DT McDowell

huskeraddict: I use a mac and I use just the basic video editing software that comes with all macs, iMovie. I don't know much about movie maker, but I'll bet it's very similar to what I use. It does have several effects and transitions, but I usually just stick with the basics...dissolves/fades/cuts and a wipe every now and then. I think that some of the effects that I have as options are pretty cheesy and actually make it look more amateurish. Sometimes I'll try to do some things...the Jay Z part of Project 2 is an example where I tried to effect some of the video. I've tinkered around with some of the flash-cutting techniques that are pretty popular on TV, and some of the speed-altering techniques (like when you see a shot that goes from live speed, then speeds up at a certain point, then returns to live speed...all within the same shot) but I can never seem to get things to work out to my liking. My program will do all those types of things--speed changes, reverse video, etc...but usually I prefer to just play it straight (Unless I have to change the speed of a shot to get something to line up better with the music). Same goes with the audio...I always have good natural sound to work with, but usually I find that it distracts from the work I do in trying to line things up along with certain beats or rhythms of the songs. A lot of guys like to use nat. sound of the crowd roaring and play-by-play calls and it works really well...it's more of just a matter of personal preference. I'd love to have a program like Final Cut pro, but I could never justify the expense (about $1000) unless I was doing this as something more than just a hobby. A lot of my video comes from a friend at ESPN who provides me copies of what are called "melt reels" of all the games that he can find in the ESPN tape library...usually those that are on ABC/ESPN. These reels usually run between 30 minutes to an hour long and are compiled in the broadcast truck on the remote site after the games have concluded. The associate producer who's in charge of producing replays and building in-game packages will work with the tape operators after the game is done and dump all of the big plays from each camera and other useful video to one reel, which is sent back to Bristol and archived. It's pretty common for the networks to trade these melts with one another and pretty easy for my friend to burn me copies of what he can come up with...but this year, the only games I was able to get melts from were those on ABC (so you'll notice that for games such as LaTech/Troy/Ksu/Auburn I had to use what was available off of the television broadcast. Earlier, huskerfan500 mentioned that there was no Nicholls state footage--that's because I had absolutely no video of this game to include, and didn't care too much about looking too hard for video of such a meaningless game.) It's nice to have several camera options to choose from on the melt reels, but you kind of have to have a connection with someone in the industry to get your hands on this type of video. Other than that, I just tape every game on my DVR. It's an older model, made before they started putting hard drives on them (it cost around $400 at the time, although for less than $100 bucks you can buy a digital encoder box that would do the same thing with a VCR...but I think that most DVRs should now port directly into most computers.) so I just burn every game to disc and then import my video clips into my editing software, choosing from the cleanest that's available during a particular broadcast ("clean" meaning no clock & score/network bugs/graphics/etc.) Sometimes I have only one option (like Cally's "throat slash") Sometimes, having the clock & score as a point of reference actually helps apply some context to what I'm creating (like the 4th and 11 play at the end of the Cotton bowl) but in the past, I've also chosen to put a letterbox effect on shots that I wanted to block graphics out of...but like I said, I tend to look for shots with the least amount of crap on them to begin with, so I have to deal with the issue less. Some people don't care...it's just in my background to look for clean vid...at ESPN, some producers would yell at you if you included bugged video on a clip reel. A lot of times in the past, TBS games have had lower-third scoring updates that ran through their otherwise clean replays...this always pissed me off when I wanted to use a particular play, but it had the score and stats of the USF/Uconn game plastered across the bottom of the frame. But from the looks of the new Big 12 TV contract, it looks like that's not going to be a problem any more. Hope that helps to answer your questions, if not I can keep trying...but I'll quit now for fear of boring everyone to death with tech-talk!

