BKWBVDCM.RVW   971211

"Web Video Complete", Martin Nemzow, 1998, U$54.95, 0-07-046404-9
%A   Martin Nemzow
%C   300 Water Street, Whitby, Ontario   L1N 9B6
%D   1998
%G   0-07-046404-9
%I   McGraw-Hill Ryerson/Osborne
%O   U$54.95 905-430-5000 800-565-5758 louisea@McGrawHill.ca
%P   607 p. + CD-ROM
%T   "Web Video Complete"

Although the Web is hot, a more accurate title might be "Net Video
Complete," or even "Computer Video Complete."  Not limited to
production of video for Web pages, this book really emphasizes video
conferencing and other computer uses of video technology.

After a brief introduction in chapter one, chapter two looks at
hardware.  I am part of the "Grandparent market" that Nemzow
frequently cites, and was very interested in the recommendations for
different types of cameras, video capture cards, sound cards, and so
forth.  This book is not quite as helpful as, say, Cheryl Kirk's
overview of "The Internet Phone Connection" (cf.  BKINPHCN.RVW), but
it does cover a very large field, and does require that a greater
variety of technologies and peripherals be dealt with.  There was not
as much critical evaluation of specific hardware as I would have
wanted to see, and I'm sure that business users would be just as
interested in this level of detail.

Chapter three looks at software.  However, it seems to deal less with
actual video software than with network protocols, network
configuration, operating system drivers, and network resources.  There
is a rather mixed bag of topics as we stroll from dynamic IP address
allocation to Four11 to firewalls to CU-SeeMe.  Again, chapter four,
looking at compatibility, deals only briefly with actual video
conferencing systems, and at much greater length with modem standards,
ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network), video standards, and audio
and video storage formats.

Video construction techniques, in chapter five, is even more of a
mixed bag.  The text touches on planning, story technique, Web page
design, scripting, lighting, analogue to digital conversion, video
production software, special effects, graphics, soundtracks,
compression, file transfers, and even a little HTML (HyperText Markup
Language).  This seems at odds with some of the earlier emphasis on
personal and business video conferencing, and more closely related to
the preparation of video clips for the Web, but, at the same time,
some of the production is far beyond what Web pages would require. 
Chapter six, on Web video plumbing, looks at bandwidth and other
networking issues, but does so primarily from the perspective of the
server, ignoring the consumer, and the fact that regardless of how
much backbone bandwidth you may have, a browse is only as fast as its
slowest routing link.

Back to video conferencing, in chapter seven, with thorny issues such
as pornography, legal jeopardy, and how much noise your laser printer
makes.  Chapter eight goes back to Web video online, discussing
etiquette, pornography, HTML, Web cams, streaming multimedia, backups,
video conferencing security, Internet telephony security, Web site
security, legal problems, troubleshooting, and health care.  Chapter
nine describes the contents of the CD-ROM.

There is a great deal of information is this book, and much of it is
valuable.  There are, however, two major problems.  The first is that
the book can't seem to decide who the target audience is: the
professional videographer, the TCP/IP enthusiast, the business video
conference organizer, or the home hobbyist.  The second is that the
organization is rudimentary at best, and finding specific information
is difficult.

copyright Robert M. Slade, 1997   BKWBVDCM.RVW   971211