Video Production Resources - Best Ways to Keep Learning

Never stop learning, no matter what industry you're in. That's a given. Otherwise, you'll get old and stale really fast. Can't rest on your laurels, especially when it comes to technology. And just about everything nowadays has something to do with technology, whether you like it or not... but more importantly, whether you think so or not.

When it comes to video production, you're already dealing with a tech curve that is unavoidable. Digital video from A to Z requires you to know so many functions, knobs, switches, additional gear needs, software, file types, and even how natural things like the location of the sun or what someone's clothing is going to look like on footage to avoid post-production nightmares.

Luckily, there are people out there in cyberland who have made plenty of mistakes (and successes) for you to learn from. Or to share in their experience. One thing for sure, you can't be afraid of making these mistakes. It's the road to learning. If nothing else, it has forced me to find the best online information avenues to hook up with. And now I will share those with you.

Top spot on my list is Creative Cow, a magazine for media production professionals. When you go to their website, you'll see these categories listed: Forums, Tutorials, Magazine (their regular published articles), Training, Videos-Reels, Podcasts, Events, Services, Newsletter, News, Blogs. For the video professional or amateur/ enthusiast, this website is like being in a huge candy store, think tank, university, and geek heaven all in one place. The Forums section alone makes this site one of the best resources in the video production industry. You basically have every piece of pro gear and software topics listed, plus a variety of creative and marketing sections to peruse. Members range from broadcast company experts to independent videographers and editors, to filmmakers, to newbies of all disciplines dealing with multi-media and the industry.

Another great set of tools online to use is your manufacturers' websites - and in many cases, the makers of video gear and software apps offer forums and tutorials specifically aimed at helping their own community of customers. You'll see extensive information to gain knowledge from by the makers of Abobe, Final Cut Pro, Avid, Grass Valley and Sony Vegas, just to mention the biggest video editing software creators. (As an aside, Final Cut Pro's website is the least helpful to its user community, as typical of Apple/Mac products.)

Then there's Media College, which has free resources for film and digital media production, including user manuals, industry news, and also a forum. Other great forums to belong to are VideoMaker, DVInfo, and DVXUser. Tons of industry-related info can be found on Pro Cinematography's website.

Don't forget the easily-searched resources on places like YouTube and eHow. Sometimes, you can find exactly what you want through these UGC (User-Generated Content) video sites. These can be a pain if you're not specific in your search terms. But watching video tutorials is nice when you're too tired to read or if in a hurry for quick, easy answers. Just be aware that quick and easy is not always the best answer.

I will throw in these last couple links for good measure - especially for those who would like to find out more about learning on their own, how to go about it, and how to apply a little motivation to get off their butt, get creative, and get going with projects. One is a blog called Abundance Blog (not at all a kooky or salespitchy blog). The other is a book called Secrets of a Buccaneer-Scholar: How Self-Education and the Pursuit of Passion Can Lead to a Lifetime of Success by James Marcus Bach, son of Richard Bach, the author who wrote Jonathan Livingston Seagull.


Have a great day - and keep learning!!

Scroogle Back Up, For Now

Oh well, the moment our last post ran, Scroogle Scraper's operation went back up online. Yes, folks. It's working for now. There's no immediate information regarding how they ironed things out. Possibly, they are just scraping temporarily... or the Masters of Google have given them another go-ahead until the next time.

Remember, as soon as you light a cigarette, the bus comes. Or for you non-smokers - as soon as you get up to go to the bathroom, the food comes.

Graphic Credit: Courtesy of http://www.faithandfacts.com

The End of Scroogle, The End of Your Internet Privacy

As of May 10, 2010, the interface that Scroogle Scraper had been using since 2002 to access ad-free Google searches is now gone... and Scroogle may have finally bit the dust at last.

This particular instance of Scroogle getting jammed, banned, or otherwise yanked and intercepted, has geeks worried that this time the world's giant search engine may have eliminated its simple interface that Scroogle had until now been scraping.

For those never initiated, Scroogle Scraper was one of those "best-kept secrets" for those who enjoy their internet privacy and prefer to circumvent needless search results, such as ads and SEO-pumped sites. Scroogle faithfully returned ad-free, cookie-free, search-term record-free search result pages.

