Creating Digital Content: Video Production for Web, Broadcast, and Cinema [1st edition] 9780071377447, 0071377441

Citation preview

TE AM FL Y

CREATING DIGITAL CONTENT

JOHN RICE BRIAN McKERNAN

McGraw-Hill New York • Chicago • San Francisco • Lisbon London • Madrid • Mexico City • Milan • New Delhi San Juan • Seoul • Singapore • Sydney • Toronto

Copyright © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Manufactured in the United States of America. Except as permitted under the United States Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher. 0-07-142083-5 The material in this eBook also appears in the print version of this title: 0-07-137744-1 All trademarks are trademarks of their respective owners. Rather than put a trademark symbol after every occurrence of a trademarked name, we use names in an editorial fashion only, and to the benefit of the trademark owner, with no intention of infringement of the trademark. Where such designations appear in this book, they have been printed with initial caps. McGraw-Hill eBooks are available at special quantity discounts to use as premiums and sales promotions, or for use in corporate training programs. For more information, please contact George Hoare, Special Sales, at [email protected] or (212) 904-4069.

TERMS OF USE This is a copyrighted work and The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. (“McGraw-Hill”) and its licensors reserve all rights in and to the work. Use of this work is subject to these terms. Except as permitted under the Copyright Act of 1976 and the right to store and retrieve one copy of the work, you may not decompile, disassemble, reverse engineer, reproduce, modify, create derivative works based upon, transmit, distribute, disseminate, sell, publish or sublicense the work or any part of it without McGraw-Hill’s prior consent. You may use the work for your own noncommercial and personal use; any other use of the work is strictly prohibited. Your right to use the work may be terminated if you fail to comply with these terms. THE WORK IS PROVIDED “AS IS”. McGRAW-HILL AND ITS LICENSORS MAKE NO GUARANTEES OR WARRANTIES AS TO THE ACCURACY, ADEQUACY OR COMPLETENESS OF OR RESULTS TO BE OBTAINED FROM USING THE WORK, INCLUDING ANY INFORMATION THAT CAN BE ACCESSED THROUGH THE WORK VIA HYPERLINK OR OTHERWISE, AND EXPRESSLY DISCLAIM ANY WARRANTY, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. McGraw-Hill and its licensors do not warrant or guarantee that the functions contained in the work will meet your requirements or that its operation will be uninterrupted or error free. Neither McGraw-Hill nor its licensors shall be liable to you or anyone else for any inaccuracy, error or omission, regardless of cause, in the work or for any damages resulting therefrom. McGraw-Hill has no responsibility for the content of any information accessed through the work. Under no circumstances shall McGraw-Hill and/or its licensors be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, punitive, consequential or similar damages that result from the use of or inability to use the work, even if any of them has been advised of the possibility of such damages. This limitation of liability shall apply to any claim or cause whatsoever whether such claim or cause arises in contract, tort or otherwise. DOI: 10.1036/0071420835

For more information about this title, click here.

CONTENTS Introduction THROW ANOTHER ANALOG ON THE DIGITAL FIRE: CONFESSIONS OF A DIGITAL CONTENT CREATOR Peter Bergman WHAT HAPPENED TO CONVERGENCE? Nobuyuki Idei, Chairman and Chief, Executive Officer, Sony Corporation

vii

xi

xix

CHAPTER 1: A DIGITAL PRIMER, SCHUBIN-STYLE Mark Schubin

1

CHAPTER 2: ANY CONTENT, ANYWHERE, ANYTIME Craig Birkmaier

33

CHAPTER 3: CONVERGENCE PROGRAMMING IN SPORTS Michael Shapiro 47 CHAPTER 4: THE NEW DIGITAL CONTENT CONSUMER The Accenture Media & Entertainment Industry Group 53 CHAPTER 5: TOOLS AND THE TRADE David Leathers

67

CHAPTER 6: THE NONLINEAR AGE Bob Turner

79

CHAPTER 7: DIGITAL RECORDING John Rice

95

CHAPTER 8: CGI AND DIGITAL CONTENT CREATION Brian McKernan and Randy Cates 115 CHAPTER 9: AUDIO: MORE THAN HALF THE PICTURE Tim Tully 131 iii

Copyright 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Click Here for Terms of Use.

