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Make Your Own TV Show!

David Biedny — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 11:25:07 -0500

That cable box isn’t going to fill itself.There are hundreds of channels out there, and not all of them can show endless reruns of Who’s the Boss? No,

TV-land needs new shows, and lots of ’em.If you’ve spent any time watching what passes for entertainment these days, you’ve probably thought, “Heck, I can do that!” Well, why don’t you, then?

On the next few pages, we’ll help you get started in the wild world of television production, or at least give you enough ammo to get your own show launched on the Web. Keep reading for our tips on what kind of camcorders to consider, the essential rules of good editing, and how to share your finished product with the world.

Who knows, maybe that Showtime producer is combing through YouTube right this moment, looking for the Next Big Thing—and it could be you!

1. Shoot It

There’s a dizzying array of camcorders crowding the market today, from really cheap gizmos to shoulder-hoisted monsters that cost as much as a down payment on a house. We’re keeping this list on the lighter side of the wallet, because when it comes right down to it, you’re more likely to catch a producer’s interest with a good story vs. slick video quality. And remember, when you make video designed to go on the Web, it’s likely to get pretty seriously compressed anyway, eroding much of the visual quality that you see on your monitor.

Easiest: The Flip Video Ultra

No-frills video at a rock-bottom price, $179, www.theflip.com

It’s small and only does 640x480 video, but the Flip is absolutely fine for getting your videoin’ feet wet with minimal monetary outlay. The thing we really dig about this tiny device is that it’s perfect for capturing wild effects shots—use some good ol’ duct tape to attach it to the front of your car, hit record, and you’ve got up to 60 minutes of seriously cool on-the-road footage, without major concern for getting squashed bugs or mud off the lens.

Fair warning: Make sure you get the Ultra version, which includes a tripod mount on the bottom—this is crucial for any camera you’ll ever want to use for real video work. The audio capabilities also aren’t stellar, but they’ll be OK as long as you record synchronized audio with a field recorder (see “Format Facts,”), and you’ll want to make sure to download the Perian QuickTime codec (free, www.perian.org), which lets you directly access the AVI files generated from the Flip with the QuickTime player and open the AVIs in iMovie, Final Cut Pro, or any other video editor you’re likely to use on the Mac.

Better: DXG-566V HD

Upgrade to high-def on a budget, $149, www.dxgtechusa.com

It’s not a whole lot bigger than the Flip, but this insanely inexpensive camcorder bumps your resolution up to 1280x720 and offers more controls and creative options. Given the review of the DXG-110 digital still camera in a recent issue of Mac|Life (1 out of 5 stars, Apr/08), we didn’t have high hopes for the DXG’s video quality, but the H.264 QuickTime movies that emerge from this camera are really not bad, given the low price.

If you put this camera on a tripod, and record audio with an external recorder, you’ll be pleasantly surprised by the results. It also doubles as a still camera—no great shakes there—but the low light mode takes advantage of the pair of bright LEDs built into the front of the unit. You can also lower the capture resolution to either 720x480 or a smaller 320x240 size, which gets you more time on the same SD card, a nice touch.

While the DXG-566V HD feels a little cheaply made, the price is so low that we don’t mind recommending it as a good entry-level camera. In fact, with the money you save on this puppy, invest in a copy of Red Giant Software’s sophisticated video-processing software, Magic Bullet Looks (4 out of 5 stars, May/08), and you’ll be thrilled by the results.

Best: Canon Vixia HV30

A beefy camcorder perfect for any pro, $999, www.canon.com

This is simply the best overall choice for a great balance between quality and cost: For under $1,000, the HV30 has the kind of power typically found in pro-level hardware. It uses MiniDV tapes to capture video at full 1080i HD resolution (1920x1080) and 24 frames per second, which yields a more filmic look, given that genuine film is also shot at 24 fps. You can also switch down to 1280x720, if you want to work in standard definition.

