By Isabel Esterman<\/p>\n
HD cameras, high-fidelity microphones and professional editing software can produce beautiful, polished videos.\u00a0 But what if you need to get something up on the Web fast?<\/p>\n
User studies show the public generally values flexibility and timeliness over perfection, said Tiffany Campbell, a seattletimes.com producer.\u00a0 Sometimes, quick and dirty is the way to go.<\/p>\n
For breaking news or short companion videos, simple tools like the Flip camera and iMovie may be the best choice, said Campbell.\u00a0\u00a0 They may not produce documentary-quality films, but the production value is good enough not to discourage viewers, and they allow reporters to shoot, edit, and post a story in as little as an hour.<\/p>\n
That sounded like a challenge to me, so I thought I\u2019d give it a try.\u00a0 I went to Campbell\u2019s workshop armed with a Flip camera and a tripod, aiming to produce a short video based on the session. I have some experience with shooting and editing video, but I\u2019d never touched a Flip before, or edited with iMovie, so I planned to give myself an hour to import and edit my footage.<\/p>\n
The Flip\u2019s audio quality isn\u2019t much better than a cell phone, Campbell warned, and the camera performs poorly in low light.\u00a0 Otherwise, it\u2019s about as foolproof as a video recorder can get.\u00a0 A button on the side turns it on, plus and minus buttons zoom in and out, and a big red button starts recording. The flip has a tripod mount on the bottom, and once I got it clipped in, I could easily move around the room, looking for shots.<\/p>\n
The real advantage, though, comes when it\u2019s time to import.\u00a0 There\u2019s no tape to capture, no intermediate codec to run through.\u00a0 You just open iMovie, plug in the Flip\u2019s built-in USB connector and hit \u2018Import.\u2019<\/p>\n
I had a little trouble when I tried importing my own footage. iMovie \u201908 gave me repeated error messages\u2013a problem other workshop participants complained of as well. I switched to a computer with iMovie \u201809, and it still took two tries to get all of my clips into iMovie.\u00a0 But even with these setbacks, I was ready to start editing in 10 minutes.\u00a0 Compared to logging DV tape or flash video, this was lightening fast.<\/p>\n
iMovie definitely has its shortcomings.\u00a0 I found it hard to make precise edits, I couldn\u2019t edit audio waveforms, and I had to rely on a few preset options for adding text. But I also found the limitations oddly liberating\u2013I was free from worrying too much about artistic choices, and could concentrate on moving as fast as my limited skill would allow.<\/p>\n
At 56 minutes in, I was ready to show my piece to a colleague.\u00a0 He suggested tightening up a few sections, which took another 10 minutes.\u00a0 After two minutes exporting to an m4v file, I had a finished piece, ready to be uploaded.\u00a0 I took eight minutes longer than I\u2019d hoped, and a few of my cuts were pretty rough.\u00a0 I don\u2019t think this video is great, but I think it just might be good enough.<\/p>\n