Rob Kirk Log
Hi –
Saturday 3/16/13
At 3:50pm I set out on a Test Assignment to create a 1.5 minute video to explain how to build a model of a GVCS component.
An important goal for me in this process is to learn to navigate the OSE wiki system. First I want to start my Work Log. I stumbled upon "Rob Log" that is already set up but it requires a login.
I’m not experienced with using a wiki, so I’m very curious how quickly I can get this going. This may be important as I’m not sure all OSE users will be experienced in this process either.
It’s now 4pm and I’ve scouted around... but I’d sure love to see a clear “laymans” page on how to get started!
In “Join” I’ve found the Wiki Contributors section. Let’s see...
4:15... I'm in! Open ID has nice instructions.
Back to the assignment. On Tuesday, March 12th I first received info on the assignment. I clicked around to get a sense of it. Lot's of interesting elements here.
My instinct is to approach this like any video or television project. There are three stages... Pre-production. Production. Post-Production. Pre-production planning is critical to the success of any project. Pre-production starts now.
In this stage I'll learn the topic, create my production plan, write a preliminary script and gather the necessary tools.
I use a standard two-column script format for these kinds of project. The two columns are Audio and Video. I also include a thin 3rd column for numbering. (I'll work on embedding an example.)
I'm very intrigued with reviewing and testing open source editing software. Hopefully I can find one that's user friendly.
10:15 PM Spent several hours with open source editing tools... at first look I'm worried they may actually be a barrier to editing for the "non-welder" but I'll reserve judgement until I get more data. -- This is important. It will be first up in the morning.
Sunday 3/17/13
Spent the day experimenting with various open source editing tools on Mac and PC. Very interesting and challenging day. Can't say that I've come to a conclusion on what is the best solution or, in fact, if any of them are really viable for the general purpose editing with material coming in from a wide variety of sources. -- I'd certainly love to hear from anyone who is experienced with these tools.
Here are a few of my observations. -- I got Avidemux running on a Mac with 10.6.8. Ran well but doesn't seem to have the appropriate editing tools. (unless I'm missing something)
I tried Lightworks on a PC (Windows 8). It's a program with a long history. I like the interface and it appears to have the tools, but because of licensing it seems to have trouble importing a lot of very standard video formats. There is a "Pro" version that allows for these formats. I think it's about $60. Supposedly they're soon to have Linux and Mac versions available. -- More testing to come on this one.
From videos online I like the look of Kdenlive. I'm working on getting that running now. Looks like it involves some scripting. Certainly not my expertise...but we'll see what happens. Learning a lot!
Interesting note that I'm not sure I know any editor here in Hollywood that would know how to deal with these tools. Most use high end AVIDs or Final Cut Systems...many started editing film. I find that often the best editors have a music background and they are not necessarily highly technical people... they know rhythm and pace and, of course, have strong visual senses. - Different parts of the brain than programming. They'd probably have their assistants get the program working and then step in later.
Monday 3/18/13
Downloaded and reviewed all the models and plans. All went very smoothly. System looks really good.
Worked this evening on installing Ubuntu. My first Linux experience. Very impressed with their tools and instructions. Will try some Linux editing options tomorrow.