In addition to tape, the camera supports SD cards for shooting, and there’s even a built-in flash when using it as a still camera. If you’re going to be shooting exclusively with ambient light, or in low-light situations, you’ll notice the superior video quality, as well as the benefits of Canon’s excellent optics—the video that comes out of this small camcorder is just shy of being truly broadcast quality (though in today’s digital media salad, we could totally see making a TV show with a few of these little gems and some creative postproduction).

The smooth optical stabilization makes a huge difference if you’re shooting handheld—it can’t make everything stable, but as long as you’re trying to hold the camera still, you’ll be rewarded with rock-solid video that seems almost magical. The built-in microphone is quite good, and it even records in stereo, a nice touch for added realism. Additionally, there’s an audio input for plugging in an external microphone, which is perfect for using a boom-based mic rig. Given all of this awesome power, it’s almost scary to see just how much is packed into its diminutive case.

A little-known feature that makes this camera extra special for studio work is the HDMI output, which works in a pass-through mode-—meaning that the HV30 can be used to pipe its digital output in real time to an external HD recorder, or a Mac equipped with an HD capture board. Why bother? Well, with support for 4:2:2 HDMI output, the high-end color sampling results in truly professional quality, making it perfectly suited for doing real-time compositing with DV Garage’s amazing Conduit ($199, www.dvgarage.com). This kind of rig would have set you back tens of thousands of dollars just a few years ago, but now puts instant blue- and green-screen capabilities into your hands for virtually peanuts.

Format Facts

When buying a camera, here are some essentials to keep in mind.

Flash memory-based cameras are becoming increasingly popular,
and are less likely to break down than a tape-based cam, which contains more moving parts. The flash cameras typically connect to your computer via USB, and the file is copied off at the Finder level. Tape cameras, on the other hand, usually require a FireWire port and the use of a video editing application to “capture” the video, which takes more time and ultimately subjects the camera to wear and tear.

Standard Definition (SD) is 720x480, 30 frames per second. High Definition (HD) has two primary flavors: 720 (1280x720) and 1080 (1920x1080), and a few frame-rate choices: 60, 30, and 24 fps. You’ll probably want to stick with 30 fps, which is the standard for most video delivery systems.

Most cameras use a proprietary battery (you should always budget for at least one spare), whereas camcorders usually come with an external charger.

Hang around any pro video shoot, and you’ll quickly notice the audio person with a case full of microphones and boom assemblies (for hanging the mics right above the actors), as well as a field recorder. Study up on wireless microphones, or invest in a couple of inexpensive microphones (such as the Samson CO2 Condenser, $149 a pair, www.samsontech.com). The Zoom H2 digital file recorder ($199, www.samsontech.com) is an excellent choice for recording better-quality audio to be edited into the video in post.

2. Edit

Putting together a coherent video is not a simple task, and it’s one that requires some planning and common sense. Realize that making a show is a major undertaking if you want to end up with something that looks professional and polished. These tips should help you in the production and postproduction phases.

Shooting

Yes, your camcorder has a zoom control. Here’s the basic rule about using it: Don’t. There’s nothing more amateurish than zooming in and out while someone is talking, walking, or doing just about anything. If you can’t reposition yourself when going for a close-up shot, pause the recording, zoom in, and continue recording. If you don’t want to stop capturing video, assume you’ll be spending time editing out the zooms once you’re at the editing stage. And remember that the audio capabilities of your camcorder are probably not going to cut it; you’ll want to consider microphones, booms, and a field recorder. You will also need a cheap clapper, which helps synchronize the camera-shot video and externally recorded audio in postproduction. Finally, get some lights, C-clamps, a decent tripod or two, and some large pieces of white cardboard for makeshift reflectors.

Logging Your Video

Take the time to clearly label and add comments to your logged video; your crew will thank you.

Once you’ve shot your footage, the most important step before getting down to editing is called logging, and it involves organizing the clips in the media bin of your editing software. Think of it as being the first step in the process of ordering—if you’ve shot scenes with the clapper, you’ll have a visual indication, embedded in the footage, of what goes where, and this is incredibly useful when dealing with the often large amount of video that needs to be distilled down to more manageable, bite-size chunks. A common mistake of novice videographers is to shoot all the video as one big chunk, and then chop and paste it in the editing software timeline. If you take the time to log your individual clips and organize them, it’ll save you time in the long run and makes the editing process much easier.

