1. Creating Desktop Video and Animation
Chapter 15
Creating Desktop Video and Animation
Practical PC, 4e
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2. Creating Desktop Video and Animation
In this Chapter, you will learn:
How to equip your PC to play video
How to create your own desktop video
How to edit a digital video
What compression affects desktop video quality
How to create and play animation
How to change display settings
About PC display devices
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3. Equipping your PC to play video
You can play a DVD in a DVD drive.
You can watch TV, cable TV or a video tape using a TV tuner card which converts the signal.
Desktop videos need a software player that works with the video file format.
Formats include .mpg, .avi and .mov.
Streaming video technology allow watching videos while they are downloading.
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4. Equipping your PC to play video
Windows Media Player
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5. Creating desktop videos
You can use desktop video techniques to create a video scrapbook, a desktop sales video or a video greeting card.
You can create video footage from nondigital sources using a video capture device.
Video capture devices digitize video tape by converting periodic images into bitmap graphics.
You may need to add a video capture card to your computer to be able to do this conversion.
Practical PC, 4e
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6. Creating desktop videos
Video capture software which comes with the device allows you to control how the video is digitized.
You can select display size, capture rate, length and file format.
Digital camera files can be transferred directly to your PC with a 1394 communications link.
You will want to use small segments that you can edit before combining into larger videos.
Practical PC, 4e
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7. Creating desktop videos
A digital camera transferring data to the PC
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8. Editing digital video Video editing software allows:
Cutting out frames
Adding titles
Adding special effects
Resequencing segments
Overlaying soundtracks
Adding transitions between segments
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9. Editing digital video To edit a video:
Import the files containing the audio and video clips
Drag the clips onto a timeline in the sequence you wish them to appear
Decide on and insert transition effects so that the clips blend into each other
Add titles and special effects
Preview it, select a file format and compression and save the finished video
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10. Using video editing software
Editing digital video
Using video editing software
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11. The affect of compression on desktop video quality
Every frame of a digitized video is a full-screen true color graphic and would require about 900 KB of storage.
At 30 frames/ second that amounts to 27MB for each second of video.
Since these sizes cannot currently be managed properly with today’s technology, compression is needed.
Practical PC, 4e
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12. The affect of compression on desktop video quality
Video data can be managed by:
Shrinking the video to 1/4 or 1/8 screen size
Reducing the number of frames per second
Using a compression technique
Compression techniques store only the data that changes from one frame to the next.
You will have to balance quality and file size when you create your video.
Practical PC, 4e
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13. Creating and playing an animation
Computer animation works like a “flip book” with a series of frames showing a scene in motion.
Animation file formats such as FLC save this series of frames in one file which can be played to show the animation.
Web page animation uses an animated GIF format.
These GIF formatted animation files are small and transfer relatively easily.
Practical PC, 4e
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14. Creating and playing an animation
Creating an animated GIF file
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15. Hardware – PC Display devices
A PC display device is used to:
Display what you typed
Show you your Windows desktop and the icons you selected to display
View windows, dialog boxes and messages
View graphics and videos
What you see is created by a series of picture elements or pixels
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16. Hardware – PC Display devices
The most common PC display device is called a CRT monitor.
Factors affecting the quality and price of your monitor are:
Screen size, usually from 14 to 17 inches
Viewable image size (vis measurement)
Dot pitch – the distance between the pixels - usually between .28 and .24 dot pitch
Resolution – the size of the pixel grid
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17. Hardware – PC Display devices
Most notebook computers use an LCD panel, which manipulates light as it passes through liquid crystal cells and color filters.
LCD monitors or flat panel display devices are now available for PCs.
LCD monitors use less power than CRT devices.
Practical PC, 4e
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18. Hardware – PC Display devices
A new flat panel display
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19. Hardware – PC Display devices
Monitors connect to the PC through a video port into a graphics card that converts data between the processor and the display device.
Graphics cards are also called video cards or display adapters.
Better quality graphics cards are available that give you better animation or viewing (for games or video editing).
Practical PC, 4e
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20. Hardware – PC Display devices
Graphics cards contain memory chips where an image is assembled before sending to the display device.
The resolution and color depth on your PC is controlled by the amount of memory available in the graphics card memory chip.
Some graphics cards also include graphics accelerator technology to speed up higher graphic operations.
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21. Hardware – PC Display devices
Comparison of graphics memory cards
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22. Changing display settings
Changing the display properties of your monitor
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23. Dead celebrities live again
What do you think?
Dead celebrities live again
Have you seen deceased celebrities featured in any new TV ads or films?
Do you think that multimedia developers should have the right to create a digital character by digitizing a celebrity look-alike?
Should laws prohibit the creation of digital characters based on the composite traits of several deceased celebrities?
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24. Chapter Summary You should now be able to: Equip your PC to play video
Know how to create your own desktop video
Edit a digital video
Balance compression and size when creating a desktop video using compression
Create and play an animation
Change your display settings
About the basic types of PC display devices
Practical PC, 4e
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