Welcome To Cast It Talent

The Proper Way to Encode Video

To ensure an optimal upload and playback experience, video files uploaded to Cast It & Cast It Talent should be encoded in one of these two formats:

QUICKTIME (.mov or .mp4 files) or WINDOWS MEDIA VIDEO (.wmv files)

Files that do not meet our requirements may not play correctly on the site, so be sure to always encode video with the following general settings.

Quicktime

File Type: MOV or MPEG-4
Codec: Mpeg-4 video
Frame Rate: 24
Key Frames: Every 300
Data Rate: 768 Kbps
Video Size: 640 x 480 VGA (320 x 240 is acceptable but will be lower quality)
Select “Preserve Aspect Ratio” and “Deinterlace Video”
Audio Format: AAC
Audio Channels: Mono
Audio Rate: 32.000 KHz
Audio Target Bit Rate: 32
Encode Files for “Fast Start”

Windows Media Video

File Type: WMV
Bit rate: 1.0 Mbps
Display size: 640 x 480 pixels
Aspect Ratio: 4:3
Frames per second: 30

Note : The size of an individual video file should not exceed 500 megabytes (100 MB for basic users). You can check the size of your video file by following these steps:

If on a Mac: Click the file to highlight it, click on File, then click on Get Info.

If on a PC: Right click on the file, then go to Properties.

If your file does exceed the 500-megabyte limit (100 MB for basic users), you will need to shorten the clip or edit it into multiple parts before uploading.

Which program should I use to create and encode my video files?

There are many editing programs that can encode files to our recommended settings. Below are the step-by-step instructions for iMovie (most commonly used on Macs), Windows Moviemaker (most commonly used on PCs), and Quicktime Pro, which can be used with either Mac or PCs.

Be sure to check which version of these programs you have on your computer, and read the corresponding instructions for that version below.

Instructions for Mac Computers

iMovie HD Instructions

Requirements: Apple Macintosh System X, version 10.3 or higher.

STEP 1: IMPORTING VIDEO FOOTAGE FROM A MINI DV TAPE CAMERA

Connect your camera to the computer via the firewire cable.
Open the iMovie application, then open an existing project or start a new project.
Import clips, take by take, from video camera into your iMovie project.
1. Turn camera on.
2. Set iMovie to “camera mode” by setting the slider button on the lower left area of the iMovie window to the camera icon.
3. Using the iMovie playback controls, press play button to start the tape.
4. Cue up the audition.
5. When the audition take starts, press the Import button to begin capturing the actor’s audition take into iMovie, and when that take finishes, press the Import button again to manually stop the capture. Note: In iMovie Preferences, you can also set it so that iMovie will automatically grab and edit all auditions off the tape as long as you pause the camera between takes and actors. This allows you to start the tape, hit the Import button and walk away from the computer while it begins capturing and editing the auditions from the tape.
6. The captured audition clips will appear in the Clips pane at the right side of the window in iMovie. All clips that you capture will be stored here.
7. Repeat step ‘e’ to capture any additional takes from the actor’s audition. Please
  Note: we recommend that you capture each individual take for an actor’s audition separately. This will keep file sizes to a minimum. As a reminder, do not upload files larger than 500 MB (100 MB for Basic Users).
8. Select Save project under the File menu.

STEP 1 (ALTERNATIVE): IMPORTING AN EXISTING QUICKTIME FILE

From iMovie, go to File, then Import.
Select the Quicktime file you wish to import, and click Open.
The file will import into iMovie. When importing has finished, the file will appear in one of the boxes in the upper right corner of the iMovie screen.

STEP 2: EXPORTING FILES TO CAST IT RECOMMENDED SETTINGS

Once the file has been imported into iMovie, drag the clip down to the flip strip area at the bottom of the iMovie screen.
Go to the File menu and select Export.
Along top of window, select the Quicktime icon.
Click the Compress movie for pull-down menu to select Expert Settings.
Click Share.
In the next Save Exported File As window, name the new movie according to actor name and take number. Make sure your file name ends with the extension .mov. Also check to see where the file will be saved. This will come in handy when you need to upload a bunch of actors and their audition takes. (make sure you save your file with the .mov extension at the end). Then, next to the Export: Movie to Quicktime Movie pull down menu, click the Options button.
You'll see the Movie Settings window. Under 'Video', click Settings.
1. In 'Compression Type:' menu, select MPEG-4 Video.
2. In Motion area, set Frame Rate to ‘24’ and for Key Frames type in ‘300’ in the text field.
3. Slide the Quality pointer over to Best.
4. In the Data Rate area, click the Restrict to button and type 768 in the field before kbits/sec. Then, click OK.
5. Under ‘Video’, now click on Size. Select 640 X 480 VGA. Click the box next to Deinterlace Source Video. Click OK.
6. Under 'Sound', click on Settings. Set 'Format' to AAC, 'Channels' to Mono, ‘Rate’ to 32.000. Next to Target Bit Rate choose 32 in the dropdown menu. Then click on OK button.
7. Make sure 'Prepare for Internet Streaming' is checked and select Fast Start.
8. Click OK.
9. Click the Save button and iMovie will export and create the QuickTime movie that you will then post to the Cast It system.