Decoupling Sound from Image

In iMovie, you can select the Extract Audio command from the Advanced menu, and then lay separate video down on top of the original audio track.

Starting Small

It’s tough to keep the action interesting for more than a few minutes at a time. Editing together a tight short will help you learn about pacing, timing, and visual continuity, and your audience will probably be willing to sit through about three minutes before losing interest and clicking away. If you can grab them in those first minutes, you’ll be able to hold them for longer. Create a storyboard to plan what you’ll be shooting. All you need are some basic storyboard templates and a printer, or a pad and pencil. Study movie trailers, which will give you a good idea of how story pacing happens, just sped up to condense the plot into a minute or two. If you’re thinking of a full-fledged episodic show, keep it to 23 minutes or less. Get into the habit of knowing that the pacing should be faster than you think it should. The hardest thing in editing is being concise.

Transitions

You will be tempted to use these transition effects. You will resist.

Yes, there are hundreds of ways to visually move between different scenes, with wipes, 3D spins, and goofy effects that add nothing to the story, all of which ultimately make your whole production feel cheap. The best way to cut between shots and scenes is to just cut, an instant transition from one angle to another, from a medium or long shot to a close-up, and then back out. Fading to black or white is useful for changing locations, time frames, or acts of a story. Cross dissolves should happen in no more than a second or two; anything longer is going to feel unnatural and annoying. If you’re set on playing around with elaborate transitions, try to tie them to the story line in some way, and use no more than one or two of them in your production. In most visual storytelling, restraint is a good thing, and it will help you keep your audience focused on the story you’re trying to tell.

Titles and Credits

Here’s our demented self-produced movie title, done in Woody Allen’s favorite style.

Google the names “Saul Bass” and “Kyle Cooper.” Opening titles are an art form, and the best way to learn title design is to watch some of the masters at work. For your first projects, keep them simple, just like Woody Allen—check out the opening title sequence for any of his movies made post-1980; that’s the Windsor font, white on black. Elaborate typefaces bouncing around the screen are hard to do right, so concentrate on making the credits clean and legible. If you have Final Cut Pro, you’ll be tempted by the myriad creative options offered by LiveType, but remember, making good titles is like making soup: Add too much salt or spice, and the results will be too much for the typical palate. Same rules apply to title design, unless your name is Bass.

3. Distribute it

Once your show is in the can, it’s time to show it to the world. Don’t worry about renting out your local theater—the Web is the biggest movie house on the planet. Let’s take a look at some of the sites you’ll probably consider for hosting your video—it’s a lot cheaper than paying for the kind of bandwidth that video files soak up, which can be considerable with longer productions. The nice part about all these sites (and the ones that we’re not including here): You don’t have to choose just one, you can use them all without worrying about possessive, egotistical agents.

YouTube, www.YouTube.com

Pros: It’s the most popular video-hosting site around, and it’s got Google’s deep pockets and technical know-how to keep it at the forefront of the online video revolution for the foreseeable future. If you want to get the largest exposure for your movie, YouTube is the main game in town, with the most straightforward interface and amenities. There are also tools that allow you to subscribe to your favorite filmmakers or posters, so that your fans will automatically know when you upload the latest installment of your sitcom.

Cons: The overall video and audio quality is some of the worst we’ve seen, which will make a big difference in the impact that your finished film will have on a potential audience. Maximum video length is 10 minutes. The feedback system is infamous for its often-horrid commentary—bordering on psychotic—so much so that many folks disable the comments section for the videos altogether.

Spike/iFilm, www.ifilm.com

Pros: iFilm has the distinction of being the first website to pioneer the world of online movies. It’s primarily geared toward the professional video crowd, with the best overall video and audio quality we’ve seen and heard on the Web. It’s often the place where Hollywood producers do their first tier of online talent recruiting, and offers an overall quality of experience higher than other sites. iFilm will even accept DV, Beta tape, or just about any other physical format (up to 45 minutes long), and will do the encoding for you, ensuring the best possible quality.

