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To submit questions to, or augment this FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) please click here, or email to info@ftcvideo.com with a subject of "Digital Video FAQ".

Q1: How much video can you put on a DVD?

Q2: What are NTSC and PAL?

Q3: What are the various resolutions of digital video?

Q4: What are the differences between duplication and replication?

Q5: Can I get some tips on doing my own short clip of myself for YouTube?

Q6: What do the letters i and p mean in video formats?

Q7: How much information can be stored on the various types of optical discs?

Q8: How can you control video file size and quality on the internet (compression)?

Q9: Why is the color of my video off (white balance)?

Q10: What is Green Screen and how does it work?

Q11: What clothing is best for video?

Q12: How can I take better home video?

Q1: How much video can you put on a DVD?

A1:  At Fort Collins Video, we use standard DVD-5s.  These are the most common blank DVDs that you can find for sale in any computer or office supply store.  DVD-5s can hold 4.7Gb of information.  Ok, fine.  Now how much video can fit in 4.7Gb?   The answer to that is . . . it depends.  Video DVDs that can play in your standard DVD player store video in a compressed format called MPEG-2.   The key term in the previous sentence is compressed.  When video information is prepared for a DVD a decision is made on how much compression to use.  The more compression that is applied, the more video will fit on the DVD.  However, the more compression that is applied the lower the quality of the resulting video.  Degradation due to compression is most noticeable in video that has a lot of motion (like a soccer game).  Different people have different tolerances for the distortion that occurs from too much compression.   It is somewhat subjective.   Most people can see little or no compression caused problems with 90 minutes or less video on a disc.   Most people will see compression caused problems with more than 2 hours on a disc.  To get the best quality possible, keep the video to 70 minutes or less.

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Q2: What are NTSC and PAL?

A2: Unfortunately, there are two world-wide standards for Standard Definition video.

NTSC "National Television System Committee" 720x480, 30 fps

Used primarily in the Americas.

PAL "Phase Alternating Line"

720x576, 25 fps Used primarily in Europe, Asia, and Australia.

Typically video made for one standard will not play on the other. Although, there's a better chance of getting an NTSC source to play on a PAL device than vice-versa.

For High Definition footage the resolutions are the same between PAL and NTSC, but frames per second (fps) still differ.  PAL HD frame rate is typically 50i/25p, and NTSC is 60i/30p (see q6 below to learn more about the i's and p's in frame rates).

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Q3: What are the various resolutions of digital video?

A3:

Standard Definition NTSC (480i) 720x480     (.35 megapixels)
Standard Definition PAL 720x576     (.41 megapixels)
High Definition (720p) 1280x720   (.92 megapixels)
High Definition (1080p, 1080i) 1920x1080 (2.1 megapixels)
Digital Cinema (2k) 2048x1080 (2.2 megapixels)
UHDTV 3840x2160  (8.3 megapixels)
DCI 4K 4096x2160 (8.8 megapixels)
DCI 8K 7680x4320 (33.2 megapixels)

(see q6 below to learn more about the i's and p's in the above table)

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Q4: What are the differences between duplication and replication?

A4:  Duplication of CDs and DVDs involves burning the discs with a laser.   This is the process you use with your computer at home.  Replication of CDs and DVDs involves a stamping process where a glass master is made from the data and all copies are stamped or pressed from that master.  When you purchase a Hollywood movie, or buy a CD from a nationally known artist there's a 99% chance that those discs were replicated, not duplicated.

Because of the overhead in equipment costs and creation of the glass master, replication is usually reserved for runs of 1000 or more copies.   Replicated discs are also, typically, more compatible across different players (although players have become much better at reading duplicated discs as time goes on).   If you can justify 1000 or more copies then replication is the way to go. Replication will get you a highly compatible product at a lower per-unit cost.   If there's no way you need 1000 copies, go with duplication.

At Fort Collins Video we do in-house duplication and printing of CDs and DVDs.  We use professional media and burn at slower speeds to ensure state-of-the-art compatibility.  We have several partners to call on if a client needs replication.

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Q5: Can I get some tips on doing my own short clip of myself for YouTube?

A5:  This is a short list of things you can do to make short clips of yourself (usually for a business purpose) for YouTube more professional -

Don't use the camera's built-in microphone.  Invest in a lavaliere clip-on microphone, or a small shotgun/directional microphone.  This will help your voice overcome any room or background noise.

Put the camera at your eye level.  Looking up or down at the camera is generally not a good idea.

Light the scene. Not having enough light will cause your video to be grainy/fuzzy. Also, if you have multiple lights, try and use the same type (this helps white balance, see below).

Adjust the white balance.  Human eyes are very good at adjusting to light with different tints.  Cameras are not as good at this.  If your video looks blue, green, or orange - try and find your camera's white balance setting and adjust it until it looks right.