iv

CONTENTS

CHAPTER 10: THE CASE FOR PROFESSIONAL COMMUNICATORS IN A DIGITAL AGE Cameron Sanders

141

CHAPTER 11: THE PRACTITIONER’S VIEW George Avgerakis

155

CHAPTER 12: OPENING ONLINE DOORS FOR RICH MEDIA Jon Leland

171

CHAPTER 13: RICH MEDIA AND LIVE STREAMING MEDIA Al Kovalick

183

CHAPTER 14: THE IMPORTANCE OF WEB-SITE DESIGN Nicola Godwin

203

CHAPTER 15: DATACASTING Rick Ducey, SpectraRep, Inc.

211

CHAPTER 16: THE VIDEO “PRINTING PRESS” Larry Jaffee

223

CHAPTER 17: THE DTV TRANSITION Michael Grotticelli

233

CHAPTER 18: FORGET HDTV; GET HDTV! Mark Schubin

251

CHAPTER 19: THE PROMISE OF DIGITAL INTERACTIVE TELEVISION Jerry C. Whitaker, Editor

259

CHAPTER 20: 2000: INTERACTIVE ENHANCED TELEVISION—A HISTORICAL AND CRITICAL PERSPECTIVE Tracy Swedlow, Interactive TV Today, American Film Institute–Intel Enhanced Television Workshop

275

CONTENTS

v

CHAPTER 21: DIGITAL CENTRALCASTING

Lowell Moulton, Senior Technology Consultant Systems Integration, Sony Electronics Inc.

311

CHAPTER 22: PRODUCTION AND POSTPRODUCTION FOR 4:3 AND 16:9

John Rice

335

CHAPTER 23: TELEVISION: THE “HIGH DEFINITION”

Bob Allen and Duncan Kennedy

347

CHAPTER 24: IN SEARCH OF THE NEW VIEWING EXPERIENCE

Jerry Whitaker

351

CHAPTER 25: COMING TO A THEATRE NEAR YOU: DIGITAL CINEMA

Brian McKernan

367

CHAPTER 26: USING 1080/24P OR 1080/60I FOR DIVERSE PRODUCTION APPLICATIONS

Laurence Thorpe

377

CHAPTER 27: LOW-REZ

Scott Billups

391

CHAPTER 28: INTERVIEW WITH GEORGE LUCAS: BREAKING THE CELLULOID CEILING

John Rice and Brian McKernan

401

CHAPTER 29: INTERVIEW WITH JAMES CAMERON: 3D DIGITAL HD

Brian McKernan, Editor

417

Glossary Index

433 475

This page intentionally left blank.

INTRODUCTION umans have been making pictures for millennia. Roughly a century ago they learned how to make them move. As the decades progressed, movies, television, and—more recently—home video and the Internet have enhanced communication and defined human experience as never before. Color, sound, and other innovations continually improved the moving image, and today it is a global lingua franca that transcends international borders, cultures, and traditional languages by being visual. As the twenty-first century begins, humankind’s other major information technology—the computer—is revolutionizing the moving image. The technologies of computers and television have been on a collision course for some time, sharing a purpose that includes the precise capture, storage, manipulation, transmission, and presentation of information. Both even use cathode-ray tubes (CRTs) for display. Computers, however, process information digitally—as a series of 0s and 1s—an efficiency that provides many advantages when applied to movingimage technology. And as computer microprocessors and related components become ubiquitous in everything from cars to toasters to toys, they grow in power and decrease in price. The digitization of moving-image technology is by no means complete; broadcast television’s transition to digital is moving slowly, but it is already having a major impact. Video and film production are going digital, and in the process gaining improved tools for creative expression and affordability. New computer-based storage, playback, and display devices are expanding uses for moving-image content. And the Internet is providing an instant, global means of content distribution. In such a digital environment, distinctions between specific forms of moving-image media begin to blur or disappear altogether. A stream of digital data comprising moving images and their accompanying audio can be scaled for multiple uses, depending on how much picture and sound information is necessary. Movies, TV shows, videos, and even simple computer

H

vii

Copyright 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Click Here for Terms of Use.