Hey you guys, I just wanted to log in and thank you all for your nice words and compliments. I was contacted by one of the mods on my youtube a while back, asking if I'd include a similar version of the tag that Rich McWilliams and others regularly start their productions with. I'm a little hesitant to do something like that, as I don't really want to align myself with any one particular group, at the risk of alienating others. I hope you all understand my reasons for wanting to stay "independent" in this sense. That's not to say that I don't appreciate the effort you make to support Husker YouTubers much more than many other newsgroups/messageboards/blogs...I was more than happy to give your great board a little plug at the end and I'll continue to do so in the future. It's what little I can do to repay all of the kind sentiments that I've noticed your members voice from time to time about my videos. Blackshirt's comment was very flattering (I don't fancy myself an artist, but I sure do appreciate being called one!) and it was also one of the more perceptive that I've seen regarding my videos. So I thought I might share a little background...I worked for ESPN for about 5 years (1996-2000). When I left there, many people asked me why I'd leave such a "dream job". I'd usually tell them that in five years, it wouldn't matter--I'd then be able to produce whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted, on my own computer and I'd be able to broadcast it over the internet for the enjoyment of whoever wanted to watch. (It turned out that I was just slightly wrong...as it was actually about six years to the day of my leaving the worldwide leader that I uploaded my first YouTube submissions.) After I had made my decision to take my life in a different direction and move closer to home from the east coast, I aggressively contacted Huskervision in hopes that I would be able to continue my career in the sports broadcasting field. I finally received an interview in the fall of that year and was contacted via form letter on Thanksgiving weekend that I had not been chosen for that position. Apparently, they had found someone more qualified than a Nebraska alum who had spent the previous five years working for the largest sports media outlet in the world (who had letters of reference from two departmental heads and on-air personalities such as Kirk Herbstreit & Rece Davis). I didn't really want to work for any other broadcast outlet besides Huskervision...and right about that time, some other circumstances arose that made me decide to stay in my hometown of Scottsbluff and go to work in my family's restaurant business. So while the experiences that I had at ESPN definitely flavor the projects that I work on in my spare time today, some of my motivation stems from wanting to prove to myself that I can regularly give away a better product than the Athletic Department charges people for. It helps to still have contacts at ESPN who are usually able to provide me with better video than what Huskervision shoots themselves. (Which may answer one of Licensed to Ill's questions in another thread.) As to the content of the videos, I usually let them speak for themselves. Being nothing more than a fan myself, I always try to tell the story of the season from the fans' perspective. All the while, not necessarily trying to overhype the good or downplay the bad...but rather trying to put together the images and music that really illustrate what it was like to be a fan over the course of the season. That said, sometimes contrary to my wishes, the restraints of time bring me to make decisions that leave what I'd like to include on the proverbial cutting room floor. When these types of choices present themselves, I try to keep in mind that most Husker fans worth their salt will have most of the big plays that define any given year ingrained into their memories anyway. So usually, just a snippet of a play will convey the reference I'm trying to make to most viewers. Case in point is Blackshirt316's mention of the 4th down play against CU. I cut that about three different ways and wasn't happy with any of them. I loved the iso shot of Taylor walking off shrugging his shoulders and wanted to include it because I really felt that this was the genius behind what made the play work. Considering the timing of the portion of music that I was trying to squeeze it into, there was no way that I could get the whole thing in...believe me, I tried. But flash cut to the payoff and most Husker fans will generally remember the play as a whole. Your point is well taken, in that to a viewer unfamiliar with the specifics...this might need a little additional explaination and clairification. I guess I just don't consider that to be the audience that I'm playing to. Think about it, you saw that play and knew its exact circumstances, so I guess that shows what I'm trying to explain. But if that's your only critique of the whole shebang...I consider that to be quite a compliment! Music is always a little bit of a different story, I try to pick songs that I like, which also fit the mood of the season--and that's my most difficult challenge every year. Sometimes that means taking tunes from a wide variety of genres and that, in turn, often means that a significant portion of the audience will hate the particular tune that I select. You can never win with music, as every viewer has different tastes. But I also see videos that others cut to songs that I can't stand and I can appreciate the tune that they chose a little more after viewing them. The bottom line is that I'm the one who has to listen to the song for 30 or 40 hours while editing these things...so I guess I consider myself a little selfish about choosing music that suits my own tastes, first and foremost. But I didn't mean to get too carried away. I just thought it was important to take some time and share some details about myself with the board and shed some light on things that I don't publicly discuss very often. I just wanted to pay back the nice things that Huskerboard has done for me with a little disclosure. I hope that nobody is offended that I don't contribute regularly...I do come by and read what's on posters' minds ever week or two. I've had bad experiences in posting on boards where my opinions were not shared by others, so I usually try to say what I feel needs said in 15 minute music videos every year...and keep it at that. But I do notice how the regulars here are usually more civil and cordial than those on some other boards I lurk on and that's one reason I'd like to do what little I can to direct some more traffic your way. Thanks again for all of your kind words and encouragement. I only do this for the fans...and it's those fans who say nice things about Project Husker that keep me motivated to keep the project going.

I'm not sure where I've spoken to you, but I'm pretty sure that I usually don't say stuff like this. Don't get me wrong--I think it's cool when I hear people bragging me up for doing this little hobby in my spare time, but I just don't tend to do it very often myself... In any event...as promised, the latest is uploaded & viewable on youtube in two parts: Enjoy & thanks to the members of Huskerboard for their support!

Looks like it's working now...sorry for the false alarm.

I just checked to see if the link worked and something's acting funny on youtube's end. It shows up on my uploaded video list here but it's giving an error message if you click on the "sneak preview" video itself. It might be because I just recently uploaded it. I'll give it some time, but if it continues, I'll re-upload and let you all know an updated link.

Hello. I've lurked on your fine board for a while now, I'm always so impressed that you have an A/V forum for video nerds like myself. I hardly ever post on message boards, but I just wanted to thank you for the many times I have seen links to my Project Husker video series on Youtube (such as this one) with many kind words from members of your forum. I just wanted you all to know that I'm toiling away on the '06 installment and am about 1/3 finished. In the meantime, I've posted what has been completed so far: I hope you all enjoy this little teaser. It's not the final version, I'll probably continue to tweak this one a bit (I'm a real nit-picker if you couldn't tell already...) and will add 2 more songs (one w/non-conference games, one with postseason games.) I hope to have the full 15 minute version finished and posted up on youtube by the spring game (or sometime shortly after.) I hope that this tides some of my many fans over until then. Like I said, I don't usually post on message boards, as in the past I've had some bad experiences with other boards of similar format. But I do like to read up on what people are thinking from time to time and I've always been impressed with the level of discourse here on the Huskerboard. (Just explaining in advance if I fail to post very regularly.) But I think it's great that you guys go out of your way to promote the efforts of many people like Rich McWilliams and myself, who take the time and effort out of their busy lives to entertain fellow Husker fans with their video editing talents and abilities. It was for that reason that this is the only Husker message board that I chose to link my latest Youtube upload. Thanks for the support you guys...enjoy! (aka DTsker)