Cons: Be prepared to prove that you have legitimate music rights (or original tunes). iFilm uses the Flash video format exclusively, so forget about iPhone compatibility (for now). Like the Mac itself, these guys don’t have the largest viewer base, but on the upside, they may have the most upscale

audience on the Net.

Revver, www.Revver.com

Pros: Revver was the very first video-sharing website that offered something more than exposure—if you qualify, your video can make you some money via an interesting ad revenue-sharing scheme. If your film gets some play, you get some pay: 40 percent of the advertising income generated by your video goes into your PayPal account. You can also set the playback window size for your video to be larger than on any of the other sites, which is great for anyone who wants to shoot in HD and make the biggest impact. There’s no time limit, but vids must be under 100MB. Revver also does QuickTime and Flash, so it’s good to go in the Apple universe and everywhere else.

Cons: These guys seem to have a bit of a problem getting exposure for their site, which is not surprising, as it seems that everyone is competing with YouTube. That’s a treacherous game to play, much less win.

Metacafe, www.Metacafe.com

Pros: Another site that can generate profits is Metacafe. A relatively recent newcomer, it’s got a unique payment scheme—you get money for the number of times your video is viewed. 1,000 views are worth $5, and you get your first $100 chunk at 20,000 views; a million views will buy you a nicely loaded Mac Pro tower. The site also offers a plethora of useful production tips and tutorials, and video quality is a touch better than YouTube’s.

Cons: To make money, your video has to be approved to be part of the site’s cryptic Producer Awards system, so not just any old home movie can become a cash cow. Audio is OK but nothing to write home about, and it’s all Flash video format. Worst of all, its paltry 8-minute time limit is the shortest of the bunch.

Going Pro with the Canon GL2

The GL2 features optical image stabilization for smooth shooting.

Once you move into the multiple thousands of dollars, you’ll find cameras jump to 3CCD offerings (one sensor each for red, green, and blue, resulting in superior clarity and color detail). Perhaps the most popular lower-end professional camcorder is the Canon GL2, which combines a handheld form factor with a potent 3CCD system designed to meet broadcast standards. Street price for this baby is around $1,800. If you’re looking for a serious camera at a relatively reasonable price, this is the one.

Our Favorite Web Shows

Looking for inspiration? Check out these independently produced, Web-based series.

Chad Vader

www.blamesociety.net/chadvader/index.php

What if Darth Vader worked the day shift at a supermarket? And his first name was Chad? Watch his adventures here.

Ask a Ninja

www.askaninja.com

One of the most successful Web shows ever, this maniacally edited indie Q&A show now earns its black-clad creators over $1 million a year.

Lisanova

www.lisanova.info

Comedians love Web video. One of the best is Lisa Donovan, who offers up deadpan humor and hysterical celebrity impersonations in this free-form series.

Show Me The HTML

Scott Rose — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 11:22:34 -0500

Mozilla’s SeaMonkey suite contains Composer, which gives you WYSIWYG drag-and-drop webpage creation, as well as full access to the underlying HTML code.

I’ve been looking for a very simple HTML editor that’s WYSIWYG, but will also allow me access to the backend HTML code in order to make minor tweaks and additions. I’ve used iWeb, but it doesn’t give me access to the HTML code. Any recommendations?

The good ol’ days of very simple WYSIWYG HTML editors that give you access to the underlying HTML code are almost over. But Mozilla’s SeaMonkey (free, www.seamonkey-project.org) contains a very simple HTML editor called Composer that will remind you of Claris Home Page and Adobe PageMill. It does exactly what you’re looking for, and even has an interface that looks like it was transported straight from the Mac OS 9 days. High-end HTML editors, such as Dreamweaver CS3 ($399, www.adobe.com), will give you all the flexibility that you’re looking for plus many more powerful options, but they are admittedly trickier to master.

Overall, the trend these days in WYSIWYG editors is to give you more of a desktop publishing experience while the app takes care of generating the HTML code invisibly in the background. iWeb (part of iLife, $79, www.apple.com), Goldfish ($39, www.fishbeam.com), Freeway Express ($79, www.softpress.com), and RapidWeaver ($49, www.realmacsoftware.com) give you drag-and-drop ease and let you manually add your own HTML snippets to a portion of a page, but they still restrict you from editing the entire page’s HTML code.

