Production Stills from recent projects...
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BizVid Communications is a San Diego based video production company owned by Bill Gruber and Caz Taylor. Together we have over 50 years of video production experience and we like to blog about video production, marketing and business.
Archive for the ‘San Diego Video Production Company’ Category
Creating a Vignette Effect in Adobe Premiere Pro
June 3rd, 2013
Welcome to another in the series of video tutorials presented by San Diego video production company, BizVid Communications. Today I’m going to show you how to make and use a vignette in Premiere Pro. The title of this tutorial is a little deceiving in that I am going to begin in Photoshop where I’ll create the vignette template and then I’ll switch to Premiere Pro to show you how to use the template in a video project. This template will be one I can use for every video project I do from this point forward. So let’s get started.
First up is Photoshop. I position my mouse on “New” and click. Next I’ll select the pre-set for “Film and Video.” Then I’ll change the width to 1280 pixels and the height to 720 pixels. This will give me a 16:9 aspect ratio. I’ll leave the “resolution” at 72 but I’ll change the “background content” to “transparent” and click “okay. Next, I want to create a second layer so I position my mouse on the little icon just left of the garbage pail and click. This will create a second layer…as you can see here in the layers pallet. Next, I want to select the elliptical marquee tool from the tool box and then position my mouse in the top left corner…a little way away from the edge, then click and drag to about the same distance in the bottom right corner. This will make an elliptical outline which you can see as little dancing dots. Now, I’ll position my mouse outside of the elliptical pattern, right click and “select inverse.” By doing this, only the outer parts of the elliptical form will be affected.
Next, in the tool box, I’ll select the “paint bucket” tool then double click the color pallet to be sure that black is selected. Once I am sure the correct layer is selected, using the “paint bucket” tool I’ll left click to drop black in the inverted section…like this. Next, I want to remove the selected portion of little dancing dots so on my PC I push control “D” and the dots go away. Next, I’ll position my mouse on filter and click, scroll down to “blur” then “Gaussian blur” and click. This opens a box that lets me adjust the degree of blur to be applied. For me, it’s right about here….100 to 150 pixels or so. Next, I can play with opacity to lighten or darken the effect or do it in Premiere….either way. And there it is.
Now let’s use this template in a video project. First, I want to save this as a layered PSD file….don’t flatten this….I go to “file” and “save as.” Next, save as a .psd. Now, I’ll open Premiere Pro and use this newly built template….back I a moment. Okay, here I am. I’ve dropped the clip in the timeline and have imported my psd file. Now I’ll click and drag the psd file to the track above the clip and there you have it. Easy and it makes the video look much more professional. We’re done. Be sure to visit our blog at BizVidCommunications.com/blog or our BizVid Communications YouTube channel for more educating blogs and tutorials. Thanks for watching.
How to use the Corner Pin Effect in Premiere Pro
April 27th, 2013
Welcome to another video tutorial produced by Bizvid Communications, one of San Diego’s leading video production companies. This tutorial is designed to teach you how to use the “Corner Pin” effect in Premiere Pro. My version is 5.5, but what you will learn is applicable to other versions as well. The “Corner Pin” effect is a nice little tool that lets you put a video or still photo into a space that is not perfectly rectangle or square. So let’s begin.
Today, I’m using a virtual set video clip. What you see is not real. Virtual sets are used to create the impression that a person is in a real environment. You can see an example of what I am talking about in our blog post titled, “Strengthen Success with Search Engine Optimization.” Go check it out if you have time. As you can see, the screen in this scene has nothing in it. So, to make things look more real, I need to put something in there.
I’ve chosen the clip I’d like to use so I’m going to click and drag it onto video track two…just above the virtual set clip. Next, I’ll go to Effects Controls and click on “motion” then try to scale it the clip down to see if I can get it to fit within the borders of the screen. That doesn’t work. So, let me go back to Effects Controls and uncheck uniform scale to see if I can do it that way. As you can see, no matter how I try to do it, it’s not going to fit because it’s out of perspective. So I’m going to re-set my clip back to its full size.
Thankfully, Adobe created the “Corner Pin” effect which can be found in the Effects Panel. Don’t worry, if you don’t know exactly where it is simply position your mouse in the search dialog box and type “Corner” and before you get too far, the “Corner Pin” effect will appear. And as you can see, it is in the “Distort” folder. Next, I’ll click and drag the effect onto video track two where my screen capture video is. Another way is to select the clip, then double click the effect and it will be applied. Once the effect is on the clip, the controls for it will be found in the “Effects Controls” panel.
There are a couple of ways to manipulate the effect. One way is to click and drag these numbers around until you get what you want…the easier way is to do it…first let me re-set the clip…..now, notice this icon here. Simply click inside that and, in the program monitor, you’ll get access to the same points…as you can see, there are four targets that I can click and drag around and into the proper place.
Okay, if I’m not sure I have every corner in its proper place, I can zoom in by clicking this button that says, “Fit” and go in 100%. Then I’ve got scroll bars to scroll around to see how I did. If my work is sloppy, I can refine. Doing this gives me a better look at the fit. When done, click “Fit” and I’m back to full view.
