Fotomedia is now a provider of AutoCue / Teleprompting services for the Television, Corporate Video, TVCs, Documentaries, Webcast and Conference industries.
We mount the AutoCue system on the same tripod as the camera, therefore allowing you to look directly at the camera whilst reading your script. The camera shoots directly through the AutoCue screen assisting to develop a slick and confident presentation.
Contact us to discuss our competitive rates. Fotomedia offer a full autocue / teleprompter rental package including experienced operators, camera or conference display equipment which will be customized to your needs and job requirements.
AutoCue Teleprompting Service
June 29th, 2010DVD Duplication
May 21st, 2010
Once your video production is complete, the next question is… How to deliver this to your client?
The most cost effective method is DVD Duplication. Here your DVD disc is mastered, graphic design elements developed for your DVD printing, files loaded to our in-house DVD duplicator or CG duplicator – then presto.
We can do a short run of 2 copies up to 1000. We use replication if more are required.
Other methods we have provided in the past is Blu-ray Disc, printed 2GB USB, and CD.
Good Deeds TVC
May 20th, 2010One of Fotomedias’ loyal clients asked us to produce a Gold Coast TVC with a twist. Our animation skills with stop motion photography combined to make this TV Commercial. This project is video production with a difference. Fotomedia bought together great local talent, makeup artist, studio and lighting, then shot and directed professional photography as dictated by the script. We then combined the images in After Effects with some creative animation, voice over and sound effects. Look out for the TVC on your Gold Coast or Brisbane television network in the near future.
DVD Format
May 9th, 2010DVD Duplication
At Fotomedia, we burn disks as region 0. Meaning they are encoded to play worldwide. Fotomedia have in-house duplicating facilities where we can batch CD or DVD runs of up to 1000 copies. Here each disc has high quality printing on the face and content is burned automatically. Pricing varies depending on quantity and packaging requirements. Contact us on 0755354015 for our competitive pricing.
REGIONS
It is always difficult to cover all Regions with DVD mastering.
There is a vast amount of manufacturers of DVD players, sometimes disks just don’t play, although this is a small exception.
Follow this link for more info
PAL vs NTSC
PAL = 25 frames per second with 625 scan lines per screen – Used in Europe and Asia etc
NTSC = 30 frames per second with 525 scan lines per screen – Used in USA, Japan etc
Duplication of DVD’s mostly are in batches of under 1000 – with quantities above 1000 we generally use replication.
Replicating is where we produce a glass master DVD and the files are embedded on each pressed disc, resulting in a DVD with slightly more stability.
It is always best to test the DVD on various systems prior to committing to large quantities.
Screen Resolutions
May 5th, 2010
Screen Video Standards
When you hear the Terms; SD, HD, DVD, Bluray and Handheld. You may be asking yourself, “what does all this mean?“, and if you are looking at video production for your business (perhaps to sell your products or help brand your company) you might be thinking “How much is this gunna cost me, and what will sell best?“.
Lets try to break down some of the information, and shed light on what is all means. We are an in-house video and photography company based on the Gold Coast, so when it comes to video formats, we like to keep all options in mind based on what clients budgets are and what the market and distribution is gearing towards.
To begin with, if you plan on not reading all this information, long story short, HD1080 (or true high definition) is currently the best format to broadcast on (excluding cinema).
So here’s why:
Formats
Each format represents a scale in size (based on a ratio of pixels).
SD (standard definition) = 720 x 576
HD (high definition) = 1280 x 720
HD (true hd) = 1920 x 1080
An important thing to remember is that the term pixel refers to a single (square for this example) dot on your screen. Whether it’s a TV, HDTV, Computer Monitor or a Projector, they all follow the principle or pixels.
So imagine a single pixel can produce one colour each frame. A SD video will have a 720 pixel by 576 pixel box made up of 720 separate individual coloured dot across and and 576 down.
Using this understanding, when you play an SD video on a screen (lets say HDTV which is 1920 x 1080) that is a larger scale then the video itself, ‘up-scaling‘ will occur.
This is because the video natively stretches to fill the entire screen. When a video up-scales you will often notice something referred to as Pixelation. Pixelation shows when our single dots we discussed now stretch over a larger area, resulting in more boxy look. So now the once single colour dots, fill an area of say 10 x 10 instead of 1 x 1.
Mediums
The 3 key mediums in which your video can reach your market on are;
TV (Broadcast) = SD, HD720, HD1080
DVD = SD
Bluray = HD1080
Web = various (see below)
Handheld (iPhone) = various (see below)
Web
Web is the tricky one, see the Web category can be potentially be any size, small or large you want, though you are often limited by a users internet speed and must keep this in mind when distributing via web.
Though with sites like Youtube, Vimeo, Google Video and Facebook, most run by these standards;
HD = 1280 x 720
HQ = 480 x 360
SD Web = 320 x 240
for more info about these resolutions …
Youtube Handbook
Optimize HD Youtube Video
Hand held
Hand helds refer to many varieties of devices such as phones, palm pockets, even things like the Nintendo DS or Playstation PSP.
The most common hand held format we work with is the popular Apple iPhone.
Even trickier than the web resolutions are the hand helds, often the videos need to be cropped at the top and bottom for the video to even go fullscreen.
iphone = 640 x 480
many, many more…
Download some of our iphone videos or Subscribe to our itunes podcast.
In Summary
Now considering all these options, we can see that the (True) HD resolution 1920px x 1080px is currently the highest standard and this is what we will often recommend for our clients. True HD is becoming the standard as Blu-ray discs are becoming more common and DVD’s resolution just can’t compete with watching a high-quality production on a 42″ LCD screen.
If you want more info on Foto Media’s services in HD video productions or interested in a quote on your next video production, contact us over at our website www.fotomedia.com.au.
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iPhone Video Downloads Section
April 29th, 2010
iPhone link
We have now added an iPh0ne video download section to our site.
If you would like to view some of our latest video work, you can click on the ‘iPhone’ image (see thumbnail) on our website. You will be directed to iTunes where you can download and subscribe to all of our iPhone podcasts. Currently videos like the ‘2009 Swell Sculpture Festival’ and gold coast band Rollerball are being showcased.
Keep an eye out as we be updating these iPhone videos downloaded monthly or just subscribe now.