Izzy Video

[Tr] Izzy Video 148 - Shooting Video with a Digital SLR: Part 1 [Trailer]

izzy@izzyvideo.com (Israel Hyman) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 12:39:37 -0700

This video tutorial is an introduction to shooting video with a Digital SLR. The model I own is the Canon 5D Mark II, so it’s the one I demonstrate in the video. Personally, I think these cameras are revolutionary, and I find the footage that I get from them to be amazing. In fact, in many ways I prefer the overall look of my video from the DSLR over other more expensive options (such as my Sony PMW-EX1).

I find there are plenty of reasons to use these cameras for shooting video, and there are several reasons why you shouldn’t. In the video, I’ll give you those reasons, show you some sample footage, and even show you very quickly how to shoot video with the Canon 5D Mark II. This is the first tutorial in a series, and I hope you enjoy it!

You can watch the trailer here.

The full version of this video is available only to Izzy Video Members. If you’re not a member yet, you can follow this link to learn more.

* Links to gear are affiliate links and help support Izzy Video when you make a purchase.

[Tr] Izzy Video 147 - How to Shoot Video with Multiple Cameras [Trailer]

izzy@izzyvideo.com (Israel Hyman) — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 21:56:28 -0700

Whenever possible, I like to shoot with one camera. It’s a lot more of a simple process. It’s easier to light for one camera. You only need one operator, and so on. However, there are times when you absolutely need to use multiple cameras when you’re shooting video, and this episode of Izzy Video will help those of you who are new to multi-camera shoots.

This episode is once again for members only, but I’ve provided a trailer above that includes a helpful tip.

[Tr] Izzy Video 146 - Fix Bad Audio with Noise Reduction [Trailer]

izzy@izzyvideo.com (Israel Hyman) — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 08:04:22 -0700

Sometimes when you’re shooting video, you’ll end up with bad audio. Many times this results from a persistent background noise of some sort. It could be a hum, wind noise, an air conditioner, traffic, an airplane flying overhead — you get the idea. You can’t always fix these problems in post production, but sometimes you can. In this episode of Izzy Video, I’ll show you how to use a tool called “Noise Reduction” inside of Soundtrack Pro (an application included in Final Cut Studio) to reduce or eliminate unwanted background noise from your video.

This video is available to members only. If you want to learn how you can get access to this video as well as more than 100 more videos, follow this link to learn about a membership.

[Tr] Izzy Video 145 - How to Set Up a Wireless Lavalier System [Trailer]

izzy@izzyvideo.com (Israel Hyman) — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 16:08:26 -0700

Wireless lavalier microphones are a fundamental tool when you shoot video, but for someone new to this kind of gear, they can be challenging to use. This members-only installment of Izzy Video will help you get set up correctly.

Also, in the video I make several announcements regarding events where I’ll be speaking live…

This Saturday on Sept. 19th, I’ll be speaking at the Chandler, AZ Apple Store from 4-6pm. It’s free, and there should be room for 30 people or so. For the first hour, I’ll talk about operating a video camera, lighting for video indoors, lighting for video outdoors, and audio for video. For the second hour, I’ll do “questions and answers.” If you have video questions, you might want to come join us. (And sorry, but the event won’t be captured on video, so I won’t be able to release something later if you miss it.) Here is the location info.

Did I mention the event is free? :-)

Also, on Oct. 16th, I’ll be speaking about audio for video at Blogworld Expo (not a free event). If you’re going to be at Blogworld Expo, come check out my session.

And then on Nov. 15th and 16th, we’ll be doing Podcamp AZ again, and I’ll speak there as well. I’m planning to do a lighting workshop of some kind. This event will be free as always, and we’ll have a lot of fun there.

Why am I doing these live events? Partially because people asked me to speak, but also because as much as I love training on video through these tutorials, there’s something fun and dynamic about the live environment. I’m really looking forward to these events, and I hope to see you there!

Oh, and here’s the Quicktime version of the trailer for the above video tutorial.

If you want access to the full version of this video along with more than 100 other video tutorials, you should become an Izzy Video Member.

[Tr] Izzy Video 144 - Flash to Photo Effect [Trailer]

izzy@izzyvideo.com (Israel Hyman) — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 06:38:23 -0700

Sometimes you can get beautiful effects with simple techniques. This installment of Izzy Video shows you how to make a video clip freeze and then flash into a photo, using the Ken Burns effect. It’s a common effect you see in video, and you’ll see it’s quite simple to create.

