12:00 PM: Let's Take A Break
Time for lunch, and time to ponder the possibilities of utilizing this piece of hardware in day to day production.
The most obvious use for the DC1000 is traditional non-linear editing,
but with the included software, the video can be taken to greater
more flexible extremes. When mentioning DVD or VideoCD, most would
probably put that delivery technology in the realm of the big Hollywood
distributors, but this technology can easily (and cost effectively)
be used in the corporate/industrial arena. Instead of a traditional
PowerPoint presentation, burning an entire presentation to DVD,
with chapter indexes, could be a great way for those in sales to
give a presentation from the laptop, without forgetting important
information, or jump to other areas of information quickly.
As computers become a standard in most fields, it is often easier
to find a laptop than a VCR. With the immense amount of data that
can be put on a VideoCD, training videos for use in corporate productions
could be converted to VideoCD and include other in-depth information
such as maps, diagrams, other languages, etc. so training and repair
of equipment can be completed quickly and correctly. Education is
an area where using content produced with the Pinnacle DC1000 will
soar. An entire course could be put on CD complete with class outlines,
video demonstrations/samples, etc. for quick review and study. This
interactivity in both the industrial and education fields will increase
retention more than 75%. While the cost of purchasing a DVD-R may
be out of the question at the moment, the option of burning and
distributing on VideoCD or an interactive CD is well within any
budget (less than $1.00/disc).
1:00 PM: Editing the footage
Adobe
Premiere 5.1 RT is very easy to use, if you come from a NLE background
and adjust to new layout/terminology, then you should have no problems.
In fact, I was able to edit the program without looking in the manual
once. A wondering thought passes through my head while editing…it
amazes me how different NLE programs on different platforms seem
to share a lot of the same keyboard shortcuts.
In addition to real time editing with Adobe Premiere 5.1 RT, Pinnacle
has also included their TitleDeko software for professional titling
and graphics, and Sonic Foundry ACID Music for creating quick scores
for your production. Personally I am not a big fan of wipes in production,
but I did use a couple transition effects from the Video SpiceRack
Effects collection in the final project.
1:40 PM: Finished editing time for output
Since
editing with the Real Time version of Premiere, there was very little
to render. This was very refreshing since I have used the base Xpress
system for years, and have to render just about every complex effect.
1:45 PM: Exporting the video to Minerva Impression CD-Pro
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The Minerva
Timeline |
While
everything to this point has been relatively easy, exporting the
media to be used with Minerva Impression CD-Pro can take quite a
bit of time. The average time I have found has been 7 minutes for
every 1 minute of video. Because I have a 15 minute piece, it is
going to take an hour or so to finish exporting, even on a PIII
500mhz.
4:00 PM: Working with Minerva Impression CD-Pro
From
this point on, the Pinnacle capture board is no longer being used,
however it is important to quickly chronicle the rest of the creation
process.
Once the media has been converted, it is ready for importing into
a Minerva Impression session. One nice thing about Impression CD-Pro
and Adobe Premiere is that you can export edit points as chapters
when creating an interactive CD or DVD. If you have the DC1000,
and use Impression CD Pro, you can use the same files to create
DVD media when you upgrade to Pinnacle's DVD1000. An added plus
(which is another reason this product is so valuable) is that MPEG-2
streams created in the DC/DVD1000 are compliant with high-end encoders.
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minerva
has Photoshop support |
Minerva
Impression CD-Pro is very simple to use; import the media files,
put them in the timeline, create some menus, chapters and then link
them all together. The software allows you to test the interactivity
of the program before committing it to CD. Creating menus and buttons
is also very easy as the software allows importing of Photoshop
layers. Simply create the menu of your liking in Photoshop, save
the layers, import into Impression CD-Pro, and drag and drop the
clips as links onto the buttons. You can even create rollover buttons
for your menus by a clever layer naming trick in Photoshop.
5:30 PM: Burning the program to CD.
Minerva CD-Pro supports many CD-R and CD-RW drives and adds more
every day. When the content is burned onto the CD-ROM, it also burns
the player on the CD as well, so clients, students, and others who
have Direct X 6.0 installed on their computer can instantly view
the content. If the viewer does not have Direct X 6.0 installed,
the interactive CD can install it automatically.
By dinner I had gone from installation to final content output in
just a day. Granted I was not creating a two hour program, but this
solid test was a satisfying, enjoyable, and educational experience.
Is this a must-have product? If delivering low cost, high quality,
versatile output, is important to you, the answer should be obvious.
Pros: Very easy to use, high quality output, low price makes it
VERY affordable. Cons: This release had no component In/Outs (fixed
in new release), and no option for deck control.
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