Category: Video Posts

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Blog Tips Video Posts

Don’t buy that HD video camera till you read this

Aaaarrrrgh! (courtesy hnnhlh14 on Flickr CC)I just finished a post over on my Sheila’s Guide to the Good Stuff blog, about why tourism organizations might want to hold off using one of those neat pocket video cameras that shoot in HD (high definition) unless they have access to some rather sophisticated editing software and a pretty powerful computer.

Here is a quick summary of my own painful recent painful videographer learning experience as outlined in “Look before you leap into HD video:”

If you’re thinking of shooting HD to take family travel video, be aware of the following issues:

  1. The file extension is different and may not be recognized by your video editing software.  My PC’s installed version of Windows Movie Maker can’t “see” the new .MP4 files from the FlipHD Mino, and the latest version of Movie Maker (that can work with MP4) won’t work with my Windows XP. Technology awesomeness!
  2. Technology crises always happen at 9 pm on a Saturday night when you’re alone – at least, they do with me.  When I saw I had a mess, I put a call out to my video-savvy Twitter followers, who quickly gave me software suggestions.  Hurray for helpful networks.  No, I can’t “call the IT people” because that’s me.  Freelancer awesomeness!
  3. Adobe Premiere Elements was recommended by several (thanks, Dwight Silverman at the Houston Chronicle‘s TechBlog) but I found it crash-prone (corroborated in several user forums.) I never could even launch the 30 day free trial and finally had to uninstall it.  The real problem became clearer when….
  4. ….I then bought (for about $100 at Best Buy) and installed Pinnacle Studio Ultimate HD (thanks for the tip, Omar Gallaga – he’s the Austin American-Statesman Digital Savant.)  Pinnacle didn’t crash and nicely corrected several problems in a few of my video files – harsh sunlight, funky audio – but playbacks kept stuttering and everything just seemed “gummy.” Turns out that when I actually read the Pinnacle system requirements (d’oh!) my laptop has insufficient RAM and the processor is too slow.
  5. To handle the two videos (plus lots of B-roll) that I’ve shot in HD, I’ve now installed the Pinnacle software on my family desktop PC, which has a more powerful processor (but the same amount of RAM as the laptop, so cross your fingers for me.)  I’m copying all the HD files on my laptop onto a 500G-capacity Seagate external hard drive, then dumping them from the Seagate onto the desktop so I can try to make everything work properly on a better platform. You can’t transfer such big files by email or sticking them on a thumb drive (without losing your mind) so I went with the big digital shovel.  Tech logistics awesomeness!

Bottom line? If you want to roll with HD, it’s not enough to shoot it. That part is deceptively easy.

You need a high-powered, fairly recent computer with capable software to edit those HD files unless you’re always going to be content to upload directly online (i.e., can shoot without error and never want to change it much.)

I’m dropping back to my lower-resolution Flip Ultra for now, so before you drop any serious coin on video toys, research what you’ll need to edit your footage.

Do as I say, not as I already screwed up….

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Blog Tips Video Posts

Need a laugh? Low-cost airline spoof video had me rolling

Y’all know I can be pretty tight-fisted, right? I’ll happily spend money when it makes sense to do so, and for things and experiences that are special, but when it comes to transportation and hotels, I’m okay with your basic clean versions.

I simply want to get back and forth and have a decent night’s sleep and shower while I’m there. My best experiences are usually OFF the aircraft and OUTSIDE of the hotel.

So, while living in Europe, my family and I did fly the notoriously cheap Ryanair a few times, because how else could I get from the Netherlands to Pisa, Italy and back for a family of four for about US$150?

The wise traveler must know what he/she is getting into with cheapo airlines, however, which is why I think this video spoof of discount airlines is so funny. They pack in almost every problem you’ll run into – surprise extra fees, ground tours that may suck, fees for luggage (especially checked luggage) and of course satellite airports that are MILES from their namesake.

