Video Delivery to the Station

[Billy Griffin]

So I'm curious to learn what others are doing, or the methods you're using, to get your video delivered to the TV stations (if you sell your video or work as a stringer, etc.)?

Obviously, the higher quality the camera, the larger the raw files, so the next option is to use a NLE suite to "render as" another, more compressed, file format.

What I am doing is the following...

1. Capture video into a NLE suite, such as Sony Vegas or Adobe Premier.
2. Piece raw files together onto editing track and then "render as" into, most often, a Windows Media Video file.
3. Upload this file onto my web site, as a hidden folder, where only the station I am working with has access.

The challenges for this are... time it takes to capture, render, and especially... the sloooow upload time to my web page. (sigh)

This process works, but it's not of any benefit for expedited work. As a rule of thumb, it takes about two hours to do this. Obviously, the upload being, by far, the longest process.


So... what are YOU doing? Any suggestions you would offer to expedite the work? Yes, there have been occasions where I have made it in to the studio and transferred there, or even met up with the SAT truck, etc. - but mostly (80%) doing the web file transfer.

Should I try rendering to another format other than Windows Video?

Thanks !!!

 

[Chris Wilburn]

What I do is pretty simple really Billy. I hook my camcorder up to my laptop and capture whatever video I want (I use movie maker) and then save it as a .wmv file to my desktop. Of course most of the files I (and most of us) send in are usually no more than 20 seconds and the quality doesn't have to be really really good, esp. if you are in an area with a poor connection. I then open our ftp server and drag the .wmv clip into the ftp server and I am done. Of course if you are using HD video it will take longer but I just have a handheld Sony Handycam.

 

[Jason Boggs]

What I do is pretty simple really Billy. I hook my camcorder up to my laptop and capture whatever video I want (I use movie maker) and then save it as a .wmv file to my desktop. Of course most of the files I (and most of us) send in are usually no more than 20 seconds and the quality doesn't have to be really really good, esp. if you are in an area with a poor connection. I then open our ftp server and drag the .wmv clip into the ftp server and I am done. Of course if you are using HD video it will take longer but I just have a handheld Sony Handycam.

That's word for word exactly what I do with the video that I send to the station I chase for.

 

[John Wetter]

If the station can handle it, H.264 will give you better bang for the buck.

 

[Billy Griffin]

John,

What software are you using to render to H.264?

 

[Olivier Staiger]

here's an interesting software if you want to convert your original video into another file type,


http://www.any-video-converter.com/

there's even a free version.

this might be interesting for example if you have a .mov file but the TV station would prefer a MP4 file, then you can very easily convert it. You can also choose to convert just the video, without the audio. In some cases the audio is not needed and thus when you convert it without sound it will be a smaller file to upload.


and a media player that indeed does play MP4 files :

http://www.videolan.org/vlc/

 

[Derek Mohr]

If I may ask, how is it that you get "hired" to chase for stations? Are they local, national, etc...because that is something I've always wanted to do

 

[Jason Foster]

Be a really, really good storm chaser

If I may ask, how is it that you get "hired" to chase for stations? Are they local, national, etc...because that is something I've always wanted to do

You have to be a really, really good storm chaser that consistently videos severe weather, has the knowledge of what is expected by the station, has the ability to upload video, and does it really, really fast. Oh, and have an inside connection helps. Of course there is more...but that is just the first steps.

It is extremely competitive these days....so you really, really have to be a good chaser. OK..yeah...I know I said that before.

 

[Darren Stephens]

I stream live back to the station via the Sprint Network using a piece of custom software that they purchased.

Derek--if you are really interested in chasing for a station I would make an effort to contact weather producer at the #1 station in your market and let him / her know that you are interested in chasing for them. Arrange a face to face meeting and take it from there. I assure you that one of the stations in your market is looking for someone to chase. There are plenty of threads on here about pros and cons about chasing for a station. Good luck.

 

[John Wetter]

John,

What software are you using to render to H.264?

I think the best H.264 encoder is Apple QuickTime (for Windows or Apple). Once installed, most higher end apps will allow you to use the encoder to export out. Many of the higher end editors also have encoder plug-in architectures that would let you download it as a plug-in.

 

[John Wetter]

I stream live back to the station via the Sprint Network using a piece of custom software that they purchased.

I think the original question was for uploading video packages after the fact in real broadcast-ready quality. Streaming is another animal for another thread.

 

[Tim Frieze]

This year I started using Adobe Premier Elements to capture, edit, and save video. It's got just about any output file type I'll probably ever need and seems to do a good job, both in the field using the laptop and on my desktop. Might be something worth checking into.

 

[Billy Griffin]

I have Adobe CS4, but it locks up when using my laptop. I'm almost certain the system resources on my laptop just won't support Adobe Premier, sadly enough.

Sony Vegas runs like a champ, but has no Quicktime option for H.264.

 

[Tim Frieze]

CS4 is a rather large package, I'm pretty sure the Elements version is less taxing on the system. Adobe offers a free trial download if you want to try before you buy.

I doubt my laptop would run CS4 either nor would it manage an hour long video. But short -- minute or two -- clips are managable. Just a thought.

 

[John Wetter]

I think the original question was on uploading the video, not on the editing.