[Tr] Izzy Video 143 - Big Tips to Get Great Audio from Lavalier Microphones [Trailer]

izzy@izzyvideo.com (Israel Hyman) — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 17:05:09 -0700

In this members-only episode, I give several tips that I really wish I would’ve known when I was just getting started in video. Sometimes lavalier microphones are the best choice for a shoot, but they can also be frustrating to use.

In this week’s Izzy Video tutorial, I’ll show you things like:

* How to hide a microphone under clothing
* How to reduce cable noise by adding strain relief
* The proper way to attach a lavalier microphone
* How to best position it

If you use lavalier microphones at all, or if you’re considering using them, this episode should really help. Enjoy!

[Tr] Izzy Video 142 - My Revised Home Studio [Trailer]

izzy@izzyvideo.com (Israel Hyman) — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 15:35:35 -0700

I like to convert my living room into a studio for shooting video. Is it a little inconvenient having to move everything around? Yes, I suppose it is. But it works for me for several reasons:

1. I don’t have to drive anywhere. Even if it takes 45 minutes to set up the studio, that’s not much longer than it would take for me to drive to a studio somewhere else. And my living room is certainly a lot more accessible to me.
2. My living room is quiet. The floor is covered with carpet. This helps deaden potential sound problems.
3. I can shoot almost any time I want. If we’re planning on shooting on a Tuesday, but then we push it to Wednesday because we’re not ready yet, I don’t have to worry about rescheduling a rented studio.
4. I can hit the refrigerator between takes. :-)

If I had an extra room that I could set up and leave as a studio all the time, I probably would, but this periodic studio setup just isn’t that difficult, so I don’t mind doing it.

In this week’s video, I’ll show you the whole transformation as I convert my living room into a studio, and then I’ll stop periodically to explain certain items, pieces of gear, and my motivations behind some of the decisions I’ve made.

This is similar to a video I did in the past, but I’ve made changes since then, so I thought an update would be appropriate.

Do you have a studio in your home? I’d love to hear what you do. Please feel free to tell me about it in the comments for this post.

This video is available to members only. To learn how you can gain access to this video as well as all the past videos, please visit the membership information page.

[Tr] Izzy Video 140 - Turbocharge Your Compression! [Trailer]

izzy@izzyvideo.com (Israel Hyman) — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 20:11:33 -0700

Want to know how to speed up video compression? The week’s members-only tutorial is for those of you who: 1) Use Compressor to transcode videos, and 2) Have more than one core in your computer’s processor.

Many of the recent Macs have more than one processor on their motherboard. This means that you have a lot of potential processing power at your disposal, but not everyone knows how to take full advantage of it. When you do a lot of video compression, it helps to save some time, and in this week’s tutorial, I show you step-by-step how to set up your Mac to maximize video compression using Compressor. This can dramatically speed up the time it takes to transcode video.

It also shows you iStat Menu, an interesting tool you can use to monitor the processors.

This week’s video is only available to members, but I’ll release another free one next week.

Thanks for watching!

[Tr] Izzy Video 134 - How to Use Contrast Ratios [Trailer]

izzy@izzyvideo.com (Israel Hyman) — Wed, 27 May 2009 13:50:48 -0500

Previously I showed you how to use a light meter to set a proper exposure for your subject. In this installment of Izzy Video, I demonstrate how to use a light meter to deliberately create contrast ratios on your lighting. This is one of the most fundamental ways of creating specific ‘looks’ in your video, and this episode will make it easy for you.

Also, I added a section that delves into F-Stops, how they work, what they do, and how one relates to another one. If F-Stops have ever been confusing to you, I believe you’ll find this section helpful.
Become an Izzy Video Member

Want more? Izzy Video Members get access to the complete collection of Izzy Video Tutorials. Please follow this link for more details on becoming an Izzy Video Member.
Want to automatically receive all the free shows as they’re released?

Subscribe to the free version of Izzy Video in iTunes, and have this episode plus future free episodes delivered to your computer by clicking on the following link:

Free Izzy Video Tutorials in iTunes

You can download the Quicktime version of the episode here.

[FS] Izzy Video 133 - How to Use a Light Meter [Free Show]

izzy@izzyvideo.com (Israel Hyman) — Thu, 21 May 2009 10:06:15 -0700

Photography and videography have a lot in common. Many of the tools that photographers use can be useful for video shooters as well. In this installment of Izzy Video, I review the difference between reflected light meters and incident light meters, and I also demonstrate how to use them.
Become an Izzy Video Member

Do you like this tutorial and want more? Izzy Video Members get access to the complete collection of Izzy Video Tutorials. Please follow this link for more details on becoming an Izzy Video Member.
Want to automatically receive all the free shows as they’re released?

