Adrian's Journal

Some valuable lessons I learnt from this DVD: The size and price of a microphone has nothing to do with with the audio recording quality. Technique is more important than equipment. A shotgun microphone is good for outdoor while a hypercardioid microphone is good for indoor. A wireless lavaliere microphone is suitable for newscasting, weddings and reality shows. (I like the demonstration on how to hide the microphone wires on the talent.) Though the DVD emphasizes on good audio recording techniques, there is a chapter on how to fix bad audio in post production… using Sony Vegas Pro! Sound for Film and Television - Review

Panasonic Pro AG-HMC150 3CCD AVCHD Camcorder I just read the reviews (almost 100% positive) on the Panasonic Pro AG-HMC150 3CCD AVCHD 24fps Camcorder . This affordable mean machine is definitely on the top of my shopping list. It has everyting a creative videographer like me wants. Things like the built-in wide lens, professional audio input, High Definition, memory card recording and 12 hours of recording on a 32G card. I just hope the Panasonic batteries have the stamina like that of Sony and indicates its power by minutes. I declare I will be abandoning my all-time-favorite Sony camcorders for now till they come up with a better CMOS technolgy that works in low light. Read more...

Photo Mode Review of the Sony HDR-SR12 and CX12 After collecting my Sony HDR-SR8 (100GB High Definition Hard Drive Handycam Camcorder) from the Sony service centre, I stopped to test the new Sony HDR-SR12 (10 Megapixel 120GB High Definition Hard Drive Handycam Camcorder) and the Sony HDR-CX12 (High Definition Memory Stick PRO Duo Handycam Camcorder) I only had a few minutes of free time, so I tested these features I wanted to know: How long do I have to wait between snapping photos? How long do I have to wait for the photo flash to recharge? How many photos can I take during video recording and will there be flash? How long do I have to wait between snapping photos? I have bad experiences with slow consumer still cameras. You miss a lot of good candid moments if the camera does not react as quick as your eyes. I hesitate to buy a family still camera because of this. The Sony HDR-SR12 and CX12 seem to do fine, instant, though you need to get...

Professional Memory Card Camcorders Comparison I am in the midst of deciding the purchase a new professional video camcorder. Looking at the recent models, there is a clear trend towards recording on memory cards. This is great as I have always thought tape is so obsolete in the digital world and a waste of time when capturing video. Here are three professional video camcorders I have narrowed down. They differ in image sensors, video recording format and the type of memory card used. Panasonic AG-HVX200 vs Sony HVR-Z7 vs Panasonic AG-HMC70 . Read More on my new blog...

How To Open PowerPoint PPTX Files And Convert To PPT Have you been emailed a .pptx file and cannot open it with your Powerpoint 2003. How do you open the .pptx file in your version of powerpoint? Is there a PPTX viewer? I discovered these valuable links today when I couldn’t open my daughter’s science presentation project. PPTX file extension MS PowerPoint 2007 Presentation .pptx files are created using Microsoft’s PowerPoint 2007+ application. The .pptx file format is a newer version of the original PowerPoint .ppt format. PowerPoint is mostly used for displaying digital slides during business and educational presentations. It is also widely used for displaying picture slideshows shared by email. To create/open a .pptx file, you will need PowerPoint 2007 (part of Microsoft Office suite ) or PowerPoint Viewer 2007 . How To Convert PPTX TO PPT… … so that you can open it on your Powerpoint 2003. Convert “pptx” files generated by Office 20...

How to Convert Mac Fonts to PC Fonts Free? I stayed up till 2 am last night googling for a free mac to pc font converter software. You may think I am such a cheapskate when I can just buy one from $50. That’s right, mac to pc font converter softwares are not cheap. I never needed to convert mac fonts to pc fonts since I started video production 10 years ago. Not till the latest project where the corporate fonts were given to me in mac format. PCs cannot read nor install mac fonts. You have to convert them to PC format fonts first. You can either convert them on the mac then bring them over to the PC or you can convert the mac fonts directly on the PC. In any case, that means when looking for a mac to pc font converter software, you have to take note of its operating system requirement. Since I do not have macs, I looked for a mac to pc font converter that runs on a Windows PC. Based on my google research, there were many free font converters in the pa...

Video Production With WD 250GB External Hard Drive - Review Purchased a Western Digital WD 250GB Portable Hard Drive. S$199 from Challenger Tiong Bahru. There were two models on the shelves. One with backup software (Elite) and one without (Essential). I chose the model without backup software, cheaper of course. They call it “My Passport Essential”. Passport? The drive does look a bit like a passport, we can even choose colors. Blue or red. I chose blue. Wanted black but there was no stock. Then there were three specifications to choose from. 160GB, 250GB and 320GB. I have many 160GB drives, so the next thing to try is 250GB. I needed only 100GB actually. The last minute decision to get this hard drive is for a video production project that was shot with 3 camcorders. That’s 18 hours of video footage. One hour of video in PAL DV format takes up 12GB of hard drive space. The video production project requires immediate and dedicated attention for delivery within one wee...

