There are two major aspects of quality as it relates to video production. These are the creative content and the picture/sound quality. The creative content is much more intangible and should be discussed and planned in detail prior to any video being shot. To insure your satisfaction we believe that this initial planning is imperative. WFOVideo will put in writing what the video production will be made up of (Scope) so that there is no misunderstanding later. That being said there is always room for creativity along the way. A good example of this happened on a recent wedding shoot. While setting up the main camera near the alter, the 4 year old ring bearer and the 6 year old flower girl were dancing cheek to cheek and it was clear she was leading. I recorded them and captured a great shot of them smiling and dancing toward the camera. It was cute and silly. In editing I added some wedding music and played the clip in slow motion. It became a great opening scene for the wedding video and set a wonderful and happy mood for what was to follow. It wasn't a planned shot but it worked well and the client loved it. There is always room for artistic creativity in most types of productions.
The picture quality of the work we do for you is not dependent on the type of output medium you choose. We shoot and edit in full Digital Video quality. Bad audio can make or break a production in just seconds, that's why we use a professional grade audio mixer and high quality microphones from Sennheiser and Sony to get the best audio possible. Your final program is archived in our fireproof vault on minidv digital tape. This allows you to order copies or perhaps DVD's at a later date. There are professional formats with slightly better picture quality but it takes a trained eye to tell the difference and all the formats below compress most any advantage gained.
We offer many formats to output your production. They are listed here in increasing order of quality of picture.
.mpg movie file - an MPEG-1 compressed movie file that is typically used to e-mail a short clip. Plays on computers using Windows Media Player or DVD player software. Highly compressed - picture quality suffers, especially motion. Typically 320x240 resolution or less.
VideoCD
- A CD formatted as a video CD to play in most computers using Windows Media
Player 6.4+ and most home DVD players. Big in Japan - 2 CD's will hold a feature
length movie. A bit worse picture quality as VHS tape especially in high motion
video. Can be copied on any CD burner. Typically minimum 320x240 resolution.
STREAMING VIDEO - a full resolution .avi video file is compressed
into a file(s) on a web server by a computer program called a "codec".
The two most popular codecs are REALVIDEO 8
and WMV 9 (Windows Media
9). Both can generate files at different compression levels so that people with
faster Internet connections get a better and bigger picture.
VHS Cassette tape - The long time standard for home use. Acceptable quality in standard speed mode (2hr). Uses about ½ the quality of your TV set screen. Doesn't copy well. About 720x240 resolution
S-VHS Cassette tape - Cassette looks the same as regular VHS but not interchangeable. Better picture quality. Must have special S-VHS VCR to play it. About 720x400 resolution.
cDVD or aka miniDVD - A CD containing a DVD spec MPEG 2 file. We also can add a software DVD player built in to the disk. Plays in most newer computers DVD drive or CD drive with 16x read using included DVD player software. Will not play in home DVD players and 700mb CD limits you to about 15 minutes at full quality.
DVD disk - The new standard for movie rentals and emerging for home movie use. Picture and sound is good and can hold up to 2 hrs. Uses MPEG-2 digital format which has a variable bit rate feature so quality can vary with the bit rate specified or required to fit a long movie. New products just out make this more affordable and the medium of choice for most all of our productions. DVD's can have menus to navigate to different sections of the disk which makes it ideal for marketing video. They have 720x480 resolution. It takes extra time to encode and author the menu structure before burning to a disk. Lasts up to 4 times longer (80 years) than VHS Tapes. Can be copied without quality loss. 10 times more scratch resistant than CD's. We currently burn DVD's in the -R Format - about 90% compatible with all home DVD players.
MINIDV Tape - A digital tape format used in better consumer and professional video cameras. Currently the most affordable medium to archive old family movies. Tapes hold 60 or 80 minutes each. Most miniDV cameras produce 720x480 resolution.
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