DadsCenter.org Blog

EWA and Welcome To Chicago

For about the past month and a half, I’ve been using my training on Final Cut Express from The Apple Store to edit the video production to be shown at The Education Writer’s Association meeting in Chicago this weekend. It’s been a great learning experience, all from an idea I got on March 4 at 330 a.m. while in Houston preparing to shoot the 20-plus camp directors for the ExxonMobil Bernard Harris Summer Science Camps. Well, last night as all members arrived at the hotel here in Chicago, they were treated to a copy of the DVD in Windows Media (yawn) format anticipating that most who arrived here would have a PC laptop. I’ve been surprised how many have Macs. And so I’ve been quietly cussing that the DVD was in WM because it’s a loop and it doesn’t start up when you use it on a real computer, i.e. a Mac.

But I certainly have made some good contacts and friendships while here. My good friend Kent Fischer from The Dallas Morning News is been seriously bitten by the blog bug. I met a good friend of his named Alex Russo, and have enjoyed reading his blog, This Week In Education. (http://scholasticadministrator.typepad.com/thisweekineducation/) (Sorry, I can’t do links with a Mac in Safari in Word Press).

This has been a good conference and it is has been good to see young guns on the edge of new technologies searching for answers to how to plug into the future in an ever-changing profession such as the news business. Once upon a time, I was a young press secretary to a governor who was showed what a Web browser was and how it worked. I am the one who had the first T1 lines put into the Alabama Capitol in 1995. I am the first one to have secured an email address (on CompuServe) for Alabama Gov. Fob James. And made one of the first campaign Web sites in the state, too.

Kent, Alex and Scott Elliot from The Dayton Daily all are trying to do what I was doing nearly 15 years ago, this time with blogging. It’s an exciting time, and one that will continue to evolve the news industry and how PR people like myself interact with them.

Kent gave Dallas ISD media a good raking over the coals yesterday in one of his presentations. I kept thinking back to my 5.5 years in that job and my long-held philosophy of “Speed Kills.” That could not be any more an accurate term today than it was when Carville was touting it in 1992.

But some will resist change for whatever reason. One very good reporter here today was sitting in the lobby writing out their presentation on paper with a pen because the company laptop never works and well, like I said, some old habits never change.

I am ready to go home though and spend time with my wife and kids. Next weekend I leave for DC for another event. And the pace of the Internet keeps on marching forward. Tomorrow, I go home to be a dad again. I cannot wait.

Try, Try Again

Well, I guess this requires more tinkering.  I am having good luck, however, ripping from HandBrake and saving as a MP4.  From there, I can convert to an AVI format using Quicktime, and Final Cut Express pulls it right on it, skipping the whole iMovie in iLife08 completely.

Ripping DVD to a Mac

Okay, here’s the new system I’m adopting for importing video to then use in Final Cut Express.  I’m using Handbreak to take the video off of the DVD.  It’s being imported as an AVI file with as much clear definition as possible.  From there, the files will pull directly into FCE. If you go a different route, such as saving them as an MP4, you then have to open them in Quicktime, then import them (each) into iMovie.  Once in iMovie, if you’re switching to 16:9 from 4:3, you then have to edit down the piece, crop it so that you get the head room you desire, then export it to a .mov for Quicktime.  I’ve found I also have to redo it in Quicktime so that I can get rid of the interlacing, etc.  Needless to say, this whole process takes a hell of a long time.  With this AVI process, I think I’m going to cut that by almost 2/3s. And the quality should be as good.

If you are taking One-To-One and you are legitimately importing video from DVD using Handbrake, don’t expect the good fokes at The Apple Store to help you too much with the importing.  Since it’s third-party software and their managers are nervous about their employees telling you how to copy DVDs, (anti-piracy concerns, which are legit–I really have video that I have the rights to…) they’re kinda antsy about telling you very much about it.

So, using HandBrake, load the DVD, fix the Format setting to AVI file, and the Codecs setting can be on MPEG-4 Video/ MP3 AUDIO.  I’ve left the frame rat the same as source, and attempting to see what average bitrate looks like at 1500.

You can also go down into Picture Settings and affect the aspect ratio, I’ve set the Deinterlace to Fast.  Right now it’s converting a 25 minute video clip and it’s only taken about 15 minutes to do, which again, is much faster than the multi-step process I’ve been having to follow.

