So, after my DVD blog a while ago, I've been doing a lot of burning and the best solution so far for compatibility is this:
Burn a master DVD to a DVD+R (Verbatim works the best for me). Burn all copies onto DVD-R (Taiyo-Yuden seems to be the most compatible so far). Whenever I do this, my DVD's play on my older +R home DVD player and all of my other players, from computer to portable (five in total).
Good luck!!
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Before You Play Back Audio or Video from Your Laptop Computer...
Compression looks bad and sounds bad when the file is too small! When you blow it up, it is terrible. If you don't prepare your AV content for playback, there may be a time-lag before your media player shows on a screen. This is not always because of a mis-match of projectors, in fact, I've used two matched projectors, bought at the same time and one of them had a four second delay before the image was shown. So, one screen will show and the second follows with a time lag.
I've done this in a room full of AV professionals and not one of them could give me a definitive answer on this, so much more troubleshooting and research must be done by me in order to find out why this happens with a matched pair. I could read specs until I'm blue in the face, but there still has to be a workaround before this does occur to make the presentation look professional - see below.
If you play a DVD from your computer, make sure it plays back smoothly. Not all DVD players on computers behave properly 100% of the time. If they did, I would never hear: "Well, it should work." or "Well, it worked last night." because those words don't help much when 200 people are staring at the screens, expecting to see and hear something; they'll soon start to look at the presenter. This type of problem can be easily corrected and I'd love to help out.
With these things in mind, check these tips out:
COMPRESSED AUDIO and VIDEO PLAYED BACK LIVE:
If it's a video played for humor, who cares if it's perfect. If it's a sample of advertising or the newest content for the Out-of-Home media industry, it has to play back well. So, I'd suggest having an uncompressed digital file on a DVD-R or +R (data DVD), but not a DVD-RW (they are not as compatible). That way, the file simply needs to be dragged and dropped onto a host computer and will play back smoothly.
If you have your own laptop, even better - BUT, you must set the audio to have the proper gain structure! As a rule of thumb, set your .wav volume to 75% and you master volume to between 50% and 75% (cranking the .wav volume can distort, depending on your sound card - I wish there were more of a standard!).
If you embed a file into PowerPoint, you may have to change the 'file size limitation' setting to allow your .avi to be played back from within PowerPoint. There is no better way to test this than to run it through the equipment you will be using the day of your presentation.
IMPROPERLY PREPARED AUDIO-VISUAL PLAYED BACK LIVE:
Always have a selection of video formats to play back from on a series of data DVD's. DVD's do not take up much room. Carry a 2.5" portable hard drive with various formats on it and you probably can't go wrong. I have sat and edited video and audio, last minute, for many presenters, burned a quick DVD and got it running for them - but, what if you don't have the proper AV support?
Also, be sure that your edited video has a four second time delay before it (a blank screen) to avoid a time-lag before you see the video - the audio will play but the first four seconds of the video can be cut off.
DVD PLAYBACK ISSUES FROM A LAPTOP.
If you have your own laptop to play back from, ensure the settings match the projector's native settings (at the moment, 1024x768 is the norm) because the projector may go out of sync or the image won't fill the screen.
Also, be sure there are no issues with wireless connections 'searching', anti-virus software interrupting or chat boxes opening up during the show.
Bottom line - until all computers and projectors get along in the real world (not the product literature world), AV presentations must be checked and double checked through the exact equipment which will be used on the day of a presentation.
AV issues? I can help!
Buck Moore
Live Event AV Specialist
Public Speaker
I've done this in a room full of AV professionals and not one of them could give me a definitive answer on this, so much more troubleshooting and research must be done by me in order to find out why this happens with a matched pair. I could read specs until I'm blue in the face, but there still has to be a workaround before this does occur to make the presentation look professional - see below.
If you play a DVD from your computer, make sure it plays back smoothly. Not all DVD players on computers behave properly 100% of the time. If they did, I would never hear: "Well, it should work." or "Well, it worked last night." because those words don't help much when 200 people are staring at the screens, expecting to see and hear something; they'll soon start to look at the presenter. This type of problem can be easily corrected and I'd love to help out.
With these things in mind, check these tips out:
COMPRESSED AUDIO and VIDEO PLAYED BACK LIVE:
If it's a video played for humor, who cares if it's perfect. If it's a sample of advertising or the newest content for the Out-of-Home media industry, it has to play back well. So, I'd suggest having an uncompressed digital file on a DVD-R or +R (data DVD), but not a DVD-RW (they are not as compatible). That way, the file simply needs to be dragged and dropped onto a host computer and will play back smoothly.
If you have your own laptop, even better - BUT, you must set the audio to have the proper gain structure! As a rule of thumb, set your .wav volume to 75% and you master volume to between 50% and 75% (cranking the .wav volume can distort, depending on your sound card - I wish there were more of a standard!).
If you embed a file into PowerPoint, you may have to change the 'file size limitation' setting to allow your .avi to be played back from within PowerPoint. There is no better way to test this than to run it through the equipment you will be using the day of your presentation.
IMPROPERLY PREPARED AUDIO-VISUAL PLAYED BACK LIVE:
Always have a selection of video formats to play back from on a series of data DVD's. DVD's do not take up much room. Carry a 2.5" portable hard drive with various formats on it and you probably can't go wrong. I have sat and edited video and audio, last minute, for many presenters, burned a quick DVD and got it running for them - but, what if you don't have the proper AV support?
Also, be sure that your edited video has a four second time delay before it (a blank screen) to avoid a time-lag before you see the video - the audio will play but the first four seconds of the video can be cut off.
