New media
Digital storytelling part 4: Publishing the work
By Denise Atchley |
Multimedia productions—video, animation and music created by a computer—must undergo a specific type of processing to be played back or viewed on a computer other than the one it was created on without the original software being present. Because file sizes of video pieces are very large, it is not practical to transfer and play them back at their original size on other computers. For this reason, movies must be compressed to a size capable of being moved easily from computer to computer. Once reduced in size (compressed), they can be copied and shared on a CD-ROM or DVD storage medium or via bandwidth on the Internet. Because the computer world is so complex and diverse, there are a number of file formatsthat video may be played back or viewed in. This section will briefly examine a few of the most commonly used digital video playback file formats.
QuickTime (.MOV)
QuickTime is an architecture developed by Apple Computer. Multimedia processed using QuickTime add the extension .movas an indicator that the file is a QuickTime file. QuickTime is the standard file format for Macintosh computers both for output (processing) and playback. To view QuickTime movies on a Windows machine, download the appropriate player from Apple.com/quicktime.
Because you have just created a digital story using iMovie, we will complete the production process using QuickTime so you and others may view your movie without iMovie software.
RealPlayer
Developed by Real Networks, RealPlayer is a software application or plug-in that provides playback for compressed multimedia productions. RealPlayer, compatible with both Windows and Macintosh platforms, will play media files located on your computer as well as on the Internet.
Windows Media Player
Windows Media Player is Microsoft's proprietary software for multimedia playback using PCs.
File formats
It is a traditional practice to share your piece with others in the workshop. In this section, we will discuss the steps of how to export your movie so it can be shared with others.
What does export mean?
Cook, Make, Crunch are all casual terms multimedia producers use when they talk about exporting a movie. When we say "make a movie," "crunch a movie" or even "export a movie," we mean the process of rendering the production from the project state (the state you have been working in) to the compressed, stand-alone state where playback is possible without use of the software used to create the piece—in our case, without iMovie. Before you export your story, it is good practice to do a final Save to update your project file. Next, choose File > Share.
The dialogue box that appears will provide a number of options for how your finished movie can be used. Select a use for your movie from the choices of Email, HomePage, Videocamera, iDVD, QuickTime or Bluetooth. For this workshop, we will export, or Share, using QuickTime. Select the QuickTime icon from the top of the dialogue box.
A secondary dialogue box will appear with prompts for exporting your movie to QuickTime. In the center of the window is a pull-down menu with the QuickTime pre-set compression settings. Compress Movie For: Email, Web, Web Streaming, CD-ROM, Full Quality DV and Expert Settings. Since we want to be able to watch our movie from the computer, select Full Quality DV.
A message will appear in the dialogue box with specific details of how your movie will be processed. You will probably agree with these details so press Share. iMovie will then ask you to name the movie and choose a location to save it in. Your movie will begin to render and may take a few minutes or longer depending on the size of your project file. When the movie has finished rendering, you can view it by double clicking on the file and using the Player controls.
Export the finished story for others
Distributing your story using other forms of media
iMovie's Share function provides very useful pre-set output choices for your digital story. Output specifications should be considered for whatever your intended distribution use or sharing purpose may be. Output specifications you should consider are:
- Frame Rate: Full-frame video runs at a rate of 30 frames per second. Anything less than this will have some visible "loss."
- Screen Size: Full-frame (full-size) digital video is sized at 720 pixels (horizontal) by 520 pixels (vertical). Half-size video is sized at 320 x 240 pixels, quarter size at 160 x 120 pixels.
- Sound: Sound can be in full two-channel stereo or mono.
File size
One of the most important considerations is file size. The file size correlates with the frame rate and screen size—the lower the frame rate and smaller the screen size, the smaller the file size will be. Moving large-size files across the Internet is only possible for people with very large and fast connections, so a smaller file is preferable for uses such as e-mail and Websites. Other storage media like CD-ROMs or DVDs can handle larger file sizes. CDs can hold approximately 700 MB of data and DVDs can hold approximately 4.3 GB of data.
iMovie offers pre-set compression settings for the following uses:
E-mail: Use this option to process your movie small enough to e-mail to friends, family or business contacts. E-mailed movies are compressed at 10 frames per second, screen sized at 160 x 120 (pixels) and have mono sound. A file size will be estimated based on the contents of your individual project.
