Why We Recommend our YesLawDVD Deliverable
Disc for Litigators
When synchronizing a court
reporter’s transcript to video to facilitate a litigator’s use of video, we
recommend delivery with our YesLawDVD software. A YesLawDVD will include the synchronized
transcripts for all the major trial preparation and presentation software
applications, the video in MPEG-1, MPEG-2 and/or DVD-video, and the
YesLawDVD player editor software that allows litigation professionals to
easily edit and present select video clips as well as export directly to
Sanction and Summation case databases or to PowerPoint presentations
complete with scrolling text.
Unique to the YesLawDVD
disc is inclusion of the YesLaw software on the deliverable disc along with
the synchronized transcripts and media such that litigators need not
install software into their computers – they often do not have
administrative privileges for their firm-provided computers. No copy protection is applied to the
software or video so that it may be easily copied to computers and run
without installation of the software.
The YesLawDVD software is
compatible with MPEG-1, MPEG-2, and DVD-video (VIDEO_TS) video formats as
well as WAV, WMA and MP3 audio-only formats. Unique among the synchronized legal video
players, the YesLaw DVD software provides frame-accurate MPEG-2 editing.
Litigators can quickly and
easily edit video clips, re-order and combine clips, present in full screen
with or without captions, or export to other trial presentation software
including PowerPoint with scrolling text.
Encoding MPEG Files for Legal Applications
We recommend the TMPGEnc
software for creating MPEG-1 and MPEG-2 files for use within the different
legal preparation and presentation software. We have no relationship with the makers
of TMPGEnc although we do use the software ourselves and provide technical
support to our resellers in the use of the software. We are often asked about the proper
settings to be used for encoding MPEG-1 and MPEG-2 files for use within
legal trial preparation and presentation applications so we provide output
templates and installation instructions for both TMPGEnc 4.0 Xpress and
Video Mastering Works 5…
TMPGEnc 4.0
Xpress YesLaw MPEG Templates and Installation Instructions
Video
Mastering Works 5 YesLaw MPEG Templates and Installation Instructions
The software is available
for download from the web (Google TMPGEnc) for about $100 for your first
copy and a discounted $80 for additional copies for registered users. Registered users also receive discounts
on upgrades to the latest version of the software and may download the
latest updates or re-download for re-installation upon computer
problems. Install discs are available
for and additional $10 or so but it is easier for registered users to
download the latest software. Be sure to record your serial number and
save it away in a safe place (not on your computer) for disaster recovery.
We only recommend hardware
encoders from Digital Rapids or Optibase however
they are comparatively expensive, encode in real time, require full-size PC
slots which are expensive to adapt to laptops or require lunch box size PCs
at a minimum adding to your equipment to carry, and ultimately tapes are
going away. Perhaps you money is
better spent on a beefy PC running a software encoder. And even if you are using a hardware
encoder, you will need a light editing software tool.
We recommend the TMPGEnc
software because: it produces well behaved MPEG files – files that will
work well in the different legal preparation and presentation software
packages, it encodes MPEG-1 files from recorded DVDs at faster than
real-time speeds, it includes batch processing capabilities, it provides
the necessary editing tools legal videographers will likely require, and
the software is inexpensive.
The TMPGEnc software can be
used: to rip recorded DVDs to MPEG files, down-sample DVD video to MPEG-1
files, clean up MPEG files from “the wild” – MPEG files of questionable
quality, boost audio levels, brighten dark video or apply light color
correction, cropping 16:9 (widescreen) video to 4:3 display aspect ratio,
create MPEG files from still pictures or audio-only files, and append MPEG
files together – although we do not recommend creating single, very
large/long video files.
Nominal MPEG-1 Settings:
§ 352 x
240 pixels
§ Constant
bit rate video of 600-1200 kbps*
§ MPEG-1
Layer II Audio of 128, 192, or 224 kbps
§ Dual
channel audio – sound both left and right, although stereo is not required
§ 48 kHz
audio sampling rate for video that might be authored into DVD video**
* Lower bit rates can be
used for deposition talking heads with higher bit rates required for
action, panning and zooming. The bit
rate will need to be adjusted accordingly if 352 x 240 pixels is not used.
** The YesLaw
auto-synchronization software works reliably with both 44.1 and 48 kHz
audio sampling however unfortunately 44.1 kHz audio sampling may be
required for reliable synchronization within non-YesLaw
auto-synchronization software.
Nominal MPEG-2 Settings:
§ 720 x
480 pixels especially for video to be authored into DVD
§ Constant
bit rate video of 2000-4000 kbps*
§ NTSC
not PAL and program stream not transport stream
§ AC3
Dolby or MPEG-1 Layer II Audio of 128, 192, or 224 kbps
§ Dual
channel audio – sound both left and right, although stereo is not required
§ 48 kHz
audio sampling rate required for video that might be authored into DVD**
* Lower bit rates can be used
for deposition talking heads with higher bit rates required for action,
panning and zooming. The bit rate
will need to be adjusted accordingly if 720 x 480 pixels is
not used.
** The YesLaw
auto-synchronization software works reliably with both 44.1 and 48 kHz
audio sampling however unfortunately 44.1 kHz audio sampling may be
required for reliable synchronization within non-YesLaw
auto-synchronization software.
Attorney Requests Redacted DVD for Playback
in Court Room
The most current version of
the YesLaw Transcript Generator software is now 1.0.1.127. The 1.0.1.127
release adds the production task feature and corrects some bugs. The Production Task feature allows saving
by name and fast recall of checkbox configurations. So for example, one might configure a
disc image creation task with all the appropriate checkboxes selected. This configuration could be recalled by
simply selecting the disc image task from the Production Task pull-down
menu on the third wizard page.
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