The Leading Edge: Video is the Next Wave
R. Jason Weiss
Development Dimensions International
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If youre like me, your word processor is one of the three tools you use moste-mail software and a Web browser being the other two. Word processors are wonderfully versatile tools because they make document creation and modification so easy. However, I cant help but get the feeling that we often create text documentsperhaps with some laboriously drawn graphicswhen another format, such as video, would provide the information in a faster, more engaging, or more effective way. The typical rejoinder to sentiments such as this is that video is too far out theretoo costly in terms of time, equipment, money, or expertise to employ day-to-day.
This edition of Leading Edge examines video as the next must-have tool and offers some basics on how to get started. Video is easier and cheaper to create than ever, thanks to a happy combination of ever-improving software and lower-cost, standardized hardware. Further, you really dont have to be a technology whiz to jump right in and create effective video.
Using Video in I-O
Every technical advance in computer hardware and software begs the question, Sure, it looks cool, but why would I need it? For some new applications, the answer is intuitiveyears ago, the appeal of PowerPoint was immediate to those of us who had never seen it before. For other applications, like video, the answer comes in the comparison to existing means of accomplishing the same ends. Video wont replace textits still faster to fire off a new text document and easier to distribute it. However, video can present information quickly, and often in a much more engaging manner than text. The following I-O related applications of video come immediately to mind.
Training content. This is one of the more obvious applications. Video can vividly illustrate situations and actions where text is much less compelling. Part of the appeal of video in this context is that it is usually inherently more compelling than text. In addition, video can convey subtleties that even finely-crafted text would struggle to communicate, such as tones of voice in an interaction, or nonverbal cues.
Stimulus (and response) material. Again, an obvious application. Depending on the application in question, video-based stimuli and response options can offer a richness that text cant approach. Obviously, there is some need for care in this context as the subtleties that make video so effective can also introduce unwanted sources of variance (e.g., due to the attractiveness of the actors, etc.).
Orientation and instructions. I think back to my days in the psych labs, monotonously reading the same directions to each participant in an experiment. A video to start off the session would be much more interesting than my droning instructionsand believe me, it was quite a drone after the fifth rendition of, In this experiment, you will perform three exercises. Further, the issues of consistency and thoroughness of delivery would be nicely covered.
Presentations. A simple combination of recorded video and PowerPoint slides can recreate a class lecture or conference presentation for those who did not attend or would like a review. Further, with appropriate navigation points added, these videos could be excellent communication tools.
Equipment
It doesnt take much equipment to get started creating video. You probably have much of it already.
Video camera. If you want to record actors, you need to start with some sort of video camera. Suitable basic video cameras, such as the Panasonic PV-DV53, can be found for less than $300 online. Alternately, you can use a Webcam, which is a simple camera that attaches directly to the computer. These can usually be found for under $50. Note that you get what you pay fora video camera will deliver superior output to a Webcam, and a more expensive Webcam will be better than a cheaper one. For example, I have had very good luck with the top-of-the-line Logitech QuickCam Pro 4000 (about $80 online), though the video I shoot is fairly basic and small in size (320 x 200 pixels). The video camera option also offers the significant advantages of portability and control: You can shoot video when the camera is not connected to the computer, and you can pan and zoom while shooting video. Webcams are not typically equipped for these features, and attempts to mimic them would look comically clumsy.
Video capture card (optional). Once you have a video camera, youll need a means to get the video from the camera to your computer. Many video cameras support either USB 2.0 or IEEE 1394, also known as Firewire, requiring only a cable to connect up to the associated port on your computer. USB 2.0 is commonly built in to computers assembled in the last year or so, and Firewire ports are now becoming standard as well. If you do not have USB 2.0 or Firewire, or if your camera uses an older format, you will have to buy an expansion card for your computer. USB 2.0 and Firewire expansion cards typically run around $30 or less. If you have an older video camera, video capture cards that can accept S-VHS and RCA inputs cost $50 and up.
