Video Lighting on a Budget and Other Tutorials for Video Production

Here is one of the videos we looked at in class today.  There is a whole series of videos on lighting by this guy.  I like this, because he provides cheap solutions for independent producers.


Supplies for Video Production Light Kits -- powered by eHow.com

I also found another guy that has a great video series about making digital video, more than just lighting.  Here is a link to one of his videos.  You can access the whole series from this page.  I have bookmarked both series on my delicious.


Lighting Basics for Making a Digital Video -- powered by eHow.com

World Hemophilia Day Poster: Design 2

Here are some variations for my second design.  This design does NOT promote a walk, or any other fundraiser event.  It simply raises awareness of hemophilia by announcing World Hemophilia Day.  It takes place on April 17th every year, regardless of what day of the week it falls on.  This happens to be my daughters birthday, as well.

World Hemophilia Day Poster

OK!  I saw a LIFE magazine and decided I was going to use this design for my poster.  I changed the name of the magazine to WALK, since the poster promotes a fundraiser walk.  I used the hemo globe I designed as the centerpiece of the cover and then just input the information I wanted to share in traditional magazine style.  Here is a look at my poster and the LIFE cover that inspired me:

Starting The Wish List

OK... so I started the evening contemplating purchasing a Canon T2i.  Unsatisfied only with the audio collection capabilities (no surprise... it is a digital SLR), I stumbled across a thread in which someone recommended using a Zoom H4n to capture audio and then syncing it with Singular Software's PluralEyes in post production.

Singular Software claims that PluralEyes can perfectly sync multiple-cameras without the hassle of using a slate, clapping hands or using a flash to set a common timecode. This sounds awesome to me, but you need Final Cut Pro or Vegas Pro to run PluralEyes. Unfortunately, I have Final Cut Express... for now.

I also found a link to The Levelator at Singular's site, although it is actually not their software.  The Levelator automatically evens out the sound levels of an audio recording, which will be very useful for interviews with both interviewer and interviewee audio or other multiple-person recordings.

I already have an unwritten wish list of toys I "need" to produce good video, but I am going to start documenting that list now.  By no means are the items on the list prioritized in the order that I want to get them.  Tonight I am adding four items to The Wish List:

1. Canon EOS Rebel T2i Digital SLR Kit w/ EF-S/18-55 IS     $899.95
2. Zoom H4n Handy Recorder Kit with 8GB SD Card and Remote Control     $319.95
3. PluralEyes by Singular Software     $149.00
4. The Levelator Software     Free Download

Hemaware Adds My Life With Hemophilia Video to Site

The National Hemophilia Foundation launched a new site for their publication Hemaware this month and they asked me if they could post my video to the site. I am very happy that a project I had almost given up on took a turn for the better and has reached so many people. My hope was to raise awareness of hemophilia by showing how it affects a person in one specific way. I would like to produce many more in a series that highlights the impact it has on specific aspects of a hemophiliac's (or caregiver's) life. I am very excited that Hemaware liked it and posted it to their site for more people to see. On a technical note, I noticed that the video was sized much smaller and compressed even more, so when you click full-screen it is bad quality, but I understand they must consider file size and space on their servers.

I have also been asked to allow the Hemophilia Federation of America to post it on their site and am working those details out now. Hopefully it will be on their site very soon and the video gets the exposure I had hoped for.

I appreciate everyone's feedback and help with promoting this video. You can see it at the following links:

http://hemaware.org/community-pulse

http://hemaware.org/topics/community-voices

Designing a Poster for World Hemophilia Day

This is the centerpiece of my poster and this is how it came to be:

I posted an image of the graphic that the World Federation of Hemophilia provided for use in promotional posters, but I wanted to create my own take on it.  First, I envisioned a 3D globe that better represented the hemophilia world.  I think of the color red (representing blood), not blue.  I had an idea to create a clipping mask of a crowd of people in the shape of the continents and to make the water red, then create a 3D sphere with this image.
I found a good image of faces painted, each with a flag representing a different country.  I made modifications to fit my purposes.  First, I eliminated the borders from the faces image I found:

Then I found a map of the continents to use to create a clipping mask:

I placed the map image on a layer below the wallpaper of faces.  I selected all the white areas of the map layer and deleted them, leaving only the black shapes of the continents.  Then I chose the faces layer and created a clipping mask to get the image below:

Next, I found a water texture I could use for the oceans:

I changed the hue and saturation to make it red, then placed it below the layer of faces to place the water behind the continents:

I have Photoshop CS4 Extended, which has 3D capabilities, so I flattened my image (to one layer) and made a 3D shape from that layer.  Since I am making a globe, I chose a sphere shape.  At this stage, I began following a tutorial I found at psd.tutsplus.com:

I added 3D elevation/topography and clouds to my globe:

Finally, I added a shadow and reflection.  Now I have completed the centerpiece of my poster:

I have several ideas I want to try out next.  I thought about creating some paper dolls walking to the globe from the left, going around the back and appearing from the back on the right side, then walking along the surface of the globe in a (-shape and ending with one sanding in the vicinity of Norway.  I also thought about having paper dolls holding hands in a circle around the globe, but since the poster will promote a fundraiser walk in Wichita, I think the walking paper dolls are more appropriate.