Working out workflow issues...

The camera: Canon HV20, capturing in HDV mode right now, which is a 1080i compressed format stored in MiniDV tape.

The software: Premiere Pro CS3, using "Capture" mode in HDV format.

The Light Setup: My crappy downstairs office, a couple halogen lamps. The automatic gain control is wreaking havoc with my setup, need to balance the lighting better.

The First Attempt

I just adlibbed for 90 seconds. Really terrible stuff. I kept looking at the little monitor, which is a bad thing. I should just have the camera pointing at me, and remember not to move. Without the monitor, I will look directly into the lens, which is what I think I want.

I probably should adjust the angle a bit so I can see a desk or something, and I can look at stuff on it.

I should probably prepare something of a script outline, remembering the old script rule we used for timing out voiceover for animation: approximately 0.4 seconds per word. 60 seconds is about 150 words.

To create a video slate at HD resolution, I made a Photoshop file of 1920x1080, and imported that into the media tray for Premiere. You create transitions by dragging them from the transition area to the clips themselves (either the front or the back). You can edit their duration by clicking the EFFECTS tab on the upper-left video preview window (this is the currently selected clip).

Exporting, I didn't have an option on the type of audio compressor (weird). I exported QuickTime MPEG4 at a much smaller size, 320x180 (16:9 ratio) and limited the datarate 250K/sec, progressive non-interlaced, 29.97fps. When I tried it interlaced at 100K/sec, got some funny flashing at the bottom. 100K/sec might be doable, actually.

Links:

• Set Up A Video Blog using WordPress plus some free software
• A forum for HV20 users, with lots of tips and workflow (particularly 24P)