Not all those who wander are lost
A Mac geek, I sagely advised Rockin’ to NOT buy a first generation product.
Get the MacBook Air. It’s enough computer for 99% of the world.
#Don’tPracticeWhatYouPreach
Myself? I ordered a first generation SILICON MacBook Pro day 1. It costs CAD $400 more than the Air.
The 1% who need the Pro are those wanting to video edit in 4K. Drinkin’ the fanboy Kool-Aid.
Click PLAY or watch a review on YouTube.
Sam, from Toronto, is one of the top travel video editors. He got started as the video guy for The Chainsmokers.
I’m studying Sam’s work. He’s a master with the drone.
Click PLAY or watch it on Twitter.
Sam spent over 500 hours editing this project. A tribute to his brother.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Of many competing services offering online digital assets, Story Blocks is most famous. And advertises the most.
But I was convinced to join instead less expensive Envato Elements US $198 / year. Both work with Final Cut Pro, my software.
They provide licensed images, audio, videos, graphics, plugins, fonts, logos, tutorials, 3D, graphic & video templates, presentation templates, infographics and much more. I’ll be including those in my videos, websites and presentations.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
One of the main things I like about using their digital resources is the simplicity of licensing. I’m much less worried that YouTube — sometime in future — might take down my YouTube due to copyright complaint.
Click PLAY or watch it on Vimeo.
We love YouTube. My first upload was Mar 28, 2006.
Google bought the startup November 2006 for US$1.65 billion.
I spun off a hiking YouTube channel Jan 17, 2018.
Finally got it looking good October 2020. I’m studying how to post better videos in future. #CovidGoals
Click PLAY or watch the trailer on YouTube. Subscribe to be notified of future updates.
The best YouTube uploads have dedicated thumbnails like this. The rest show a somewhat random frame of the video.
YouTube thumbnail
A #CovidGoal is to improve my video editing.
A secondary goal, to improve photos and start sharing them more.
It’s working. But so far I’m only up to the stage of knowing now what I don’t know yet.
Mostly my videos are for outdoor recreation, but I also hope to get back indoor soon shooting Gymnastics.
Here’s my most ambitious edit, so far.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
It has more editing magic than I’ve used in the past: Sound effect, Color balance, Slow mo, Intro flash, Ken Burns pan, Speed ramp, Focus blur, Zoom, Directional blur, Gausian blur, Radial centre. 3 cameras.
Audio the most time consuming part, however.
Here are the BASICS for upcoming shoots:
Yikes. 😗
Shooting and editing in 4K resulted in a video file of 1.58 GB.
If you click on the cog bottom right of the YouTube video, you can watch in 4K. .
UPDATE – For some reason YouTube doesn’t offer my 4K video in 4K. Another reason I’ll probably stick with the lower resolution 1080p, for now.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
On Oct 7, 2020 a guy still wearing his motorcycle helmet slipped and fell here. Wasn’t rescued until the next morning.
In 2012 a woman fell 100-feet — and somehow survived.
For hiking I’m not often going to be carrying a full tripod. Too big. Too heavy.
But for cycling, I’ll often bring this one along.
I’ve spent hundreds of hours videotaping from tripods. But — until now — have never used one as an extended selfie stick.
Of many similar options, I got the Selfie Stick Tripod, UBeesize 51″ Extendable Tripod Stand with Bluetooth Remote for iPhone & Android Phone. I won’t be using the Bluetooth Remote.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Click PLAY or watch some of my tests on YouTube.
Like everyone, my iPhone battery life progressively died until it was nearly unusable.
A local shop wanted CAD $112 plus tax to replace the battery.
Apple Canada charged CAD $88 plus tax plus shipping. About $100 total.
3 months warranty.
It’s a bit of work backing up and then restoring the phone. But not confusing. It worked well.
I’ll now be using two iPhones:
This 17 second clip comes from an original 2.36 GB.
I don’t think I’ll be able to edit in 4K very often. I’ve crashed Final Cut Pro on my MacBook Pro a few times already.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
In 2020 I don’t need 4K.
But since I’m experimenting with all the other features of my new Sony ZV-1, I gave it a go.
4K has more pixels. Bigger files, of course.
With more pixels you can zoom in your editing software.
Even better, you can use the “Ken Burns” pan-and-zoom effect normally used in photos — with video. That would be the main reason I’d shoot in 4K.
As my videos will end up on YouTube — most viewers watching in lower resolutions — you might ASSume there’s no advantage in shooting 4K for those who don’t have 4K monitors.
Not so. If you shoot in 4K the resulting 1080p YouTube version will be better than if you shoot originally in 1080p.
Click PLAY or to watch some experiments in 4K on YouTube. Watch in 4K.
The slow mo is choppy for some reason.
