Customer Reviews

Digital Video Hacks: Tips & Tools for Shooting, Editing, and Sharing (O'Reilly's Hacks Series)

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Does anyone know when Oreilly stopped putting animals on its book covers? And started adding (gasp!) illustrations to their technology books? Camels and monkeys and birds still adorn the programming books, but a lot of recent Oreilly books have targeted user applications (i.e., The Missing Manual series) and a more graphically-oriented approach (some might say a comic book approach) to highly technical subjects (see the Headfirst Series or their recent Make magazine). The newly released Digital Video Hacks offers a more user-friendly approach, providing lots of tips and ideas to how to produce a video project.

This book (like other Hacks books) lists 100 hacks and how to do them. It includes contributions from about a dozen writers, most notably filmmaker Michael Dean (who directed the film DIY or Die: How to Survive as an Independent Artist ) and Derrick Story who wrote the terrific Digital Video Pocket Guide (which I'll speak more about later).

Unlike Digital Video Pocket Guide (which focuses more on the shooting part of the production process), Digital Video Hacks walks you through production, post-production and even a little bit of distribution. First, here's a list of things you won't find covered in this book(not in enough depth to be useful). You won't find much discussion about HD production (a good source is the HD For Indies weblog); you won't find much advice about buying equipment or how to comparison shop (camcorder.info might provide better information about that). You won't find a handbook of non-linear editors (NLE) or even a comparison of those currently on the market. Interestingly, the NLE screenshots come from various applications, and in fact they even mention Linux and open-source options on occasion (it doesn't mention Kino, though it goes over a neat open source encoding tool called ffmpeg ). Acknowledging that people will be using different NLEs, the book talks about NLE tricks in a generic way. Aside from postproduction, this book doesn't cover managing a video project (getting clearance, making budgets, etc), or the aesthetics of videography. You'll have to check other books for that (see below).

That aside, the book is great. For basic videography, the book talks about things you can improvise: using roller skates or baby carriages for dolly shots, windshield shades for bounceboards, parchment paper or pantyhose for light diffusion. I also learned a lot of great tricks: how to mount your camera on your car (PDF), log your footage and fix timecode/digital transfer problems (PDF) . The book covers lots of gotchas: Why you should edit with both a TV monitor and computer monitor, cleaning audio (with high-pass or low-pass filters or applications like Soundsoap ). All great stuff. The portion on lighting was ok; unlike many video production books (which go into excruciating detail about lighting equipment way above an individual's budget), the book describes an on-the-go lightkit assembled by a director for shooting in Thailand. This was cool and interesting, but I definitely could have used more buying information about something above no-budget lighting. I would have liked a discussion of common lighting scenarios. (I guess this is just something you have to learn on your own). Aside from a discussion of monopods, I'm surprised that the book didn't weigh in on do-it-yourself steadicams. I really wanted an extended discussion of that (luckily, there seems to be a a slashdot discussion on the topic).

I had the same complaint about the audio section. While it contained some interesting sound tricks (regarding the soundproof car interior as a mobile studio for example) I missed information about the different types of microphones and how to place them correctly. Such basic stuff isn't properly considered a hack and thus not included here. That is unfortunate. To be fair though, the audio hacks given here were excellent. To wit, hack #57 (Fool Your Audience's Perception (PDF)) describes in detail how to use the McGurk effect to cover mistakes and yes, even to edit out profanity without your audience catching on.

For readers looking for more information about the shooting process itself, the cheaper and more succinct 2003 Digital Video Pocket Guide by Derrick Story covers that information superbly. Story's book goes into more detail about equipment to buy as well as how to resolve lighting and sound problems. There's only so much you can say in 112 pages, but 30 of those pages are devoted to solving practical shooting problems (i.e., the walking interview, dealing with wind (PDF), etc.) Another 30 pages consists of reference material and tables about basic camera concepts (i.e., how aperture relates to depth of field). Also, this book in particular has a high percentage of color photographs, which (like those in Digital Video Hacks) make it easier to understand what the writer is getting at. Some of the information from Digital Video Pocket Guide is duplicated in Digital Video Hacks, but lately I've found myself referring more often to the Pocket Guide than the Video Hacks book.

In contrast, Digital Video Hacks spends a lot more time on post-production, resolving sound problems and image discrepencies. It also contains lots of tricks (special techniques for appropriate certain contexts). Some examples: time-lapse video of a sunset, constructing a DIY blue screen shot (really cool and not as complicated as I thought), controlling your camera remotely, making your own "weather report," creating a "freeze-time" sequence (a la Matrix), creating a video for 3-D viewing, making DVD menus, defeating the Macromedia protections on commercial DVDs to import clips into your project, shooting a computer monitor (the discrepencies in refresh rates causes flickering) and rotating your video from vertical to horizontal. The book also contains some postproduction tricks (such as changing a scene from day to night) as well as other advanced techniques: Removing an unwanted object (like a microphone) from your video image using your NLE or using XML config files to create custom effects and transitions in MS Movie Maker.

