Deinterlace Your Online Videos

Here are FOUR simple steps to remove interlacing when you export your videos in Quicktime Pro, iMovie HD, iMovie ‘08, or Final Cut Pro.

****See original size****

1. File > Export

2. If you want this to be DEAD SIMPLE choose ‘Movie to Apple TV‘ (.m4v - playable on iPod, Zune, any computer, uploads to Viddler). DONE. If you need a Quicktime MOV, then choose ‘Movie to Quicktime Movie’ and move on to Step 3.

3. Choose ‘Size…’ (The last dialog box will open.) — You can find more information about tweaking window 3 here.

4. Tick ‘Deinterlace Source Video’.

Giddy up!

Want to learn WHY you should deinterlace your videos before you put them online? Okie dokie!

(I will use NTSC (30fps / 525 interlaced lines) as an example because most online video is played at 30fps. Discover PAL here.)

Back in the days of (analog) television, video was interlaced (a technique to improve the picture quality of a video signal primarily on CRT devices without consuming extra bandwidth). This meant your television alternated between odd and even lines of light beaming out of the monitor 30 times every second. It moves so fast our eyes can’t even tell. Sweet!

Technology has changed though. First there was HD 1080i (i = interlaced), then that was superseded by HD 1080p (p = progressive). Progressive scan is a method for displaying, storing or transmitting moving images in which all the lines of each frame are drawn in sequence. First being a low quality image and progressively improving. Remember, this all happens at 30 frames per second.

This animation shows the difference between progressive and interlaced video.

Web video is progressive. If you upload a video that has been interlaced, then it won’t display properly and you’ll end up with video that looks like Justine’s My new show on Pluggedin! or Lisa’s Mostly Madonna.

Note: I know Justine and Lisa are both very experienced in video production, so I assume it was the companies that they each work for that exported as interlaced (who knows why…) and the girls just uploaded *that* file to the web.

Go deinterlace your video now and put it on Viddler.

Update! Here’s a list of programs (thanks to Miro’s blog) that can deinterlace video on Windows operating systems:
Editing Suites:
Adobe Premiere (Windows, Mac ~ $$$)
Sony Vegas (Windows ~ $$$)
Windows Movie Maker (free)

Video Processing Application Guides/Tutorials/Manuals:
VirtualDub (Windows ~ free; open source)
MPEG Streamclip (Windows, Mac ~ free)
mencoder (Linux ~ free; open source)
FFmpeg (Linux ~ free; open source)
VLC (Windows, Mac, Linux ~ free; open source)

Been Hacked?

Have you ever had your instant messenger (IM) account taken over by a spammer?
Have your friends told you that your Facebook/mySpace account is spamming them with links to gift cards?

I know I’ve seen this happen to a countless number of my friends, and almost every time it’s due to people being surfing the internet willy nilly — without any concern for the safety of their information.

I know the majority of my readers will likely be savvy geeks using Mac computers, but that doesn’t mean you won’t come across a phishing site. It just means you SHOULD know that it is one.

The following are some simple steps I sent a friend to hopefully rid his computer/accounts of a naughty spammer.
Are you infected? You can follow these steps too:

Hey,

We have a problem here! (View the image I’ve attached.)

I don’t know what kind of computer you’re using, but I doubt it’s a Mac.

If you’re on a Windows computer WITHOUT some kind of security software, a firewall (hardware AND software), and a savvy mind, then we have a problem.
I’ve never been infected with a virus that sends out spam messages on IM clients, but I know many people that have. That’s what I gather you MAY have.

1. a) I suggest you scan your computer with AVG — a free anti-virus software that a lot of people use instead of buying Norton (which is just obnoxious and takes over too many system resources). If you already have an anti-virus software, USE IT.
   b) If nothing is found that doesn’t mean there isn’t something there. The only way to know FOR SURE that the virus/infection isn’t there anymore is to reformat your entire hard drive. That requires you to backup ALL your important data/files and re-install Windows (if that is indeed the operating system you are using).
2. CHANGE YOUR PASSWORD! If this isn’t some kind of compromise of your system, then maybe your IM account has been infiltrated. If you use the same passwords for other places (Facebook, mySpace, e-mail, online banking), then you NEED to change you password there too!
   Reason: You may have come across a website that looks legitimate, but is actually ready to take your username/password information. It’s been happening for a long time on mySpace, and it’s beginning to happen on Facebook.
3. Use a secure web browser such as Firefox or Safari, so you’re safer from phishing websites and other bad things on the internet.
4. Let me know if you have any problems and/or if I helped you.

Feel free to link your infected friends to this post. I hope it helped!

BarCamp LA 6

Bloggin’ from BarCamp, baby…

I’m relatively new to the PodCamp/BarCamp (tech meetups) scene. It’s only really started to start in Australia this year, and it’s been going on in many international locations for a few years now.

A week ago Chris Darbro asked me if I was going to BarCamp LA 6. I didn’t even know it existed. The next event I was gearing up for is PodCamp AZ.

I’m really excited Chris told me though because it’s been another educating experience for me! I’ve been learning a lot of stuff about business ethics that I knew very little about, but I can definitely use in the near future.

During dinner the popular meme IT’S PEANUT BUTTER JELLY TIME reveled itself with some awesome dance moves!

After that all the giddy geeks continued watching hilarious videos via the projector. Many of them I hadn’t seen before.

Another new thing to me was Powerpoint Karaoke (CC) in which you’re given a randomly chosen Powerpoint slideshow to present, and people watch how well you do. Pretty funny.

OH! And Chris also gave me the Mother’s Cookies I won on Twitter last week! Yum yum WOO!

Here’s a short recap video of BarCamp LA 6:

Thanks to all the sponsors and organisers that made it a great weekend!

Polyvore

Yesterday, Jackie showed me this service called polyvore; a web-based application for creating collages using images pulled from the web.

Polyvore’s about page states: Polyvore is a unique, easy-to-use web-based application for mixing and matching products from any online store. Items are pulled together into a visual set of products that can be shared with anyone. Each product within the set is then linked back to the online store where it is available for purchase.

It is a lot more than that though. Jackie has been creating unique artworks all day.

Polyvore has an interface very similar to Flickr, so creative Flickr users will feel very much at home.

My polyvore profile.