HomePage: This option renders your movie for use on the Web. Your movie will be compressed to 12 frames per second, screen size of 240 x 180 (pixels) with mid-quality stereo sound. File size will be estimated.
Video camera: This is a very useful and highly recommended option for archiving your story. We suggest archiving your completed movie to good-quality videotape. Be sure to label your tape and, following the transfer, flip the safety switch on the side of the tape to avoid recording anything else over your story.
iDVD: A discussion of iDVD requires an entire manual on its own, thus is beyond the scope of this workshop. Among other wondrous capabilities, iMovie integrates seamlessly with iDVD to add chapter markers within your movie.
QuickTime: QuickTime compresses video for various uses. We've already mentioned the settings for Email and HomePage. In addition, QT will process video for streaming Web (to play live from the Internet) at 12 frames per second, 240 x 180 pixels and mid-quality stereo sound. File size will be estimated. QT compresses video for playback on CD-ROM at 15 frames per second, screen size of 320 x 240 pixels and full-quality stereo sound. Choosing to process your movie in Full Quality DV creates a single DV movie file with no loss of quality. Your movie will play full-size: 720 x 540 pixels, 30 frames per second with no loss of compression. These files will be larger in size than compressed files.
Expert settings: Expert settings allow you to choose your own compression rates. The exported size will depend on which options you select. If you wish to experiment with Expert Settings, we recommend independently researching the various codec (compression/decompression) options available.
Archiving suggestions
If you are not using your own computer to create your digital story, you probably would like to save all of your digital materials to work on again at another time, or even reuse some of the materials you created for this story in a different story. We highly recommend archiving all your digital media, including working assets, iMovie project file and your completed movie. Because digital video uses tremendous amounts of hard-drive space (remember, five minutes of digital video takes up 1 GB of hard-drive space), all of your material combined is likely to take up a large amount of space. One suggestion for archiving your material is to invest in a FireWire hard drive. FireWire drives, for large amounts of storage space, are easy to connect to the computer and are becoming increasingly more affordable.
Another option is to archive your material to other forms of storage media, including DVD and CD-ROM. DVDs can hold approximately 4.3 GB of data and CDs hold approximately 700 MB of data. Try to assess the amount of material you will need to archive before deciding which storage device may work best for you.
We suggest archiving:
- Digital media assets
- Original photograph and artwork scans
- Images that have been enhanced using Photoshop
- Voiceover narration files
- iMovie project files
- Completed .mov files.
If you have original video footage recorded on a recent format of tape, you can save space on a hard drive or other storage device by not archiving video clips digitized for use in your project. Digitizing video is a very easy procedure using iMovie, and we suggest digitizing video on an as-needed basis. However, as a conscientious producer, you should check the condition of your original footage regularly. If you notice signs of distress—either on the tape itself or with the content—archive it to another format immediately.
Using digital storytelling as a resource for change
Sharing your digital story with friends and family is an essential part of the digital storytelling process. Digital stories can offer insight and knowledge that others may otherwise not know. Digital stories can preserve part of your essence so future generations may one day learn something about you—something you cared about and thought was important.
Communicating a message through story is a powerful resource; distributing stories to larger audiences can educate, encourage thought and initiate change. Digital stories offer people a chance to respond to world events or personal experiences, to process the event, interpret its significance to themselves and offer insight about how change is necessary.
Consider a cause you care about or a life-altering experience. Then realize how stories told about this subject may compel others to become involved, make a difference, effect a change. Storytelling can be used as a resource for change, community and peace-building efforts, personal reflection and affirmation. Stories can be used as an archive or reference for historical events. Integrate digital storytelling into your organizations' outreach efforts, self-publish and distribute stories via Websites or author your own CD or DVD. Submit your story to film and video festivals for exposure. Include your story in relevant presentations or speeches and screen it at meetings and gatherings. New media and independent publishing have enabled innovative and effective avenues through which to get your message heard!
In this package:
Part 1: Finding the experience
Part 2: Telling the story
Part 3: Creating the piece
Part 4: Publishing the work
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