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Suggested TV-Button Video Production Specifications:

The general principle employed in MPEG-type compression (which is effectively what all three player use) is that it analyses the pixels that change from one frame to the next and keeps track of ONLY the changes. For example, if two adjacent frames are identical, then the MPEG compression algorithm will recognize that it doesn't have to "record" the second frame since it can just duplicate the first frame. When you use an MPEG-type algorithm to compress a stream of video frames, it must pick an initial frame (called an "I-frame") to compare all subsequent frames to. The fewer pixels that change from frame to frame, the better the series of frames can be compressed. Other parameters affect the "subjective" image quality as well, such as the allowable size of the picture (in horizontal and vertical pixels), the specified maximum data rate it has to fit into (usually measured in bps "bits-per-second), and the power of the machine playing back (uncompressing) the stream. We have developed the following guidelines to follow in order to produce video programs optimized for the TV-Button player:

	Technique 1: Keep the camera shots "locked-down". Put the camera on a tripod and don't move it at all during each shot. Any move, fast or slow, has the same negative effect on the subjective quality. The only "motion" in the camera frame should be the subject. Take care to place the subject over a background that is not move, also. For example, if you where to shoot an interview with a background of blowing curtains, then the subjective image quality would suffer in the final stream because it would be trying to fatefully reproduce the fluttering of the curtains at the expense of the quality of the foreground interview.
	Technique 2: Put some motion in each shot. Since the camera is locked-down, and you don't want your footage to be mistaken for a "still," have someone or something moving within the visual frame. For example, if you are shooting the front of a building, make sure someone walks in the front door. Of if you are shooting a product, have someone pick it up. Stage the action if necessary.
	Technique 3: Make the subject larger in the frame. Remember, this program will play in a 180 x 120 pixel frame. What might seem "too close" on a television screen will be "just right" in a 180 x 120 image. One of the differences of Internet video and regular television is that there is no Picture Safe or Title Safe. The usable video extends right out to the edge of the raster. So USE IT ALL.
	Technique 4: Don't use any transitions effects. As attractive as a nice dissolve or digital effect is within a videotape program (on a TV screen), you need to keep in mind that it will be playing over the Internet. In editing, all transitions should be CUTS, and while shooting, never do a zoom or pull. Again, shoot lock-downs with action in the frame. If you need to show a wide shot and a close up, do it as two separate shots.
	Technique 5: Any text graphics must be at least 50 scan lines high. Font sizes on video aren't measured in the same way as in computers or print. Remember, while streaming a video at 20 kbps, in a frame 180 x 120, a video font that is 50 scan lines high will only be approximately 12 pixels high on the computer screen. And, depending on the compression quality, the resolution will be much lower than what your computer is capable of. While editing your video, keep all text at least 50 scan lines high, 75 is better.
	Technique 6: Computer Animation is still only video frames. Don't get confused by the fact that animated computer images are somehow higher quality during streaming that conventional video. They get compressed the same way live video footage does. If you are making any computer "animated" footage for the video, keep in mind the same "pixels-that-change" mentality that you use while shooting your video footage. For example, animators love to have lots of thing layered into the background, well those are all "changing-pixels" too, just like the curtain example in point #1. So, create animated objects over a static background for streaming applications (and keep in mind the size discussion in point #3 and the text guidelines in #5).
	Technique 7: Audio is MPEG too. All of the compression vs. quality conversations applied to picture quality are identical for audio quality, too. For example, a person talking over a noisy loud background sound (such as traffic, or "music") creates a lot of sound-details. In the same way video image quality, while streaming, is damaged when it tries to show too much motion, sound quality is damages when there is too much "motion" in the sound. Try to record the sound in an as uncomplicated audio environment as possible. A good rule of thumb is, "try to make your subject audio much louder than the background sound." If you are going to use music in the finished program, only use it when there is are no voices, such as during the open, close, and transitions.
	Technique 8: B-Roll, B-Roll, B-Roll. Take pity on the person who has to edit your footage. Don't roll useless footage, but there can NEVER be too much B-Roll. Give the editor a variety of views to choose from for each shot. There does not need to be "minutes" of footage on each, but there should be at least 5 seconds of each B-Roll shot you take. Remember, that you need to have the camera LOCKED DOWN on these also. So just carry you tripod around with the camera, set up the shot, and step back while the footage rolls.
	Techniques 9: Get some shots automatically. There are some shots you should get even if they are not call out for in the script outline or the shot list. For example: (remember all of these are locked down on a tripod!!!) You should always shoot an exterior of the building that the business in located in, even if it is a skyscraper. You want customers to recognize where the business is after they have seen the TV-Button. Our slogan is, "Feel like you have been there before you leave your computer." Make sure and shoot establishing shots of each environment/room that you are shooting subjects in. This provides a visual mechanism for the editor to make transitions with. Shoot the "reception/lobby" area of the business. It will help clients recognize the customer's office when they arrive. Shoot Extreme Close Ups of any product shot. If there are several products in a single shot, make sure and get an ECU of each one separately. If the business has a sign, then shoot as tight a shot of it as you can, even if it is just a small sign on the door of an office.