So this is my storyboard for the motion graphics project...

Sorted out my keyframing issue in After Effects - I've realised now that every variable that is going to be affected by the animation has to be keyframed. After doing this, we have motion!

So this is what I've been working on pretty much solidly for the past couple of weeks...pleased to say that the Dorset Business Awards have been delivered!

Unit 28.2 - Issues with the Preparation and Manipulation of Assets

Photos!

Larger image dimensions don't always mean larger file sizes. It's the combination of the depth of colour, the resolution and the dimensions that makes something big or small disk space wise. Normally you can choose to work with colour swatches like these...

...which are a small selection of basic colours...

...web colours like these...

...which are the full colour spectrum

simplified a bit.

The greater the depth of the colours that you use, the larger your finished file will be.

So a picture created using colour swatches will be smaller than this...

...which is smaller than this.

The dimensions and the resolution are exactly the same, but the first picture's 586kb in size, the second's 594, and the third's 631.
For the record, it really is quite difficult to sing the rainbow song backwards, the tune doesn't go at all.

The higher the resolution of an image is, the more pixels there are making it up. A lot of mobile phone cameras still produce low resolution images, which is why when you try to view them on a computer the picture's often small, and pixellates when you blow it up.

Sound!

The audio sampling rate is the number of samples per second that are used to digitise a particular sound. Most digital video cameras can record at a number of different audio sampling rates, with the highest rates producing the best results (and the biggest files).

Bit rate can describe the quality of an audio or video file. An MP3 compressed at 192kbps will have a better range and sound clearer than the same track compressed to 128kbps. This is because more bits are used to represent the data during each second of playback. Just like the quality of an image is measured in resolution, the quality of an audio track is measured by bit rate.

Video!

As with images, the larger the dimensions of a film's frames, the more disk space it will occupy. And the same as audio, the higher the frame rate you run the film at, the smoother the film will run. When you run a film at 24 frames per second, the actions are smooth and reflect real life. When you run it at 10fps, the movements are jerky and you can see when the frames change and it doesn't look realistic. This is especially noticeable when you're animating - the ideal is at least 24 individual images for every second of video you want to produce.

And obviously the bigger the files you need to transfer, the longer it'll take...the little green men in your computer have to shout out more ones and zeros per file, and they get a bit hoarse, bless them.

Preparing Assets - Unit 28.1

Ok...so this is me setting up a Final Cut Pro project...



Because this film will eventually be screened at an awards ceremony, the quality needs to be as high as possible, so as you can see I've used settings appropriate to high definition video when creating the project.
It doesn't always work like that though...if you are trying to use lower quality video footage in a sequence that is set up for HD, the quality of the finished product will be terrible because the original footage will stretch to fit the sequence settings and pixellate or distort.

How you set up your project will depend entirely on what program you're using and where the finished article is being shown.
I made the mistake of using Final Cut to make edit and export a series of 30-45 minute films at the high quality they were captured at. This took far too long to render and export, and as they were only meant to be shown on the web, the file size was much too big and the quality unnecessarily high, so they'd take too long to stream.

It's a really good program, and will take pretty much any audio, video and photo format. The quickest ones to work with are those that are compatible with my OS without conversion - .mov, .jpeg, .aiff, .avi etc. Windows files like WMVs and WMAs work too, but the disadvantage is that the rendering process is much slower because the software's basically having to convert it for you every time you need to watch something back.

If you're working to the specification of a client, the first thing you really need to know about the film is how and where it will be shown or distributed; of course this won't change the way the film's edited or the quality of the work, just the quality of the final export. It's possible to compress high quality video and large images down, but not to scale poorer quality footage or photos up, so this has to be taken into consideration from the start of the project. I find it's usually best to work with the original footage in a good quality format and get one master best quality export. You'd then go back to the project and export in a lower resolution (for instance if the film was intended for web). Especially if a client is reviewing your work, they will want to see a high quality film, despite knowing that it will not necessarily stay at that resolution when it is broadcast.

And this is Neville taking his first tentative steps into showbusiness...



He's not normally that grumpy, but he's just been rudely awoken.

This is Neville.



He's going to be in my film (:

Have been working on the Dorset Business Awards films this week - 30 films, 30 seconds each (ish). The edits were pretty straightforward but I found it quite hard to condense the information that the interviewees gave (at least fifteen minutes per film) into such a short space of time. We've also been trying to rearrange the office around building work for an advertising agency that are coming in...there are bookcases and inflatable cars and mugs all over the place...

Was assigned another film today, an advert for a local company. It felt pretty good because I was given control over the whole edit and making sure the client got what they wanted through email correspondences. Hopefully it's ok but there may well be a list of changes in my inbox on Monday morning!

Went up to college for the first time today...Sam and I did a bit of Led Zepping in Clarabelle the Ka to pass the morning drive...

It was really good, I learned a lot about After Effects and have to make a film now using the new skills I've picked up. Thinking something animated with a monster in it (:




In this one we were tracking a spot on the footage so that the background moved with the camera



Here we were keying to create the silhouette and masking to create the ground, then just a bit of photo editing on the background photo to create the effect. There was some animation on the menu too, I learned a bit more about key framing.



...and creating a background and a foreground by duplicating and masking the same video clip.

Health and Safety - Unit 9

Not the most exhilarating of topics, but when the hard drive started smoking the other day I was glad to know about it!

Basically a hazard is something that could potentially be a source of danger, like a cable left unsecured on the floor. A risk is a situation involving an exposure to danger, in this case if the cable was in someone's path and they walked over it. 

For the majority of people in the Creative Media sector, computers are the main tool used in the workplace. This can pose a risk of repetitive strain injury (RSI) due to using mice and keyboards, and of eye damage due to looking at a screen for much of the day. Posture can also suffer in this situation, and this can lead to damage to employees' backs and necks.

Because of this, regular breaks for all employees are encouraged to rest eyes, and chairs that encourage good posture and wrist support aids are often made available to minimise the risk of RSI. 

Electricity (as I've been unfortunate enough to find out on a number of occasions) can hurt. The risk of electric shocks and plugs sparking is omnipresent in this job, so all sockets and appliances are regularly PAT tested by professionals. Any electrical item found to not be working properly is labelled and employees are told of the hazard. 

It's sometimes necessary for larger objects to be moved around the office, and this can pose a risk to the wellbeing of employees if they have not been briefed in the correct way to lift and carry such things. If this briefing isn't carried out, people may be liable to injure or strain themselves, most seriously their backs.

Due to the number of hard drives and power sockets in use by each computer in the work environment, cables sometimes have to run from the wall to various work stations. 

To minimise the tripping hazard posed to people in the office, all loose cables must be taped down securely, preferably with bright, strong tape so that people are made aware of them.

Where electricity is involved, there is always a risk of fire, especially if people are drinking at their desks, as spillage could cause a plug to spark. Papers and files stored around the office could potentially catch light easily, so any fluids should be kept as far away from power sources as possible, and fire extinguishers suitable for electricity and wood, paper and textile fires should be made readily available.

The office environment itself is key in ensuring the health and safety of employees in the Creative Media sector - if a working space is cramped, dim or messy, people are likely to be less productive than if it is spacious, well-lit and tidy. An undesirable workspace is also of detriment to morale, and if there is tension or stress within the office it is likely to be heightened by uncomfortable employees. Keep it clean and smiley! 

(: