DIGITAL IMAGES AND VIDEO: A SHORT INTRODUCTION San-Ho Correwyn A SHORT INTRODUCTION San-Ho Correwyn

DIGITAL IMAGES AND VIDEO: A SHORT INTRODUCTION  1 Digital photography  1.1 Shooting  1.2 Commonly used icons  1.3 Editing and archiving images  2 Digital video  2.1 Video taking  2.2 Video editing  1 Digital photography  1.1 Shooting  1.2 Commonly used icons  1.3 Editing and archiving images  2 Digital video  2.1 Video taking  2.2 Video editing

1.1 Shooting When you buy a camera  Resolution: between 4 and 6 mega pixels (this will result in good prints on small size)  LCD display: the bigger the display the better you can evaluate the pictures  Possibility to connect an external flash  Lens aperture: lenses with larger lens-opening can take pictures in darker situations  Videomodus is a very useful feature  Macro feature: look at the closest distance  Zoom capacity: only look at the optical zoom capacity! (not the electronic zoom)  Manual focusing is necessary (in bad light conditions or in macro photography)  Batteries: AA batteries if possible: the cheapest (especially the rechargeable) and most available type  Price: starts up from 500 €  Resolution: between 4 and 6 mega pixels (this will result in good prints on small size)  LCD display: the bigger the display the better you can evaluate the pictures  Possibility to connect an external flash  Lens aperture: lenses with larger lens-opening can take pictures in darker situations  Videomodus is a very useful feature  Macro feature: look at the closest distance  Zoom capacity: only look at the optical zoom capacity! (not the electronic zoom)  Manual focusing is necessary (in bad light conditions or in macro photography)  Batteries: AA batteries if possible: the cheapest (especially the rechargeable) and most available type  Price: starts up from 500 €

1.1 Shooting Possible exposure problems  Backlight situations: If you photograph in the direction of a light source (sun, window, lamp,…) the object will be underexposed (a person for example will become a dark silhouette). To avoid this you have to overexpose a little or use the fill-in flash.  Flashing in very dark situations: to avoid ‘white ghosts’ on a black background, try to use the flash modus in combination with a long exposure time.  White balancing: to adjust the color temperature. Automatic adjustment works in most cases, otherwise you can set it manually.  Resolution:  it’s not always necessary to use the full resolution capacity.  the final quality of the image is determined by both the resolution (size) and the compression (image quality).  Backlight situations: If you photograph in the direction of a light source (sun, window, lamp,…) the object will be underexposed (a person for example will become a dark silhouette). To avoid this you have to overexpose a little or use the fill-in flash.  Flashing in very dark situations: to avoid ‘white ghosts’ on a black background, try to use the flash modus in combination with a long exposure time.  White balancing: to adjust the color temperature. Automatic adjustment works in most cases, otherwise you can set it manually.  Resolution:  it’s not always necessary to use the full resolution capacity.  the final quality of the image is determined by both the resolution (size) and the compression (image quality).

1.2 Commonly used icons

1.3 Editing and archiving images  JPEG is a very good image format to save your pictures. It’s much smaller while keeping most of the original quality, but don’t compress too much. (70%)  There’s a big difference between screen-resolution and resolution. Example: when your picture looks great on the screen that doesn’t mean you can print as big as it is on your screen. Because your screen uses a 72 dpi resolution, while a print needs much more information for the same size (about 300 dpi).  For archiving and searching purposes it’s important to incorporate image descriptions (captions) and other information within the image files. This is also called metadata. The best way is to do this in the IPTC standard, because it’s supported by programs like Adobe Photoshop, Fotostation, Cumulus (5.5+)… You’ll need one of these programs to write your metadata or there’s also an interesting free tool like Pixvue.  Photo-editing software. Microsoft Photo Editor (for basic image improvement), Photoshop (professional photo-editing)  Photo handling and/or archiving: Irfanview (free!) Fotostation, Cumulus,…  JPEG is a very good image format to save your pictures. It’s much smaller while keeping most of the original quality, but don’t compress too much. (70%)  There’s a big difference between screen-resolution and resolution. Example: when your picture looks great on the screen that doesn’t mean you can print as big as it is on your screen. Because your screen uses a 72 dpi resolution, while a print needs much more information for the same size (about 300 dpi).  For archiving and searching purposes it’s important to incorporate image descriptions (captions) and other information within the image files. This is also called metadata. The best way is to do this in the IPTC standard, because it’s supported by programs like Adobe Photoshop, Fotostation, Cumulus (5.5+)… You’ll need one of these programs to write your metadata or there’s also an interesting free tool like Pixvue.  Photo-editing software. Microsoft Photo Editor (for basic image improvement), Photoshop (professional photo-editing)  Photo handling and/or archiving: Irfanview (free!) Fotostation, Cumulus,…

