Help: Need VHS tape or DVD of "TriplePlay" video

[dhitchco]

Help,
I need a VHS tape or DVD of the "tripleplay" animation video that was created by FIRST and has been played at all the regionals. I can possibly even use a MPEG-1 file.

It is the short animation that explains the rules of the game with the funny-faced robots.

I have contacted FIRST, but no reply <yet>. I need to put this short video clip at the beginning of a 20-minute video for a local cable TV station. Nobody outside will understand what FRC is all about without this little video.

So....if you had a VCR running during a regional and captured this "rules" animation, please contact me. I'll pay for time/postage etc but need this before nationals.

Thanks
Doug Hitchcock
team 1511
Home is:
291 Tobey Road
Pittsford, NY 14534
dhitchco@rochester.rr.com

[Clark Gilbert]

Originally Posted by dhitchco

Help,
I need a VHS tape or DVD of the "tripleplay" animation video that was created by FIRST and has been played at all the regionals. I can possibly even use a MPEG-1 file.

It is the short animation that explains the rules of the game with the funny-faced robots.

I have contacted FIRST, but no reply <yet>. I need to put this short video clip at the beginning of a 20-minute video for a local cable TV station. Nobody outside will understand what FRC is all about without this little video.

So....if you had a VCR running during a regional and captured this "rules" animation, please contact me. I'll pay for time/postage etc but need this before nationals.

Thanks
Doug Hitchcock
team 1511
Home is:
291 Tobey Road
Pittsford, NY 14534
dhitchco@rochester.rr.com

Here is a .wmv version of the animation. Not sure how helpful it will be to you since you need a DVD, tape, or mpeg version.

mms://sargasso-3.arc.nasa.gov/2005/first/05kickoff.wmv

EDIT: BAH! It looks like it's the whole kickoff event. But it might be at the end.

[SuperJake]

You can find a Quicktime version here...

http://robotics.nasa.gov/first/2005/kickoff.htm

With that, a video-editing software program (Such as Adobe Premiere, Windows Movie Maker, or Final Cut), and a IEEE-1394 (iLink, Firewire) capable computer and camera, you can export the movie clip into your camera. If you have all of that, here is how you do it:

1) Download the Quicktime large version off the link above. (it is in a table close to the bottom of the page)

2) Import the file to your video editing software package. If your video was compiled using this software, you can just dump the animation in front of that other video.

3) Connect your camera to the computer using the IEEE-1394 connection.

4) Turn your camera on to the VCT mode (most are still marked VCR... it is the setting where you can play-back footage, not record).

5) Slap a tape in the camera and seek to the desired portion you'd like to record onto. If it is at the beginning, be sure to let about 3sec run before you start recording to make sure there isn't something strange at the beginning of the tape.

6) Sometimes there is an option in your software that will enable you to just 'export to DV tape' and the computer takes control of your camera. If not, press the play and record button at the same time on your camera, and export the video from the software at the same time.

7) After that is done, you have your video on your camera. You can now plug the camera into a VCR and record onto a VHS directly from the camera.

Hope that helps. If you have questions about the procedure, drop me a PM and we'll work it out!

<EDIT> you can also use the WMV version referenced previously. Some video editing suites are a little snobby when it comes to editing the opposing platform's prime compression type. (Windows-based editors don't like Quicktime, and MAC-based editors don't like WMV) If you use the WMV version, you'll have to cut down the A/V stream to just the part you want. Or, you could send Dave Lavery an E-mail and see if he still has the raw animation to render you a .avi file instead of a .mov.

[SuperJake]

I just found the coolest piece of software for video editers. If you are unable to stick a quicktime formatted file into your video because your windows editer won't allow it... convert it! This program allows you to take a .mov file and convert it into a .avi file. Rock on!

<EDIT> Here are some directions...
http://www.videohelp.com/mov2avi.htm

[dhitchco]

SuperJake and others,

1) Thanks for referring me to the NASA site that contains both playable and downloadable versions of the TriplePlay animation. That video is a great way to show newbies and sponsors/parents/teachers and other "outsiders" how the game actually works.

2) I did talk to somebody at FIRST today who stated that we can use that video and embed it into our own team highlights video as long as a) we give NASA credit for doing the animation and b) that we don't sell the highlights video.

3) I teach video editing and also do a lot of various projects for schools (sports highlights, etc). So, I will convert the MOV quicktime files into AVI, MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 and burn to disk or tape for anyone that can't do that themselves. Just send me a note.

4) I also saw that the team from Brazil used this animation video and did Portuguese overlays (subtitles). All of which is very easy to do using free software such as MS-MovieMaker or I-Movie (for Macs).

5) Yes, SuperJake is correct, in that RADtools and others can convert MOV to various other formats. You can do a google search and find many converters (shareware) via www.download.com etc.

6) Here's what I plan to do with the highlights video. I will NOT be showing it full-screen. Instead, I'll do it as a window in the video, and in the frame around the animation, I'll have some simple text such as "autonomous mode for 15 seconds" that pops onto the screen in sync with the narrator's voice.

7) I have created many short videos including some very funny "public service announcements" that were played at the Toronto regional. You can see them on our photo-sharing site at "rollingthunder.smugmug.com" or link directly to: http://rollingthunder.smugmug.com/gallery/459742