Public Service Announcement
Jul. 12th, 2007 10:19 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
absolutedestinyCan people who are encoding mpeg2 videos and sending them into cons please, please
TEST YOUR VIDEO OUT ON A TELEVISION FOR FUCKS SAKE
is it really that hard to do? DVD writers a two a penny as is blank media. Everyone has a dvd player. It really isn't very hard and it saves me A LOT OF TIME wasted by having to fix your fuckups at the 11th hour.
Thank you.
ETA: To clarify the point some. For most people, it won't matter. Everything will be fine. The real problem comes when there is a technical flaw that cannot be fixed at my end. The two most obvious mistakes made by people who do not test their videos on a TV are as follows.
1) Credits and other textual information being placed outside the title-safe area of the screen. 20% from the edge, that's as close as you should get before stuff gets cropped. There are a lot of videos that have this problem and if you watched it on a TV you'd see it straight away and would know to fix it.
2) Mixed field orders. If you are editing interlaced footage it is *imperative* that all the footage and the editing software are all using the same field order. Have mismatched field orders and half of your clips will jerk like crazy when anything moves. The only solution is for me to deinterlace (poorly as it's harder to deinterlace when you don't know what order the field need to be in) which is fine except I only get to see the problem by the time *I've* compiled something to a dvd and watched it on a TV. The difference between it being the last thing I do and it being last thing the vid maker does is that the vidmaker can do this before the deadline.
When you have lots and lots of videos even the smallest percentage that reveal these problems become a major *major* hassle. The time fixing them adds up and really these problems are best handled by the original editor anyway.
TEST YOUR VIDEO OUT ON A TELEVISION FOR FUCKS SAKE
is it really that hard to do? DVD writers a two a penny as is blank media. Everyone has a dvd player. It really isn't very hard and it saves me A LOT OF TIME wasted by having to fix your fuckups at the 11th hour.
Thank you.
ETA: To clarify the point some. For most people, it won't matter. Everything will be fine. The real problem comes when there is a technical flaw that cannot be fixed at my end. The two most obvious mistakes made by people who do not test their videos on a TV are as follows.
1) Credits and other textual information being placed outside the title-safe area of the screen. 20% from the edge, that's as close as you should get before stuff gets cropped. There are a lot of videos that have this problem and if you watched it on a TV you'd see it straight away and would know to fix it.
2) Mixed field orders. If you are editing interlaced footage it is *imperative* that all the footage and the editing software are all using the same field order. Have mismatched field orders and half of your clips will jerk like crazy when anything moves. The only solution is for me to deinterlace (poorly as it's harder to deinterlace when you don't know what order the field need to be in) which is fine except I only get to see the problem by the time *I've* compiled something to a dvd and watched it on a TV. The difference between it being the last thing I do and it being last thing the vid maker does is that the vidmaker can do this before the deadline.
When you have lots and lots of videos even the smallest percentage that reveal these problems become a major *major* hassle. The time fixing them adds up and really these problems are best handled by the original editor anyway.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2007-07-12 09:30 pm (UTC)Wow, it didn't even occur to me to try mine out on a tv first. Duh, John. I will from now on! (If mine are messed up, let me know and I'll certainly try to save you the hassle of fixing them!)
no subject
Date: 2007-07-12 10:45 pm (UTC)Ditto what he said.
no subject
Date: 2007-07-13 02:29 am (UTC)I *think* I checked the field order, but...this is the first time I have used this setup for live-action (interlaced). If it's too much of a hassle, just skip the vid.
And many apologies if I have caused any extra work (and I probably have)!
no subject
Date: 2007-07-12 10:19 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-07-13 12:01 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-07-13 12:16 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-07-12 10:33 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-07-12 11:25 pm (UTC)Also, seconding what Greensilver said: adding this step to the website instructions and to the reminder e-mails would nudge at least a few of us to double-check before uploading.
no subject
Date: 2007-07-12 11:42 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-07-12 11:54 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-07-13 12:47 am (UTC)If so, please let me know (and sorry for the inconvienience)...I will endeavour to stick my finger up my bum & get my shit together for you next time round.
I already have the finger ready as you can clearly see in my avatar...
no subject
Date: 2007-07-13 04:05 am (UTC)Okay, for the record, if I have committed some grievous error/s with mine (always a distinct possibility, considering my newness at computer vidding), please let me know so that I can repair it, since I am unaware of any potential issues prior (nor was I ever taught a thing concerning the two above referenced terms).
*crosses fingers and toes that I am not one of the people you are cursing at here*
no subject
Date: 2007-07-13 04:26 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-07-13 01:22 pm (UTC)You know what is really really funny... I haven't a real issue with field order since 2003. People must be getting smarter, or my rules scare them so much they don't enter. *shrug*