Subscribe to the free version of Izzy Video in iTunes, and have this episode plus future free episodes delivered to your computer by clicking on the following link:

Free Izzy Video Tutorials in iTunes

You can download the Quicktime version of the episode here.

[Tr] Izzy Video 132 - How to Embed High Quality Videos in Your Website [Trailer]

izzy@izzyvideo.com (Israel Hyman) — Thu, 14 May 2009 08:45:52 -0700

For many years, nearly all the videos you’ve seen embedded on my website have been Quicktime videos in file formats such as MP4, MOV, and M4V. I’ve used Quicktime embed code on occasion, but usually I simply link to the video files so you can click on them and watch them in your browser. I did this even when most other websites embedded Flash video files, and clearly Flash was becoming the new standard.

My reason for this has been that I’ve much preferred the quality of Quicktime files over the quality of Flash files. To my eyes, Flash videos were unbearably low quality and difficult to watch. And one of the biggest problems has been the video-sharing services like YouTube. When you upload a video to their service, they control the transcoding process, so you give up your control over quality.

Everything has recently changed. My concerns are gone because Flash now has the ability to play videos encoded with the H.264 codec. This is huge! H.264 gives you the ability to produce high quality videos with a relatively low file size. This codec is the one I use with all of the videos I distribute over the web.

In this week’s installment of Izzy Video, I demonstrate how to create a high quality FLV file (which is a Flash file format that’s excellent for playing on the web). I also demonstrate how to embed it into your website. If you’ve been wanting to embed high quality videos in your website, this episode is a must-see.

This week’s tutorial is available to Izzy Video Members only.
Become an Izzy Video Member

Izzy Video Members get access to full versions of the show in HD and iPod resolutions. Please follow this link for more details on becoming an Izzy Video Member.
Want to see the trailer and all the other free tutorials?

Subscribe to the free version of Izzy Video in iTunes, and have this trailer plus future free tutorials and trailers delivered to your computer by clicking on the following link:

Free Izzy Video Tutorials in iTunes

You can download the Quicktime version of the trailer here.
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[FS] Izzy Video 131 - Getting a Good Exposure with an 18% Gray Card [Free Show]

izzy@izzyvideo.com (Israel Hyman) — Sat, 09 May 2009 19:01:42 -0700

We’re returning to some video fundamentals with this episode. This tutorial is all about getting a good exposure. Also, I demonstrate how to to use an 18% gray card.

The specific gray card I’m using is from Lastolite. Here is an Amazon link (where I purchased mine): Lastolite 12-Inch Ezybalance Card Gray Card

You can watch the high quality version of the video here.

Want to see more videos like this one? Check out the membership information page to see how you can get access to all the other videos.

[FS] Izzy Video 129 - Make a Demon Child in Motion [Free Show]

izzy@izzyvideo.com (Israel Hyman) — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 19:00:07 -0700

Who says that video production can’t be a family activity? ;-)

I get requests for Motion tutorials all the time, and it’s been a while since I’ve released one, so I thought we’d have a little fun in this week’s episode. In this installment of Izzy Video, I demonstrate the steps you take in Motion to turn a face into a monster’s face. The technique uses motion tracking and keyframed filters. I hope you have as much fun with this technique as we did.

[FS] Izzy Video 123 - Output Video for the Web [Free Show]

izzy@izzyvideo.com (Israel Hyman) — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 18:56:28 -0700

This week’s video does a couple things. It promotes my new course, Learn Final Cut Pro 6: The Izzy Video Guide for Beginners. Also the video answers a question that viewers frequently ask me: “What is your process for exporting video for the web?”

I covered the subject a while back, but my process has changed a bit since then, so it’s a good time to update you.

As I mention in the video, this free version is much smaller than the ones available as part of my Final Cut Pro course. My course offers both HD videos at 1280×800 and Small videos at 960×600, so viewers can see everything that I’m doing on the screen.

I’m really excited about this new course. It took a long time, but I’m very happy with it. I believe it’s a great way for someone new to Final Cut Pro to learn the fundamentals of the app. I’ve already started receiving feedback from people who signed up for it yesterday right after I launched it. The feedback has been quite positive so far, and of course, I’m delighted about that!

By the way, if you’re an Izzy Video Member, then you get $20 off the price of the course. Simply login to the members area and you’ll find a coupon code. If you’re not a Member, and you’re interested in learning Final Cut Pro, this is a great time to become a Member.

You can download Izzy Video 123 here.

Finally, if you have additional recommendations regarding outputting video for the web after watching the video, please post any comments here. I’d love to read additional strategies.