Continue reading “Need a laugh? Low-cost airline spoof video had me rolling”
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Blog USA Video Posts

Kansas Underground Salt Museum: the tornadoes can’t get you here

Hutchinson Kansas Underground Salt Museum, Salt Queen photo (courtesy KUSM)You won’t believe what’s going on 650 feet underneath those Kansas wheat fields (about the height of the Gateway Arch in St. Louis from top to bottom.)

It only takes 70 seconds going straight down an elevator shaft to see one of the 8 Wonders of Kansas.

A mining museum  —  the Kansas Underground Salt Museum in Hutchinson, Kansas.

A working salt mine  —  although museum visitors are not anywhere near any blasting or ongoing work.

And Batman costumes  —  because at a constant 68 degrees and 45% relative humidity in 325 feet of solid salt, the already-mined sections are a perfect home for the Underground Vaults and Storage company’s long-term records and artifact storage, including a bizarre variety of Hollywood’s goodies and film masters.

Continue reading “Kansas Underground Salt Museum: the tornadoes can’t get you here”
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USA Video Posts

Hey kids, be a Human Gyroscope at the Kansas Cosmosphere

cosmosphere-apollo-training-moduleThere are a variety of “space camp” operations around the US, all promising to offer kids a chance to experience astronaut training, preparation and space exploration concepts.

While it may seem that your family would have to travel to NASA facilities in Houston or Florida for such an opportunity, in reality one of the most established programs is in Hutchinson, Kansas at the Cosmosphere and Space Center.

It’s the Future Astronaut Training Program, one of many camps and hands-on programs offered at “the Cos” (including a 5-day residential camp for grandparents and their grandkids.)

To check it out, your kids might like to investigate the Cos online. They have a UStream video show – What’s Up at the Cos? – and they’re on Facebook and Twitter (President and CEO Chris Orwoll is @CosmosphereCEO and educator Joel – seen briefly strapping me in below in the video – is @CosED.)

During my recent blogger’s familiarization tour around the city, I had an opportunity to get ahead of the kids and climb into one of the training devices myself.

It looks like a gyroscope, but the formal name is Multi-Axis Trainer.

You can hear me hollering as my body goes in multi-axis directions. Don’t worry….I threatened to hurl coffee and coffeecake, but you’re safe in viewing it.

If you can’t see the video embed box, here is the URL directly to the video on my YouTube channel.

(Update June 2009 – I’ve decided that my Hutch posts warrant an additional disclosure line since some readers might not understand the term “blogger fam tour.” The Cosmosphere and Hutchinson CVB paid for my lodging and expenses while I was in Hutchinson. They did not tell me what I could or could not write about. I paid my own airfare to/from Kansas.)

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Asia Blog Video Posts

Video: the Beijing to Shanghai overnight train

During the China 2.0 Tour, our blogger gaggle took the “soft sleeper” overnight train from Beijing to Shanghai, China. We left at about 7:30 pm at night from Beijing and arrived Shanghai at 7 am.

In China, perfect strangers share four-person compartments (both men and women together) but we re-jiggered compartment assignments as much as we could to have at least a few of our 2.0 Tour bloggers in the same compartment.

I shared with two very nice Chinese passengers and the ever-buoyant and enjoyable David Feng.

We had dinner aboard the train and I slept like the proverbial log. Something very soothing about that clickety-clack….

For my RSS readers and anyone else who can’t see the video box below, here is the URL for the video on YouTube.

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Blog USA Video Posts

Put a bow on Kansas City

This quick video was taken at a fun display in the Hallmark Visitors Center in Kansas City, Missouri.  It’s a free facility run by the Hallmark greeting card/gift company, a Kansas City institution.

My Iowa guest blogger friend Jessica was with me, and she said she always loved looking at this machine when she was a kid (never mind how many times we pushed that button to make bows before I said, “Oh yeah, I can shoot a little video of this!”)