Beyond the "mere" privacy concerns of long-time users, though, is a sense of loss for what they feel was just a great, all-around "search engine" (which is provided by Google itself before it loads its ad carnage). The ability to get un-juiced data after hitting the enter key has been a most useful tool for serious researchers wanting better information, faster. Geeks - and other information hounds outside the IT industry - will now have to deal with what mainstream internet users have long accepted: Endless pages of paid info and jacked-up sites. Mourners of Scroogle will now be getting used to the "Next" button to sift through all the crap.

The alternatives come up short. Available alt engines to search on are Blackle (a "green" version of Google) and at least one that professes to keep your privacy safe - Ixquick, which has a sister site called Startpage. We may as well just get used to Google because, at best, they do have some of the coolest features around. You can search not only for websites, but more specifically for Images, Video, Maps, News, Shopping, blah-blah-blah.

In the end, what remains most useful for those of us doing serious online researching with other engines may be adding quotation marks around search terms. The results will be closer to what Scroogle searches return, except we'll be seeing sponsored links on the right-hand side of the page. And getting our search terms recorded for posterity.

No offense to advertisers. No offense to Google Juice. Sometimes those things just get in the way when one is on an information mission. Otherwise, more power to ya's. The privacy issue is another story.

For more information on how to improve your searching capabilities, these links may be helpful to you:

http://www.google.com/advanced_search (Google's Advanced Search page)

http://us2.startpage.com/eng/power-search-techniques.html ("Search like a Pro" from Startpage)

If you're interested in the deeper side of the internet privacy question, read up on the following:

http://www.scroogle.org/cgi-bin/nbbw.cgi (Scroogle's current sign-off explaining their situation)

http://www.google-watch.org/ (What Scroogle is talking about, in neatly organized links to articles, regarding Google and your browsing concerns)

Sure, Scroogle was using technology made available from Google itself. But only Scroogle truly was capable of presenting it to internet users without any targeted ads, sponsored links, and that privacy nuisance of tracking search terms and IP addresses. No one else could do it as effectively as Scroogle. Perhaps they were the Robin Hoods of Web 2.0. Perhaps it was just a matter of principle that Scroogle got blown away for good. With such a minority of Scroogle users, though, one wonders if Google felt they were losing revenue from the geek demographic... or Google was worried (??)... perhaps... that they just didn't have everyone's "number?"

Another Weekend on the Set of "Planet Divine"

That's a wrap for Episode One of Planet Divine. Hans Moore, who has been directing most of the episode along with Larry Reid and myself, will now be in the editing room doing post-production.

As always, we broke out with the Canon D50 DSLR to take some behind-the-scenes shots of our stage set in the green-screen studio. Once this edit is all finished, we'll be taking it to the streets of Downtown Roanoke. THAT is going to be seriously outrageous, but we can't give away too much detail just yet.

So far, we have a few interested parties on-board who will be participating in the subsequent episodes. There will be things like limosines, tour buses, maybe even a lear jet and a space ship, making a stop through the outdoor shoot... who knows. But we'll definitely find out whether Roanoke is film-maker friendly (even with permits in place).

We'll bring you updates as we go along. So, for now... here are some pix from Saturday's shoot:

See you around Downtown!!

Calling All Chocolate Lovers in Roanoke, VA

It's about time we write a little bit about food. For some of us, chocolate is an essential part of nutrition, perhaps of the emotional kind!! You know you have moments when you could just get plain nasty without a chocolate fix. So, does any piece of chocolate do the trick? Nope.

I mean, you just can't put ANY ordinary chocolate into your system. Not you or your kids. No, no, no!! And even if you think, well, maybe that fancy-wrapped gourmet stuff in the supermarket is loads better than the ones in the shiny dark brown wrapper, you'd be mistaken. Why? Because those have been sitting around the store a few days (or weeks). And ya know, it takes a while for the store to receive them. So, counting in the distribution and shipping times, your fancy brand might be a couple weeks old already. Are you eating preservatives meant for shelf-life? Yup.