Phone to Mac, and Back

Scott Rose — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 11:25:01 -0500

The Bluetooth icon in your menubar contains this menu. Choose Browse Device to transfer files to or from your phone.

If both your phone and your Mac have Bluetooth, you probably won’t need any additional software to transfer your photos from your phone to your Mac. First enable Bluetooth on your phone (check your phone’s manual for instructions for your specific model). Now, on your Mac, go to System Preferences > Bluetooth, turn Bluetooth on, and click the plus-sign button to set up a new device. The Bluetooth Setup Assistant will launch and guide you through connecting to your mobile phone. After you’ve successfully paired your Mac to your phone, check the box that says “Show Bluetooth status in the menubar.”

Then click the Bluetooth icon in your menubar and select Browse Device. From that screen, click Get to transfer a file from your phone to your Mac, or click Send to send a file to your phone.

Visualize Whirled RSS Feeds

Scott Rose — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 11:34:02 -0500

If you’re using the RSS Visualizer screensaver in Tiger, you’ll see a list of all the RSS feeds that you’ve bookmarked in Safari. In Leopard, you can even type in the address of an RSS feed.

I was playing with the different screensavers in System Preferences > Desktop & Screen Saver, and I stumbled upon the fascinating RSS Visualizer. But how can I change it so that it shows me a different RSS feed than Apple Hot News?

The RSS Visualizer screensaver streams the current headlines from any RSS feed, and you can visit a specific news story by typing the number that’s displayed at the bottom of each headline. To set the options, go to System Preferences > Desktop & Screen Saver and click the Screen Saver tab. Choose RSS Visualizer and then click the Options button on the right. In Leopard, all you have to do is type in the address of the RSS feed that you want to use. In Tiger, the trick is that you have to bookmark the RSS feed in Safari before it shows up as an option.

Note that the address of an RSS feed is different from the website’s main address, and not all websites have RSS feeds. To find the address of an RSS feed, visit a website in Safari and see if a blue RSS icon shows up on the right-hand side of the address bar. If so, click on this icon to get to the RSS feed page. That’s the address that you should use or bookmark.

If no blue RSS icon shows up at all, you’re not necessarily out of luck. Some popular websites, such as the Los Angeles Times (www.latimes.com) and Newsweek (www.newsweek.com), list their RSS feeds on a completely separate page, so be sure to check the site thoroughly.

Dimming Be Damned!

Scott Rose — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 13:53:47 -0500

Unchecking this option in System Preferences > Energy Saver will prevent your MacBook’s screen from dimming before it goes to sleep.

Whenever I’m watching a video on my MacBook, the screen dims after a few minutes, and I have to move the mouse to get my screen back to full brightness again. I hate this! The screen’s not going to sleep; it’s just dimming a little bit. How can I prevent this?

Go to System Preferences > Energy Saver and click on the Options tab. There you’ll see a checkbox labeled “Automatically reduce the brightness of the display before display sleep.” Uncheck this box and your display will no longer dim until it’s time for your display to sleep, at which point it will go completely black. Also note that if you’re watching a full-screen video in QuickTime Player, or if you’re watching a DVD with DVD Player, your display will neither dim nor sleep regardless of this Energy Saver setting.

If you’ve already made this change in System Prefs and your display is still dimming before it sleeps, you may be experiencing a known issue with Intel Macs running Tiger (Mac OS 10.4). See Apple’s tech info article at docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=304092 for some tips on working around this issue.

Again and Again: Dennis Liu's Creative Inspirations

Roberto Baldwin — Thu, 29 May 2008 12:57:38 -0500

Dennis Liu, creator of our favorite screencast music video, "Again and Again" from the indie band, The Bird and the Bee, took us through the process of creating the spellbinding video.

