The Future of Visual Content.
So now that triple wide video walls have started becoming more common place, the question of content now begins to present itself as the next challenge. A few online distributors have started releasing small packages of really great content. But the supply is still very limited. Most people who are experimenting with wide format content have been doing so on what seems like several little individually deserted islands.
Questions of workflow and codec and resolution and software and playback and content production and end file size have been questions most of us have had to experiment with on a personal level. This quest has lead some of us to gather on twitter and occasionally in person over a burrito or plate of BBQ somewhere. (Just to let all of my vegetarian friends know, no animals were hurt in the making the BBQ sauce.) This specialized content work flow have been part of the Orange Thread Media team as long as I have know them.
Over the next few day’s we’ll be posting about a few more emerging technologies that will open the doors on what can electronically be produced visually. As if our creative workflows didn’t have enough twist and turns already, I’ll try to show you some new tricks to add to your bag of goodies.
I would say that most people that produce their own content do so using a combination of programs like Affect Effects, Photoshop, Final Cut Pro, Cinema 4D, Maya, and even iMovie (how exactly they do it in iMovie I have yet to figure out, but I have heard stories.) All of those programs have their strengths and place in the creative workflow. But the content that is created in these programs have a common draw back.
The content needs to rendered down to a file, that once rendered can not really be easily altered. For example the color and image in the background is set, the pace at which that clip plays back is set, the foreground images in the clip are set, the camera moves are set, etc.
These and other other elements are usually locked in place. While this is great for allowing a content producer to have creative freedom in the edit suite, the end user is kinda stuck with the editors decisions. “But Jason,” you might ask, “isn’t that how it has to be?” I’d have to say, “No. It’s doesn’t have to be that way.”
Over the next few blog post, I will try to introduce you to a set of tools many of you already have at your fingertips, but you may not be aware of it yet. We encourage you to post a comment here on the blog, we’ll do our best to get as many questions answered, but we hope we can be a place of conversation as well.
Jason Norris is one of the guys at Orange Thread Media who helps come up with cool stuff! He’s always learning a new software and taking on a new challenge. He’s the only member on our team with a Master in lighting (its actually theatrical production design, but close enough). Jason was very involved in the recently released Playback Drive. Jason and his wife Liz have one son and live in Birmingham, AL.
I’d argue that an even more important limitation in video media is how it is experienced by the congregation/audience – passively, by just watching the clip.
Quartz, Weiv, and other interactive visual worship tools allow people to be more active in creating the visuals in real-time. It’s the difference in being in an auditorium and listening to a pre-recorded song vs seeing a band perform music live. Live performance has more spirit.
That’s what excites me about these tools.
Thanks for the input. I totally agree with that there can be a great detachment between edit suite and the audience. Anything that can be done to break that barrier the better.
-Jason