Rain, rain and more rain. Finally.

Well, I had postulated that it would not be a good idea to take any of the local TV weather fokes with me anytime soon to Vegas. Since Saturday, they’ve been saying it would rain in Dallas beginning Sunday p.m.  Well, Tuesday a.m. it’s finally started. And boy has it.  I don’t know that we need a bunch of rain, but it is nice to see.  Hopefully will knock down some of the pollen that’s been bugging many of us of late.

Had my video class this morning.  Very helpful tips.  Trying to use some of them as I rework some elements of an important project I’m working on.  Going to try some new formats as well and see if they work as well or better in Final Cut Express.

Saturday a.m. Review

Trying something new today. Still quiet in the house at 7 a.m. but I’m writing from upstairs. Still too chilly outside these days to try from the back patio, but that day seems to be coming fast. It’s almost mid-February now and no sign of any cold weather heading our way. Which is concerning from the standpoint that that can usually mean lots of flies and mosquitoes come spring and summer.

Two of the kids had a fun PTA program on Thursday p.m. Good songs, good times. They both did a good job.

Work has been extra busy this week, but that’s good, too. I’ve done a lot of writing there, which has really drained me from writing here. Still at the end of the day I found I had a different part of my brain that still could do Soduko, even the hard ones.

During my FCE class at the Apple Store this week we came to the simple conclusion that the green we were using wasn’t green enough. Kari and I went to a fabric store Wednesday night and tried again. We bought felt this time. Lots of it and it has worked much better. The thing I need to work on now is how to not get my subjects to lean into the more intense light and then lean back into the more subtle. This changes the color of the screen and aperture of the camera. My guess is that I need to push the camera back a little further, but I’m running out of depth in the room and I don’t see Kari letting me set this stuff up anywhere else. Have to give that some thought.

Editing the video though really was much easier with the brighter, more solid green. We also bought some matted gray felt that will make an excellent background for still portraits.

I have lots to do around the house today. My car is absolutely filthy inside and out which has been driving me nuts.

And I begin a special video project tomorrow. Can’t wait to get going. Going to be very poignant and moving.

Okay, got to get going. I’ve heard Ash up. She came to our door, opened it, saw I was up and then tried to sneak back to her room. LOL. Oh, and I’ve got to put a password on this machine on screensaver. She’s taken a strong liking to this machine and has reset it a couple of times to where it talks with every move I make. How she gets into the Universal Settings and reconfigures this setting is beyond me, but it’s happened twice now. Shame on her, now shame on me. It’s great that she wants to use a superior Mac computer, not great that she’s making config changes that are driving me nuts when it happens.

Saturday morning

Well, the fewer details I mention, probably the better. There was no date last night. No show for reasons not understood. Let’s leave it at that.

Leaving work last night, I listened to the advice of an office-mate and stopped by the flower fokes in the lobby. Jack pot. Two dozen roses for Kari and they are splendid. And for an unbelievable price. I’m a hero. For the moment at least!

I’ve got One-to-One in an hour and a half. Have imported some wmv files this week and got the Flip4Mac converter so they will do more than look like a bunch of letters when I open the file. Problem has been with iDVD. When I’ve burned the disc, the audio hasn’t come with it. It all looks good now. Video very crisp. Can’t hear anything though. Good thing I have One-to-One at 8 a.m.

All is quiet in the house. Molly and I are continuing our weekend morning ritual. I type, she sits here on the couch with me. Can’t wait to get her weighed again. When we got her last year, the couple said her mother weighed about 100 lbs. Molly has truly been digging the past month, and it’s starting to tick me off. So last weekend, she’d dug near the pool and was brown. Very little white. All the mud had tracked across the patio so I pressure washed the patio and then disconnected it and rinsed her down. All wet, she’s much smaller.

I need to go start a brisket before I leave, but as I think and type, that might be better to save for tomorrow’s game time meal. That big game–not allowed to advertise SP IXII, don’t you know.

Many projects to get done today. Some honey do, some for the betterment of the family, some for me. I’ve got to get the green screen in the den done and shoot. It’s really starting to bug me we have all the TV lights and this big screen deal in the den. I’m ready to have the den back. Like I get to go in there and do much with the kids running hither and yawn.

