Finally, A Helpful HTML5 Animation Tool

The release of Hype 1.0 marks a watershed moment in the HTML5 technology evolution. Although it is a 1.0 application, Hype has the potential over time to easily replace the need for Adobe Flash Catalyst, and in many cases Adobe Flash Professional. With a simple learning curve at a small price point, Hype shatters many barriers to creating cross platform media experiences.

What Hype Does

With Adobe Flash tools, you always have to think about how to add a fallback as many new devices and venues no longer support Flash playback. With Hype, you just have to build a great media experience or subtile animation component, export, and deliver without worrying about playback compatibility. With a streamlined development approach, production time is minimized and no one in the audience is left out. The HTML5 family of technologies finally has an easy to use development tool that is cheap to buy and learn.

What Hype Doesn't Do

While the increasing pressure in the media creation room is noticeable, Hype doesn't mean that existing professional Flash skills will not continue to be valuable. After all, Hype is in version 1.0. Skilled Flash programmers can produce amazing media applications and experiences that are not possible or as cost effective to create with other technologies... yet. There is also the issue of amortization; as with any business technology system, it takes years to phase out existing infrastructure. Also keep in mind that many eLearning and publishing tools, specifically ePUB development, are still Adobe dominated. Tools such as InDesign and Captivate are best in class tools that continue to forge ahead with little real competition. Legions of experienced professionals and the well connected Adobe software ecosystem will continue to preserve the availability, professional standard, and integration value of their various software collections. Adobe tools also retain the advantage of working on both Windows and Mac systems, while Hype is Mac only. Although the Mac platform has the most growth momentum and best press coverage, 9 out of 10 computer platforms (including mobile) in the world are still running some iteration of Windows.

However, times are changing quickly. With tools such as Hype, a new generation of animators will be able to directly develop cross platform media experience skills with only having to endure a minimal learning curve and super cheap cost of entry. Professionals whom already know how to produce top quality media experiences now have a powerful HTML5 alternative to the Adobe standard.

Timeless Considerations

As with any new and inexpensive media creation tool, be careful not to buck the timeless value of an experienced media professional. While media creation tools change, the high quality expectations of viewers will always stay the same.

The Hype application should not be used to change every web page in to an elaborate animation or repository of mindless banner ads. Whether HTML5 or Flash, the image and functionality of your brand is still at stake. Please remember that just because you can doesn't mean you should.

Get Visual or Get Ignored

Everyone knows the high value of communication. Without effective communication, your brand will be lost in the sea of growing electronic noise. Gone are the days of writing a great press release thinking that viewers will take time to carefully inspect the announcement.

Every brand needs to get visual. A solid visual communication plan doesn't have to be complicated, but it does have to be professionally produced. Audience expectations for visual standards and entertaining stories are too high to rely on a flip camera with a flash.  What to do?

Two simple suggestions; get help and prioritize your goals. The first step in tackling a visual communication strategy is to contact someone you can trust to advise you about multimedia and video production technologies and techniques. Maybe you have someone in house already. But, if you don't, sending me an email with a list of goals is a good start. This process is almost always free; usually just a phone call or basic email exchange. A good planning session is also a great way to begin generating a few new ideas and getting the team excited about the new challenge.

The second step is to prioritize the goals. What matters most in the brand message? Do you need to achieve all the goals at once or in succession to build on a message or image? What product or service matters most? Don't assume that new offerings to new customers is the only category in your data groups worth promoting. Plan to keep the visuals moving. In most cases, you'll want to stretch out production dollars to keep the brand fresh in the minds of your audience. Finally, remember to enjoy the experience. Visual communication should be as fun to produce as it is powerful. Be prepared for demand to increase as your audience builds and comes to expect new stories and compelling visual messages featuring your brand.

What is True Love?

Sometimes the kids just say it best.

This video is a simple example of how a few basic interviews can answer a interesting question or goal in an entertaining way. I spent less than a day filming the interviews and cutting them together to make the message come alive through the voice of the kids in their own words.

The Power of a Story

Not every story has to involve a set of intense visuals to get the point across. Sometimes all it takes is a great character, a single light, and two cameras.

This particular story could be enhanced with a few action sequences of the happenings at John Evens Middle School. A simple set up like this also demonstrates the value of shooting interviews with the intent of developing multiple story lines as opportunities for new action sequences come along. For example, you may cover a future event and include some of the story line of the new event with the stock interview you already have on the shelf. Building stock is very cost effective as long as you can find it when you need it.

Loving Green Screen Again

I use to hate green screen work. Exporting clips to Adobe After Effects or Apple Motion and spending hours just keying out the talent only to bring the clips back in to Final Cut Pro. Compositing always ate up time for more creative pursuits such as animating graphic organizers and moving around topography. I was unhappy with green screen projects and the end result suffered with boring animations and static typography.

This unfortunate cycle came to a end this year when I was approved to buy a license of dvGARAGE dvMatte Pro. I've used many other keying tools including, Keylight, Primatte Keyer Pro and all the standard built in keying tools included with Final Cut Pro and others. The results were often mixed as green screen footage is never shot perfectly. Primatte Keyer Pro was the best quality keying tool of the lot, but playback was never in real time a the license costs $500.00. In order to really "see" the result you had to render everything out and then make changes and render again. The final render cost (not mention the license) was simply too much to use in the type of multi-module distance learning projects I've come to specialize in.

dvMatte Pro is by far the best keying tool I've worked with in the industry. The results are quick with a simple to use interface that makes keying tasks become effortless. I can play back keyed clips (automatically down sampled) in real time with many other composited layers, including imported Motion projects. I've keyed both EX1 and JVC HDV footage with the same simple and high quality results. The plugin even works well with my Matrox MXO2 box playing out to a Sony 24" CRT broadcast monitor. Final output render/compressions see no noticeable difference in time compared to exporting the same timeline without keying plugins.

If you cut with Final Cut Pro and you key a lot of footage, you should have a license of dvMatte Pro. You don't have to waist time or money on anything else. The cost of the tool is about half of the most expensive Primatte Keyer Pro. The real value of a quality keying plugin is the time you'll get back from rendering and round tripping with other applications. Workflow adds up and compositing costs can get out of control very quickly. dvMatte Pro controls compositing costs and the improved interactivity of each video benefits from a quick keying tool.

Now that quality keying is simple and fast, I've started to love compositing again. I have more time for more important creative animation and typography work. The result has been satisfied customers and entertained viewers with higher content retention.