viii

INTRODUCTION

presentations become, in truth, a quantity of data existing as binary digits, or bits. The moving images that have traditionally been defined according to the technologies used to create and display them are now liberated for multipurposing; they have become, in reality, “digital content.” This new world that moving-image creatives find themselves in at the dawn of the twenty-first century is what this collection, Creating Digital Content, is all about. The impact of the digital content creation age is only just starting to be felt. This book is intended to introduce the reader to a broad range of existing areas that are being affected, and, in so doing, enhance understanding of this fundamental industrial transition, business opportunity, and communications revolution. Although we do not anticipate that the many areas encompassed by digital content creation will see overnight change (e.g., feature filmmakers won’t suddenly become indistinguishable from corporate video professionals), we do feel it’s imperative that those in the video, motion-picture, broadcast, news, entertainment, Internet, and education sectors understand the nature of the changes wrought by digital content creation revolution. First and foremost is that program production is being democratized, with increasingly more affordable—and yet powerful—technologies. And whether for entertainment, education, business, or other purposes, digital content can be consumed via a growing array of devices. This situation opens up potentially rich new possibilities for content creators, but it also increases competitive pressures. Ultimately, it will be creative talent and innovative thinking that will determine success. Digital is a great equalizer that reduces the cost of entry, but we should remember that Shakespeare did quite well without a laptop. Digital content creation technology has many intriguing possibilities. Assuming there is sufficient data, content can be repurposed for multiple displays: theatrical movie screens, consumer televisions, small computer windows, or even hand-held devices and cell phones. As data, moving and still images are assets that can be managed—stored, cataloged, indexed, and repurposed with minimal or no loss in quality. Archived news footage can be retrieved instantly for broadcast. Images or por-

INTRODUCTION

ix

tions of images can be digitally “cut and pasted” for economical repurposing in alternate versions or to customize advertising for different demographics. A high-resolution three-dimensional computer graphic can be used to mold a solid object; a two-dimensional image from a digital movie or TV show can be output in printed form as a billboard, a book, or even a t-shirt. The uses applied to digital content creation tools will be determined by the creative talents using them and by current and future market forces. As time goes on, HDTV, interactive cable, and greater Internet bandwidth will present further challenges and opportunities to moving-image professionals. We have assembled a collection of essays by a broad array of uniquely qualified experts who have graciously provided the background, tutorials, and analysis necessary for understanding many of the changes brought about by the digital content creation age. We are grateful to these contributors, all of whom tackled topics worthy of separate books in their own right. It is our hope that this edition will enable moving-image professionals to adapt and prosper in these changing times, and to participate in the evolution of what is, in the end, storytelling, one of humanity’s oldest and most important forms of communication, welcome to the Age of Digital Content Creation. John Rice, Brian McKernan August 2001

TE

AM FL Y

This page intentionally left blank.

FOREWORD THROW ANOTHER ANALOG ON THE DIGITAL FIRE: CONFESSIONS OF A DIGITAL CONTENT CREATOR PETER BERGMAN

or 25 years I had no trouble describing what I did or who I was. I was a comedian, an artist turning out high-end comedy on records and stage with my band of brothers, The Firesign Theatre. But those halcyon days are over thanks to the advent of the digital revolution. Ah, the digital revolution, operating at 800 million clock cycles a second, processing 11 trillion machine decisions every 20 minutes, and producing four ex-billionaires every six months. I should have seen it all coming with the arrival of Bill Gates, the Kubla Khan of the Nerds. He does possess the perfect digital name. Think about it: Microchips are nothing but millions and millions of little gates opening and closing, and he’s billing us for it. In this strange new cyber landscape, peopled with the Princes of Packet-share, the Esquires of E-Commerce, the Browser Barons, and the Dukes of URL, I could no longer

F

xi

Copyright 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Click Here for Terms of Use.

xii

FOREWORD

compete as a simple artist; I’ve had to reinvent myself as a “digital content creator.” Me digital? How could I, the last baby born before the boom—how could I, the youngest member of the generation whose oldest member is Bob Dole, ever hope to be digital? I certainly didn’t grow up digital. The only computer I encountered as a schoolboy was a picture of the Univac on the front page of Life magazine. It looked like a giant black toaster that took up three rooms. In college I was never in the same room with a computer, which explains why I failed to grasp Shakespeare’s underlying inherent interactive message when I studied him in freshman English: 2B~