Going to attempt to put the older six in a circle today and start trying to have them learn how to better talk to each other. Yes, they all are just being kids, but I think they can do a better job of talking nice to each other. Manners. Kindness. Respect for each other as human. Naw….

So such is my game plan. And we shall see how it goes.

Jam Sessions at Apple Store

Three of the kids went to the Apple Store yesterday for a Jam Session training class in Garage Band.  It was about an hour long and I think they had their interests tickled.  In all fairness to the store, they had two people teaching the class who never had done it before, so the training wasn’t as good as I’d hoped, nor as good as One-to-One on FCE.  Nonetheless, the kids got something out of it and will be returning for a video class.

Sunday, Fog like the Valley

Wow. Fog today. Yes, the weather fokes were even talking about “freezing fog.” Whatever that is.

Reminded me of life in the San Juaquin Valley here in Dallas today. Very soupy for sure.

Have done a fair amount of editing and reorganizing on my computer. Have converted all the video from the DV camera into a QuickTime Pro format that can be pulled into Final Cut Express. With the editing techniques that I’ve been taught in the past month, really have been able to move along with what I’m doing. Really have gotten good at doing quick edits. Now it’s time for lessons on refinement and improving my products.

Still working on the green screen concept. Have tried to do a lot with lighting, but not getting the coloring I want, even with 500 watt light bulbs. Remember, I’m trying to do this without breaking the family budget.

Would be ready to put kids in front of green screen this week if I was further along with the lighting. Not really sure what to do about it at this writing. I’ve got class in two hours, then going to the office to fix up my new space. Switched offices on Friday. Now I need to put it all together so when I go in there in the morning, all is ready for concentration and production.

Haley called me today. They were headed to McDonald’s with their mother. Can’t wait for them to be back home tomorrow.

Ready to get all this video stuff figured out and get it shot. Getting tired of the den looking like this myself. Can’t imagine how Kari’s coping with it!!! It is a mess.

Okay, I’m supposed to be napping. Still kinda out of it from the sinus infection and whatever else I’ve got going on.

Garage Band

One of my sons, the one I write about having AV talent, has been working in Garage Band at school. Sadly, he made a cd to bring home and we’ve tried tonight to load and listen, but can’t get it to work. I feel awful for him. Just hope he can figure out what format to put it in at school and we try again Monday.

I’ve only opened it a couple of times, but Garage Band is pretty cool stuff. But then again, it’s Apple software. It’s cool because it is.

Wednesday

It’s been a few days since I’ve had time to write. FCE class Monday was okay, but not all that I could have hoped for. I did learn a new way to convert my video through QuickTime Pro and change it’s aspect ratio from 4:3 to 16:9 and add progressive scan so that it is richer and cleaner. That took 30 minutes and in and of itself was worth an hour’s time. Spent some time last night reorganizing files on my machine.

A note on the homefront. My Gateway 22 inch flat screen monitor for my machine we bought less than two years ago appears to have died or is on the fritz. Kari’s machine continues to labor under the delusion that it’s a good machine. I’m so darn tired of PCs and all the things that go wrong with them. They just really are not worth the hassle. Yes, they cost less, but in the end, with computers I have found that you get what you pay for.

I also learned from The Apple Store Monday evening that the new Mac Book Air is SLOW. Almost if not slower than the Mac Book. Beware. I still have yet to see why anyone would want this. The cost is high and the functionality seems scratchy. Not to mention that to get anything like a DVD etc they’re counting on you using someone else’s machine or you having another machine that would send the information to the Mac Book Air wirelessly.

The lesser weight of this machine would be nice to go on a trip, say like the one I’m taking to New Orleans and back tomorrow, but in the end, it just sounds like a pain. Of course this is what I said, too, about iPhone and now that I have one, I’m a fierce defender of PC people who bad mouth it, too. I’m to the point of realizing, once you’ve had a Mac you never go back….

Okay, gotta get ready for work. And be ready at 07:00:01:01 to log onto Southwest and retrieve boarding passes for tomorrow. Last time I did it at that very instant and was number 21. I’m getting into my starting blocks….