Adrian's Journal

Tonight the VideoPreneur puts away his camcorder To think of his 10 plus 1 Year Anniversary Gift Idea. Bouquet of flowers? Diamond jewelry? Another long honeymoon oversea? This VideoPreneur live a happy-go-lucky life. Blessed with an understanding and beautiful wife. Tonight we celebrate our 11 th wedding anniversary At the exotic Bali Villa Frangipani . Al fresco, dark but cosy. Food was great and spicy. On our faces the candle flicker As we cherished our years together. Adrian Lee http://videolane.com/

I spent one whole day just to search for the right music to fit this corporate video editing project I am rushing. The client wants a track that is upbeat yet elegant. Some rhythm and beat that resonates with everyone, yet portrays a sense of classiness. What the **** is that? My existing music library doesn't seem to have any that sounds suitable. Of course we can make custom music, but there is no time for that. So I searched google for "royalty free music". Just in case you think I am looking for FREE music, no. You have to buy "royalty free music" as in pay for it. "Royalty free" means you pay once and you can use it as many times as you want. That means no copyright issues. The other type of music for video production is called "Production Music". I will stay far away from this. They will charge you for every video project that you use the music and for every time the video is displayed or broadcast. To me, this is rubbish... not unless ...

Woke up bright and early. The weather seems rainy. Gloomy sight of Pearl Tower. Is this just a passing shower? Back to the airport to catch our flight. Recalling our agony of the previous night. On the way we saw a cameraman and a reporter. I joked, they must be reporting the bad weather. True enough, we were caught in a typhoon. Our plane was delayed till late afternoon. Lunched on warm Kentucky and cool Pepsi set. As we watched the airport crew get wet. Our flight managed to take off though. A bumpy ride, rain beating the window. Reminded me of a scene in movie Matrix 3. When over the clouds blue skies we see. Up Next: "Forbidden in the city..." Adrian Lee http://videolane.com/ http://adriansjournal.blogspot.com/ http://instantviralvideo.com/

The story continues... Better than movies and news. We were at the wrong airport. Rush and we'll make it, we thought. Caught another waiting cab. The seat belt I must tightly grab. Travelled at warp speed on the highway. Only to slow down by a car burning grey. We reached Hongqiao airport before the flight. But were too late, the gates were shut tight. Is there another way to Henan, our next destination? How about by taxi or coach? Try the train station. The only way out is to leave the next day. Another night in Shanghai we must stay. Great! One more view of the Pearl Tower. BUT WAIT... till you hear about tomorrow's "shower"! To be continued... Adrian Lee http://videolane.com/ http://adriansjournal.blogspot.com/ http://instantviralvideo.com/

One night in China... no, no... first night in Shanghai. Slept well. Woke up early. Anticipating an exciting day ahead. Breakfast at Yi Cafe, the hotel's 2nd floor restaurant. Met an American-Korean girl alone next to my table. We chatted. She said she has traveled to many places and this was one of the finest restaurant she has ever experienced. Indeed it was a fine breakfast. The display of the food is an art by itself. Talking about 5-star, the power plug at the Pudong Shangri-la hotel room was international standard. Didn't have to use my universal travel power adapter to charge the camcorder's batteries last night. Still have time after breakfast before the first official video shooting assignment. Went back to the riverbank of Huangpu River. This time catpuring the day version of the same place recorded last night, the Bund and the Futuristic City. Walked to the Pearl Tower and around it. Captured it from every good angle. Many local photographers were stationed aroun...

10am: The kids kissed me goodbye . Mixed feelings ran through my mind. I have never separated from my family for more than 2 days. Today, I leave for China for a 4-day business trip. Four days of intense videography schedule. 1130am: The plane took off from Singapore Changi International Airport. The weather was perfect. The service was great. It has been more than 10 years since I flew on Singapore Airlines, Asia’s leading airline. The gadget under my nose kept me occupied for most of the 5-hour flight. It was a movie player. a nintendo, a telephone and an information kiosk. I have been to Shanghai before, but this electronic device told me more about Shanghai than I knew (or never bothered to ask for the tour guide's translation 2 years ago). 5pm: Arrival at Shanghai (上海) Pudong International Airport. We were greeted by local representatives. With me were the organisers, the media people and my assistant. We were whisked away in a little van to the hotel. What's the icon...

Ever since I own the Sony HDR-FX7 High Definition Camcorder, I have been using it to shoot projects only at standard definition (SD) more than 90% of the time. That's because my video assignments are mostly events and seminars which require the final video to be produced in normal DVD format. The HD mode is turned on when the camcorder is used for the production of corporate videos and TVCs where High Definition meets TV broadcast standards. The big question is... what about creating High Definition DVDs? Which software can I use to capture, edit, author and burn my High Definition Video onto HD DVD or Blu-ray? Here's the good news... Ulead VideoStudio 11 received the World’s First DVD Editing and Authoring Certification for Both BDMV (Blu-ray Disc Movie Video) and AVCHD (Advanced Video Codec High Definition Standard) Formats. For years I have been using and recommending Ulead VideoStudio for simple DVD video projects. Now with the HD certification, I am going to recommend it...

I just found the perfect microphone that plugs into the computer directly for video voice-over recording with professional quality. It does not need a microphone stand nor does it need an audio mixer. You do not even require a sound-proof recording studio. In the past, I used to record voice into my camcorder using a tie-clip microphone. Though the quality is great, I still have to transfer the audio from the tape to the PC for editing. I know I can record voice directly into the computer using a PC microphone, but the quality through the analog audio input is bad if I do not use a mixer. Then a friend pointed out to me that using a microphone through a USB audio adaptor actually improves audio recording quality. This is because it is digital, which means there is no analog noise. So I headed out to Challenger computer store to get myself one microphone with a USB audio adaptor. I searched for the highest specifications. At first, I found the Sennheiser headset (Sennheiser is the best ...