From: owner-basia-digest@smoe.org (basia-digest) To: basia-digest@smoe.org Subject: basia-digest V3 #8 Reply-To: basia@smoe.org Sender: owner-basia-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-basia-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk X-To-Unsubscribe: Send mail to "basia-digest-request@smoe.org" X-To-Unsubscribe: with "unsubscribe" as the body. basia-digest Tuesday, January 13 1998 Volume 03 : Number 008 Today's Subjects: ----------------- Re: Basia video project: status update [roach2@juno.com (js Lohr)] Re: Basia video project: status update [combee@techwood.org (Ben Combee)] Re: Basia video project: status update [Mark Schutz ] Re: Basia video project: status update [combee@techwood.org (Ben Combee)] Re: How many Basia subscribers? [JenPoore ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 13 Oct 1997 02:23:49 -0400 From: roach2@juno.com (js Lohr) Subject: Re: Basia video project: status update On Sun, 11 Jan 1998 17:44:19 GMT combee@techwood.org (Ben Combee) writes: >Yes... CD-R's use a special dye rather than a stamped metalic layer, >but most CD-ROM and CD Audio drives can handle them. The video files >would be in MPEG-1 format which is playable by UNIX, Macintosh, and >Windows boxes. So that's IT? We've been waiting almost two years for clips on a CD-ROM, which, unless I'm mistaken, will turn out to be a miniscule 2"x2" on a computer monitor? Am I being picky? Why does this not sound right. I've been expecting a VIDEO. A VHS VIDEO. Something I could put in my VCR and... please, slap me if this sounds unusual... WATCH ON A TELEVISION. I mean... am I missing something? This is a VIDEO collection, isn't it? If it were an audio collection, I could see the CD-R relation, but... there's just something about the idea of sitting in front of my monitor for the better part of two hours watching a 2"x2" MPEG video that doesn't sit right with me. ????? JSL. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 12 Jan 1998 09:05:19 GMT From: combee@techwood.org (Ben Combee) Subject: Re: Basia video project: status update js Lohr writes: > On Sun, 11 Jan 1998 17:44:19 GMT combee@techwood.org (Ben Combee) writes: > > >Yes... CD-R's use a special dye rather than a stamped metalic layer, > >but most CD-ROM and CD Audio drives can handle them. The video files > >would be in MPEG-1 format which is playable by UNIX, Macintosh, and > >Windows boxes. > So that's IT? We've been waiting almost two years for clips on a > CD-ROM, which, unless I'm mistaken, will turn out to be a miniscule > 2"x2" on a computer monitor? Am I being picky? Why does this not > sound right. I've been expecting a VIDEO. A VHS VIDEO. Something I > could put in my VCR and... please, slap me if this sounds > unusual... WATCH ON A TELEVISION. I mean... am I missing something? > This is a VIDEO collection, isn't it? If it were an audio > collection, I could see the CD-R relation, but... there's just > something about the idea of sitting in front of my monitor for the > better part of two hours watching a 2"x2" MPEG video that doesn't > sit right with me. Here are my arguments: Analog video doesn't copy well. VHS copies very poorly. Amateurs working at gear scavenged up at home have little chance of producing something both easily watchable and reproducable. Digital video (MPEG-1) is sub-VHS quality, but better (by far) than 2nd and 3rd generation VHS. It also is a whole lot easier to duplicate in CD-R than from deck-to-deck. I'm doing all this editing, titling, clean up on non-linear gear. I tried doing it with Hi-8 to SVHS, but the intial image quality of a lot of the material causes excessive "yuckiness" by the time it gets into the final form. I still intend on producing a master tape from my MJPEG files. The master will probably be a series of three or four 3/4" tapes, each with 30-60 minutes of video. 3/4" Umatic seems to be the most stable format I have available at home for reproduction. I'll also save masters of each clip on CDR -- to give an example, the footage for the "Third Time Lucky" video is a good 570 MB for just under 4 minutes of video. With MPEG, that can be compressed to 40 MB, which makes it practical to put that and about fifteen other clips on a CD. One possible solution, for those who don't want a CD -- once I have a master CD, it would take some additional effort to print the MPEGs to video in sequence. Thq quality would lose a generation, but you could then play it on your TVs. Also, some of the CD mastering software available allows creating VideoCD format discs -- all the clips could be concatenated and used to make one of those. I'm sorry you're disappointed, Roach. I had high hopes at the beginning of this project; now, two years later, I've learned a lot about video technology, I've spent a lot of money on gear, and I think I've finally found a method to get this material to people while still being under my threshold of pain. Small runs of video duplication is expensive. Add in the fact that I don't own the copyright for this and it gets even worse. Digital media is the only real way to go that preserves quality over several generations and can be duplicated cheaply. My gear couldn't handle suplicating 50 or 100 videos. I think I'll be able to handle that many CDRs. The material will be available. 'Nuff said. - -- Benjamin L. Combee (combee@techwood.org) Signatures are the bumper stickers of the information superhighway. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 12 Jan 1998 08:16:45 -0500 From: Mark Schutz Subject: Re: Basia video project: status update Hi Ben, I would love to get a copy of anything you produce. Mark ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 12 Jan 1998 13:43:00 -0800 From: "William Daystrom" Subject: Re: Basia video project: status update - -----Original Message----- From: Ben Combee To: basia@smoe.org Date: Monday, January 12, 1998 1:47 AM Subject: Re: Basia video project: status update >> On Sun, 11 Jan 1998 17:44:19 GMT combee@techwood.org (Ben Combee) writes: > > ...to give an example, the footage for the >"Third Time Lucky" video is a good 570 MB for just under 4 minutes of >video. With MPEG, that can be compressed to 40 MB, which makes it >practical to put that and about fifteen other clips on a CD. > Ben, Can you estimate what resolution/frames-per-second the MPEG's would have? We also will need, at some point, to establish the minimum computer configuration people will need to view the MPEG's. On older computers, your project could become the "Basia Slideshow" as opposed to the Basia video project! William ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 12 Jan 1998 17:39:19 -0500 From: Ed Cidade Subject: My Basia WebSite Hello. Just wanted to let you all know that my Basia WebSite is coming along great!!! If you want to be on the mailing lsit to be mailed when the site is updated.... please send your E-Mail address to: basiaontheweb@hotmail.com Also.. please leave any comments as well. Ed Cidade ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 13 Jan 1998 01:03:00 GMT From: combee@techwood.org (Ben Combee) Subject: Re: Basia video project: status update William Daystrom writes: > Can you estimate what resolution/frames-per-second the MPEG's would > have? We also will need, at some point, to establish the minimum > computer configuration people will need to view the MPEG's. On > older computers, your project could become the "Basia Slideshow" as > opposed to the Basia video project! Good question! Based on my equipment, I'm looking at these data rates: 320x240 24 bit color, 30 frames per second, 22KHz mono audio. That should run around 150KBps and will work on 2x or faster CD drives. Your computer probably will need to be at least a Pentium 90 to handle the decompression, (i'm not sure about the Mac equivalent). - -- Benjamin L. Combee (combee@techwood.org) Signatures are the bumper stickers of the information superhighway. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 12 Jan 1998 23:30:34 EST From: JenPoore Subject: Re: How many Basia subscribers? I guess I qualify as a "lurker"...but there's just no gossip on Basia that I ever get (except from this list). One question, though...it may be a dumb question, so I apologize ahead of time...were Danny White & Basia ever romantically involved? Jen Detroit, Michigan ------------------------------ End of basia-digest V3 #8 *************************