The book did a fairly good job talking about distribution, encoding and rendering. There was a good discussion about setting up bit torrent, videoblogging, live feeds, video catalogs, creating DVD menus and encoding for media players on portable devices (using 3GPP file formats). This is important and amazing stuff, especially as video aggregators like FireAnt become more popular. In addition, some hacks were less about video production than using remote cameras for everyday uses (security, remote tech support). Interesting for some, not terribly important to future Richard Linklaters.

The best part about both books are the great color images. Both are easy to read and browse through. I like the way that Digital Video Hacks offered suggestions for Linux, Windows and Apple and didn't limit themselves to talking about only one application like Final Cut Pro. Sometimes a a technology book, if its approach to the subject is too generic, will turn out not to offer a practical series of steps for accomplishing tasks. Digital Video Hacks did not fall into this trap.

In summary: Digital Video Hacks is an excellent all-in-one book for video producers at all levels. Great practical suggestions and tricks, although I wish it provided more help for evaluating your equipment needs (and making it fit within your budget).

Robert Nagle , aka idiotprogrammer writes web fiction under various pseudonyms. He is soon embarking on first feature documentary project.

With the explosion of broadband availability, combined with the falling prices of digital video recorders, more and more people are trying their hand at creating the new Citizen Kane right in their own homes. Similar to the explosion that took place when digital cameras became affordable for the masses the same concept is taking hold in creating "talkies" -- or video for the masses.

If you are like me, you have no idea how to take that video you shot last weekend of the Harley Davidson show and edit it down to remove the 15 minutes of video showing your shoes, the 10 minutes of you chasing the dog who stole your camera bag, etc., etc. That is where "Digital Video Hacks" comes into play. Each "hack" as it is called takes on a specific task and outlines the steps needed to produce the results. The hacks are organized so that you can really skip throughout the book and pick up only the ones you need to know right then and now. Many of the hacks cross-reference others, so once you figured out, for example, how to add diffusion to your camcorder light, you can easily reference that back to how to use paper lanterns or diffuse work-area light.

One of the best parts of this book is that it doesn't focus entirely on PC-based editing as one might think from the title. Quite a few pages are devoted to topics such as how to mount the camera to a car, how to create a green-screen environment, how to build a lightbox and more. The author has done an excellent job of making sure you setup your environment correctly to make the editing part easier down the road.

If you are someone who wants to take your camcorder farther and make that step from simple home-movies to presentation-style video this book is for you. You will learn a lot of tricks and tips that the digital era of video editing has made a lot easier than the days of when you had to have tens of thousands of dollars of expensive, special-purpose equipment. A must read for anyone who wants to know how to turn that video into the next award-winning documentary; not to mention those of us who just simply want to make better videos that don't put the entire family to sleep watching.

This book is very well written and richly illustrated with video stills, photographs, and diagrams so you can see what is being explained.

The 'hacking' books are usually as deep as the number of people that contribute to them. In this case, thirteen contributors, in addition to the author, have poured their real-world experience into one solid volume of expertise.

To give you an example, Hack #68 explains how to change a scene from day to night using color-correction tools available from the five most common video editing suites. In five pages and seven illustrations, this chapter gets right to the point and tells you how to get from day to night.

The book's eight chapters are titled Prepare, Light, Acquire, Edit, Audio, Effects, Distribute, and Random Fun.

In "Digital Video Hacks", you get recommendations for equipment and programs with which you can build a close-to-professional editing facility and equipment kit for a small fraction of the cost of a commercial enterprise, plus practical information on how to use them. If all you want is to take your vacation footage and get rid of the shots of your shoes, you don't need this book. But if you are itching to develop a project with a storyline, proper lighting, and good audio, read it before you start production.
The book contains one hundred "how to" contributions by fourteen professionals. The authors assume that you are an experienced computer editor. Reading Chapter One ("Prepare") before you start your project will help you develop a storyline and keep your tapes and clips organized in your computer. After that, I suggest that you skim the rest of the book so that you know what it contains, then reach for it any time you run into a problem or need to build a piece of equipment.
You won't find all the hacks useful, of course (I doubt that I'll ever use Hack #13, "how to digitize one hundred hours of footage in two days on multiple computers"). But any one of the Hacks can justify the price of the book. For me, the chapters on Lighting (Hacks #17-25), Audio (Hacks #51-60), and Effects (Hacks #61-74) contain information I can put to good use immediately.
Whether you are PC-based or Mac-based, you will find Hacks designed for you. Where possible, specific menu instructions are provided for three editing systems: Premiere, Final Cut Pro, and Avid.
A subject I've rarely seen well covered is Chapter 7 ("Distribute"). In addition to tutorials on burning your project to VCD or DVD, you can learn how to select the best codec for your specific use, how to encode your video to stream on the Internet, even build an Internet TV station with the Darwin Streaming Server (Apple only). Oh, and you can ask for donations through Pay Pal!
The writing style is generally informal and lucid, although a few spots left me scratching my head. It's going onto my bookshelf, right next to my favorite book on Premiere Pro editing techniques. (From the MBUG-PC Newsletter 10/2005)

