Visual Editors

Romenesko reports:

Romenesko Memos
Jon Auerbach, who has worked at the New York Post, Wall Street Journal and CNN, has been named editor-in-chief of the Metro papers in Boston, New York and Philadelphia. Most recently, he was executive editor of Star Magazine, the celebrity weekly.

(Auerbach named editor-in-chief of Metro USA newspapers at Romenesko.)

Editors Weblog - all postings reports:

A new Accenture survey reveals that 57% of media executives see user-generated content as a challenge, however, a Hitwise survey showed that, judging by the still-low percentages of users creating content, traditional media should be able to catch up.

(Mainstream media: to worry or not to worry about user-generated content? at Editors Weblog - all postings.)

Editor And Publisher - Online reports:

This month’s issue of The Digital Journalist includes stories about The Dallas Morning News’ award-winning photo and video departments.

(’Digital Journalist’ Online Mag Spotlights ‘Dallas Morning News’ at Editor And Publisher - Online.)

Pew Internet reports:

Teens, Privacy and Online Social Networks: How teens manage their online identities and personal information in the age of MySpace

(Pew Internet: Teens, Privacy and SNS. Read.)

VizEds got a letter from Apple telling us it is OK to be uploading our videopodcasts at 640 pixels wide now. Woo Hoo!

But, now it seems that a lot of other people got the same letter too . . .

Just when you thought you were special . . .

Podcasting News reports:

Apple has updated its podcasting specs and is sending out emails to video podcasters with tips on how to make them look great on Apple TV.

The tips include:

• Encode at 640×480 or 640×360. This will look much better than 320×240 on HDTV, and will still port to the iPod. While 720p looks great, they say, it won’t work on an iPod.
• Don’t make two formats for different resolutions - it dilutes the popularity of the podcast and reduces exposure in charts.
• Don’t add letterboxing to make videos to a 4:3 aspect ratio. Leave them at 16:9.

If you’re creating video podcasts, recognize that Apple’s recommendations are a compromise that sacrifice Apple TV quality for compatibility with video iPods. While they recommend using just one format to get the highest ranking within iTunes, there may be enough interest in HDTV that there could be benefits to moving to 720p widescreen and treating lower resolutions as legacy formats.

Here’s Apple’s updated spec:

Formatting Video for the iPod or Apple TV

Although iTunes can play a variety of .mp4, .m4v, and .mov video formats, Apple TV and the iPod require more specific formats.

The iPod supports up to 640×480, while Apple TV supports up to 1280×720. To optimize for both platforms, we recommend that your source file is at least 640 pixels wide and that you use the built-in iPod converters in Compressor (”H.264 for iPod”), QuickTime Pro (”Movie to iPod”) or iTunes (”Convert Selection for iPod”). Each of these maintains the aspect ration of your source file and results in an M4V file containing H.264 video (Low Complexity version of the Baseline profile) and AAC-LC audio. If you want to maximize the screen area of a wide-screen TV, your source file should have an aspect ratio of 16:9 (e.g., 640×360). If you want to maximize the screen area on the iPod, your source file should have an aspect ratio of 4:3 (e.g., 640×480).

Because it uses H.264 Main Profile, QuickTime Pro’s “Movie to Apple TV” converter will result in a video that will not sync with the iPod.

Refer to the specifications below if you are not using the built-in converters in Compressor, QuickTime Pro, or iTunes.

iPod can play the following video formats:

• H.264 video, up to 1.5 Mbps, 640 x 480, 30 frames per sec., Low-Complexity version of the Baseline Profile with AAC-LC audio up to 160 kbps, 48 Khz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats
• H.264 video, up to 768 kbps, 320 x 240, 30 frames per sec., Baseline Profile up to Level 1.3 with AAC-LC audio up to 160 kbps, 48 Khz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats
• MPEG-4 video, up to 2.5 Mbps, 640 x 480, 30 frames per sec., Simple Profile with AAC-LC audio up to 160 kbps, 48 Khz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats

Apple TV can display H.264 video, up to 5mbps, 1280×720, 24 fps, Progressive Main Profile. Apple TV supports AAC-LC audio up to 320 Kbps. The gating factors for video are bit rate and frame rate. The following are some sample conversions generated by the QuickTime Pro when choosing “Movie to Apple TV”:

* Represents an average bit rate.

Creating Video Podcasts

Although iTunes can play a variety of .mp4, .m4v, and .mov video formats, video iPods require more specific formats. By following the steps in the Creating Video for iPod tutorial, QuickTime 7 Pro will automatically create an .m4v file containing H.264 video and AAC audio that is optimized for iPod. iPod can play the following video formats:

• H.264 video, up to 1.5 Mbps, 640 x 480, 30 frames per sec., Baseline Low-Complexity Profile with AAC-LC audio up to 160 kbps, 48 Khz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats
• H.264 video, up to 768 kbps, 320 x 240, 30 frames per sec., Baseline Profile up to Level 1.3 with AAC-LC audio up to 160 kbps, 48 Khz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats
• MPEG-4 video, up to 2.5 Mbps, 640 x 480, 30 frames per sec., Simple Profile with AAC-LC audio up to 160 kbps, 48 Khz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats

(Making Video Podcasts Look Great On Apple TV at Podcasting News.)

Editor And Publisher - Online reports:

Traffic on USAToday.com is up 21% since the site was relaunched in March — and the number of registered users has more than tripled, USA Today said Thursday.

(USAToday.com Reports Big Jump in Traffic Since March Re-Launch at Editor And Publisher - Online.)

PaidContent reports:

So our first redesign only lasted six months, and here’s what we learned from it: almost everything we thought was great about it, wasn’t. The solution: a mix of what worked in the original design (before Oct. 2006) and in the redesign plus some new ideas.

(Welcome to The Redesign 2.0: Everything Old Is New at PaidContent.)

FollowTheMedia reports:

Too often newspapers announce various cost cuts coupled with some idol talk about increasing digital revenues, but not with much of an implementation plan.

Which is why publishers everywhere need to take a look at the Tampa (Florida) Tribune’s announcement this week of combining “Out With The Old” with a solid plan “To Bring In the New?” It may just be the recipe to save metropolitan newspapers.>/p>

(Via FollowTheMedia.)