Editing

Search engine optimization is very important if you want your video to be found on the web through searches on places like Google and Yahoo. Aaron Wall, the author of SEO Book has a special guest post this week on O’Flaherty blog with some tips of SEO for video. Check it out here.

Online video hosting sites are starting more and more to support HD footage. Shooting in HD can make your video look better, and in turn draw a larger audience to your film. Shooting in HD does require a little different work-flow than shooting in standard. ReelSEO has a post up with some High Definition Video Resources and Guides  to help you get a better grip on HD. Check it out here.

Chroma keys can be a fun effect to use in your movies. Debug Mode has a free piece of software you can use to add a chroma effect to your video. The software WAX requires that you create your own actual chroma wall, but after that it will take care of everything else. The DV Show has a tutorial up on how to use the software. You can check it out here.

ReelSEO has an interesting article called “Video Production- Studio Method vs. Field Production.” The article weighs the pros and cons of a multi-cam controlled studio setting versus field production. Studio production allows you to control things like lighting and sound better, but field production can allow you to catch things on the fly (or miss shots that occur on the fly). Check out  the full article here.

Web Video Universe has written up a list of tips on how to get the most out of Sony’s newest version of Vegas: Sony Vegas 8. Some of the tips include creating multicam with only one camera, how to render quickly, and how to make Blu-ray discs without actually having a Blu-ray drive. Check out all twelve tips here.

Nero has now updated their Nero 8 Suite to add a variety of features including including “BDMV authoring and playback, improved file encoding speed, and support for Mini HD DVD-Video discs.” The supports Smart Encoding which makes encoding video from AVCHD camera move much faster. "Nero 8 now offers users the opportunity to create, edit, and play back their High Definition content in the same format as used on commercial Blu-ray Discs," said Charly Lippoth, Chief Technology Officer, Nero AG. "From brilliant 3D menu templates to 5.1 surround sound audio, Nero 8 gives users innovative options for creating cutting-edge, professional-looking Blu-ray Discs." Current users of Nero can download the update for free.

Marketing your video online can be pretty difficult, especially if you don’t have any idea where to start. Kevin Nalts over at Will Video For Food has an article up that he originally published on Advertising Age entitled “Ten Things a Marketer Should Know About Online Video.” Things that made the list include “Tap into the video community” and “Quality of the video is not what determines its popularity.” You can check out the full list with Kevin’s commentary here.

Jeff Carlson over at MacWorld has a first-look up on Final Cut Express 4. Since the programs last release the camcorder market has shifted away from tape based camcorders and more toward hard drive based and high-definition camcorders. One of the most notable features of the Final Cut Express update is the programs new ability to support footage from AVCHD and HDV cameras. Other updates include the new ability to import iMovie 08’ projects, and more than 50 new FxPlug plug-ins. You can check out all of Jeff’s thoughts on Final Cut Express 4 here.

Have you ever wanted to try your hand an editing a feature length film? Bruce McDonald, the director of The Tracey Fragments has decided to make the footage from his latest film available for the public to try their hand at editing. The films official website has four BitTorrent files that are about 4-5GB a piece and a Final Cut Pro project file available for download. Canadians who try their hand at editing the film can also enter their version in a contest to be featured on the films DVD.

Final Cut Pro has offered P2 support for a while. Avid recently added the ability to import P2 files, and the editblog gave it a test spin. How did it do? Editblog says “In short: it works, but not as elegantly.” You can check out more details on P2 editing with Avid here.

Digital Media Net has a first look up on their site at Sony Vegas Pro 8. Vegas Pro 8 adds AVCHD and XDCAM support as well as the ability to work in 32-bit floating point video processing. You can check out all their thoughts on Vegas Pro 8 after giving it a test spin here.

The internet is having a huge impact on what movies you go see in the theater. Forbes has an interesting article up on the influence internet marketing is having on ticket sales noting two of Sony’s recent films Superbad and resident Evil: Extinction as pulling the majority of their audience from internet buzz rather than traditional TV or movie trailer advertising. You can check out the full article here.

Digital Producer Magazine has a review up of Avid Media Composer 2.7.5 for OSX. Kevin McAuliffe tried the program out and says “If you like Avid’s editing software, and have the budget you will not be disappointed with this program.” You can read all of Kevin’s thoughts on Media Composer 2.7.5 here.

Studio Monthly has an article up on "How to create animated titles with Trapcode in Final Cut Pro." The article written by Sean Safreed of Red Giant Software is a pretty simple tutorial for those of you who might be new to creating animated titles and want to give them a try.

Videography magazine has an article up on the editing done for TNT’s The Closer. The primetime show is one of the many television shows switching over to Final Cut Pro for editing rather than using a traditional Avid system. Purchasing 6 Final Cut Pro systems for the production was less expensive than renting an Avid system for the shows. You can read about the shows editing process here.

If you’re a Mac user who upgraded to Leopard this weekend, then you also will need to update your Blackmagic software. Blackmagic has released new versions of their DeckLink, Multibridge, and Intensity software to support OS X Leopard. They have also added support for Adobe Premiere Pro CS3. If you currently have any of that software the updates are free and can be downloaded here.