Lighting (optional). Lighting can be tricky. If you have an abundance of natural and/or artificial light, you can get by without additional lighting. If you want to exert more control, you can buy inexpensive halogen work lights at your local building supply superstore for under $50 each. Halogen lights heat up a room very quickly, so a popular alternative among amateur videographers is to use fluorescent lighting. The downside is that you must construct stands to hold the lights. I found this option to be more effort than I was willing to put in and elected to buy the halogen work lights, which come with their own stands. I just make sure to switch them off when the camera is not running.
Additional equipment (optional). You may find it beneficial to buy a microphone if you find that the microphone built into your video camera is capturing too much ambient noise. Good quality, unobtrusive lapel microphones start at around $50. Another useful buy is a large hard disk if the one built into your computer is 20GB or less. Uncompressed video swallows an astonishing amount of storage space, on the order of hundreds of megabytes per minute. Fortunately, new hard drives are very reasonably priced, with 160GB drives now selling for less than $100 (after rebate).
Thats all the equipment it takes. If you have a fairly recent computer, all you probably need to add is the video camera. Even if you are starting from scratch and require something from each of the above categories, you can still get all the equipment you need for less than $500, formerly the cost of a decent video camera alone.
Software
There are two approaches to video software. The standard approach, which will be explored first, is the video editing suite. Video editors range in power from enabling basic manipulation of prerecorded video clips and transitions, to fine control over multiple tracks of audio, color correction, and everything else needed to produce Hollywood-worthy output. An intriguing alternative is software that lets you lay out all of the elements of a video prior to recording and then record everything in one shot. Lets look at these approaches in turn.
Video Editors
Basic video editors are fairly straightforward to understand and operate. The interface from Microsofts Windows Movie Maker is shown as an example in Figure 1 below. The bottom portion of the screen contains a storyboard into which video clips or other images are slotted. Each item in the storyboard can be enhanced with video effects, as illustrated in the main area of the window in Figure 1. However, basic video editors like Windows Movie Maker provide little control over video effects other than the choice of applying them or not. Similarly, transitions between items are also available, but not configurable.
Figure 1. Microsoft Windows Movie Maker Interface.
As an example of the ease of authoring video, lets consider a video that you might create for an experiment. The video provides instructions on how to perform a task that is part of the experiment, which is to assemble several pieces of hardware in a certain order. The video starts with a shot of the experimenter explaining the task and objectives. At the end of this introduction, the video shows a title card (a text or graphic display) summarizing the key points, while the narrator reiterates them in a voice-over. The video then demonstrates both the correct way and an incorrect way of performing the task, each of which is introduced by a title card. A final title card instructs the participant to contact the experiment administrator with any questions.
Using simple video-authoring software, you could make this film in about an hour and a half, if not less. Heres what you would need to do, using Windows Movie Maker as an example.
1. Create the individual pieces of the movie. The simplest thing to do would be to record the three video segments and one voice-over as separate files, and to create the title cards using PowerPoint. To export the PowerPoint slides so that Windows Movie Maker can use them, simply save them as graphic files by selecting one of the options available under
File|Save As I would suggest the PNG format for optimal clarity. Total time: 1 hour.
2. Assemble the pieces. This step is fairly straightforward. First, you need to import the pieces you created in the first step. In Windows Movie Maker, you would click on the Import Video, Import pictures, and Import audio or music links, which bring up standard dialog boxes in which you would select the files. Next, you start building the movie by dropping the video files and title cards, in order, into the slots on the storyboard. The voiceover file needs to be added in separately on the Timeline (not shown in Figure 1) and manually aligned with its title card. You will also need to extend the title cards time onscreen to match the length of the voiceover. In Windows Movie Maker, this is done by dragging the right border of the title card placeholder in the timeline until it is aligned with the end of the video. Total time: 15 minutes.
3. Add finishing touches. Just about all video editing software suites let you add effects to segments and insert transitions between segments. These are simple drag and drop operations in Windows Movie Maker, which helpfully allows you to add multiple effects to a segment. Unfortunately, as noted before, Windows Movie Maker does not support any additional modification of effects or transitions. Total time: 10 minutes.
