Why Digital Video Hacks?

The term hacking has a bad reputation in the press. They use it to refer to someone who breaks into systems or wreaks havoc with computers as their weapon. Among people who write code, though, the term hack refers to a "quick-and-dirty" solution to a problem, or a clever way to get something done. And the term hacker is taken very much as a compliment, referring to someone as being creative, having the technical chops to get things done. The Hacks series is an attempt to reclaim the word, document the good ways people are hacking, and pass the hacker ethic of creative participation on to the uninitiated. Seeing how others approach systems and problems is often the quickest way to learn about a new technology.

Trying to pinpoint exactly what defines digital video is difficult, let alone defining what it means to hack it. The digital video medium involves many different phases, from preparing for a shoot to delivering and viewing a final product. Finding the boundaries is difficult. Video production is, in and of itself, a creative medium, so you should be encouraged to free your creative energy, embrace the hacker inside you, and use this book as a starting point to your journey into the digital video revolution.