Of course, you can leave any comment you want. It doesn’t have to be an exporting strategy. :-)

[FS] Izzy Video 121 - How to Shoot Video Outdoors, Part 1 [Free Show]

izzy@izzyvideo.com (Israel Hyman) — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 18:54:52 -0700

This is a popular request I get: Will you please show different ways of shooting video outdoors, when you don’t have all the comforts of a studio?

That’s a big request, and there’s a lot to cover, so this installment of Izzy Video will get the ball rolling. This one is all about diffusion. I’ve touched on the subject in the past, but this episode goes more in-depth and does a better job of covering gear.

UPDATE: Several people have asked me to post a link to the Scrim Jim Kit that I show in this video. Here it is: Scrim Jim Broadcast Location Kit - Large

You can watch Izzy Video episode 121 here.

As I mention in the video, this is the first part of a series of tutorials on the subject of shooting video outdoors. There’s plenty to talk about, so there’s no way to fit it into one episode. If you’re new to Izzy Video, I recommend you subscribe to the RSS feed in iTunes to ensure you get the future episodes.

If you want to see every episode in the series, you’ll need to be an Izzy Video Member. Members always get more. If you’re new, you might want to learn about an Izzy Video Membership.

[FS] Izzy Video 116 - 2.5 Dimensions [Free Show]

izzy@izzyvideo.com (Israel Hyman) — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 18:53:24 -0700

Still photos can be powerful additions to your video, and adding movement to the photos can take them to the next level. Today’s episode shows you how to take the movement even further, by using an effect called 2.5D (two-and-a-half dimensions). In this tutorial, I demonstrate how to create the effect using a combination of Photoshop and Motion, but you could just as easily do it in Photoshop and After Effects, or even other software combinations.

The effect is difficult to describe. It’s subtle, and the best way to understand 2.5D is just to see it in action.

You can watch the free version of Izzy Video 116 here.

As always, the paid members can download an HD version of this video in the member’s area. To learn more about becoming an Izzy Video Member, please visit the membership information page.

[FS] Izzy Video 108 - The 300 Effect aka Variable Speed Changes [Free Show]

izzy@izzyvideo.com (Israel Hyman) — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 18:47:33 -0700

Thanks to Amber Heckler from Norfolk, VA for requesting this week’s topic. She wrote me at izzy (at) izzyvideo (dot) com and asked:

I was wondering if you could do a tutorial on how to achieve the “300 Effect” in post production. To me the “300 Effect” is when a piece of video seems to speed up, and then slow down; mainly seen in fight sequences.

Izzy Video 108 answers this question.

Some of the topics I cover in this episode are:

* What is a variable speed change
* Time-Remapping
* Video Frame Rates
* Smoothing Keyframes

This is one of those techniques that can be a lot of fun. My children certainly enjoyed making this video!

You can watch the free version of Izzy Video 108 here.

As always, the paid members can download an HD version of this video in the member’s area. To learn more about becoming an Izzy Video Member, please visit the membership information page.

[FS] Izzy Video 105 - Color Grading Workflow In-Depth [Free Show]

izzy@izzyvideo.com (Israel Hyman) — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 18:42:48 -0700

This week’s video tutorial is on the subject of color grading. Specifically, you get to see my entire workflow as I grade a casual video clip in Apple’s Color. Don’t worry about the specific application, though. Many of the concepts in this video should be universal among most color grading tools.

Some of the topics I cover are:

* Principles of Cropping
* Waveform Monitors
* Vectorscopes
* Primary and Secondary Color Grades
* HSL Keys
* Vignettes

This might be one of the single most educational episodes I’ve made so far. It certainly strays from the short, focused structure I typically use — it’s more than 20 minutes long. But I still tried to make sure it was packed with good, useful information.

And to top it all off, I’m releasing it under a Creative Commons License, so you can pass it around and share it as much as you would like.

You can get Izzy Video 105 here.

Because it’s a screencast, it only seems appropriate that I should also release it in a higher resolution to make the screen easier to see.

By the way, both of these are huge downloads, but I didn’t want to compromise too much on the picture quality, so I settled for big file sizes.

[FS] Izzy Video 34 - Outdoor Interviews [Free Show]

izzy@izzyvideo.com (Israel Hyman) — Sun, 25 Jun 2006 12:39:04 -0700

This Izzy Video brings together some of the concepts I have previously discussed.

Many people like to do their interview outside because they enjoy the look of sunlight more than tungsten lights. I prefer sunlight as well, but it can be difficult to work with such an uncooperative key light. Inside this video podcast are some ideas which can help you improve your outdoor interview imagery.