Apple Training Series: iLife 06

There's an important distinction between the video that you shoot and a video that you make. You probably don't need a lesson to shoot with your camcorder. But making videos is an entirely different beast. Jennifer tends to shoot with her camcorder as if it were a still camera. Her video looks good, but she'd be hard-pressed to make something out of it. Christopher understands that shooting is his opportunity to get some raw materials with which to build. And as in building a house, it's not enough to have lots of materials. You need the right pieces to fit together.

Think of making a video as the union of two distinct tasks: shooting and editing. Camera plus computer. Professionals call this duo production and postproduction. Any way you slice it, a video is both of these in tandem.

Everything you dobefore, during, and after shootingneeds to all fit together. For instance, a video recording of 30 minutes will require 6 GB of free hard disk space on your Mac. It's hard to think of the video you shoot without considering the consequences on your computer. And if you have only a few hours to dedicate to a project, small increases in how much you record explode into considerably more work when you edit. Labeling tapes properly and keeping records of what's on each one is work you do long before you get to your computer, but ultimately it will save hours when you're ready to make a video.

Consequently, "video" is a processa series of interlocking activities. Until you have some perspective on the entire arc, it's hard to focus on any one part.