Using clips for my film from youtube ?

[cozmoss]

Would I be In breach of copyright if, I was to use video clips from say, a merseyside police video wich was on youtube, I am in the final stages of completing a short docu on "Rip off britain" and rather than go through the whole process of aproachingthe police press office etc, I thought, why not use that particular clip. Or should I not do thid ? how helpful are the police in assisting us amatuers ?

[Mike Shaw]

In principle, I think that using anyone else's creative material without their permission is a breach of copyright. A Police film would be no exception. Whilst YouTube is a 'public viewing' area, it doesn't necessarily mean the material on it is in the public domain for anyone to use in their own work - that is how I view the situation, though there may well be a more 'legal' statement from someone who knows for sure. I'd say - consider one of your own creations on YouTube, and someone decides to incorporate your work in their own. I think you'd expect permission to have been given first?

[cozmoss]

Once again, thanks Mike, one more question, I have a 9 minute video wich I am entering into the "Golden night malta comp" in there regulations its say's "It is expected that ‘Tones’ and ‘Colour Bars’ are included" what Is this Mike ? Please

[Mike Shaw]

I don't know that competition, but at a guess, I'd say that the colour bars are the vertical colour bars often available on camcorders as a 'preset' - they enable colours on equipment to be matched to that on the tape. Check the menu of your camcorder - and record about 5 seconds worth for the beginning of your movie. Some video editors I believe can also provide a suitable colopur bar set. Tones would be the same thing for sound - again, possibly available on your camcorder. If not - I'm not sure what frequency (ies) the tone(s) should be so you'd have to check that out - or perhaps someone else who knows that competition can step in here with the details ...

[Pqtrick]

[I see that Mike has already replied you your question. I drafted mine last night, but had not posted it].

The simple answer is that you would be in breach of copyright. The video clip belongs to an other person. I don’t think anyone will dispute this. The work may have been outsourced by the Police Authority. It is always better to check with people first, sometimes you may be surprise how co-operative they can be. A man in a pub may tell you 'Its OK guv! as it’s on Youtube, you’ll get away with it’ but I think the high moral ground must be respected. Remember, one day you may be a bit miffed if someone used something of yours without asking!

[granfer]

You should recognize the Competition, Mike, it's always reported in the Mag. The only problem may be that it's title is " Golden Knight". It's the famous Annual competition in Malta.
Granfer

[Mike Shaw]

Yes of course! I wasn't very clear - really meant to say I didn't really know the 'rules' and things for entry - not one that I have entered yet, though worth thinking about at some point!

[Roy]

Colour Bars and tones are available on all the Adobe Premiere editing programmes.

[Dave Watterson]

Ideally colour bars are generated electronically according to standard definitions ... the idea is that they establish what the colours on your video should look like. The projectionist (in theory) adjusts his/her kit to get these colours perfect. Then when your film is shown any strange colour effects are the result of problems with your camera or your artistic tweaking.

But as a quick-and-dirty method download from http://www.imagingassociates.com.au/col ... terns.jspx one of the colour test patterns and drop it into your timeline as a jpg. Make it run for around 10 seconds.

The tone is a sound which is usually played along with the colour bars. Ideally it is 1 KHz but the main practical point is that it should be at the same level as the loudest sound in your soundtrack. The intention is that the projectionist will adjust the amplifiers at his/her end to suit that level of sound. If necessary copy it again to get it to run the same time as the colour bars.

A quick-and-dirty technique is to download a 1Khz test tone from http://www.mediacollege.com/audio/tone/download/ and drop that onto your soundtrack under the jpeg of the colour bars and adjust it to about the same as your maximum sound level.

As other people have said here, many video editors can generate bars and tones for you. Check the help notes on your one. But if youir editor does not, then try these rough-and-ready methods. I seriously doubt that the Golden Knight team would worry about these being perfect ... in fact I have yet to see a projectionist at a festival take any notice of them! Golden Knight sometimes gets entries onto local television and they may be fussier because tv companies have to meet regulations designed to ensure they do not damage anyone's tv set!

Oh - and on the YouTube copying thing ... DON'T ... especially not nicking from the police!!!

Dave