Don't be static.  If you talk with your hands - do it!  If you don't . . . . try.

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Q6: What do the letters i and p mean in video formats?

A6: When reading video format specifications (720p, 1080i, etc.) the p stands for "progressive" and the i stands for "interlaced".

Interlaced video was created for the original broadcast television technology.  It allowed smooth video playback with lower speed electronics.   Most video you see today is 30 frames-per-second (fps).  In interlaced video a complete frame is displayed in two sequential parts, or fields.  In the case of 480i video (the NTSC standard) each field contains half of the 480 lines split by even and odd numbered lines.  30fps interlaced video is sometimes referred to as 60i because a field is displayed every 60th of a second, but it takes two fields (one with the even-numbered lines and one with the odd-numbered lines) to build a compete frame.

Progressive video displays each frame in its entirety one after another.  It requires more electronic horsepower to display than interlaced video.

As a broad generalization today, interlaced video is used more for high speed action and progressive for everything else.

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Q7: How much information can be stored on the various types of optical discs?

A7: There are three primary types of optical discs in use today: 

  • Compact Disc (CD)
  • Digital Versatile Disc (DVD)
  • Blu-ray Disc (BD)

These discs can be used for multiple purposes, typically to store data as well as either audio or video.  For example, you can write your important data files to a CD as well as creating an audio CD that will play in a standard CD player.  The difference is the specific format of the data written to the disc.  The basic data capacities are independent of the disc's ability to be played in a CD player, DVD player, or BD player.  These discs also come in two primary physical sizes (12cm and 8cm).  Both DVDs and BDs can have multiple layers and DVDs can have multiple sides!  Getting confused?  Try these tables:

CD - primary uses are data and audio

Size Capacity in Mega-bytes
8cm 222
12cm 700

DVD - primary uses are data, standard definition video, and audio

Size Layers Sides Capacity in Giga-bytes Note
8cm 1 1 1.46
8cm 2 1 2.66
8cm 2 2 2.92
8cm 4 2 5.32
12cm 1 1 4.7 Most common commercial blank media
12cm 2 1 8.54 Next most common commercial blank media
12cm 2 2 9.4
12cm 3 2 13.24
12cm 4 2 17.08

BD - primary uses are data, and high definition video

Size Layers Capacity in Giga-bytes
8cm 1 7.8
8cm 2 15.6
12cm 1 25
12cm 2 50

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Q8: How can you control video file size and quality on the internet (compression)?

A8: You could write a book, or at least a long whitepaper, on this topic.  I'll give a summary that should give you a better handle on how to keep the sizes of your video files low while keeping the quality at an acceptable level.  If you aren't doing this yourself, this will help you communicate with the person that is doing it.  The "it" is called compression.

In a perfect world all video on the internet would be full resolution and full quality.  Certainly someday this will be true.  In the meantime, there are limitations that must be dealt with given the current state of technology.   Today most people don't have unlimited storage space on their websites and most internet connections are not fast enough to move high quality video from a server to a viewer in real time.   We've all seen the issues - we wait for video to start playing, when the video starts sometimes it stops in the middle and we wait again, and the video we get is small and often fuzzy.   When video is posted on the web someone has made decisions on how to compress the video.  Compression makes the final files smaller so the viewer has less (or no) wait time.   The downside to compression is that it lowers the quality of the video and associated audio.  Sometimes the lowered quality is obvious, sometimes not so much.   Below is a list of typical attributes of a video file that can be adjusted to manipulate file sizes:

  • Resolution - The size of a frame from a NTSC miniDV camcorder is 720x480.   Much of the video on the internet today is only displayed at 1/4-resolution (360x240).  Lower resolution = smaller file size.
  • Frame rate - Most digital video is created at between 25 and 30 frames per second (fps).   The higher the fps the smoother the video will be.   It is very common for internet video to be 15 or even 10 fps.  The lower the fps the more "jerky" the video will be.  Lower fps = smaller file size.
  • Bit rate -  The higher the video bit rate the better the video will look.   Most people have dealt with bit rate on their mp3 players.  As you lower the bit rate the more "fuzzy" the video will become. Slower bit rate = smaller file size.
  • Audio - To lower file size you can also change the audio.  Moving from stereo to mono and/or lowering the audio bit rate reduces the size of the audio track and, therefore, the size of the video file.
  • Codecs - Codec stands for compressor-decompressor. There are many computer algorithms that do video/audio compression.  They all use different methods to remove data from video files while still leaving behind a watchable video. Windows Media, Quicktime, Flash, and mp4 all use their own codecs.   There is no clear best or worst codec and much of the judgment is subjective.   Each codec has it's own look/degradation the more you compress.  All codecs will let you adjust the parameters described above.

