Beyond the Box: Television and the Internet explores the complex relationship between television and the internet in today’s society, and what this means for viewers today and what the blending of these two will mean into the future.

The Internet and How it Changes Television Viewing

Author Sharon Marie Ross proposes that things are radically changing in terms of television viewing across the country. From texting votes for ‘American Idol’ to online forums and sites dedicated to programs like ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’, the internet is changing the very nature of television viewing and how the television industry responds to the public.

Whereas, in the past, a limited selection of programs would have a niche market of fans appealing to networks via letter-writing campaigns, the internet has now brought the interaction of the public, via the internet, into the mainstream.

The Internet & Moving Television Beyond

Ross presents an excellent overview of the online shift of the television viewing audience and how the internet has given a much more dynamic voice to fandom and participation into the nature of television programs via means of tele-participation.

There was once a point in time when it was only cult programs like ‘Star Trek’ and ‘Doctor Who’ that garnered fanatical and vocal fan bases, but now due to the proliferation of access to the internet, viewers of programs of virtually any genre could find sites, forums, fanzines, conventions, etc, related to their favorite program (’Scarecrow and Mrs. King’, anyone?)

The Next Generation of Television Viewers

Its also interesting how ‘Beyond the Box’ examines how today younger teenage viewers know only the world of the internet, and how the television industry needs to take into account the strong online ties of younger generations in relation to television programming of today.

Its fascinating to me personally, having lived my teenage years at a time when there was no internet to coincide with television viewing (I even remember the pre-remote control days of the UHF band), that today the web places such a primary factor in determining so much of the nature of what happens on television, all the way down to texting for favorite artists on ‘American Idol’.

The Future of the Internet and Television

‘Beyond the Box’ continues with more insights into the future of television and the internet and the intertwining of these two forces, and how television will continue to be influenced in a large degree by viewers via internet participation, perhaps even to the eventual point where both are blurred as one.

Television is no longer just a static entity, and the internet and growth of online users will continue to change how television programs are made and consumed by viewers. Its exciting to see this direction unfold, and Ross’ text makes for a fascinating primer into the current online-influenced direction of television.

Beyond the Box – Prices, Deals and Discounts

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Available to buy at Amazon

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You may also be interested in:

• ‘VideoBlogging’ Reference Guide on Producing, Editing & Distributing Online Videos
• Other Internet TV Book Reviews on WebTVWire
• Ebay Books on Internet & TV Trends

“Video Blogging” is a book that gives practical and detailed instructions about developing a video-based blog, appropriate for both beginning and experienced video bloggers.

Video Podcasting, Vlogging, Vidcasting, Vodcasting, and What it All Means…

“Video Blogging” opens with a detailed introduction that breaks down the mindset of what videoblogging is all about, and why someone would do this. Reasons are numerous: connecting with family and friends, promoting business, sharing homemade movies and shows, etc.

In the recent past, video distribution could only be done locally, such as by television stations, network cable or Hollywood films. Now with internet and high-speed connections, video can be freely (and easily) shared and distributed globally via video blogging.

While reading through this I found the text to be very open in style, that someone new to the process, as well as someone with experience and background in videoblogging, could equally benefit from this material.

Video Blog Preproduction

The first section of the book delves into the big picture of what video blogging is all about, and gives some samples of videoblog directories. What I like about this book is the inclusion of sample interviews with successful video bloggers in the industry, as well as plenty of screenshots of current video blogs.

The text addresses the phenomena of “viral videos”, or those lucky folks who win the lottery with their video and have it distributed around the world to hundreds of thousands of folks (Could be a good thing, and could also be colossally embarrassing, depending on the content of the video.)

Cameras and Blog Creation

Following the introduction, the text then offers a guide to selecting Webcams to use, in terms of quality and price. Helpful tips on video lighting, editing, and computer specifications are also included.

Also covered are detailed steps on starting a free web blog, including helpful screenprints of the steps to create a blog. Personally speaking, when I read through a techy book, screenshots are very valuable in conjunction with following setup steps and the book provides plenty through each section.

Production Tips and Advice

The Production section of the book offers a wealth of good tips on capturing video, working with digital stills, slow-motion, and even gives detailed steps about capturing mobile video footage. Pages 54-62 even gives technically detailed Perl code samples for parsing an email message to receive text, images, audio and video from it.

