Camera Calibration Audio/Video Synchronization Camera Focus Targets Record Keeping 
Answer: Audio/Video Synchronization
Even for those of us who have never set foot on a movie set, the scene is a familiar one: the director yells “Action!” and an assistant slams the clapperboard closed with a crack. Although clapperboards have information on them about the director, date, time, and scene, the information is secondary to their primary function as a synchronization tool for the audio and video tracks. The sharp crack sound visual indicator of the two striped sides of the clapper slapping together make it easy to align the two tracks in post production.
The clapperboard itself has undergone several changes over the last century. Originally one assistant would hold the clapper component, called a clap stick, and another assistant would hold the slate with the scene information and date. Leon M. Leon, one of the pioneers of sound engineering, was the first to see the utility of combining the two devices into one unit which allowed a single assistant to hold both the slate and the clap stick. Later revisions included swapping out the slate for a sheet of white acrylic (black marker on a white background is visible under a wider variety of conditions than white chalk on black slate), adding back lighting, and in the most recent incarnations upgrading to digital timers, color calibration bars, and other modern tweaks.
If you have ever upgraded your Windows installation without formatting, you have probably come across the Windows.old folder which houses all the files from your previous installation. Here’s how to use it to restore your files.
Your computer feels a little slower than it did this time last year; is that change something you can chalk up to an aging processor?
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We’ve seen our fair share of sunrise simulators, but by far this one is the most polished build–everything from the atomic clock circuit to the LEDs are all packed cleanly in a frosted acrylic case.
This fresh video from NASA provides the clearest view of the Earth at night ever seen, thanks to the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership Satellite. Check out the video and accompanying pics to see the stunning views.
More and more computers are shipping sans-disc drive leading many industry watchers to proclaim the optical disc an endangered species on its way out. Do you still use your drive or are you letting the disc go?
Who doesn’t love animations? They make everything look so cool. But in some cases, animations are a distraction, and the same is true for Windows 8’s start screen (the “Modern UI”). Fortunately, there’s a very simple way to disable all those animations. Keep reading to find out how it’s done.
You might be surprised to see us reviewing a Windows 8 book, especially considering we recently launched our own book, The How-To Geek Guide to Windows 8 – but since we don’t (yet) have a paperback version, we may as well give you another option.
From tablets to replicas of Tattoine, visions of geeky and technology-loaded gifts surely dance in many of your heads. This week’s question is all about you and the loot you’d love to find in your stocking this year.
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