The video took probably a month to plan out and a few months to execute. I used a pretty powerful MacBook Pro and worked every free moment on it I had. On the plane, weekends, after work, you name it. It's really tedious work, but it's fun when you're all done. Final Cut Pro put it together with some help from Shake and good old screen capture.

The hardest part was coming up with unique ideas to be artistic/creative with OSX. Ideas are always the hardest. Now a days, everyone can do everything, so it's hard to come up with original ideas. And I wish I could take credit for having all the ideas for the video, but it really has been a collaborative process. I have a core group of friends that I value their opinion tremendously and we had a few screening sessions. My friend Aryan actually came up with the screensaver idea, which I think is one of the best ones in the video. So there's a ton of ideas in the video, and some we didn't even use. For example, my favorite one got cut out last minute, but it was using the "Brightness" function as a pulsing effect. Not sure if that makes sense, but it would have been cool.

Larkin Clark, the actress in the video - had tons of great expressions so it was really easy to shoot, but really hard to pick the right takes they were all so good. We shot on the trendy streets of the East Village to a lot of baffled onlookers. It was fun.

I have a sequel idea in the works, but I'm not sure if I'm going to do it because this one took so long! The sequel will probably take twice as long because it's so hard to plan out, but I think people would enjoy it.

All in all, this was a very time-consuming but rewarding experience. I learned a lot about myself and how hard I could push to make the work better. There were days I would animate 10 seconds, and then watch it a week later, and scrap it and start over. Now I know it was worth it.

Thanks Dennis, we all look forward to the sequel.

Now Playing on Your Game Console

Roberto Baldwin — Fri, 16 May 2008 11:43:52 -0500

With all the hoopla surrounding the Apple TV, many Mac owners are unaware that an easy device for streaming iTunes media may already be sitting in their entertainment system. All three of the latest game consoles—PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and Nintendo Wii—are capable of streaming media from your Mac to your television over your existing network.

However, just to be clear: None of these consoles can play DRM-protected files bought from the iTunes Store. To stream those, you still need the Apple TV. (Or just remove the FairPlay DRM from the files first—see “Hardcore How-Tos”)

What You Need: Current-generation game console (Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, or Nintendo Wii) attached to your home network, Mac, also on your home network, additional software depending on which console you use (noted in the steps below) and video files loaded into iTunes.

Xbox 360 and Connect360

Your Xbox 360 can already play videos stored on its hard drive or on USB drives connected to it. Nullriver’s Connect360 ($20, www.nullriver.com) fools your Xbox 360 into believing your Mac is a Windows machine running Windows Media Center. Setup is dead simple and only requires a Mac running Mac OS 10.3.9 or later, an Xbox 360 (duh), iTunes, and iPhoto if you want to stream photos to your TV, too.

1 The Xbox Connection

Connect360 lives in your System Preferences.

Download and unzip Connect360, then double-click Connect360.prefPane. System Preferences will launch and ask on which accounts to install the utility. Make your selections and click Install. The Connect360 Preference will load. Click the Start button and the app will display your active services: iTunes, iPhoto, and the Movies folder. Once the application finds your Xbox 360 on the network, it’ll appear in the Discovered Devices area.

2 Blade IV: The Media Center

Thanks to Connect360, our Xbox thinks the Mac on our network is really a Windows PC. (As if.)

Navigate to the Media Blade on your Xbox 360. Click Videos, click Connect360, and choose Macintosh: Connect360 when prompted to choose a source. The next screen shows two folders of videos: iTunes Movies (for videos that reside in your Mac’s iTunes Library) and Movies Folder (for videos in . . . wait for it . . . your Mac’s Movies folder). A complete list of formats supported by Connect360 is at www.nullriver.com/products/connect360.

3 Let the Streaming Begin

Your videos are in these folders. See? Streaming video really is child’s play.

A list of your videos is now available within your Xbox 360. You may have to update your Xbox’s software in order to watch H.264 videos, and the console will prompt you to do so. There are downsides: Television shows are displayed by the episode names and not the actual show title, for example.

