Tag Archives: YouTube (Me)

Videos of me posted to YouTube

Sony Handycam vs. Casio EX-S770

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I’ve often wondered why my video doesn’t look as good as other clips I watch on YouTube. I chalked it up to equipment but learned this week that I have not been properly encoding my video before uploading to Google Video or YouTube. I’m hoping that will improve my stuff.

But today I decided to shoot a few minutes (3.5) with my Sony Handycam (DCR-TRV740) for comparison with the little Casio I’ve been using. I really expected to see a noticeable difference and while the sound was certainly better, I can’t say the video was that much improved.

It’s quite possible I still don’t have my video shit together in terms of encoding but I’ll eventually get that figured out. And I guess I’m pleased the the little pocket Casio stacks up so well against the larger Sony camcorder. All of which brings me back to my original fondness for the Casio: it fits in your pocket so it’s always with me.

But I’m going to make greater use of the Sony (with tripod and good mic). And if you know how to tweak video for YouTube, I’d love to talk.

iMovie vs. Studio 9

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I created a little video this afternoon, primarily to get some experience with Apple’s iMovie (on the MacBook). I’ve been using Pinnacle’s Studio 9 (Windows) for a few years and like it a lot. And I’m comfortable with it. And I can’t say the same for iMovie (Mac) so this really wasn’t a fair comparison.

Having said all of that, I find that I can do more with Studio 9. There are probably features in iMovie that I haven’t discovered yet. But my sense is that iMovie is great for making a little DVD of the Easter Egg Hunt or some after-work fetch with your pups (below), but if you want to do much more than a title, some transitions and a music bed… you’ll want something a little more feature-rich. Which I find Studio 9 to be.

But like I said, I’m just groping around here. The video runs 14 minutes and the file is a hefty 21 meg. I optimized for very small screen (about the size of the image to the right). If you expand this to full screen it will look like shit. Keep it small for best results.

TV audition tape

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July (2002) will mark my 30th year in broadcasting. Sort of. I spent half of that time doing affiliate relations for a statewide news network. But I’ve been around radio for all of that time. Longer, really, since my father was a “radio announcer” (I like that so much better than “broadcaster” or “DJ”). I’ve now reached the point, however, that all those years are a liability rather than an asset. It dawned on me as I was filling out a profile of my experience. Ten or fifteen years is “experienced.” Thirty years is…too much experience. So I lied and put down fifteen years.

There was a time I thought I might try my hand at TV. I mean, it’s just radio with pictures, right. I rented a little studio time at a local station to make an audition tape  They pulled some stories from that day’s news and threw them up on the tele-prompter. The stories were: Rape and Carnal Abuse; 70-year-old Man Beaten and Robbed of Life Savings; Elderly Woman Dies in Head-on with Tractor Trailer Rig; Another Fatal Traffic Accident. I sent that tape to a few friends in the TV business and can onlly guess at the hours of laughter it must have produced. “More news after this…” Uh, no thanks.