Chapter 16
Creating Desktop
Video and Animation
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Getting Started
• In this Chapter, you will learn:
− What is digital audio
− How to transfer video footage to your
computer
− How to edit a digital video
− How to finalize a video for DVDs, Web sites,
and other uses
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Getting Started
• In this Chapter, you will learn (continued):
− About the most popular video formats
− About codec
− About animation
− About Hardware: PC display devices
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What is digital video?
• Video is a series of still frames projected at a rate fast
enough to appear to have continuous motion
• Digital video uses bits to store color and brightness
data for each pixel in each frame
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Easy to post, view, and download digital videos
Maintains quality no matter how many times copied
Easily manipulated on a personal computer
Store on CDs, DVDs, videotapes, memory cards, or the Web
Display on a computer screen with video player software
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How do I transfer video footage to
my computer?
• The video must be on your hard disk to view and edit
– Digital camera: Connect camera to computer with cable
and use video editing software to edit photos and control
data transfer
– VHS tape, analog video camera, or television broadcast:
Convert into digital data stream using video capture device
– DVDs: DVD ripping and decryption software can convert,
decrypt, and copy your DVD to your PC
– Cell phone: Connect cell phone using cable or e-mail the
video to computer
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How do I edit a digital video?
• Video editing software helps cut unwanted frames,
add special effects, arrange segments, overlay a
soundtrack, and designate transitions
• Wide variety of video-editing software available
• To edit a digital video
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Open your video editing software
Import any files you want in the final video
Drag the elements onto a timeline
Add transfer effects, if desired
Add titles and other special effects
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How do I edit a digital video?
Editing a digital video
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How do I finalize my video for DVDs,
Web sites, and other uses?
• Video settings depend on intended use
– Some software allows you to select a use:
• Sending as an e-mail attachment
• Posting on Web
• Viewing from hard disk
– You can also manually select settings:
• Aspect ratio refers to relative height and width of video frame
• Display size corresponds to the resolution of video window
• Frame rate is number of frames displayed per second
• Videos intended for DVD use need to be laid out in
DVD-Video format
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What are the most popular video
formats?
• There is no standard file format. Digital video file formats,
sometimes called container formats, are a receptacle for
video elements
– Quick Time Movie (MOV): Apple QuickTime Player
– Advanced System Format (ASF): Windows Media Video
– Audio Video Interleave (AVI): An original format; used with open
source players
– MPEG (MP4 & M4V): Variety of formats; used by iTunes store
– Flash Video (FLV): Proprietary video format used on YouTube,
CNN.com, and other Web sites; uses .flv and .swf extensions
– RealMedia: RealPlayer multimedia software; .rm extension
– Video Object File (VOB): Used with commercial DVDs
• Videos can be converted from one format to another using a
process called transcoding
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What’s a codec?
• Codec (compressor/decompressor) is software that
compresses video stream when stored and decompresses it
when played
• Locate and download the appropriate codec to view a video
• Each codec uses a unique algorithm to shrink the file
− Compression ratio indicates the ratio of compressed data to
uncompressed data
− Bit rate refers to the amount of data transferred per second
− Lower bit rates download smoother but are usually lower quality
than high bit rates
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What about animation?
• Animation is a sequence of 3-D images in which one or more
objects are changed between frames
− In hand-drawn animation, a chief artist draws keyframes and then
assistants create the in-between images (24 images per second)
− With computer animation, a computer creates the in-between
images
• Graphics design companies use 3-D animation techniques to
produce films, such as Toy Story
• You can create 3-D animations by using software, which is
available in varying degrees of complexity and price levels
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What about animation?
Animation software
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Hardware: PC display devices
• PC display device, such as an LCD display or a CRT, provides
feedback about what’s going on as you use your PC
− Everything on your screen is produced by dots of light called pixels
• Clarity of image depends on the quality of the source image
and the capabilities of the display equipment
− CRT (cathode ray tube) monitor is the least expensive. CRT monitors
are dependable, relatively inexpensive, but are large and heavy, making
them inconvenient
− LCD (liquid crystal display) are used on notebook computers. They are
compact, lightweight, have low power requirements, and have a clear,
bright image
− LCD monitors are available for desktop PC’s as a “flat panel display”
incorporating an LCD panel in a free-standing case
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Hardware: PC display devices
CRT (left) and LCD (right) display devices
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Hardware: PC display devices
• Factors that effect the monitor’s quality and price:
− Screen size: measured diagonally, standard sizes include
15”, 17”, 19” and 21”
− Viewable image size (vis): measured diagonally, area that
actually displays the image
− Dot pitch: distance between dots of colored light that
display image on screen. Most of today’s monitors have a
.28 to a .24 dot pitch
− Screen resolution: size of the pixel grid. The minimum is
640 x 480. Higher resolutions allow you to view larger
documents or graphics, but text becomes smaller and
harder to read
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Hardware: PC display devices
• Display device connects to a socket in the back of your PC
called a video port
• Graphics card converts data from your PC’s processor into
electronic signals for a display device
− Graphics circuitry, or shared video memory, is integrated on the
computer’s system board
− Stand-alone graphics card is a separate circuit board that can be
installed inside the system unit
• Graphics cards are also referred to as video cards, graphics
adapters, or display adapters
• Basic graphics card is suitable for most applications
• For 2-D and 3-D graphics, video editing, desktop publishing,
and computer games, you might want a graphics card with
extra memory or graphics acceleration
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Hardware: PC display devices
• Graphics cards contain a graphics processing unit
(GPU) and video RAM where images are constructed
before being sent to the display
• Each pixel in an image requires storage space, which
can limit the resolution and color depth available on
your PC
• Graphics accelerator cards have specially designed
accelerator circuitry that speeds up specific 2-D and
3-D graphics operations
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Dead celebrities live again
• What do you think?
– Have you seen deceased celebrities featured in any
recent 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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Chapter Summary
• You should now know:
− About digital audio
− How to transfer video footage to your
computer
− How to edit a digital video
− How to finalize a video for DVDs, Web sites,
and other uses
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Edition Chapter 16
Chapter Summary
• You should now know (continued):
− What are the most popular video formats
− What’s a codec
− About animation
− About PC display devices