thestoryofjory.com

Wow.

IgniteOKC was an absolute blast.  All the planning and hard work that went into it definitely paid off – I think everyone who came had a great time, especially those of us on the leadership committee.  I’ve been hard at work today preparing the individual videos, and it’s given me a chance to experience it all over again!

Honestly, I wasn’t sure how it would feel to be on the other side of this project.  24 hours later, I feel just as excited as I did a few hours before.  I think that’s due to the fact that every single person I met last night had so much energy and enthusiasm (and it didn’t matter for what) that I couldn’t help but be inspired to do my best.  I’m really proud of this event and all the people with whom I had the privilege to work bringing Ignite to Oklahoma City.

Of course I have many more thoughts on the matter, but I’ve got to get back to editing the video!  In the meantime, here’s a video from NewsOK.com’s Tanner Herriott covering our event!

Last week, @jlanie posted a comment to her Twitter account that she was losing her audio during a file conversion from .avi to either a .mp4 or .mov.  I can sympathize; nothing is more frustrating when you’re trying to complete a project and you run in to an unforeseen file problem.  But, even though it slows you down and puts you in a bad mood, it’s a learning opportunity!

I don’t have Lanie’s file, but I am 99% confident that she is suffering from a codec problem.  What’s a codec, you ask?  Simply put, a codec is a bit of programming that encodes and/or decodes digital information.  While that sounds pretty straightforward, keep in mind that there are hundreds of codecs for audio and video.  To complicate that, most file containers (.mov, .wav, etc;) only work with certain codecs.  I’m sure you can see where this is headed – Lanie’s .avi file uses an audio codec that isn’t supported in .mov or .mp4 formats.   Further, the .avi container puts both video and audio in the same stream during multiplexing (visual example: when you drop a .avi file onto an edit track in FCP, you only see the video but can still hear audio), which can complicate file conversion.

Before we talk about how to fix this problem, let’s talk about how to avoid it.  First and foremost, always use the highest quality source material for your video and audio.  “Garbage in, garbage out,” as the saying goes.  It is much easier to down-convert from .mp2 to .avi, for example, than it is to go the other way. Second, know where you’re going with it.  Fantastic, you made a video.  So where are you taking it?  Straight to Youtube? Local access television? Your iPod? These are drastically different outlets, and if you’re going to take your video to a variety of sources, you need to optimize it for each one.  Finally, if you know your output, make sure you’re aware of the requirements for said output.  If you’re making a video to go straight to Youtube, go check out their file requirements before you get started.  Never assume that it will just work.

Once it’s broken, how do you fix it?  It’s not always that simple.  Much of the time, you can use a program such as Compressor to convert your file – I like Compressor because it clearly lists which codecs will be used (downside – it’s Mac only).  Handbrake is another great (and FREE!) conversion tool, especially for breaking files out of the .VOB DVD container.  You can use Flip4Mac products to convert between Apple’s .mov and Window’s .wmv, but be warned: the audio can end up a few beats off the video.  Finally, you can always import your file to a video editing program and export it as any other supported file – but be prepared for a trial-and-error process.

I realize that this was a very cursory discussion of codecs and conversion.  I didn’t even get in to lossless vs. lossy compression! But I hope it has given you something to consider the next time you run in to a conversion problem, as I’ve had plenty of my own headaches over the matter.