Okay, what can you do about it? Is there some kind of chocolate factory around? Well, no. Not exactly... Or some kind of secret homemade chocolate connection you need to know? Getting closer!! How about an artisan chocolatier store - a place that makes chocolates fresh daily, by hand?? BINGO!!

Baylee's Best Chocolates is the place - right here in Roanoke, in SW County. They are the best-kept secret in town. But those who know... ah, yes, they do feel special. You get the royal treatment in this cozy little shop, hidden in the back end of the West Village Shopping Center behind Baja Bistro (formerly The Daily Grind). Owner Bayla Sussman and her friendly staff create a variety of scrumptious chocolate treats, which in itself is fun to watch through the glass panes inside the store while you decide between Truffles, Buttercreams, and Pretzel Pops. Baylee's Best makes dozens of different chocolate creations, and they're always designing new flavors to use... even taking requests for your ideas to suit your taste or occasion!

And yes, you don't need to be a local to indulge. Baylees will ship individual orders direct to you, however that may depend on the season. Chocolate melts, ya know, so call the store to find out more details about mail orders.

As for us Roanokers... no sweet tooth or chocolate attack can be best satisfied than with rich, creamy, and freshly made chocolate. Right here, in town. Indulge yourself!! It's the edible equivalent to fine diamonds.

PS - Happy Mother's Day!! (Hint, hint...)

Not Just Any Party - Gina Holmes Book Launch at Roanoke Library

Where to start?? Gina Holmes is our home-girl-does-good story in Roanoke, VA. That is the big, awesome thing here. The new book she's written was just published and will be hitting the book stores very soon. It's called Crossing Oceans, about a young single mother who comes back into her family's life after a long absence.

For the past few weeks, all sorts of great local media coverage proclaimed and celebrated this artistic victory - the Press, TV, Bloggers, Social Media sites... But the most outstanding celebration of all was the love our own Roanokers showed Ms Holmes at the Roanoke Library last Tuesday evening.

The Roanoke Public Libraries, as we've mentioned other times, is (as an organization) one of the front-running advocates for the Arts scene in the SW Virginia region. They take it to the streets, up-close and personal. No fancy, corporate-sponsored bookings brokered here. What they do have is one River Laker, a fellow who keeps his eyes and ears on up-and-coming local talent (and from nearby cities), so he knows the latest, the artsiest, the grooviest... And then he books 'em for what always becomes a treat to the community in performances, exhibitions, seminars, readings, and that one very special thing so many "venues" can't really do - Participation.

So, Tuesday night at the Main Library's Howery Mezzanine, we all came out to celebrate Gina Holmes' Book Launch Party. Mr Laker brought together a very successful party, indeed - perhaps the largest attendance thus far at the Library. There was a lot of work behind it to pull this off, and again he coordinated that magnificently as always. Roanoke is lucky to have a real-life Eveready Bunny.

Ms Holmes was honored and entertained by fellow area artists. The cool thing about that is she was greatly involved with the entertainment herself. For one, the author's work inspired a short play that was performed during the event. From SW County's Showtimers, local actors Nancy Lawrence, Caitlin Morgan, and a cute little actor named Madeline Neil practiced the script with precision over the past couple weeks, under River's directing. Watch out, Broadway! (Oh yes, it was my debut as an actor that evening - and I enjoyed being in the company of experienced actors! Thanks for having me on!)

A short video, as a response or spoof to the book's trailer video, went over hugely with the audience. Gina co-starred in it with her husband and, oh, that guy with the British accent who dresses up in silly outfits... um, yeah - River again! You can see the video here, on River's Vimeo Channel, produced by Matt Ames.

The event had a musical guest, Maddie Grace Garber, a local teenager with tons of talent for songwriting and singing. Also, artist Toobz once again created a backdrop and banner for the stage area. His work is often showcased at the Library for Emerging Artists performances.

Ms Holmes answered questions from the audience about her book, about writing and her journey to become a published author. One guest, Sunny, who is also a local artist, even referenced a page and paragraph in her question to the author, which must've been a sweet compliment for any writer when someone can do that!


Star City FAME taped the book launch party, and will be editing the video this week. Hook up with us on Facebook so you can get updates on cool things that happen within the Arts community here in Roanoke.