2.1 Video taking Using the camera:  System: Digital8, this format is comparable with true digital video cameras. The main difference is that the data is stored on the older cassette-type Hi8 (much cheaper, a bit larger)  Different connections:  S-VHS: optimal output quality to connect to a video-recorder  audio / video cinch  Firewire / I-link  USB  3 modes: off / vcr (for playing) / camera (for recording)  Zoom: try not to use the digital zoom because of poor quality (20x optical)  System: Digital8, this format is comparable with true digital video cameras. The main difference is that the data is stored on the older cassette-type Hi8 (much cheaper, a bit larger)  Different connections:  S-VHS: optimal output quality to connect to a video-recorder  audio / video cinch  Firewire / I-link  USB  3 modes: off / vcr (for playing) / camera (for recording)  Zoom: try not to use the digital zoom because of poor quality (20x optical)

2.1 Video taking  Steady shot: to absorb light vibrations of the camera  Nightshot: by using the infrared light the camera can record in almost complete darkness!! (0 lux)  White balancing: to adjust the color temperature. Automatic adjustment works in most cases, otherwise you can set it manually.  Backlight: will overexpose the image to avoid underexposed objects in backlight situations (as explained in the dig. images chapter)  Photo: only low resolution images ( pix)  Steady shot: to absorb light vibrations of the camera  Nightshot: by using the infrared light the camera can record in almost complete darkness!! (0 lux)  White balancing: to adjust the color temperature. Automatic adjustment works in most cases, otherwise you can set it manually.  Backlight: will overexpose the image to avoid underexposed objects in backlight situations (as explained in the dig. images chapter)  Photo: only low resolution images ( pix)

2.2 Video editing- copying  Copy the tape directly to a VHS recorder: connect the camera to your recorder using the S-VHS or cinch. This can also be done in opposite direction (VHS to camera)  Import the video to your computer for editing: connect the camera to your computer using the firewire or USB. Import the film (capture) with the video-editing software. In Windows XP you can use the standard video-editing software. There are also more professional tools like Finalcut pro or Adobe Premiere. After the editing you can either put it back on the camera or on a vhs-tape. (Check the video encoding: PAL or NTSC)  Copy the tape directly to a VHS recorder: connect the camera to your recorder using the S-VHS or cinch. This can also be done in opposite direction (VHS to camera)  Import the video to your computer for editing: connect the camera to your computer using the firewire or USB. Import the film (capture) with the video-editing software. In Windows XP you can use the standard video-editing software. There are also more professional tools like Finalcut pro or Adobe Premiere. After the editing you can either put it back on the camera or on a vhs-tape. (Check the video encoding: PAL or NTSC)

2.2 Video editing With the video-editing software from Windows XP (Windows Movie Maker) you can do basic editing:  capture video from the camera  import video-files from your computer  cut movies in smaller parts  paste different scenes together (ev. with effects)  add audio (spoken or music)  add text (between scenes or as a lay-over)  add effects  save the final movie in different formats: VHS (analog) – MPEG – AVI – MOV - DVD With the video-editing software from Windows XP (Windows Movie Maker) you can do basic editing:  capture video from the camera  import video-files from your computer  cut movies in smaller parts  paste different scenes together (ev. with effects)  add audio (spoken or music)  add text (between scenes or as a lay-over)  add effects  save the final movie in different formats: VHS (analog) – MPEG – AVI – MOV - DVD