Izzy Video 019 – Capturing Better Color

Hi Izzy,
I just featured you on the current episode of Vlog Soup.
–Steve

Hi Izzy,

After watching the White Balance video, I tried it out with my Sony HandyCam. It worked great! Thanks for the tips each week!

Check out my site if you ever get a chance!

-NA

Great examples. I actually picked up on the white balance issue from a previous episode and put the info to use this weekend. My camera has a limited number of preset white balance options but I can definitely choose the setting that more accurately fits the current lighting. Thanks again.

Hey Izzy,
You got great stuff coming out! Keep up the good work! I loved the episode on opacity, I think I’m going to make some “ghost” movies using that technique! I think you should do a special… no! Bonus, episode that will tell people what kind of equipment you use (computer, camera…) if they take another survey or something. I know I am totally interested in what you use. Keep on keepin’ on!

Hey Izzy, I never new anything about “white balance”… now I gotta wait until I get home to see if my Sony TRV140 has a setting for that, it really makes a huge difference!

And the 3CCD thing… you keep this up and I won’t be allowed to watch your episodes anymore. Every episode makes me want to get a new camcorder!

I received this email today from Greg Hale:

Good morning, Israel!

I am an instructional technologist at Macon State College in Macon, GA. I’m also a videographer with nearly 20 years experience. I just got my first ipod, 30GB video, for my birthday.

I’ve transferred some of my video work to the iPod, and have to say that I’m not real impressed with the quality. What looks great on DV or DVD falls apart on the ipods screen, and when output to a TV via ipod video out.

Your video quality is SO much better than mine! I’m wondering if you might take a moment to tell me your secret? Am I correct that iPod video can be no greater than 320×240 resoltion? Should I let iTunes convert my .mov files for me? Or will I get better results using Quicktime Pro?

Would you mind taking a moment to tell me what I need to do to get better quality results?

Thank you so much for posting your tutorials online. I would love to share some of them with upcoming workshop participants, if it would be OK with you. I teach video production to current- and teachers-in-training as a regular part of my job. My goal is to have teachers implement student-produced video, across the curriculum, as a means of demonstrating student learning.

Very kind regards,

Greg Hales”>

It’s a great question! It’s funny because I’ve received this question a few times, and I’ve answered them all individually. I’m thinking that by answering it here, hopefully everyone else will have a chance to see it.

So here is my process for exporting video for the iPod:

After editing the video in Final Cut Pro, I export the video as a “DV Stream”.
I then import the new .dv file into iSquint (http://www.isquint.org), a free application that formats files VERY nicely for the iPod screen.
I turn the iSquint settings up all the way, for highest quality, and then export the final file. It produces a nice-looking mp4 file.

And that’s it. Pretty easy, huh? Try it yourself. I believe you’ll like the results.

I definitely should thank Izzy Video Audience Member, Andrew Tokuda (his website), who turned me on to iSquint. It has really improved the video quality. Before using iSquint, I just used the “Export for iPod” setting in Final Cut Pro (also available in Quicktime Pro), and the Aspect Ratio wasn’t exactly right. Thanks to Andrew, I’ve now fixed this problem by avoiding that export setting altogether.

Izzy,

Thanks for the iSquint information. I’ll use it for the next video I place on my site

-NA

Your video podcasts totally rock. The tutorial on lighting, where you showed what you could do with just a single light, was really brilliant (so to speak). Thanks!

Hey Izzy,

Thank you for all the hard work you’re doing. I’m just about to get started to video (as soon as I get a camera) and I know your lessons will help.

I agree with Mike P. You should do an episode on editing hardware and software. I know I’d really appreciate it.

Hey everyone!

I received this message from Paul today:

Holy crap!!! Your podcast is the best!! Please keep them online. I really like it. I’m an aspiring videographer and your tips help a lot. What camera do you use? I think it’s a GL2… i’m not sure. I saw it on one of the episode. Also, what OS platform do you use and what NLE are you using? I’m currently using Premiere Pro. It’s okay but I’d like to get my hands on FCP since it’s somewhat the industry standard. I’ve also heard that the workflow is really good.
Anyways, I hope you answer my questions. And again… THANKS.

paul

Yes, I use the Canon GL2. What a great camera it is too!

I do all the video editing on Mac OSX. I switched to Mac about four years ago, and for me, it’s been a great decision. I’m a huge Apple fan, so you won’t be surprised to hear that I’m editing on Final Cut Pro. The only other packagages I’ve used are iMovie and Final Cut Express. I’ve never tried editing on any Windows-Based machines, although I’m guessing it’s probably close to identical.

Video editing is a lot of fun, so I’m excited to see how many people are getting into it.

Paul, it’s truly an expensive hobby, once you factor in all the hardware and gadgets involved, but if you’re patient and you make intelligent purchases (eBay), you can save a lot of money.

I should also mention that, while I focus a lot on quality in my videos, the truth is that if your CONTENT is good, the video quality doesn’t have to be perfect. It’s all about the CONTENT!

Thanks for the question. I hope the answer helped.

Great tutorials and video quality. Kids are cute too :)

Best video podcast on iTunes today. I was shooting my first corporate btv style training video and have no experience. Izzy, your tutorials were spot on to ensure I skipped a few of the beginner errors. I especially appreciated the clips on lighting, it made a huge difference in my finished product. Thanks again – Mike N

I just wanted to post a video that I shot with the GL2 using incorrect white balancing in the camera. I balanced it to an orange card, then used a cheapie 100W light. THe only thing I did in post was add a widescreen matte, a bit more black, and framerate conversion. It is amazing what you can do with the white balance.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQ-ZWgBvtV4

Hey Izzy,

first off, you do a really great job explaining yourself in a simple manner with knowledge that works….My question is… what do you think about using warm cards to white balance?
I haven’t used them but heard about it. Do you recommend using something other then a piece of paper or is that sufficient? Thanks!!

Joe,

I’ve heard many great things about using warm cards, so I think it’s a good idea to use them, although I personally haven’t.

I guess my biggest recommendation is that you should record the footage of the card, so later you could always do fine-tuning in post-production if you maybe you determine the image is too warm or cold.

As a general rule, the best thing is to record straight footage and do any adjustments in post-production.