Visit Gina Holmes' blog for more information about her life, her books, and the art of fiction writing. Her novel Crossing Oceans is also available through Amazon.com. We wish her many congratulations, much inspiration, and a long, happy career in writing!

See you around Downtown!!

Internet Learning Curve for Business 101

Change or die? Old dogs can't learn new tricks? Fear of the unknown?

How many people have never seen, used, or even heard of the internet... I have no statistics here. All I know is that if my Mom ever bought herself a laptop, she would junk her remote and browse QVC's website all day and night long. As it is, the UPS driver already knows her address by heart.

But if you're in any kind of business and still fumbling with getting information... how to improve your website, gain traffic, acquire basic geek skills, or just learn anything, pretty much, I bet you can find all of that in whatever skill level and language you will understand. Heck, you can even take online classes at M.I.T. if you want. FOR FREE!! (No, you don't earn a degree. But the courses are the same as if you enrolled. For some of us who value knowledge over mere paper, that's freaking awesome. Thanks, M.I.T!!)

I did a three-part blog post recently about the internet being a "series of tubes" - you know, the joke that's actually true, wink, wink?? So this time, I'm going to rattle off some cool stuff for beginners. The thing with the internet is that once you start looking and finding answers, you can't help increasing your knowledge. First, you will find answers, challenging as it may be to discriminate facts if you're a casual user (or gullible). But one must acclimate oneself. Think of it as hazing for a college fraternity, haha. Then, once you figure out the difference between snake-oil and useful information, you will develop a keen method of tracking down specific information through blogs, forums, and specific communities related to what you do.

I personally feel that this routine is as important (more so) than plain networking on Facebook or whatever. If you only pay attention to output (yackity-yacking online) but seldom find input (investigating how people actually DO THINGS in your industry) then "joining the conversation" will be nothing more than being in a high school clique. If that impresses you, go for it.

I'm not knocking socializing with inter- and intra- corporate collegues, your co-alumini, and connections surrounding your field. Heavens no... But if you can't bring fresh stuff to the table or understand the lingo of your peers, you ain't adding much to the conversation.

Okay, Blogs... I have this one on my blog feeds which is pretty direct and intelligent information. You can dig through this blog to learn a little about SEO and social networking, etc, etc… Useful for brushing up on guerilla marketing.

http://www.conversationmarketing.com/

The blogger above has a particular article on Google Analytics that might help those who haven't taken advantage of that application's power to reorganize their sites. It's not just for checking how many hits a page gets. You can use the information to figure out what direction to go and make adjustments whenever necessary. Follow the links to his "cheat sheet" from this article:
http://www.conversationmarketing.com/2010/01/google-analytics-cheatsheet.htm.

What I do with blogs, simply, if I feel like following them… is add it to my blog feed, which is similar to adding favorites on your browser. This way you don’t have to deal with the person’s blog page… you just browse through their headlines and click on whatever article you might like to read.

Learn how to do stuff… Tons of sites that explain stuff!! It’s nice to have the internet. I don't care if you think the following are lame. I've been an IT guy with a couple major corporations, and I still use these:

Ehow.com
Yotube.com (for the reading challenged or time challenged)
Howcast.com (video how-to's)
Ask.com
Howtodothings.com
Howstuffworks.com

Also, search your field or industry by typing in the word "forums" along with the kind of work you do. I myself belong to several related to videography. Some forums are hosted by the manufacturers of the products I use. Those are absolutley great! Some are independent of the manufacturer. But their users/members have a huge cross-section of knowledge outside the product lines. They talk about techniques and solve problems amongst themselves which can be invaluable. Join forums like that... just stay away from the trolls. And don't be one. (Trolls are those idiots who have nothing better to do than picking fights with other members over stupid things. Or they're just interested in spamming the forum with their BS websites while never adding anything useful to the thread.)

Asking questions is always fine. Be sure to state that you're a noobie 'cos the other members will figure that out and you might get yourself embarassed. Usually, there's a noobie section in a forum. Also, you will find a section called a "sticky," which is kind of a FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) thing along with general rules of engagement for using the forum. If you break the rules, you might get kicked off.

So, there ya go. Educate yourself and pass it along. Practice safe cyber-surfing. Be sure to use an anti-virus.
Have fun!!