VIDEO SETTINGS FOR CREATING SUPER HIGH QUALITY CLIPS

Please Note: Using the following settings instead of the “standard” settings stated above will result in much larger, higher quality video clips. Encoding video with the following settings can take up to twice as long, and uploading times will most likely increase 2 – 3 times as well.

Import your clips into iMovie. Then follow steps 1 – 6 above.
You'll see the Movie Settings window. Under 'Video', click Settings.
1. In 'Compression Type:' menu, select H.264.
2. In Motion area, set Frame Rate to ‘24’ and for Key Frames type in ‘300’ in the text field.
3. Slide the Quality pointer over to Best.
4. Select Best quality (Multi-pass) next to the Encoding Menu.
5. In the Data Rate area, click the Restrict to button and type 768 in the field before kbits/sec. Then, click OK.
6. Under ‘Video’, now click on Size. Select 640 X 480 VGA. Click the box next to Deinterlace Source Video. Click OK.
7. Under 'Sound', click on Settings. Set 'Format' to AAC, 'Channels' to Mono, ‘Rate’ to 32.000. Next to Target Bit Rate choose 32 in the dropdown menu. Then click on OK button.
8. Make sure 'Prepare for Internet Streaming' is checked and select Fast Start.
9. Click OK.
10. Click the Save button and iMovie will export and create the QuickTime movie that you will then post to the Cast It system..

iMOVIE HD HINT: To crop/edit a video clip

Select the clip you want to edit or crop in the clip area to the right of the iMovie window.
Drag the small grey bookend triangles below the timeline to set the beginning and end points of the clip.
Got to the Edit menu and select Crop. You can also split clips by selecting Split Clips at Playhead.

iMovie ‘08/’09 Instructions

Requirements: Apple Macintosh System X, version 10.3 or higher

STEP 1: IMPORTING VIDEO FOOTAGE FROM A MINI DV TAPE CAMERA

Connect your camera to the computer via the firewire cable.
Open the iMovie application, then open an existing project or start a new project.
Import clips from video camera into your iMovie project by turning the camera on, and clicking the “Camera” Icon on the left hand side of the iMovie screen. This will bring up the Import Window where you can choose your camera source. Select the camera you have attached to the computer via firewire cable.
To import all footage from the tape automatically:
1. Set the slider button on the lower left area of the iMovie window to Automatic.
2. Press Import to rewind the tape and import all footage. After the tape has been imported, click Done and skip to step #8.
To import footage from the tape manually:
1. Set the slider button on the lower left area of the iMovie window to Manual.
2. Using the iMovie playback controls, press play button to start the tape. Continue on to step #4.
Using the play, fast-forward, and rewind controls, cue up the audition.
When the audition take begins, press the Import button. You will be asked to Save the File and to Create New Event. You can name your event (by default it will be today’s date) and click OK to begin capturing the actor’s audition take into iMovie.
When the take finishes, press the Stop button again to manually stop the capture.
Note: In Preferences, you can also set it so that iMovie will automatically grab and edit all auditions off the tape as long as you pause the camera between takes and actors. This allows you to start the tape, hit the Import button and walk away from the computer while it begins capturing and editing the auditions from the tape.
When you have captured all of your clips, click Done. The captured audition clips will appear in the clips pane at the bottom of the window in iMovie. All clips that you capture will be stored here.
Please Note: we recommend that you capture each individual take for an actor’s audition separately. This will keep file sizes to a minimum. Do not upload any files larger than 500 MB (100 MB for Basic Users).
Click on the Camera icon to capture any additional takes from the actor’s audition. When you hit Import you will again be asked to save and Add to Existing Event or Create New Event. A good rule of thumb would be to create events for each day’s session, and save the corresponding day’s clips to those specific events.

STEP 1 (ALTERNATIVE): IMPORTING AN EXISTING QUICKTIME FILE

From iMovie, go to File, then Import Movies.
Select the Quicktime file you wish to import. You will be asked if you want to Add to Existing Event or Create New Event. Select one of these options, then click Import.
The video file will import into iMovie. When importing has finished, the file will appear in your event library.