So that’s how you make things fit into odd shaped areas without distorting the image. The “Corner Pin” is a great tool and I hope you have occasion to use it many times. Thanks for watching this tutorial. Be sure to check out some of our other tutorials and please subscribe to our YouTube channel to get the latest and greatest as they are released. Also, check out our website, BizVidCommunications.com.
Search Engine Optimization for Your Business Website
April 9th, 2013
Thanks for joining us on this blog from BizVid Communications, a leading San Diego video production company. I want to talk to you today about the phrase I just used: “a leading San Diego video production company”… it takes some work to become known as an industry leader. If used properly, today’s social media can aid in the process.
Since search engines are literally one of the “engines” that drive computer and social media traffic, incorporating a wise blend of heavily trafficked social media in your own website will aid in what is known as Search engine optimization. When your company takes great advantage of the sites and pages and media that is heavily viewed and ranked, your own popularity and rankings actually dovetail with other popular media. It’s taken hard work to be ranked high in Google and other searches.
Some of the ways we optimize our web presence has been to incorporate and interlink our videos on YouTube and Vimeo to our BizVid Website. We do the same thing with our frequent blogs, which appear on our website, as well as through our YouTube and Vimeo accounts. Add these to our company’s Facebook pages and in our Yelp reviews, and when search engines see that your company appears within many high ranking media, your own ranking increases. While the sheer number of media options is growing by the day, it is wise to be selective in the media you incorporate into your website. If for no other reason, to keep you sane.
At the end of the day… your greatest success will come from what you do best. In our case that is video production. A company can have the best web support and SEO assistance, but the bottom line is if you aren’t who you are, it doesn’t really matter. Thanks for joining us on this blog.
How to Shoot Video Outdoors With Balanced Light
January 9th, 2013
As a leader in San Diego video production, BizVid Communications offers periodic blogs dealing with some of the elements in the production process. In this blog, we’ll take a look at a simple outside set up. Since a great deal of the impact will depend on a good, yet simple setting, we’ll use a recent shoot at a San Diego church as our example.
This particular set up was for the capture of three testimonials. To simplify the process, BizVid elected to include all three participants together. They were to pass the microphone one to another in one direction, so the camera could flow through the process smoothly. The camera would begin on a three shot, then push to each individual giving their testimony, using a simple, sweeping pan. At the close, the camera would pull to a three shot again.
Beyond those logistics, the most important facet was the location. BizVid chose an area in the front of the Baptist Church, where nice palm trees and an interesting building structure could be used. Because the light was very bright in some areas of the background, we chose to stay pretty tight on the action. Locating a place with even light is important, when shooting outdoors. Cameras have trouble when there’s a mixture of bright sunlight with heavy shadows. The camera has difficulty picking up the speakers clearly. Remember that even, balanced lighting will make your videos really standout.
If you have to video tape in bright sunlight, make sure the light is off to the side, or behind the camera. Otherwise your talent will be mostly silhouetted.
These simple tips will give your video the best chances for success. Of course, having a captivating message and a good deliverer of that message are optimal, as well.
Hurricane Disaster Help For Small Businesses
November 4th, 2012
Produced by BizVid Communications, a San Diego video company, their recent SBA Radio broadcast offered solutions to businesses who have been set back by hurricane Sandy. Ruben Garcia is the San Diego and Imperial County Small Business Administration District Director. As the guest expert of the radio show, he brought on SBA’s disaster relief spokesperson and SBA Public Affairs Specialist, D. Jelani Miller. Miller offered funding solutions for families and small businesses that have lost property, resources and revenues in the storm’s aftermath.
Mr. Miller is responsible for providing SBA Disaster Assistance information to congressional offices, federal representatives, state offices, local agencies, the media and most importantly, to disaster victims.
During the SBA Radio interview, two main contacts were offered as helpful resources to business and residential storm victims.
According to an SBA.gov website, the Office of Disaster Assistance’s mission is to provide low interest disaster loans to homeowners, renters, businesses of all sizes and private, non-profit organizations to repair or replace real estate, personal property, machinery & equipment, inventory and business assets that have been damaged or destroyed in a declared disaster. SBA’s disaster loans are the primary form of federal assistance for the repair and rebuilding of non-farm, private sector disaster losses. For this reason, the disaster loan program is the only form of SBA assistance not limited to small businesses. Disaster Assistance has been part of the agency since its inception in 1953. Click here for more details.
While the SBA also offers disaster assistance to individuals, Jelani Miller recommended that the first step in those instances would be to contact FEMA. According to the FEMA website, Immediately after the declaration, disaster workers arrive and set up a central field office to coordinate the recovery effort. A toll-free telephone number is published for use by affected residents and business owners in registering for assistance. Disaster survivors should contact FEMA at (800) 621-FEMA (3362). Disaster Recovery Centers also are opened where disaster victims can meet with program representatives and obtain information about available aid and the recovery process.