Previewing on an external monitor

Your editing software has a preview window, and at first glance it probably seems to work well enough. But if you plan to record your movie on videotape or DVD, just previewing it on the computer screen can cause a couple of problems:

• TVs usually provide a bigger view. A larger TV screen reveals camera movements and other flaws that might not be obvious in the tiny preview window on your computer screen.
• Computer monitors and TVs show color differently. Colors that look right on your computer may not look the same on a TV.
• Most TVs are interlaced. TVs are usually interlaced, whereas computer monitors are progressively scanned, or non-interlaced. Titles or other graphics that have very thin lines may look fine on your computer monitor, but when viewed on a TV, those thin lines may flicker or appear to shimmer or crawl.

The cheapest option is to connect your digital camcorder to your FireWire port, and then connect the TV to the analog output on your camcorder. If you have an analog capture card in your computer, such as the Pinnacle AV/DV board, you can connect your TV (and VCR) to the analog outputs for the card.
Apple iMovie makes previewing your work on an external TV monitor very easy. In iMovie, choose iMovie ➪ Preferences. The iMovie Preferences dialog box appears as shown in Figure. Place a check mark next to Play Video Through to Camera under Advanced options. Now that this option is enabled, whenever you play the timeline, the video will be sent out to your camcorder if it is connected to your FireWire port and turned on in Player or VTR mode. If you have a TV monitor hooked up to the camcorder’s analog outputs, the video image should appear there as well.
Pinnacle Studio also allows you to preview video on an external monitor, although it’s a little more complicated. Basically, you have to export the movie as if you were done and ready to record it on tape. After the movie is exported for tape, you can play the export file and preview it on an external monitor as many times as you like without actually recording the tape.

Casting a critical eye on your project

Of course, there’s more to previewing your project than simply clicking Play. Consider carefully what you are actually previewing when you play your movie. Here are some ways to get the most out of previewing your project:

• Watch the whole program from start to finish. You may be tempted to periodically stop playback, reverse, and repeat sections, or perhaps even make tweaks to the project as you run it. This is fine, but to get a Click to play a movie fullscreen. really good “feeling” for the flow of the movie, watch the whole thing start to finish — just as your audience will. Keep a notepad handy and jot down quick notes if you must.
• Watch the program on an external TV. If you plan to record your movie on videotape or DVD, previewing on an external monitor is very helpful. (See the next section in this chapter for a more detailed explanation.)
• Have trusted third parties review the project. Moviemakers and writers are often too close to their creations to be totally objective; an “outside” point of view can help a lot. Although I worked hard to write this book (for example), my work was reviewed by various editors and their feedback was invaluable. Movie projects benefit from a similar review process. Even if you want to maintain strict creative control over your project, feedback from people who were not involved with creating it can help you see it afresh.

Previewing Your Movie

I could start and end this section by simply saying “Click Play” under the preview window in your editing program. If you want to see a bigger preview in Apple iMovie, click the Play Movie Fullscreen button. If you are using Pinnacle Studio, alas, you are limited to the tiny, inflexible size of the Studio preview window.
Of course, truly previewing a movie means a whole lot more than just clicking the Play button. To perform a truly effective preview, you must

• Draw a properly critical eye on the movie.
• Decide whether just previewing the movie on your computer screen is sufficient, or whether you need to preview it on a TV monitor. The next two sections address both of these subjects.

Warm up that coffee, sit back in your director’s chair, and get ready to see what kind of movie magic you hath wrought.
You should also make sure that you preview your movie on the same type of equipment that your audience will use. This includes testing it in the player software that your audience will use if you plan to share your movie on the Internet or a recordable CD.