Most web designers that deal with video have their favorite codec and its associated parameters.  If, after the video has been compressed, the quality is not acceptable or the download time is too long you are now educated enough to suggest some changes.   It really comes down to experimentation and what you find acceptable for your video on your website.  Many sites allow the viewer to select the quality they desire by posting multiple versions of a video compressed at different levels.

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Q9: Why is the color of my video off (white balance)?

A9: White balance is the process of removing unrealistic color casts, so that objects which appear white in person are rendered white in your video.  Proper camera white balance has to take into account the "color temperature" of a light source, which refers to the relative warmth (red) or coolness (blue) of white light.  Our eyes are very good at judging what is white under different light sources, however digital optical devices often have difficulty with performing an automatic white balance (AWB).  An incorrect WB can create unsightly blue, orange, or even green color casts, which are unrealistic.  Performing WB in traditional film videography requires attaching a different cast-removing filter for each lighting condition, whereas with digital this is no longer required.  Understanding digital white balance can help you avoid color casts created by your camera's AWB, thereby improving your videos under a wider range of lighting conditions.  Most modern video cameras have options to set the WB and override the AWB.  These options are typically:  sun, incandescent , fluorescent, and manual.  You may access these settings from a menu or buttons, depending on your particular device.  The surest way to get the WB correct is to set it manually.  This process involves placing a known white object filling the frame in the same area you'll be shooting.  Then telling the camera (again, via a menu or button push) to analyze that frame for WB.  If, after the shoot, you still see a color cast most video editing software can correct the color.  But it's best to get it right in the camera.

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Q10: What is Green Screen and how does it work?

A10:  First, a more proper term for "Green Screen" is "Chroma Key".   That's because the color of the "screen" does not have to be green.  Blue is another color that is often used.  Fact is, any color can work.  Green and blue are the most common because human skin contains very little of these colors.  The purpose of Chroma Keying is to combine two images together by removing or "Keying out" a color from one image that allows the second image to show through.  When selecting the color of the screen the very important thing is to be sure no part of the image you want to keep contains that color.  The classic use of Chroma Keying is TV weather reports.   In this case the two images that are combined are a weather map and a meteorologist.  The meteorologist stands in front of a screen (blue typically).  Computers then remove the blue, leaving just the person, and combine that image with the weather map. Things that can make Chroma Key processing difficult are "poofy" hair, detailed see-through fabric (like lace), and shiny objects (because they reflect the key color from the screen).

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Q11: What clothing is best for video?

A11:  There are just a few guidelines when it comes to what kind of clothing works best in a video.

  • Try to avoid black and white.  These colors make correct exposure of the video more difficult.
  • Avoid saturated red if the video will ever be shown on TV.
  • If the video is using chroma key, do not wear a color even close to the chroma key color (usually lime green or blue).
  • Wearing a button down shirt/blouse will make positioning a lavaliere microphone much easier.
  • Avoid stripes, especially horizontal stripes - they will "jitter" if the video is interlaced.
  • Avoid detailed patterns - they tend to jitter/swim.
  • Try and get some contrast with the background - a tan shirt with a tan background is not a good idea.
  • Don't wear accessories that can make noise by knocking into each other, or on a table, etc.

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Q12: How can I take better home video?

A12:

Tip #1: Use a tripod.

The quickest way to improve your videos is to use something to support your camcorder.   The most common way to do this is by using a tripod.   This isn't a large investment and it can make a world of difference.  There are even special tripod heads (the head is what attaches to the camcorder) just for video that make it easier to create smooth motion.  These are nice, but not required.   There are options other than tripods.  You can use a mono-pod or just brace your body against an object when shooting.  Almost all camcorders today have some sort of image stabilzation - use it.

Tip #2:  Do not rotate the camera.

We see this more than you might think.  Video cameras are not still cameras.  Video is always oriented horizontally (landscape mode).

Tip #3:  Be judicious.

Unless you plan to edit your video or create a lot of very boring footage, try to keep scenes short and sweet.  Capture the basic moment and move on.

Tip #4:  Don't use digital zoom.

Most camcorders today have a combination of optical and digital zoom.  Optical zoom will maintain image quality and, if not used too much, adds value to your video.  Digital zoom might seem enticing but you will always lose image quality when using it.  If you can, disable the feature using a menu item or switch.

Tip #5:  Get to the kid's level.

When shooting children, get the camera down to their level.  Who wants video of the tops of the kid's heads?

Tip #6:  Keep the light in front of the subject.

If you shoot footage with the primary lighting behind the subject you create a situation called "Backlighting".  This will cause your subjects to be dark and under-exposed.

Tip #7:   Make camera movements slow and easy.

Unless you really want that NYPD Blue look (and you probably don't) be sure you pan and zoom nice and slow.  This will also help your viewers keep their lunches down.

Here are some additional resources you should check into that will help you create great video!

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