[Thaxter Clavemarlton]

You need a high-rez image of the page(s) of the site.

Grabbing a freeze FROM the site will only be 72 dpi (approx. 640 x 480), and zooming and panning on theta freeze will look very pixelated and low quality.

Your best hope is to re-create the “look” of the site in an image program at, say, double to triple the pixel dimensions. Then you can zoom and move it very well.

[Thaxter Clavemarlton]

The over-the-shoulder shot should look just fine if you use an LCD computer display.

Then cut “full-frame” to either stills captured using “Grab” on a Mac (or other screen-still image capture), or a motion capture app like the one suggested.

[Thaxter Clavemarlton]

Component will not “translate” to composite with just a cable.

You need a “transcoder” that will convert the signals.

However, if you have an “S-Video” output, you can simply combine the “Y” wire and the “C” wire together and it becomes a standard composite video signal.

[Thaxter Clavemarlton]

I’d apply the “Iris” filter, but that’s just me.

😉

Effects > Video Transition > Iris >

[Thaxter Clavemarlton]

VHS can be subject to severe TIMEBASE errors (video NOT playing at the standard and constant frame-rate).
A monitor can usually compensate for these, but they can wreak havoc when trying to dub to another video device (which is attempting to record the video frames at a more precise and constant speed.)

The best way to dub a tape with poor stability is to connect its deck through a true timebase corrector (TBC) and/or frame sync device (with a large enough “window” to compensate for the non-standard source.

Or, if you have access to a small digital “Video Mixer” (more precisely called a digital Video SWITCHER),
Panasonic, Videonics (now called Focus) and DataVideo all offer these units.
The switchers can act as effective TBCs because they use internal digital clocks to “create” a stable video signal even from from various “un-sync’ed sources.
So you can feed your unstable VHS (or other source) into the switcher and send the switcher’s “stable” output to your record deck.

Edirol:
https://dvcreators.net/video-mixers

Panasonic:
https://www.studio1productions.com/vid102.htm
https://www.studio1productions.com/vid100.htm
and others

Focus:
https://www.focusinfo.com/solutions/catalog.asp?id=10

And the best of the bunch, DataVideo:
https://www.datavideo-tek.com/products/se_800_main_page.htm

Certain of these video switchers can usually be rented from companies that set-up “Hotel Ballroom Events” in most cities.

[Thaxter Clavemarlton]

Try looking here:

https://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=301852

This seems to be the answer to many of these kind of problems.

Worth a shot.

[Thaxter Clavemarlton]

DV footage captured in any editing program will give you the same quality on export.

The problem is that using a “still” exported from a video camera will only have limited resolution (approx. 720 x 540 pixels @ 72 dpi).

This can be very low quality when used in printing.

There are some third-party applications that can raise the perceived quality of these images.

I’ve seen pxl SmartScale recommended many times.

https://www.codesco.com/Products_and_Services/Extensis/pxl_SmartScale/pxl_smartscale.html

This one’s a popular choice, too:

https://www.imaging-resource.com/SOFT/GF/GF.HTM

Here’s a link that tells how to try this kind “up-rez/interpolation” technique using only Photoshop CS.

https://www.interpolatethis.com/

Although I’ve tried it and did not get any tangible results.

As far as tips for using Photoshop, there are many tutorials (many must be purchased) available for that application, most of which can be found with a Google search.

[Thaxter Clavemarlton]

All the news directors still have hangovers from celebrating the Nov. election results.

[Thaxter Clavemarlton]

There is nothing wrong with using miniDisc.
A DAT machine, with or without timecode, will gain you nothing for “sync” problems.

A miniDisc is “dead-on” accurate for timing/syncing purposes (just like a DAT, CD, or your camcorders).
Each are locked to a very accurate internal digital “clock” which will not “drift” as analog tapes used to do.

If you are having trouble with sync, there are steps you can take to record “MARKS” on all recording devices that will be common sync-points to match during the edit (that’s what a film “slate/clap-board” is all about.)

Again, you need to find a local audio pro (with video experience) to help you with your shoots.
There are lots of “tricks” that you can learn from a pro.

[Thaxter Clavemarlton]

Virtually all of the entry-level “video mixers” (switchers) have chroma-key built-in.

Examples-

Panasonic:
https://www.studio1productions.com/vid102.htm
https://www.studio1productions.com/vid100.htm
and others

Focus:
https://www.focusinfo.com/solutions/video_production.asp

And the best of the bunch, DataVideo:
https://www.datavideo-tek.com/products/se_800_main_page.htm