General question

[smut]

I have been looking at a few different editors( Vegas, VirtualDub) but really have no idea about what 90% of the language or the tools etc mean, are there any tutorials that explain what makes up the different types of video & what ( in laymans terms) all the words mean, I hope I'm not totally stupid, but even the glossary on this site leaves me scratching my head a bit (I-frames, P-frames, B-frames ??????)
I suppose I'm just after some basic info to get a bit of understanding, rather than just trying to find specific guides to follow parrot fashion.

Any info would be greatly appreciated.

Thanx
smut

[Nelson37]

The problem, as you have discovered, is that there is a lot of terminology and many of the definitions are dependent on understanding other terms. Further, many of the definitions cover complex concepts that are not immediately understandable.

There is no easy way around this. There is no way to define terms in a way that every single person reading them will understand. You almost have to reach a point of critical mass before it all starts to come together.

My suggestion is to start reading Guides. Doesn't matter which one, or what subject matter it covers. Almost all will contain terms you do not understand, but each one will add a little to your knowledge base. As you continue to read, a few of the explanations and examples will start to make sense. As more reading is done, these seperate points of understanding will start to come together into a coherent whole. A day will come when you read a Guide and you understand almost everything in it, but for one or two points. Then you can begin to research those few points that are not clear.

When I started, I read every Guide on this site, and several others. There were a lot fewer then. Some of them I printed and read several times, while doing the steps on my PC. I must have read a dozen or so explanations of field order and problems arising from it, but 10 SECONDS of actually seeing it on my PC nailed it for me.

You will also discover that on many issues there is some disagreement or difference of opinion on exactly what certain things mean, and/or how they should be handled. By that time, you will be able to form your own opinion, and even experiment with these concepts on your own.

It's like asking someone to explain Differential Calculus in two or three short sentences, there simply is no way to do it without understanding a large number of basic concepts first.

Don't worry about what does not make sense, keep reading. There is no way to know what explanation will make you smack your forehead and go "Ah, Now I get it!". It will happen, but not without some significant effort on your part.

[pijetro]

Welcome to the forums..

I suppose I'm just after some basic info to get a bit of understanding, rather than just trying to find specific guides to follow parrot fashion.

Your in for a surprise...You won't learn it all in one day. Therefore, ask yourself "What do i wanna do?", and then go to the forum index, and choose carefully...Read the stickys, and refer back to the glossaries...

Example...If you wanna learn how to capture video, you don't need to jump at DVDripping guides..
However, you might wanna learn to edit once you've learned to capture..After editing, you'll wanna output to DVD, Web etc..

Nelson37 wrote:

Doesn't matter which one, or what subject matter it covers. Almost all will contain terms you do not understand, but each one will add a little to your knowledge base.

I disagree..I did the same thing, and realized after a while, that i've been chasing my tail...

[CrayonEater]

It depends on how you learn I suppose. I use a modified version of Nelson37's approach in that I scanned message boards like this along with tutorials when I first started out here. Amd I still do. If I see a term or concept crop up a lot I'll investigate. Hope this is of some value to you. Remember that asking questions is ok. Maybe we'll build up a better tutorial on the message boards.

[NormaJ]

I totally agree with Nelson 37. When you don't know how much can be done and how, you don't know what you want to do.

Just my 2 cts.

[harley2ride]

If you know nothing of the terminology, and the basics of video capturing/editing/authoring, then how would one even guess what they want to do , or what questions to even ask. The only way to learn these things is by spending time browsing forums and reading articles until you understand enough about the subject to determine what you want to do, and then you have the ability to ask questions which will result in some benefit.

[kschang]

The problem as I see it is you lack the first player of knowledge that will allow you to understand the next layer. To use a language example, you don't know the ABCs yet, but you're trying to read a novel. There's the alphabet, words, and sentences to wade through before you can get there. Same here: first understand the technology of compression, (which is there the I-, B-, and whatever frames come in), then the rest will become clearer.

[smut]

Thanks to everyone for taking the time to reply, I suppose I was hoping for a quick way into editing etc, but it appears it's going to take some time, I'd better start reading!!

Thanks again

smut