[Michael Banks]

Craig, thanks for the example breakdown and showing that it’s not a simple answer, though it is a simple question that must be asked.

Your experience with gov’t services’ dependence on WMV is helpful.

Your responses are much appreciated!

[Michael Banks]

That’s a wealth of information! Thanks, Craig.

One final question if you wouldn’t mind: since there is Flip4Mac (our core users are primarily Windows-based), would you agree that WMV could serve as a universal video file format on desktop computers (Windows and Mac), excluding the use of mobile devices?

[Michael Banks]

Thanks, Craig. Part of our core audience is legacy Windows users, possibly even back to Windows 2000. These are not people we can necessarily tell to upgrade their PCs.

As I understand H.264, it is processor-intensive. Would you say that Baseline H.264 MP4 is still a valid option for this group of users?

-Michael

[Michael Banks]

Thanks, Job ter Burg! That’s the info I was looknig for!

Video Production Specialist
MarCom Video Room
Intuitive Surgical, Inc.
*****
Avid Media Composer 5 (HP Z400 Workstation: Windows 7 64-bit; Intel Xeon 6 Core W3680 CPU; 6 GB RAM); Adobe CS4; DepthQ Stereoscopic; Digital Rapids StreamZHD v.3.3.3.b47

[Michael Banks]

Completely understandable, Todd. It’s folks like you who provide learning and craft resources on the web that help make it worthwhile. Thanks!

Video Production Specialist
MarCom Video Room
Intuitive Surgical, Inc.
*****
Avid Media Composer 5 (HP Z400 Workstation: Windows 7 64-bit; Intel Xeon 6 Core W3680 CPU; 6 GB RAM); Adobe CS4; DepthQ Stereoscopic; Digital Rapids StreamZHD v.3.3.3.b47

[Michael Banks]

Awesome! Thanks for the revelation, Dave. Todd’s being so discrete while he represents his employer in the forums here apparently. 😉

Video Production Specialist
MarCom Video Room
Intuitive Surgical, Inc.
*****
Avid Media Composer 5 (HP Z400 Workstation: Windows 7 64-bit; Intel Xeon 6 Core W3680 CPU; 6 GB RAM); Adobe CS4; DepthQ Stereoscopic; Digital Rapids StreamZHD v.3.3.3.b47

[Michael Banks]

You’re the man, Todd! Sounds like I could use an After Effects reference book, too. LOL!

Video Production Specialist
MarCom Video Room
Intuitive Surgical, Inc.
*****
Avid Media Composer 5 (HP Z400 Workstation: Windows 7 64-bit; Intel Xeon 6 Core W3680 CPU; 6 GB RAM); Adobe CS4; DepthQ Stereoscopic; Digital Rapids StreamZHD v.3.3.3.b47

[Michael Banks]

Hi, Ben. While I haven’t had the opportunity or need to do the kind of keying you are asking about, it sounds to me like you simply need to:

1)Pull the footage into your comp (or duplicate your video layer) as many times as you have elements which you need to key.

2)Matte each element (dancer) with one matte per dancer per layer.

3)Apply KeyLight to each layer to make your individual key adjustments.

I think that should get you going in the right direction. Welcome to After Effects! It’s great, and there IS a lot you can learn/do with it. I hope the project turns out great!

Mike Banks

Video Production Specialist
MarCom Video Room
Intuitive Surgical, Inc.
*****
Avid Media Composer 5 (HP Z400 Workstation: Windows 7 64-bit; Intel Xeon 6 Core W3680 CPU; 6 GB RAM); Adobe CS4; DepthQ Stereoscopic; Digital Rapids StreamZHD v.3.3.3.b47

[Michael Banks]

Hi, Heather. Oh, the wacky world of web media.

You might try rendering the audio of each individual WMV file to WAV or AIFF files via your favorite audio editing program to “lock” the audio, so to speak. Then bring the audio into AE and match it to your WMV video layers.

Don’t forget to silence the embedded audio in your WMV layers.

Alternatively, if you have Adobe Premiere Pro, you can create an editing sequence using the “iPod” preset under “Mobile & Devices” which will allow you to edit the WMVs as well; just modify the preset under the “General” tab to match your media’s frame size and frame rate. You still might have the same problem with the audio, though.

I hope this helps.

-Michael Banks

Video Production Specialist
MarCom Video Room
Intuitive Surgical, Inc.
*****
Avid Media Composer 5 (HP Z400 Workstation: Windows 7 64-bit; Intel Xeon 6 Core W3680 CPU; 6 GB RAM); Adobe CS4; DepthQ Stereoscopic; Digital Rapids StreamZHD v.3.3.3.b47

[Michael Banks]

Dave, I never understood until now why some MOVs looked absolutely terrible in QuickTime Player but looked and edited just fine in Adobe Premiere. Thanks for the insight!

Video Production Specialist
MarCom Video Room
Intuitive Surgical, Inc.
*****
Avid Media Composer 5 (HP Z400 Workstation: Windows 7 64-bit; Intel Xeon 6 Core W3680 CPU; 6 GB RAM); Adobe CS4; DepthQ Stereoscopic; Digital Rapids StreamZHD v.3.3.3.b47