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At DVD Your Memories, one of our services is creating slideshows and custom videos. We can help you prepare for your next big event or gathering by helping you create a one of a kind video or slideshow to present to your guests. Slideshows can be used for a variety of occasions, most commonly Birthdays, Weddings, Company Meetings, Bar Mitzvah, and Graduation Ceremonies. Creating a custom video helps the audience visualize what’s being presented, and offers an additional form of media for them to enjoy. In addition to creating slideshows and custom videos for groups or events, we can also help you craft a custom video for your family or genealogy project. With our custom video production services, we can combine and incorporate any or all of your media (images, video, film or audio) into your custom video. Just imagine creating the perfect Family DVD slideshow in Los Angeles that can be passed down for generations! Custom slideshows are perfect for nearly anything, from birthday parties, corporate events and even online greeting cards, such as for the holidays. If you choose to sit with our in-house editor, we can even add professional quality voice-overs to any part of your video. We’ll even send you a preview video to make sure everything is perfect before the final rendering. Contact your Los Angeles DVD Your Memories editor for an appointment to create your next slideshow masterpiece! [flowplayer src=’wp-content/themes/dvdyourmemories/flv/film-sample.flv’ height=375 width=500]

After having converted your audio such as cassette to CD, or reel to reel to CD, you can also rip the audio back to your computer into a variety of different audio formats. Here are some of the most common audio formats, and a little bit of info about them:

MP3 – Today, when you hear “MP3”, the first thing that pops into your mind is probably music or songs. MP3 format has quickly risen to one of the most popular formats of audio, much in part to it’s compression. MP3 audio is what’s called a “lossy format”, which means that some quality is lost during the compression process. MP3s can be compressed into files that are a mere fraction of their original source, and to an untrained ear–the quality loss is minimal. Audiophiles typically like to steer clear of MP3 audio due to the fact that it is compressed, and won’t sound quite as good as a lossless format.

WAV – WAV is a Microsoft and IBM audio file format standard on PCs. WAV is typically regarded as a lossless audio format, although it can contain compressed audio. WAV is also the standard audio file format for CDs, containing two channels of 44,100 samples per second, 16 bits per sample. Since LPCM uses an uncompressed storage method which keeps all the samples of an audio track, professional users or audio experts may use the WAV format for maximum audio quality. WAV audio can also be edited and manipulated with relative ease using software. The WAV format is also only limited to files that are less than 4 GB, because of its use of a 32-bit unsigned integer to record the file size header (some programs will actually limit the file size to 2–4 GB).

AAC – AAC is a relatively newer, lossy audio format. It was developed to succeed the MP3 format, as it generally receives better sound quality than MP3 at similar bit rates. AAC is also the default or standard audio format for iPhone, iPod, iPad, Nintendo DSi, iTunes, DivX Plus Web Player and PlayStation 3.

FLAC – FLAC (Free Lossless Audio Codec) which allows digital audio to be losslessly compressed such that file size is reduced without any information being lost. Digital audio compressed by FLAC’s algorithm can typically be reduced to 50–60% of its original size, and decompressed into an identical copy of the original audio data. This means that you can actually have the same quality of music, with the added bonus of freeing up a lot of your hard drive space. One of the main drawbacks is that FLAC playback support in portable audio devices and dedicated audio systems is limited compared to formats like MP3.

Apple Lossless – Apple Lossless, also known as ALAC or ALE is an audio encoder developed by Apple for lossless compression of digital music. Initially, Apple kept the encoder proprietary until 2011, when they released an open-source, royalty-free version. Apple Lossless audio is stored in an mp4 container with the extension of .m4a

10: The VHS Revolution

The story of the effect of the DVD on the film industry starts with the introduction of the VHS tape in the early 1980s. Home video changed how the film industry worked, by providing people a way to enjoy movies from the comfort of their own homes. VHS tapes were pretty expensive when the first came out, as the heads of the major studios were worried about profit loss. When they realized that they weren’t really losing any profits, it paved the way to the low priced DVDs we know of today.