Top 10 Royalty-Free Stock Footage Video Sites Stock footage are video footage that is not custom shot for use in a specific video production. Stock footage is of great use as it is far cheaper than shooting a needed scene. Use of stock footage is a cost-effective way to add production values to projects and when artfully done is indistinguishable from the body of the work. “ Royalty-free ” is a type of a stock footage license that provides for the unlimited use of a video footage in any media defined in the licensing terms. “Royalty-free” is the opposite of “rights-managed.” A rights-managed video footage needs a specific license stating the audience and material surrounding the video footage. Here are the Top 10 Royalty-Free Stock Footage Video Sites based on Alexa Traffic Ranking: iStockVideo Alexa Ranking #386 Internet Archive Stock Footage Alexa Ranking #426 Getty Images Footage Alexa Ranking #1,618 Shutter Stock Footage Alexa Ranking #1,96...

Ever received a graphic in PSD format when all you needed was a JPG format? Ever wanted to convert a PSD file on a PC without Photoshop? Ever looked for a PSD to JPG converter that is free? I have this DVD production project that needed customized packaging and printing. The client has his own design team to create the graphics, which they sent us in PSD format. Our printing system required only a good JPG file to get the work done. I do not want to disturb my ever busy Video Editor, so I searched and hunted for a software that can convert PSD to JPG and for free… and after a few minutes, I found it! :) Here I will show you how easy it is to use. [ Click here for full article on PSD to JPEG Converter... ]

I have just created another passive income website. A social media site that makes money while sharing other people's videos. Here are the six steps I went through. Step #1 : Sign up an account at http://www.weshow.com/ . This is quick, only a minute. No need to reply to any confirmation email. Just enter your email, user name, password and birthdate. Step #2 : Set up your personal profile and photo. Describe yourself. Submit a photo. Add your website URL. Step #3 : Create a video community. This is the social thing. Create a group and share your passion or rather share videos that relate to your passion. Step #4 : Add videos to your video community. Start adding videos. I suggest using the search function. When you want to add a video to your community, just click the "Plus" button. Step #5 : Setup "Make Money" with Google Adsense Account Information. This is how you make money. WeShow will share 50% of income generated from Adsense. You got to have a Google...

VideoPreneur cannot resist but teach his 9 year old kid the right way to blog (ie. monetized and optimized for Google traffic). My 9 year old kid is a natural when it comes to computers and internet. She has figured out for herself how to setup accounts in yahoo email, gmail and blogger.com. Not to mention other accounts at Club Penguin, Barbie, Winx Club, etc. It's the school holiday and as a parent, I want her to do something useful. I know she has been reading books from the library, so I thought why not ask her to blog about book reviews. This will definitely improve her language and writing skills (and make some pocket money recommending the book). Last night, when I got home from work with a tired face, my kid bounced on her feet and said: "Daddy daddy, I want you read and correct by book review before I publish it!" (She meant hit the PUBLISH POST button in blogger.com) I said: "Ok but after my dinner." Anyway, I read through her draft. The book review wa...

T raining younglings the fine art of videography. The elder one firmly gripping the Sony HDR-SR8 100Gb Handycam Camcorder and supporting one arm on the railing for a steady shot. The little one plans the perfect composition while waiting for her turn. This is our little England vacation where the Sony HDR-SR8 100Gb Handycam Camcorder came in handy. EASY TO USE It is so easy to use that I don't have to shoot all of the time. My kids do it on my behalf. It takes less than 5 minutes to teach them how to operate the camcorder. The rest of the time is teaching them framing, composition and secret tricks that professional videographers do. STEP 1 : TURN ON FOR VIDEO OR PHOTO The default is video when the power is switched on. Flicking the power switch again changes the the mode to photo. I discovered that the Sony HDR-SR8 100Gb Handycam Camcorder can also shoot photos while in video mode, except that the flash does not activate. STEP 2 : FLIP OPEN THE LCD SCREEN The touch-screen LCD is...

SCROLL DOWN TO WATCH VIDEO I GOT MYSELF SONY VEGAS PRO 8 TODAY I went to the Sony Vegas Pro 8 showcase event this afternoon intending to buy the US$300 upgrade version of new Sony Vegas. Instead I left happily with a US$500 full version of the Sony Vegas Pro 8. It's the lucky draw first prize and I WON it. :D VIDEOGRAPHY GURU SPOTTED EAGLE Adding to the experience, the prize was presented to me by none other than Douglas Spotted Eagle himself, whom specially flew in to Singapore for the showcase event. Thanks to Derek of TreasureProductions.com for taking this photo and thanks to aone.sg for organizing the event. So, why did I want to get the new version in the first place? MULTICAMERA WORKFLOW You can place like 3 or more video tracks on the screen and choose the shots to be edited just by watching in real time. It makes editing so quick and easy for seminar videos and concert videos. PROTYPE TITLER The text generator is now more exciting. No need to use another software to crea...