine
Going on a Bear Hunt
Pop Goes the Weasel (I think?)
STOP… In The Name of Fish (before you go kersplish)

Is this ringing any bells? I'm just trying to get a title so I can look it up on IMDb or maybe find some clips on YouTube to jog the old memory. I'm suspecting this video was pretty obscure.

r/e/m/i/x/t/h/i/s/v/i/d/e/o

nitsuj — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 11:41:27 -0800

Okay, so how are people making those video remixes that are ever so popular right now? I can see it happening a few different ways:

1) They rip the original video from YouTube and pull it into Final Cut or whatever, and edit the sound bites and video with the music (made in some other program, presumably).
2) They rip the video from YouTube and bring the audio only into an audio/music program, and then re-edit the video to match the audio.
3) Some other way I'm not thinking?

What software are people using?

White plastic sheeting, suitable for rear-projection, in or around Toronto

sixswitch — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 20:07:47 -0800

I'm doing a show in Toronto involving rear-projection (both of plain white light with a person creating a shadow, and of video). I'm trying to locally source thin, white plastic sheeting to use for a large screen, by this week or next week. For a tactile reference, think of the slippery, slightly stretchy plastic used in layers as tablecloths at some Chinese restaurants. Or white Glad kitchen catchers.

I would love to buy a roll of something, at least 8 ft x 40 ft and preferably longer (so I have 'spares').

This is in the very near future, and I would prefer to buy something locally in Toronto or the GTA rather than online. Budget is minimal and definitely under a hundred bucks.

So far: I've found the tablecloths, but they don't come on a roll, so I'd have to stitch or melt them together. Fraught. I've found giant white tarps, which are an okay backup but are staggeringly unsexy. I've found vapour barrier, which is almost perfect, except I've only found it in 'clear'. I've found white plastic banquet tablecloths on rolls, but only online; they're only 40" wide which is also less than ideal.

I prefer plastic to paper because it needs to setup and strike quietly, and because there are more possibilities for tactile interaction (like stretching and deforming), but I'd use paper as a backup. Know any good, cheap, nonwovens?

The most useful information would be local fabricators or dealers that stock similar stuff. Laird Plastics and Plasticworld focus on rigid plastics rather than rolled sheeting.

Summary: looking for a) ideas for off-the-shelf materials that might work for this, and b) ideas for where to go to get them. Thanks in advance.

Switch between fullscreen video apps?

frenetic — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 19:06:45 -0800

I have three (Windows) video applications and one monitor. I want to be able to switch quickly (and as seamlessly as possible) between them running full-screen on the monitor (with keyboard hotkeys). Any idea how to do this?

How to transfer video from camera to computer

Alexdan4 — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 18:56:06 -0800

I have a Sony DCR-DVD92 video camcorder that records video on DVD-Rs. I have finalized the disc on the camera and I'm trying to capture the video onto my PC for storage/editing, but the camera doesn't seem to connect to my PC, and my PC DVD player doesn't seem to recognize the mini DVD-Rs that the camera uses. Any suggestions?

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.