I found the book to be very practical and have the
kind of "nuts-and-bolts" pointers that I like. You
don't have to read it cover to cover (I didn't) but
can pick it up and go to the points that interest you
or where you are currently in need of help. It refers
to various "commerical products" that the author has
used to get the job done. I found this helpful. With so
many competing products to chose from it's nice to
hear, "If you get product X you'll be able to do Z,"
rather than buying and hoping (or not buying and
wondering). Kuddos to the author.

I learned so much from this book. In fact, I've already implemented several of the ideas and have had great results. If you're semi-professional (video has been added to your responsibilities but you have no experience with this medium) BUY THIS BOOK.

Who would have thought of parchment paper and clothes pins to diffuse light and create a softer, more natural light over the subject? That's just one of the great tips I've already started using.

I've bought several digital video books while trying to learn this medium, and this has been by far the most useful.

Digital video is one of my latest hobbies, so I was really excited to pick up a copy of this book. I was very impressed with the depth of material, the tricks that are actually possible with a home setup, and the various tips the author provides for better, more organized video. Many of the revolutionary techniques used in films even 10 years ago can be easily duplicated with a simple MiniDV camcorder and a personal computer.

The author really proceeds from the standpoint that the reader has a camcorder, has tried to make a movie or two, and really wants some ideas for improvement. He begins with some excellent tips for organizing raw footage and proceeds through all aspects of the filmmaking process. The author suggests using a clap board to not only get a visual identification of the take information, but by "clapping" the board before the take, you have a way to make sure your audio and video are synchronized.

The author also covers how to perform some really interesting special effects. The most common of which is chroma-keying (or using blue screen). This is actually relatively easy to do, assuming you have a good backdrop and decent lighting. The author even takes the reader through the process of building a blue screen for under $30. Some additional special effects techniques include "bullet time", made famous by the Matrix films, and how to produce a 3D film.

The author does a really good job going through the whole filmmaking process, from storyboarding to post production. This book will give new filmmakers an excellent idea of what it takes to produce a film, and provides some tips on the tools necessary to do right.

The Digital Video Hacks by Joshua Paul gives you a shortcut to produce low cost movies by providing some useful tips and tools hacks for the movie production process.

With this book, you do not need studio expensive equipments to get a professional looking movie. All you need is to look around you for inexpensive tools to help getting your movie a professional look.

Joshua has organized the hacks in this book into eight chapters according to the stages of the video production process.

· The first chapter describes the most important stage to save money and produce a professional looking movie. It is the preparing stage, where you do the planning, storyboarding and organizing your work.
· The lighting related hacks that help create low cost lighting effects are introduced in the second chapter.
· The third chapter is concerning about acquiring your movie, which include hacks about how to shoot you movie and distribute it.
· The fourth chapter introduces hacks to help create high quality output when editing your movie.
· Chapter 5 shows you how to create audio that will grasp the attention of your audience's eye and ears. This leaves a greater effect than presenting the idea to the eye only.
· Effects help deliver your message and visualizing your storyboard with interesting way that remains in the mind of your audience. So, the hacks in the sixth chapter are concerning about this interesting part of the movie production process.
· After finishing your movie, the hacks in the seventh chapter help distributing you work with variety of ways such as using the internet, cell phones and pocket pc.

· Joshua finishes his book with some general hacks that are useful in presenting your movie in chapter 8.

Many of us are interested in creating low cost movies. I think this book is good for all who want to create personal movies for memories. It is also good for web designers who want to enhance their web site design with new video media under the limited budget of the web projects. Digital Video Hacks is one of the rare books that cover this kind of video projects.

Not soemthing I would read cover to cover, but the individual "Hacks" that I have read are pretty good. I have lots of books along this line and this is one of the bet. I put it up there with Stu's "DV Rebels Guide" which is also incredible. If you like the Rebel guide, you will probably like this as well. Lots of good stuff. Enjoy!

Great book with great content I recommend it to anyone who want to take there film making a step forward and is to busy or lazy to download the information from the internet becaue it is all there. Spread around of course but you will find every piece of information even most of the pictures used in this book so. If you have time and dedication you can save yourself the money by looking it up on the internet.