9: Special Features

One of the most attractive features of the DVD over conventional video tapes was the amount of recording space available. A typical VHS recording would run about 400mb, while a commercial DVD can hold up to 15 times that amount. This has allowed studios to insert graphical menus, additional commentary and audio tracks, and of course — special features and behind the scenes looks. Special features are also something that cannot be added through a standard VHS to DVD transfer.

8: Rise of the Popular Auteur

D.W. Griffith, Howard Hawks, Alfred Hitchcock and Orson Welles are a few examples of early auteurs. Martin Scorsese, Francis Ford Coppola, Woody Allen, Roman Polanski and Stephen Spielberg became popular in the ’60s and ’70s, along with James Cameron and Ron Howard in the late ’70s. Digital video has given people a much easier chance to get ahold of the unique films produced by these directors.

7: Multiple Releases

While new and revised releases of older films have always been a way for the industry and filmmakers to make new profits and show improved versions of their films, it’s only in the DVD and digital age that multiple versions and re-releases of films are possible on a large scale. Movie companies release film to DVD in several different editions. Improvements in special-effects technology, for example, led to the mid-’90s theatrical release of the classic “Star Wars” trilogy, and subsequent releases.

6: Behind the Scenes

Of course, even when the selling point for a given film is something other than the director or creative team behind the movie, we still show an interest in learning more about the process of making the movie. This is enjoyable for, and now expected by, consumers, but it also makes sense to the studios, who like to give us as much incentive as possible to buy the DVD by loading it with things you can’t find anywhere else.

5: Brand and Franchise Extension

While there have always been sequels to mega-films, particularly beginning with the age of the blockbuster in the ’70s, the DVD has given all kinds of new dimensions to the idea of the franchise. Before home video, a film might produce a sequel if it was particularly successful at the box office — but with new films coming out weekly, a movie might not stay in theaters long enough to justify a second production.

4: Cult Films and TV Shows

As DVD production became cheaper and cheaper, more and more movies from the past have begun to surface as digital copies. Some studios dedicate their time to restoring old classics, and cult films to digital formats such as The Criterion Collection. The Criterion series is noted for helping to standardize the letterbox format for home video, bonus features, and special editions. Criterion is also known for taking great lengths to restore and clean all films released on their label. In addition, full seasons of TV shows have begun to pop up as DVD box sets, full with bonus features that fans can purchase.

3: Music Licensing and Duplication

Because sale of a DVD means sale of the music contained on that DVD, films (and television shows) must contend with music and soundtrack licensing, as well as publishing rights and other artist revenues. Because of the importance of music and how it relates to the movie, show, or story, many companies include DVD and online streaming clauses

2: Online offline tie-ins

DVD technology has also responded to our expanding entertainment universe. Where once films stood or fell based on their box office standings, now every movie is an opportunity to develop a world that takes advantage of both online and offline technologies. While classic merchandising products like toys and novelizations still make a lot of money for movie producers, the possibility of taking that experience online means the only limit is the creativity of the franchise team.

1: Theft, Bootlegging

Of course, the digital format has its problems. DVDs can be hacked easily, copied and shared, and even the classic hand-filmed theater bootleg is much easier to sell or share now that digital networks are the norm. Peer-to-peer sharing, bit torrents and the rest of the modern pirate’s toolkit mean studios spend a great deal of money tracking down offenders and making trouble for them.

Are you unsure what type of 8mm camcorders you should be looking for?

Converting 8mm video tapes like Video8, Hi8, and Digital8 tapes can actually be pretty confusing, especially if you have different types of tapes. Having multiple different tape formats can cause problems because not all camcorders are capable of playing each format. The earlier camcorders are typically only able to support Video8 and Hi-8 tapes. I’ve compiled a list of Sony camcorders that will support all formats of 8mm tapes. These are the best camcorders to look for if you plan to transfer video tapes to DVD or your computer.

Post in the comments what camera you prefer, or use to transfer your camcorder tapes to DVD!

Cloud-based video editing startup Magisto will soon launch an iPhone version of its automated video editing app, the company announced today.