PlayStation 3 and MediaLink

Like the Xbox 360, the PlayStation 3 has multimedia capabilities, but lacks native support for the Mac. Once again, Nullriver brings your media to the console. MediaLink ($20, www.nullriver.com) streams media from your Mac to your PlayStation 3 and even allows you to copy files from your Mac to your PS3’s hard drive. It requires Mac OS 10.4 or later and will play a variety of video files (a list of supported formats is at www.nullriver.com/products/medialink).

1Link Your Media

You can try MediaLink for free, but it shuts off after 30 minutes unless you license your copy.

Download and unzip MediaLink, then double-click MediaLink.prefPane to launch System Preferences. Choose which users will have access, and click Install. The MediaLink preference will load. Click Start to begin sharing media. You can share media from iTunes or selected folders. Once MediaLink discovers your PlayStation 3 on your network, the console will appear under the Devices tab.

2 Find Your Content

You can reach this content-selection menu by choosing Nullriver MediaLink, found under Videos in the X-Media Bar.

Now navigate to the Video section of the PlayStation 3’s X-Media Bar. Select the Nullriver MediaLink from the list. Then just navigate to your video of choice. As with Connect360, you won’t see the names of the TV shows, just the title of that specific episode.

Nintendo Wii and Wii Transfer

Unlike the PS3 and Xbox 360, the Wii doesn’t have a dedicated video player. What you can do is set up an ad-hoc Web video server that the Wii can access from its Web browser. Riverfold’s Wii Transfer ($19, www.riverfold.com) will set up a video server on your Mac that will convert your videos to FLV files and stream them to your Wii. The Wii Transfer app can even back up your saved games to your Mac.

1 Set Up Wii Transfer

Whichever option you choose, you’ll need the corresponding URL later on.

Install the program and launch it. Select Sharing in the left pane, and then check the “Share media to Nintendo Wii over local network” box. You can use the IP address given or register a bookmark URL for easy access to your media. Whichever you go with, that’s where you’ll point your Wii’s browser in step 4.

2 Do Your Best

You deserve the best.

Go to Wii Transfer > Preferences to adjust your settings. We suggest choosing Best for streaming. You might as well get the best quality you can, right?

3 Converting to FLV

Wii Transfer shows a preview and a status bar as it converts your video to FLV.

Click the Movies tab. Drag your movie of choice into the white area. You’ll see a Start button appear, and the app will prompt you to click it to prepare your movie for streaming to your Wii. After a few minutes of converting, your video is ready for viewing on your TV via your Wii.

4 Find Your Stream

Follow the IP address with a colon and the port number from step 2.

Launch the Wii Internet Channel from the Wii’s home screen. If you don’t have the Internet Channel, it can be purchased through the Shopping Channel for 500 points ($5). Enter the IP address you got from the Sharing pane of Wii Transfer (see step 1).

5 Ready for Viewing

Select Movies or Music to stream content to your TV.

Choose Movies from the menu and navigate to your selected video. The videos are stored on your Mac, and the cache can be cleared from within the Wii Transfer app.

Showing the Date in the Menubar

Scott Rose — Fri, 16 May 2008 11:37:31 -0500

MenuCalendarClock gives you a cornucopia of calendaring features right in your menubar, such as displaying your iCal or Entourage events in a pop-up “pocket calendar” view.

Why doesn’t System Preferences > Date & Time allow us to show the date in the menubar? I know that we can click on the time to reveal the date in the pop-up menu, but I’d like to see it at all times in the menubar.

There’s actually a little-known trick for displaying the date in your menubar. Go into System Preferences > International, click the Customize button for Dates, and arrange the date elements exactly how you’d like them to appear in your menubar. Then, use your mouse to highlight all of your date elements and copy them to your clipboard. Then click OK. Next, click the Customize button for Times, choose Medium from the pop-up menu, and paste in your date elements wherever you want them to appear. Now your date will appear next to your time in the menubar!

For even more flexibility and functionality, check out the elegant utility MenuCalendarClock (free for basic features, $19.95 for advanced features, www.objectpark.net). Not only does MenuCalendarClock let you customize your date and time in the menubar any way you’d like, but it also gives you a pop-up “pocket calendar” that displays your calendar events and to-do items from iCal or Entourage.