Chapter 5 covers some of the details of “screencasting”, or capturing a computer screen while it’s being used (such as for demonstrations of new software or computer games) and identifies helpful PC and Mac software that can be used for this.

Post-Production of Video for Blogs

“Video Blogging” includes an extensive section devoted to post-production details, and identifies software that can be used for editing audio and video.

Also included in this section of the book are steps detailing how to add titles and captions, and concluded with some helpful guides regarding transcoding and compression, namely converting the video format to different formats when needed. The software examples were especially helpful to me personally, since video conversion is something I’ve been working on currently with some of my films.

Distributing Your Films Online

A Comprehensive section follows that discusses distribution of films, starting with an overview of free hosting options, and includes a detailed guide to setting up Wordpress. I’ve worked with WP and know first-hand that it can be a beast to configure, so the detailed steps offered here are very valuable.

Following this the section also discusses topics such as distribution of videos with programs such as BitTorrent and Prodigem, then features an overview and description of what RSS is, followed by descriptions of free RSS2 services like FeedBurner.

Finding Videoblogs to Watch

Part V of the text breaks down ways to find and subscribe to videoblogs, and offers an analysis of sites like Mefeedia, VlogDir and Gmail, that can be used for this purpose.

This section of text also gives a handy overview of how to watch videos on your television, including setup tips (with plenty of helpful images, too.) Next are steps to customize your videoblog, all with an impressive level of granular detail.

“Pimping” Your Vlog

The final section of “Videoblogging” offers you some steps in terms of tagging your videos to make them stand out, how to let people know about your feed, tracking your video statistics and how to make money from your films (via means of Paypal and Adsense).

As a final thought, I was impressed by the comprehensive material covered in the text, and I think this stands out as an excellent guide for anyone who’s either interested in getting started with video blogging or who has been at it for awhile and needs quality video blogging reference material.

Online Reviews and Feedback About Video Blogging

The reviews I’ve seen of this book have been generally favorable. Amazon had a number of reviews, mostly positive, identifying that the book offers practical and valuable information for all experience levels.

Barnes & Nobles offered a favorable editorial review, noting how the text will offer guidance for everything from pre-production to promotion. A reviewer also noted that while there are some sections that might not apply to everyone, the book serves as a good video blogging reference guide.

Video Blogging – Prices, Deals and Discounts

• On Amazon:
  Available to buy at Amazon
• On eBay:

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• The Easy Guide to Web Video, Instructional DVD Guide
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Although its hard for people who use Web video on a daily basis to believe, there are many Internet users who are completely in the dark about the power of Internet video and how to utilise it.

Learning The Ropes

While sites such as YouTube continue to grab viewers attention, the revolution that is Web video is still at quite an early stage and many Web users are still learning the ropes.

We’ve reviewed quite a few books intended to give a grounding for those people looking to move in to the world of Web video, and now we have a review of a DVD intended to do exactly the same thing.

From Books To DVD

In the same way that the How To Do Everything With Online Video and Mastering Internet Video: A Guide to Streaming and On-Demand Video books tried to give an entry-level view of Web video, so does this DVD.

The Easy Guide To Web Video DVD offers a step-by-step guide to capturing, preparing, uploading, and sharing video on the Internet. And being a DVD means it has an added advantage in offering visual guides to the processes involved.

This DVD, directed by Bill Myers, offers advice on everything you’ll need to know to get started with Web video. And it’s all presented in simple steps with clear instructions.

Huge Range Of Topics

The range of topics covered on this 68 minute DVD include:-

• Why you’ll want to have video on the web.
• How having video on the web can increase sales on your website.
• How to quickly have your own video channel for free.
• How to almost instantly create web video from photographs.
• How to capture video from your camcorder to your computer.
• How to prepare your video for the web.
• How to add graphics to your videos – and why you’ll want to.
• How to add background music to your videos.
• How to render video to get the best quality on the web.
• How to upload videos to YouTube, Google Video, and MetaCafe.
• How to get paid for the videos you upload to the web.
• How to share your videos with others.
• How to convert your videos into flash.

Conclusions

This DVD caters for anyone new to the world of Web video, and so people with existing knowledge need not buy it.

For everyone else, it’s a must see if you want to become part of the video revolution currently shaping the Internet.