Magisto’s free (for now) service automates the video editing process for the untrained or lazy, making it possible for people to submit video clips to the service and let it do the work of cutting the video in an interesting fashion. Magisto scans the clips for noteworthy action and packages it with tricks like transitions and split-screens. Then users simply give the video a title and pick a soundtrack, and the video is ready to share on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube or e-mail. And now, you’ll be able to do so on the iPhone in just a few weeks.

To find out more info, check it out here!

With video editing, you have a couple of different options for your workstations. There are several advantages and disadvantages depending on what kind of system you plan to use for your project. Typically, you’d either be working on a desktop computer, or a laptop computer. However, recently, tablets and other mobile platforms have begun to support video editing software and apps.

Desktop Computer Desktop computers have a variety of advantages when it comes to editing video. For one, they have the ability to hold multiple hard drives within the system. Standard definition video in AVI runs about 13gb per hour of video. As you can see, with multiple hours of footage from a video to hard drive transfer, you’ll need quite a bit of hard drive space to accommodate it all. When working with high-definition footage, the amount of space you’ll need gets even larger! With the advantage of multiple hard drive bays, you have the ability to swap out or add additional hard drives to your system with little to no modification. Another distinct advantage of the desktop computer is the ability to swap out not only hard drives, but other critical components such as your processor, RAM, motherboard, or graphics/video card. Upgrading any of these components can dramatically increase your computer’s overall performance. With a desktop editing system, you’ll typically have more space to work with. Your keyboard and mouse are at a good distance, and you can hook your computer up to one or more monitors to help with multi-tasking or editing multiple different things at once. Laptop/Mobile computer Laptops and mobile computers come with their own advantages and disadvantages over desktop computers. One of the main reasons people opt to purchase a laptop over a desktop computer is because they have a need for mobility. With a laptop, you can easily pack it up into a briefcase and work from wherever you’d like. The addition of a battery makes it so that you can finish your work where there is no immediate power source. However, the advantage of mobility brings forth a host of additional problems and disadvantages when it comes to video editing. Another disadvantage of the laptop is the price. A laptop with comparable specs to a desktop computer will usually be higher in price. This is because of the smaller form circuitry and electronics, and the fact that laptops come equipped with a screen. Although laptop prices have dropped slightly in the last few years, it’s still very tough to find a laptop for the same price as a desktop with the same specs. Due to the mobile nature of laptops, they are difficult swap out or upgrade any of the components because the form factor is so small. This can be problematic if you need a new processor or video card to handle your editing work. Also, laptops typically come equipped with only a single hard drive. This can be an issue if you’re working with high def video or raw video files that take up enormous amounts of data. Although you can purchase external hard drives, if they are not equipped with either e-SATA or USB 3.0, you’ll be spending may more time than you need just transferring data back and forth.

For some, the actual differences between low-definition, standard definition, and high definition video can be a bit confusing.

High Definition Video – This is the newest form of video that rose primarily at the advent of the HDTV (High Definition Television). Most of us are familiar with high-definition video, as it’s been heavily marketed the past few years by the film industry, home theatre companies, and cable companies. The most common resolutions of HD video are 1280×720 pixels (often referred to as 720p) and 1920×1080 pixels (often referred to as 1080i/1080p). 1080p is one of the highest resolutions that common displays can currently use, which makes for a much clearer and sharper image than video shot in standard definition.

Standard Definition Video – This was the industry standard for years, and is what most types of video tapes such as VHS, Hi8, Video8 and Betamax used. The resolutions for standard def in North America is 720×480 pixels. For Europe, the resolution is set at 704×576. Video transfer projects such as VHS to DVD San Diego, or camcorder tapes to DVD are also played at standard definition, as standard definition is also the same resolution that DVD movies use.

Low Definition Video – This video type refers to television systems and videos that have a lower screen resolution than standard-definition. The term is usually used in reference to digital television, in particular when broadcasting at the same (or similar) resolution as low-definition analog TV systems. Mobile DTV systems usually transmit in low definition, as do all slow-scan TV systems.

You’d typically find most of your low-def programming from various internet sites, like Youtube, or videos downloaded on an iPod, or other portable device. The typical resolution of low-def video is 320×240 pixels.