STEP 2: EXPORTING FILES RECOMMENDED SETTINGS

Choose a clip in the event library and drag the cursor to create a yellow box around the portion of the clip you would like to use. Next, drag that selected clip to the upper flip strip area (that says ‘Drag media here to create new project’) to begin the export process.
Go to the Share menu at the top of the screen and select Export Using QuickTime.
In the next Save Exported File As window, name the new movie according to actor name and take number. Make sure your file name ends with the extension .mov. Also check to see where the file will be saved. This will come in handy when you need to upload a bunch of actors and their audition takes. (make sure you save your file with the .mov extension at the end)
Then, next to the Export: Movie to QuickTime Movie pull down menu, click the Options button.
You'll see the Movie Settings window. Under 'Video', click Settings.
1. In 'Compression Type' menu, select MPEG-4 Video.
2. In Motion area, set Frame Rate to ‘24’ and for Key Frames type in 300 in the text field.
3. Slide the Quality pointer over to Best.
4. In the Data Rate area, click the Restrict to button and type 768 in the field before kbits/sec.
5. Then, click the OK button.
6. Under ‘Video’, now click the Size button. Select 640 x 480 VGA. Then, click the box next to Deinterlace Source Video. Click the OK button
7. Under 'Sound', click on Settings. Set 'Format' to AAC, 'Channels' to Mono, ‘Rate’ to 32.000 and ‘Target Bit Rate’ to 32. Then click on OK button.
8. Make sure 'Prepare for Internet Streaming' is checked off and select Fast Start. Click OK.
9. Click the Save button and iMovie will export and create the QuickTime movie that you will then post to the Cast It system.

VIDEO SETTINGS FOR CREATING SUPER HIGH QUALITY CLIPS

Follow steps #1 – 3 above in Exporting Files To Cast It Recommended Settings.
Then, next to the Export: Movie to QuickTime Movie pull down menu, click the Options button.
You'll see the Movie Settings window. Under 'Video', click Settings.
1. In 'Compression Type:' menu, select H.264.
2. In Motion area, set Frame Rate to ‘24’ and for Key Frames type in ‘300’ in the text field.
3. Slide the Quality pointer over to Best.
4. Select Best quality (Multi-pass) next to the ‘Encoding’ Menu.
5. In the Data Rate area, click the Restrict to button and type 768 in the field before kbits/sec. Then, click OK.
6. Then, click OK button.
7. Under ‘Video’, now click on Size button.
  i. Select 640 X 480 VGA.
  ii. Check the box next to Preserve Aspect Ratio (using Letterbox). Click the box next to Deinterlace Source Video. Click OK button.
8. Under 'Sound', click on Settings.
  iii. Set 'Format' to AAC, 'Channels' to Mono, ‘Rate’ to 32.000. Next to Target Bit Rate choose 32 in the dropdown menu. Then click on OK button.
9. Make sure 'Prepare for Internet Streaming' is checked and select Fast Start.
10. Click OK.
11. Click the Save button and iMovie will export and create the QuickTime movie that you will then post to the Cast It system..

iMOVIE ‘08/’09 HINT: To split/edit a video clip

Select the clip you want to edit or split in the clip area in the iMovie ‘08 window.
Drag the cursor within the clip to create a yellow box that sets your desired beginning and end points of the clip.
Got to the Edit menu and select Split Clip. If you select a frame range beginning and ending in the middle of the clip, the clip will split into three parts. To delete the unwanted parts, highlight them and hit the ‘Delete’ key.

Quicktime Player 7 (Quicktime Pro) Instructions

How to export a video clip using Quicktime Pro

STEP 1: OPENING A FILE IN QUICKTIME PRO

Go to the File menu and select Open File. Browse your computer for the video file you want to open and encode, and select it.

STEP 2: EXPORTING FILES TO CAST IT RECOMMENDED SETTINGS

Go to the File menu and select Export.
In the next Save Exported File As window, name the new movie according to actor name and take number. Make sure your file name ends with the extension .mov. Also check to see where the file will be saved. This will come in handy when you need to upload a bunch of actors and their audition takes (make sure you save your file with the .mov extension at the end). Then, next to the Export: Movie to Quicktime Movie pull down menu, click the Options button.
You’ll see the Movie Settings window. Under ‘Video,’ click Settings.
1. In 'Compression Type' menu, select MPEG-4 Video.
2. In Motion area, set Frame Rate to ‘24’ and for Key Frames type in 300 in the text field.
3. Slide the Quality pointer over to Best.
4. In the Data Rate area, click the Restrict to button and type 768 in the field before kbits/sec.
5. Then, click the OK button.
6. Under ‘Video’, now click the Size button. Select 640 x 480 VGA. Check the box next to Preserve Aspect Ratio (using Letterbox). Check the box next to Deinterlace Source Video. Click the OK button
7. Under 'Sound', click on Settings. Set 'Format' to AAC, 'Channels' to Mono, ‘Rate’ to 32.000.Next to Target Bit Rate choose 32 in the dropdown menu .Then click on OK button.
8. Make sure 'Prepare for Internet Streaming' is checked off and select Fast Start. Click OK.
9. Click the Save button and iMovie will export and create the QuickTime movie that you will then post to the Cast It system.