About This Book

The book is split into three major sections shooting, output, and distribution-presentation. The first three chapters cover shooting, audio, and lighting, to help ensure that your productions start with the highest possible audio/video quality.

Chapter 4 goes into the theory behind the workflow of converting your raw DV footage to streaming video and DVDs. Then, Chapters 5 through 8 go into more detail about these procedures, with a look at the specialized subject of shooting for compositing and low-bitrate streaming in Chapter 6.

Once you've produced your video files, the focus shifts to distribution. Chapter 9 details how to insert videos into PowerPoint and Apple Keynote, while Chapter 10 describes how to create streaming presentations with PowerPoint Producer. Chapter 11 wraps up with a look at how to produce and deploy closed captions in streaming files and DVDs.

The book does not include reviews of DV cameras, video editors, or DVD authoring programs, or "how to" articles on buying or configuring your capture and editing station. This information changes too quickly to have much staying power in a book and you'll be better served by specialized magazines covering these topics.

If you're interested in this information, I invite you to visit www.emedialive.com and www.pcmag.com. The first site, EMedia, provides more lengthly reviews and analysis while PC Magazine provides quick-hit reviews of the most critical hardware and software tools.