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+This directory contains the source for the "Virt tools in 60 seconds"
+videos.
+
+How to use it:
+
+(1) You need a computer with a full sized keyboard (with keypad) and 3
+button mouse.  Blender is not usable with anything less.  If all you
+have is a laptop, then you will need to plug in an external keyboard
+and 3 button mouse.  You will also need a good quality external
+microphone to record the voiceover.
+
+(2) This is not a tutorial for Blender.  If you are not familiar with
+Blender, then you need to consult an online tutorial or buy a book.
+You *cannot* just figure out Blender by messing around with it.  It
+won't work so don't even try it.  Start at the Blender home page
+(http://www.blender.org/) for suggested reading material and books.
+
+(3) Decide on a topic.  The virt tools project status has some
+suggestions.
+
+(4) Write a script.  Jot this down on paper or in a new text file.
+
+The math of "virt tools in 60 seconds" is quite simple: 5 seconds for
+the title sequence + 5 seconds for the final card, means you have to
+fit everything comfortably into 50 seconds.  A little bit of time is
+spent in fades too, so in reality it will be a few seconds less than
+this.
+
+What can you say in 50 seconds?  Not very much.  You'll have to stick
+to one very simple point.  You should practice reading through your
+script and timing it.  [On a side note: Who owns a stopwatch, or even
+a watch these days?  Certainly not me.  And GNOME doesn't seem to come
+with a stopwatch applet either.  I use my phone to time myself.]
+
+Along with your script, note down what you'd like to appear on the
+screen.  Timing is less important here because you are allowed to (and
+should) cut things out and even speed up parts.
+
+(5) Copy everything from template/ into a new subdirectory.  The files
+in this directory are:
+
+  * title.blend - The "Virt tools in 60 seconds" title sequence which
+    generates a 5 second clip (without the final fade - that will be
+    added in Blender Video Sequence Editor).  You have to modify the
+    title and render this as "title/*.exr".  Make sure to enable
+    OpenEXR output, and also MBLUR (motion blur) when rendering.
+
+  * title/*.exr - The title sequence.  Each *.exr file is a single
+    frame of the output.  (5 seconds at 25 fps => 125 files).
+
+  * endcard.blend - The card displayed at the end which advertises the
+    website and other tutorials.  This is 5 seconds long.
+
+  * endcard/*.exr - The rendered card (5 seconds).  This is in OpenEXR
+    format (one file per frame).  You could re-render this if you need
+    to change the end card for any reason.
+
+  * final.blend - The Blender VSE that ties everything together into
+    the finished 60 second video, including the title sequence, end
+    card, and fades.  You have to add your demonstration to this (see
+    below) and render the final sequence.  When rendering, don't
+    forget to select "Do Sequence" before pressing ANIM/F12.
+
+  * final/*.exr - The final video as separate OpenEXR files.
+
+(6) Record (your) desktop.
+
+We've found a GNOME program called "recordmydesktop" to be perfectly
+good for recording what appears on the screen while you're running
+through the demonstration.  Three important points to note:
+
+  * You are going to throw away the soundtrack from the recording.
+    (You will record it separately later).  It makes no sense to keep
+    it because the sound quality will be crap and no one wants to hear
+    you hammering away on the keyboard.  This means it doesn't matter
+    what you say while you're recording the demonstration.  Don't try
+    to read the script.
+
+  * You can going to shorten and edit this heavily.  You need enough
+    video so that *after* editing, the demonstration will run to
+    exactly 50 seconds.  *Before* editing, the video can be much
+    longer.
+
+  * Adjust the program or terminal so that fonts are as large as you
+    can get away with.  People might watch this in a tiny YouTube
+    window, and small text will be completely unreadable.  For the
+    same reason, adjust the area recorded so that there is as little
+    wasted space around the edges as possible.
+
+Watch the recording back over with the sound turned off, and if
+something's not right, record it all again.
+
+(7) Edit the desktop recording.  Use Blender VSE ("final.blend") and
+edit it down to 50 seconds.  Note in VSE you will need to remove the
+sound from the recording.
+
+Once it is edited down, render this.  Don't forget to select "Do
+sequence" before rendering otherwise Blender will try to render from
+the 3D view instead of the sequence.
+
+(8) Plug in your high quality external microphone.  Test that it works
+and there's no background noise.  We use Audacity for this, but there
+are plenty of alternatives.
+
+Now record your sweet voice as you play the rendered video back.
+Again you might have to do this several times to get it right.
+
+(9) Back in Blender VSE ("final.blend") add the sound recording as an
+extra track, then render the final video.
+
+(10) We like to render the video in several formats:
+
+  * MJPEG (Blender calls it "AVI Jpeg").  The files are huge, but
+    they can be played everywhere.
+
+  * Ogg Theora (OGV).  You can take the MJPEG and convert it to .ogv
+    using "gst-launch".  However doing this is "doubly lossy".  I
+    don't know if we can generate OGV directly or from the EXR files.
+
+(11) Upload it to the website.  Send a message to the virt-tools
+mailing list so we can coordinate the upload.  You can also upload
+videos to external services like YouTube.
+
+Thanks for your participation in the virt tools project!
+
+- Richard W.M. Jones, July 2010.
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