The AV (Audio-Visual Group
An AV is a series of related images and/or videos and/or animation, possibly telling a story, set to music and/or commentary
The Tonbridge AV Group meets at 7:45 in rooms D4 and D5 at the Weald of Kent Grammar School on the second Monday of each month from September to April. Because of the pandemic, our meetings will be held using Zoom until September. In our meetings, we view members' AVs - and if you wish to receive any advice there is always someone happy to help. We provide frequent tutorials on how to use software and equipment. Admission is £2 and includes refreshments.
It's worth pointing out that unlike some other camera clubs' AV Groups, we actively encourage the use of video in AVs.
There is a variety of software which can be used to create a digital AV, all of which is fairly intuitive and inexpensive. Whichever software you use, and whether you create your AV on a PC or Mac, the laptop we'll be using will be able to play it.
You really don’t need to be a computer expert to produce AVs. Indeed, some software have a “Wizard” tool which enables a remarkably professional looking AV to be produced in a few minutes. AV software is far easier to use than image-editing software like Photoshop.
AVs can be converted to so-called “movie” formats (e.g. the universal .mp4) which can be played on any reasonably modern “Smart” TV via a memory stick inserted into the television's USB port. AVs can also be played on iPads and some mobile phones and uploaded to Facebook, YouTube or Vimeo. AVs created on a PC can also be converted to executables which have the advantage of being quite small but, unfortunately, can only be played on PCs and not on Macs or TVs.
The group holds an Annual Competition for which a trophy, held for one year, is presented to the winner. The 2020 competition was judged by Andy Smith LRPS and won by Philip Smithies (with "A Tale of Two Palaces") with David Brooker in second place (with "The Hawkhurst Branch Line") and Philip Smithies in third place (with "Portrait of Vienna").