DVD PLAYBACK ISSUES FROM A LAPTOP.
If you have your own laptop to play back from, ensure the settings match the projector's native settings (at the moment, 1024x768 is the norm) because the projector may go out of sync or the image won't fill the screen.
Also, be sure there are no issues with wireless connections 'searching', anti-virus software interrupting or chat boxes opening up during the show.
Bottom line - until all computers and projectors get along in the real world (not the product literature world), AV presentations must be checked and double checked through the exact equipment which will be used on the day of a presentation.
AV issues? I can help!
Buck Moore
Live Event AV Specialist
Public Speaker
How Many Screens and Lumens?
There is a very simple way to determine how many screens you need for proper AV playback in the section below:
- Long rooms of 100 - 200 feet work best with one big screen (7.5' x 10' or 9' x 12'). The reason is that people at the back are always bouncing their eyes between the screens if there are two in a long room. Also, even the best-matched projectors aren't always the same color - this won't always be evident with every picture, but it depends on the colors played back (the bulbs aren't exactly the same). Further, if you have to swap a projector with an un-matched projector, good luck matching them! It looks cheap and your meeting will be judged accordingly.
- Wide rooms work best with a stereo screen set-up (two screens) because you have to ensure everybody can see. But, get a matched set of projectors (however, see above). Some high-end venues admit they need to replace a bulb in one of their projectors and so they have to cheat the image playback by cranking brightness or contrast! Yikes! Watch what happens to the 'cheated' image. The whites get blown out, the blues are off and the list goes on. Part of the problem is that many ceiling-mounted projectors need cherry pickers to access them - and not when there are people in the room. Ask how much you are paying for the rental!
How many lumens of brightness? It depends on the playback angles and room light ambience ( or 'ambiance', for slicker pronunciation):
- Lumens are not the only answer - contrast ratio is important, too (ratio of lightest to darkest in an image). But, the method of measurement is also considered ('full on/full off' VS 'ANSI' checkerboard - a google search will suffice for more info).
In the real world of presentation AV, I have found that a floor-level front-projected image for up to 200 people with a projector of 2000 lumens and CR of 2000:1 works very well - but not with every projector - that's why I always rely on the Canon LV series (no endorsement, just preference). They have a wide zoom as well.
For a ceiling-mounted front projected image, with a long throw, 3000 or more would be best. This can cover a few hundred people just fine. But, the added brightness only works when the lights cannot shine in people's eyeballs! So, 3000 or more lumens on the floor should be used with caution.
Rear-projection - you can use higher lumens, especially with a larger audience, BUT how far must you bring the screens out to get a big sized image? Also, there are 'hot-spots' on rear-projected images - a little distracting for viewers.
By the way, stated lumen count does not always mean actual lumen count. Some may be off by a couple of hundred or so lumens when tested by a third party.
This information is based on actual useage throughout many years of AV support for live events, not product literature sales information.
As always - Presentation-AV.com: "For when you can't rewind."
Buck Moore
Live Event AV Specialist
- Long rooms of 100 - 200 feet work best with one big screen (7.5' x 10' or 9' x 12'). The reason is that people at the back are always bouncing their eyes between the screens if there are two in a long room. Also, even the best-matched projectors aren't always the same color - this won't always be evident with every picture, but it depends on the colors played back (the bulbs aren't exactly the same). Further, if you have to swap a projector with an un-matched projector, good luck matching them! It looks cheap and your meeting will be judged accordingly.
- Wide rooms work best with a stereo screen set-up (two screens) because you have to ensure everybody can see. But, get a matched set of projectors (however, see above). Some high-end venues admit they need to replace a bulb in one of their projectors and so they have to cheat the image playback by cranking brightness or contrast! Yikes! Watch what happens to the 'cheated' image. The whites get blown out, the blues are off and the list goes on. Part of the problem is that many ceiling-mounted projectors need cherry pickers to access them - and not when there are people in the room. Ask how much you are paying for the rental!
How many lumens of brightness? It depends on the playback angles and room light ambience ( or 'ambiance', for slicker pronunciation):
- Lumens are not the only answer - contrast ratio is important, too (ratio of lightest to darkest in an image). But, the method of measurement is also considered ('full on/full off' VS 'ANSI' checkerboard - a google search will suffice for more info).
In the real world of presentation AV, I have found that a floor-level front-projected image for up to 200 people with a projector of 2000 lumens and CR of 2000:1 works very well - but not with every projector - that's why I always rely on the Canon LV series (no endorsement, just preference). They have a wide zoom as well.
For a ceiling-mounted front projected image, with a long throw, 3000 or more would be best. This can cover a few hundred people just fine. But, the added brightness only works when the lights cannot shine in people's eyeballs! So, 3000 or more lumens on the floor should be used with caution.
Rear-projection - you can use higher lumens, especially with a larger audience, BUT how far must you bring the screens out to get a big sized image? Also, there are 'hot-spots' on rear-projected images - a little distracting for viewers.
By the way, stated lumen count does not always mean actual lumen count. Some may be off by a couple of hundred or so lumens when tested by a third party.
This information is based on actual useage throughout many years of AV support for live events, not product literature sales information.
As always - Presentation-AV.com: "For when you can't rewind."
Buck Moore
Live Event AV Specialist
Saturday, August 2, 2008
Call for AV Topics!!
I am always researching AV topics by working in the AV field, so it sometimes takes a while to assess the data, etc. In the meantime, if there is anything AV someone would like a report on, I will search my notes and post a blog based on that.
Stay tuned...
Buck Moore
presentation-av.com
Stay tuned...
Buck Moore
presentation-av.com
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