Creativity to Spare

To take pictures of lightning you need two main things. A tripod (or some alternative – see episode 1) and a long exposure time of about 10-15 seconds. This is will allow enough time for you to catch a bolt or maybe two. The problem with leaving the exposure open that long is that a great deal of noise will be generated by your digital camera’s sensor, this is one nice thing about film photography, no long exposure noise. This problem is slowly getting better with digital, especially is you are using the right settings on your digital camera. The setting you need to use is called Noise Reduction it might even refer to it as Long Exposure NR. This will allow the camera’s built in software to analyze the photo to find and remove any noise generated by the long exposure. What creates the noise? Some of it is dust on the sensor, some of it is guesswork, some of it could be created by the rounding error from low light exposure. So the Noise Reduction will look for suspect pixels and remove them. It works surprisingly well.

The method for turning this feature on will vary depending on your camera. On my small Sony digital point and shoot camera it is automatically turned on when manual exposure times get above 1 second. For my Nikon Digital SLR it is a feature that has to be turned on in a menu.

If you forgot to turn NR on all hope is not lost. Programs like Adobe Photoshop have a noise removal feature that can work some wonders on the digital noise. The setting I use in Photoshop is called Dust and Scratches and is under the pull down heading of Filters>Noise>. I set this to about 1-2 pixels. And you can preview the results.

Enjoy the stormy season, and stay safe. Keep your camera and yourself under a safe, dry place at a good distance.

Build your own Teleprompter. Now you can create videos just like the your favorite talking heads. Parts involve 2 pieces of wood, a piece of glass, some dark fabric and a laptop or flat panel monitor.

This project has been no out of pocket cost. FREE Teleprompter. Now if you want to get fancy, there are the links at the bottom of this post about the half-silvered mirror or if you don’t want to use a table to hold the simple prompter setup, there is a link for a design with a stand you can build or order.

Links

Free Prompting software for MAC – OSX or Windows.
Prompt!
http://www.movieclip.biz/prompt.html

Website for Windows Internet Explorer
http://www.cueprompter.com/

Half-Silvered Mirrors and Kit for Full Size Standing Prompter
http://www.telepromptermirrors.com/

Hey everyone,

What do you think so far? I’ve got many more shows planned. DIY teleprompter will be soon, along with DIY camera stabilizers. Tell me if you have any ideas. Leave some feedback, and tell your creative friends and family about the site and cast.

If you haven’t subscribed yet. Here is a link.

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Garage Band has a feature hidden deep inside that I’ve discovered. It can import Standard Midi Files through drag and drop (that is something many people know) but did you know it recognizes General Midi Program Changes?

General Midi is a compatibility system for MIDI sound playback devices (sound modules/keyboards/tone generators) The standard includes a list of 128 instruments and sound effects (one bank), a standardized drum map and channel, along with a couple of other concepts. It was meant as a stamp of approval for the consumer. It allowed someone to create a performance for one MIDI device, and then be able to move that sequenced music to another MIDI sound module or keyboard, for playback. It would insure the playback of the correct instruments and drums, instead of getting the typical circus music that occurs when the wrong programs are selected for playback on the keyboard or sound module.

Unfortunately most people have avoided using GM sounds for their MIDI sequences because the manufacturers have relegated them to the lamest, leftover sounds in the sound bank. Shame on Yamaha/Roland/Korg/Alesis and others for making GM, a very good idea for compatibility, instead sound as bad as it has.

Well now all that has changed.

Garage Band will understand the same programs that a keyboard would for GM, and its built in instruments are great.

There is one suggestion in order for this to work completely. You need to purchase the Orchestral Jam Pack. If you don’t have this already, and are a regular Garage Band or Logic user, you are truly missing out. This is a STEAL. For $99 you get 2 DVD’s of instruments and loops, weighing in somewhere around 8-9 Gigabytes. These are some of the more playable orchestral sounds I have ever used. The mapping of changes for articulation of string instruments, such as Cello and Violin, to the modulation wheel is genius. Do yourself a favor and get this upgrade right away.

Here’s how to try it out. You need a Standard Midi File (file extension .mid) that conforms to the General Midi patch list.
So let’s say you need some orchestral music for a movie you are doing, maybe its a StarWars fan film. Well you can’t use John Williams music or their lawyers will track you down quickly. How about using the same source of inspiration for Williams himself. Locate some standard midi files of Gustav Holst’s ‘The Planets’. This music will seem very familiar for many science fiction and space epic movie fans. And here is the beautiful thing; this material is currently public domain, so no copyright issues. And you are creating your own mix / arrangement so no sound recording copyright issues either.

