Yes, I hate it too. It takes forever on the filmmaker side and it generates a lot of unwanted submissions on the festival side of things. However, it does help a festival keep information organized AND it generates a lot of submission-fee revenue for all of those indie-makers blindly submitting to festivals that WAB and IMDB suggest is right for them. WAB is not only boring, annoying, and expensive, it creates ethical/political dilemmas for festivals and makers.
With that said, I'm sure there are many examples in which WAB has helped artists/filmmakers connect with an appropriate festival. But, there's gotta be a better way. I'm sure programmers are all ears if people have a alternative solutions. - Warren > On Feb 16, 2014, at 10:15 AM, chris bravo <iamdir...@gmail.com> wrote: > > can we return to the WAB discussion for a moment? The settings you are > describing are essentially a moot point because the WAB video system > compresses whatever file you upload to a DISASTROUSLY crappy/tiny/offensive > video frame of, if I am remembering correctly 480x360. This coupled with the > service, overall, being extremely spammy, expensive, poorly designed, > ineffectual, especially for independent makers, turns me off to the entire > thing to the point where I won't apply to a festival if they require a WAB > entry and don't offer an alternative of at least a vimeo link send-in. I > understand that festivals need tools to help them manage data, etc. But WAB > seems like the worst possible solution. > > Are there more filmmaker friendly tools or projects out there to help with > this problem? Do people know how we got so hooked on WAB hegemony? > > >> On Sat, Feb 15, 2014 at 4:21 AM, Peter Snowdon <pe...@redrice.net> wrote: >> Aaron, >> thanks! I guess my question was, what is the safest setting for multiple >> unknown computer/projector combinations...:) It seems 720p would avoid a lot >> of problems in itself. >> Peter >> >> Envoyé de mon iPad >> >> > Le 15 févr. 2014 à 09:55, "Aaron F. Ross" <aa...@digitalartsguild.com> a >> > écrit : >> > >> > It depends on what equipment will be screening the MP4 file. What is the >> > native resolution of the projector? What is the computer that will be >> > playing back the file? Encode the file to the maximum resolution and >> > bitrate that the system can handle, and no more. >> > >> > Usually a 1080p master should be encoded at 20 megabits per second, >> > two-pass variable bit rate encoding. This is Blu-ray standard quality. >> > >> > Certain types of footage, especially fast motion or flicker, may benefit >> > from setting the compression keyframe distance explicitly. There's no way >> > to recommend what that distance should be, it's totally footage-dependent. >> > I would do an encode without a specific keyframe distance and see if the >> > result looks good. If you are seeing frame blending or other artifacts, >> > set the keyframe distance to 24 or 30, depending on source frame rate. >> > That's one keyframe per second. If you still see artifacts, reduce the >> > keyframe distance incrementally. If keyframe distance is set to the >> > minimum of 1, then each frame is compressed individually (interframe) and >> > there is no interpolation across frames (intraframe). This is an extreme >> > setting that may cause more problems than it solves, but I'm describing >> > options. >> > >> > The potential issue with high bitrate encoding is that the playback >> > computer has issues playing it back. If the processor or hard drive is not >> > fast enough, the playback will stutter and drop frames. This has happened >> > to me personally, and it utterly sucks in ways I can't begin to describe. >> > Therefore I suggest also encoding a 720p file as a backup in case the >> > target playback system chokes on the 1080p file. Encode the 720p file at >> > 10 megabits per second, two pass variable bit rate. >> > >> > Aaron >> > >> > >> > >> > At 2/15/2014, you wrote: >> >> While we're on this topic, I've just been asked for mp4 files for >> >> projection from a computer. Would any Frameworkers care to share settings >> >> they've used successfully? I'm working from 1080 masters, and I'm on a >> >> Mac, where I understand that all the mp4 presets sacrifice quality to >> >> compression. Thanks in advance, Peter Envoyé de mon iPad > Le 15 févr. >> >> 2014 à 02:31, "Aaron F. Ross" <aa...@digitalartsguild.com> a écrit : > >> >> > Hey Sandra... > > You need an MP4 file. That means it's encoded using >> >> H.264 compression. Don't bother with Quicktime. Don't bother with any >> >> other compression types. They will take too long to upload. > > If it's >> >> standard definition (DVD quality), make sure it's encoded with a bitrate >> >> of at least 3 megabits per second. > > For 720p extended definition, go >> >> for 10 megabits per second. > > For 1080p full high definition, the >> >> bitrate should be 20 megabits per second. > > To give you an idea of >> >> resulting file sizes... > > 3 megabits per second will yield a file size >> >> of 23 Megabytes per minute of footage. > > 10 megabits/sec will be 75 >> >> Megabytes per minute of footage. > > 20 megabits/sec will be 150 >> >> Megabytes per minute of footage. > > Let me know if you have more >> >> questions. > > Aaron > > > > At 2/14/2014, you wrote: >> This is >> >> embarassing...as a FILMmaker I finally got used to submitting on DVD, and >> >> now...its Withoutabox to submit to Edinburgh Black Box. I have attempted >> >> to weed my way through the application but the first thing I need to know >> >> is what specs to give to the person doing the video transfer - what type >> >> of file are we talking about. Can someone help !?!?!?!? thank you, >> >> Sandra Davis _______________________________________________ FrameWorks >> >> mailing list FrameWorks@jonasmekasfilms.com >> >> https://mailman-mail5.webfaction.com/listinfo/frameworks </x-flowed> > > >> >> > -------------------------------------------------------------- > > >> >> Aaron F. Ross, artist and educator > http://dr-yo.com > >> >> http://digitalartsguild.com > > >> >> _______________________________________________ > FrameWorks mailing >> >> list > FrameWorks@jonasmekasfilms.com > >> >> https://mailman-mail5.webfaction.com/listinfo/frameworks >> >> _______________________________________________ FrameWorks mailing list >> >> FrameWorks@jonasmekasfilms.com >> >> https://mailman-mail5.webfaction.com/listinfo/frameworks >> > >> > >> > -------------------------------------------------------------- >> > >> > Aaron F. Ross, artist and educator >> > http://dr-yo.com >> > http://digitalartsguild.com >> > >> > _______________________________________________ >> > FrameWorks mailing list >> > FrameWorks@jonasmekasfilms.com >> > https://mailman-mail5.webfaction.com/listinfo/frameworks >> _______________________________________________ >> FrameWorks mailing list >> FrameWorks@jonasmekasfilms.com >> https://mailman-mail5.webfaction.com/listinfo/frameworks > > _______________________________________________ > FrameWorks mailing list > FrameWorks@jonasmekasfilms.com > https://mailman-mail5.webfaction.com/listinfo/frameworks
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