4. Deploy the final product. The last step is to save the final video file and prepare it for deployment. There are a number of settings to consider, depending on how the file will be accessed. To wit, a file that will be viewed over the Web will be highly compressed so that it can travel over the Internet without breaking up. A file that will be saved directly on a users computer has no such issues, and the final settings may consider instead factors such as available video window size and sound fidelity. Windows Movie Maker hides the details of all of the settings and offers choices based on how the file will be deployed (e.g., over the Web, via Video CD, etc.). Total time: 5 minutes.
Though the above example may seem simplistic, it really is that easy to create brief videos that convey a lot of information. Second, depending on the difficulty of generating a document that conveys the necessary information, a video demonstrating how to assemble several pieces of hardware could actually be easier to create than a word-processed document. For example, it is easier to record a video of someone assembling several pieces of hardware than to try and draw the hardware and assembly process.
Visual Communicator
I was inspired to write this article after I bought a copy of Serious Magics Visual Communicator Pro and discovered just how quickly and effectively I could create professional-looking videos with a good Webcam and some lights from my local hardware superstore. Visual Communicator is different from other video software in that it is not actually a video editor. Rather, it is a tool for creating videos. To that end, the Pro version comes with a good-quality lapel microphone and a large sheet of green vinyl for chroma key (AKA green screen) effects.
What distinguishes Visual Communicator is that it provides a lot of tools for creating professional-looking presentations. The Visual Communicator interface is shown below as Figure 2. The first important tool is a teleprompter window, shown in the center of Figure 2 (Terry, this is Cara King). When the video camera is positioned over the teleprompter area of the screen, the announcer can read the text as it scrolls through the shaded area at the top of the teleprompter and it will look like he or she is looking directly into the camera. The area to the right of the teleprompter is a holder for titles, effects, and other content that will be part of the presentation. This can include graphics, title cards, other videos or sound files, and other TV-like effects such as the little byline (or lower third in media-speak) that shows the announcers name and affiliation, or the little window that appears over the announcers shoulder.
Figure 2. Visual Communicator Interface.
My favorite feature is the chroma key effect, in which the software replaces the green color of the vinyl sheet behind the announcer with a graphic or video. This can be used to place the announcer in a virtual set that adds to the effect of the video. Visual Communicator includes several virtual sets, and it is possible to use any graphic file or video as a virtual set, too. As a result, if you want to create a video stimulus showing a worker speaking from a factory floor, all you need to do is find a picture of an assembly line and let the chroma key do the rest.
The Other Considerations
Though I am extremely enthusiastic about video as a medium that is open for anyone to use, I must include a couple of cautions. The biggest is that authoring video puts you in the role of director. If you dont have professional actors to work with, and few of us do, directing your friends and coworkers can be an interesting exercise in tact. Some vivacious people appear to close up in front of a camera. Others cant read off of a teleprompter without sounding like someone reading off a teleprompter. Yet others, of course, are pleasant surprises. It takes time to find the right people to populate your videos, and it takes extensive interpersonal skill to get the result you want without creating offense.
A second major caution is that distributing your video is not always a simple task. If you are going to load a copy of the video on each computer that will run it, then your task is no more difficult than copying the file. Similarly, burning a CD is now a simple process. However, if you are going to deploy it over the Web, then you have to consider such issues as encoding options, described above, and, potentially, server settings and network bandwidth issues.
The final caution is to keep video in its proper place. I am sure that once you start creating your own videos, you will see all sorts of new needs that you can now satisfy with video. Still, its not always worth the effort to create the impact, and its important to consider whether video is really the right solution given the problem and other constraints at hand.
The Last Word
I hope Ive communicated that anyone can now create powerful, effective videos with relative ease and without laying down a lot of money for equipment. What I find most exciting is that learning to work with video is like learning another language, in which you gain the versatility of a vocabulary with new concepts and new means of expression that youd never known before. I hope this brief overview will inspire those who have not explored the video option to jump in and see what a great tool it can be.
If you have questions or comments on this article, or suggestions for future articles, please e-mail me at
Jason.Weiss@ddiworld.com.
January 2004 Table
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