two "newbie" questions

corey13d wrote on 12/26/2002, 9:47 AM
I just completed my first project and was amazed at how easy it was. I was worried because I had read so much in these forums all about the various technical problems that can arise, but I must say that for me everything went smoothly. Now that I am getting more into it, I have two beginner's questions:

1. CODECS: I don't get what these are. Do I need to worry about them? Is is just a fancy word for software that handles different file formats? Is there a practical instance of when a home video enthusiast like me would need to go out and get a new CODEC? Or does VF probably do what I need?

2. Content CD: The bundled CD-ROM comes with some decent video files that would make nice transitions, stuff like the magic wand, etc. But to really look good, I would need to make the black background on these little clips disappear so that the magic wand appears right "on top of" my footage. Can I do this?

Thanks in advance.

Corey

Comments

JJKizak wrote on 12/26/2002, 10:16 AM
Codecs are used to make large files into small files. Without a codec for
analog capture you would have to transfer the video at a rate of 27.5 megs
per sec. which would fill up your hard drive in a blink of an eye. The digital
codecs transfer video usually at a rate of 3.44 megs per sec. Less hard drive
space required and less sophisticated hard drive speeds. SOFO uses their own
digital AVI codec and they also use the Main Concept MPEG2 codec to code up
the timeline material for DVD writing or SVCD or VCD writing. The Main Concept
codec , Tempgen codec, Ligos codec, (many others) all do the same thing with
varying degrees of quality---loss of color, artifacts, jerkies, blooming,---
the Main Concept and Tempgen seem to be the best for quality and price at the
present time. AVI files have so many different coding possibilities that
you must kmow what you are dealing with before you get too involved in your
project. Experimenting with the settings on the MPEG2 codecs will tax
your patience and wallet. You are now aware of the pandora's box you are
opening. Good luck. I have no answer to question 2.

James J. Kizak
discdude wrote on 12/26/2002, 12:31 PM
> 1. CODECS: I don't get what these are. Do I need to worry about them? Is is just a
> fancy word for software that handles different file formats? Is there a practical
> instance of when a home video enthusiast like me would need to go out and get a
> new CODEC? Or does VF probably do what I need?

A "codec" (COmpressor - DECompressor) is used to reduce the size of digital video files. There are two general catagories of codecs, lossy and lossless. Lossy codecs are more common. They "throw away" data in order achieve good compression. Lossless codecs, as their name implies, do not "throw away" data. However, they do not compress as well, leading to (sometimes vastly) larger files. Think of codecs as compression algorithms rather than file formats or else you will get confused between codecs and real file formats like AVI and Quicktime.

> 2. Content CD: The bundled CD-ROM comes with some decent video files that would
> make nice transitions, stuff like the magic wand, etc. But to really look good, I
> would need to make the black background on these little clips disappear so that
> the magic wand appears right "on top of" my footage. Can I do this?

Yes you can if the files have an "alpha channel." (Search VF's help for this term). Basically, you put the files off the content CD in the "Video Overlay" track and they should work.
IanG wrote on 12/26/2002, 1:11 PM
Do you need to worry about them? No! Is there a practical instance....? If you want to produce videos on one PC and read them on another you may need to install extra codecs on the reading system, but it's not a show stopper!

Ian G.