[Buy the 'Easy Guide To Web Video DVD' On Amazon]

Whether you’re an amateur hobbyist, work for a company who want an online video presence, or are a software developer, a thorough understanding of the issues involved can make a hell of a difference to your life.

Mastering Internet Video

Which is where a best-selling book on Amazon entitled Mastering Internet Video: A Guide to Streaming and On-Demand Video, comes in to play. It does exactly what it says on the tin, and provides readers with a basic guide to the intricacies involved in Internet video.

The book takes you through the processes required to get video on to the Web. Starting with preparing and capturing, through to editing and compressing, and finally to uploading and delivering your content on to the Web.

Clear and Concise Advice

Every issue involved in the process is spelt out in a clear and concise manner, with the author, Damien Stolarz, offering both conceptual and practical information for people on every level of experience.

The key issues of compression, formats, standards, servers, software, hardware, networking, multi-casting, digital rights management, and video editing are all covered in a coherent manner, with easy to understand language being used at every turn.

A Range Of Topics

There are also step-by-step solutions for each of today’s most common Internet video usage scenarios, and the range of topics covered in depth in this 504 page book include:

• Comprehensive conceptual coverage of capturing, preparing, and deploying video on the Internet
• A practical guide to video compression—including expert help with performance and quality tradeoffs
• Objective information for evaluating streaming servers, software, and hardware—including solutions from Microsoft, Real, Apple, Macromedia, and others
• How networks and the Internet handle video data—including the challenges of real-time data delivery

If you are looking for an easy way to get to grips with the terminology and technology involved in Internet video, this book, which currently retails for just $31.49, is a great introduction to the business.

[Buy 'Mastering Internet Video' On Amazon]

Luckily there are resources designed to help you get you started on the road to producing high-quality videos to share on sites such as YouTube, DailyMotion and Metacafe.

One of these resources is a book titled How To Do Everything With Online Video, part of the How To Do Everything series of books which take you through the process from beginning to end and give you a nice overview of the skills and equipment needed.

The Ultimate Guide To Online Video

The book is billed as “the ultimate guide to planning, creating, editing, and sharing video content online” and the range of topics covered include shooting and editing videos, preparing clips for posting, and how to share projects through websites, blogs, and podcasts.

The book was written by Andrew Shalat, a writer, author and consultant on many tech subjects. The book has 12 chapters, and 270 pages full of fact-filled advice for both PC and Mac owners.

Nicely Laid Out

If you buy the book, you can expect to read hands-on tutorials, covering much of the best video editing software, as well as an overview of camera techniques, story-telling concepts, and advice on lighting and sound.

The chapters are nicely laid-out and easy to read. The text is purely black and white, and there are a woefully small number of screenshots, but despite that, the guidelines are very easy to follow, even for beginners.

Whether you are just starting out in the world of Web video, or have dabbled but need to know how to optimize you video output, then this book could prove to be an invaluable purchase.

[Buy How To Do Everything With Online Video On Amazon]

Thankfully, there are a number of resources available for anyone keen to learn the basics about IPTV, and the how, where and when of IP Television.

There is Web TV Wire of course, which thankfully you are reading now, but we simply cannot offer the type of crash course some people may need to get in to the business of IPTV.

There are, however, books on the subject which cover exactly that, providing readers with a good basic knowledge base to work with, and start increasing how much they know about IP Television.

IPTV Crash Course

One such book is IPTV Crash Course, which as you can probably tell by the name, tries to give you a broad understanding of many aspects involved in IPTV, without blinding you with the science behind the technology.

The book is a practical resource, which tries to offer straightforward explanations about the basic fundamentals involved in digital television, as well as some more detailed and in-depth coverage of the hardware and software involved.

Discussion Points

Some of the elements discussed in IPTV Crash Course include system architecture, home networking, copy protection and digital rights management.

While squarely aimed at beginners, who may just be dipping their toes in to the concept of IPTV, people who may already have a firm grasp of the concept will still find something of interest, and that they didn’t previously know.

Well Organised Overview

It provides a slew of knowledge raising content written in a clear and uncomplicated way. Everything is organised to allow easy access to the topics of interest, with chapters well thought out.

The price of the book is also very good considering how much of a resource this could prove to anyone looking to start, or increase their knowledge base about IPTV, and the technologies involved therein.

[Get the IPTV Crash Course Book on Amazon]