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Hawaii Photos USA Video Posts

Video of the Week: Merrie Monarch hula in Hawaii

Every year, a major dance event is held on the “Big Island” of Hawaii in the town of Hilo – the Merrie Monarch Festival hula competition, featuring both modern (‘Auana) and ancient (Kahiko) forms of hula.

King David Kalakaua was the “merrie monarch” who revitalized Hawaiian ethnic language, arts and dance during his reign 1874-1891.

This year’s Merrie Monarch Festival is scheduled for March 30 – April 5, 2008. The video below features Halau I Ka Wekiu in the Kahiko kane (men’s) division.

For anyone reading this post via RSS or other feed mechanism, click here to go to the hula video on YouTube.

For more like this, plus Tahitian dance, see teriimataha on YouTube.

Related post: Get Some Family Aloha When You Travel to Hawaii

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Blog Video Posts

Video Series Part Three: Inexpensive Travel Souvenirs

(This series is cross-posted with the Perceptive Travel blog.)

Welcome to the third and final video in this series about inexpensive and unique travel souvenirs. I want ‘em cheap, I want ‘em to bring a smile to my face and remind me of the place where I bought them and if at all possible, I’d like ‘em to be useful.

Part One started us out with a variety of small items that you can find almost anywhere, Part Two covered “the obvious” T-shirts and coffee mugs, and here in Part Three, I will take a walk through my home to show you a few of my souvenir favorites and tell you the story of the “Diarrhea T-shirt.”

Thanks for your patience as I learn the ins and outs of my Flip video camera….including the discovery that I need to do better with the closeup feature. 🙂

For my RSS/feed readers and anyone else who can’t see the video box below, click this URL to go straight to the video on YouTube.

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Blog Video Posts

Video Series Part Two: Inexpensive Travel Souvenirs

(This series is cross-posted on the Perceptive Travel blog.)

Welcome back to this three-part video series about shopping for inexpensive travel souvenirs. I had no idea how much stuff I’d collected over the years until I pulled it all out to shoot a video.

Part One was a general overview of my souvenir philosophy (inexpensive, evocative of origin and hopefully useful in daily life) with some examples of fun items I’ve scored, like a rubber ear acupuncture training device from the medical supplies section of a Hong Kong department store. Gee, maybe that’s not very useful in daily life….:)

Part Two below talks about the items everyone seems to find: coffee mugs and T-shirts. Watch the video for my suggestions on how to find unique versions of them during your travels.

Part Three, the final video, will give you a quick tour of assorted doo-dads in my house, many picked up for a song, including a fun Harry Potter movie poster in Japanese.

For RSS/feed readers and anyone else who may not be able to see the box, click here for the YouTube URL for the video.

Categories
Blog Video Posts

Video Series Part One: Inexpensive Travel Souvenirs

(This series is cross-posted with the Perceptive Travel blog.)

I envy those folks who travel but don’t have a burning desire to bring back tokens of their visits. My own home bulges with tangible reminders of the places I’ve been lucky enough to see.

The ideal travel souvenir is relatively inexpensive, evocative of its origin and (hopefully) useful in one’s daily life. It’s easy to find costly items to bring back that serve no function other than as dust collectors or to impress others, but the true traveler’s challenge is to find unique, fun mementos that bring good memories without flattening the wallet.

In the video below (Part One of a three-part video series – here’s Part Two and Part Three) I discuss a variety of ideas for inexpensive travel souvenirs that can be found just about anywhere in the world. There’s no shopping snobbery here; ideas include plastic floatie pens and medical supplies. (!)

For RSS/feed/email readers and anyone who can’t see the video box, click here for the video’s URL on YouTube.

Correction: the Hong Kong map I show is in Chinese, not Japanese (duh) and I said it was a two-part series, but it’s a three-part.

Update 15 Feb 4 pm, the video has been mysteriously “deleted,” so am working with tech support to restore it. The URL link above for YouTube DOES work. Thanks!

Update 18 Feb, now I’m going to try an embed box straight from YouTube.