 Among the most
popular events at anime conventions are music video contests. The generation
of fans raised on MTV loves the idea of seeing scenes from their favorite
anime films cut to the beat of their favorite music. Those videos have
gotten more elaborate and sophisticated in the last couple of years, but
they're also easier to create. The difference is the rise of the powerful,
inexpensive multi-media personal computer. Brad DeMoss, who once produced
his videos with industrial-grade videotape recorders, now creates his videos
with computers. When he held a NekoCon panel on video production, DeMoss
asked how many people still tried to make videos by dubbing tapes from
one machine to another. Then he went into the details of computer editing. |
|
 DeMoss said
the key to making video creation possible at home is the DV video format.
Connected to a PC or a Macintosh through a firewire connection, DV camcorders
can provide the source for digitizing video so it can be handled through
a computer. The DV format gives every frame a time code, just like high-priced
professional editing equipment. "DV camcorders bring time code into the
real of the consumer," DeMoss said. "This is great for recording from computers."
When the source video has a code for each frame, that video then can be
assembled into a video, using a computer program, with frame-by-frame accuracy.
In the old days of creating a video by dubbing tapes back and forth, it
was all but impossible to get the video and music cues just right. Now,
video creators like DeMoss can use software to assemble video clips right
on the beat of the music they choose - and the video can be edited out
of sequence, which is a major convenience. |
 The realm of
multi-media home editing is one of the last great battlefields between
Apple and Intel, with some video creators (like DeMoss) preferring Macintoshes
and others using Pentium computers and their equivalent. DeMoss recommends
that those who take the PC route should use Pinnacle cards. "The DC 1000
is the most expensive one, but it allows you to use real-time effects,"
he said. Higher-end video production cards also come with better software
bundles, he added - and DeMoss likes Adobe Premiere software as a starting
point. Of course, it helps to have DeMoss' editing talent. "Once in a marathon
editing session, I finished a music video in four hours," he said. |
