Giving a lead(er)

[Dave Watterson]

I visited Bristol Video and Film Makers recently and they suggested IAC should recommend a new type of leader for movies. Their main concern was to distinguish 4x3 films from 16x9 ones.

An obvious answer would be to have a section with a circle in it and within the circle the relevant ratio in numbers.

But I have also found myself wondering about leaders for DVDs.

For cine film and video tapes of all kinds there is some logic in having a section at the start which does not contain the real meat of the movie - it allows the screening machinery time to get up to speed, avoids a portion which is more likely than most to suffer wear and tear damage. For regular use our DVDs usually begin with a menu which jumps straight to the first frame of the movie.

But if the movie is to be shown in a competition, the organiser may prefer to have some sort of brief leader so that the film can be started and held on "pause" for a few seconds if necessary.

Mind you if a movie is being entered for a competition and is less than about 15 minutes long you can often put the AVI file from your timeline straight onto the disk. It will play in many systems and if the festival manager wants to transfer it to tape for the public shows the best quality is available. Discs are cheaper than cassettes and easy to pack/post.

Dave

[Stu H]

I would agree that having a clock or leader on a tape is sensible for the reasons you describe. Similarly a DVD for competitions may also benefit from clocking.

As for the AVI (not Quicktime?':D') on a disc, here we would have to part company. Fine if an event organiser has asked for your film in that format, but playing on "many systems" is not the same as playing on all systems.

A video DVD will play, barring rare machines with a bias against +R or -R. The overwhelming majority of players can handle a video DVD that any of us can make. Why increase you chances of your film not being able to be screened by submitting something outside the standard.

Your point about increased quality is a good one, but only if you know in advance that this type of disc is acceptable to the exhibitor.

[billyfromConsett]

Mind you if a movie is being entered for a competition and is less than about 15 minutes long you can often put the AVI file from your timeline straight onto the disk. It will play in many systems

I believe that this is factually incorrect and would never recommend doing this. I have put a movie onto a DVD using an AVI on the one occasion when the guy was copying the file straight onto his hard disk, which has the speed to play the AVI file in real-time.

I'll put it another way, AVI's on DVD have never played on ANY equipment at our club.

But times are changing, maybe on brand new gear they can read much faster than on anything I've seen.

[Ray Williamson]

It is not whether it is DVD-R or DVD+R which counts.
The following conditions ALL need to be met:
The player must run fast enough to collect all the data in real time;
It must be able to recognize and use AVI files;
The DVD must have a file system that the player can recognize and use.
If all three conditions (ALL!) are met, you are cooking with gas.
If not, you are staring at a blank screen!
There are articles about file systems on this very website, you know. Study them (he says, wagging a finger).
If there is something you don`t understand, ASK!

[billyfromConsett]

It is not whether it is DVD-R or DVD+R which counts.
The following conditions ALL need to be met:
The player must run fast enough to collect all the data in real time;
It must be able to recognize and use AVI files;
The DVD must have a file system that the player can recognize and use.
If all three conditions (ALL!) are met, you are cooking with gas.
If not, you are staring at a blank screen!
There are articles about file systems on this very website, you know. Study them (he says, wagging a finger).
If there is something you don`t understand, ASK!

Oh Dave, look what you've started!