Most classical music is in the Public Domain, that’s why its featured in so many movies and TV shows and cartoons. So search the net and you might be pleasantly surprised.

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DIY Microphone – How to build a Condenser Microphone for recording for about $20 in parts. Or build a lavalier microphone for use with a video camera.

The original design is from Tape Op issue #16. The article and schematic is still available on line at

http://www.prosoundweb.com/recording/tapeop/buildmic/buildmic_16_1.shtml

Here is a recent parts list. 8-20-2007

www.digikey.com

The Mic Element
WM-61a Panasonic
digikey part #
P9925-ND
$1.86

10uF Metalized Poly Capacitor
digikey part #
EF2106-ND
$4.48

2.2k ohm metal film Resistor
digikey part #
2.21KXBK-ND
5 for $.49

1000 pF ceramic Disc Capacitor
Digikey part #
1457PH-ND
10 for $1.97

9 volt battery holder/clip with leads
digikey part #
BH9V-W-ND
$.86

A possible supplier for XLR connectors

http://www.fullcompass.com

Full Compass Parts will be cheaper in bulk. This is as high as they could be.

NC3MDL-1 XLR 3pin Male Panel Connector
$2.70

NC3FDL-1 XLR Female Panel Conector
$2.82

This is the old style I used for the mic itself. It’s a bit difficult to put the mic element in the end.
NC3MX Male XLR Connector
$2.52

This part will be more money, but could make assembly way easier.
NC3MRC 3pin XLR Male Right Angle
$7.42

Then you need point to point wire for inside the box.

Thin very flexible wire for wiring to the mic itself.

Solder and irons. Heat shrink tubing can be useful.

Junction boxes and covers.
Screws to mount the panel XLR connectors.

Other Misc; A metal file – The knock-outs on the junction boxes are just a tad small for the Neutrik XLR panel connectors, so the hole on the ends will have to be enlarged. I have tried everything and a simple metal file (round) is the answer.

Drill Bits to make the hole for the screws for the panel Connectors. These Have to be able to drill into really hard metal (ie Buy a FEW).

One tube of 5 min epoxy will do for many Mics.

A 9 volt battery.

Something to test it with. (ie a mixer and headphones, and mic cables)

Hardest part of the whole thing is soldering the back of the mic, it is small and if you leave your iron on it for to long it will fry the mic electronics.

Suggestion buy some extra mic elements – they are cheap.

As far as my lavalier modification is concerned, you can use the wire that comes with inexpensive headphones if you want to sacrifice a set. And you will need something like an alligator clip to attach the mic to the speakers clothing.

They are similar to earthworks or any or small diaphragm microphones, they do not have a color to them, the microphones sound like how the instrument or voice sounds in that room.

Part 2-2 Continued Interview with Dave Shirk of Sonorous Mastering – Conversation about the mastering process and marketing a small business.

Dave fielded questions about monitoring on multiple sets of speakers and also headphones. We also spoke about being a small business and how to market yourself.

Subscribe to the Podcast to download the video.

Or you can watch it by clicking this link to Blip.tv

Part 1-2. An Interview with Dave Shirk of Sonorous Mastering – A conversation about the mastering process for audio engineers and musicians.

Mastering is a subtle art and Dave takes us through some questions an engineer or musician will want to know before showing up at the Mastering Lab. I asked dave about common pitfalls engineers get themselves in that could be avoided. We spoke about mixing trends and also industry trends. We spent little time talking about the gear and more about the relationship of engineer and the mastering engineer.

Subscribe to the Podcast to download the video.

Or you can watch it by clicking this link to Blip.tv

Cheap Lights for Video and Photography and how to produce better results with them.

To see this lighting in use – check out this video I made for the Heinz Commercial contest

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Lighting is the second most important thing to making your independent movies better. The most important thing is sound; more episodes will follow on this. If you want people to take your work seriously or even just look at it, you usually need to have more than just available light when shooting indoors.

Lighting systems for film and video are very expensive. By using lights that are available at a home improvement store, you can get similar results to the expensive kits with just a little bit of work. One note of caution about using these lights or for that matter any lights; be careful! These things will get extremely hot and should not be touched with out leather gloves on. Follow all the safety warnings on the lights about their handling. These lights are halogen lights and when aimed directly at a subject produce very harsh shadows.

One technique is to bounce the harsh direct light off a wall or ceiling. This will spread the source of illumination. The larger the light source the nicer the light will look.

The other technique is to use something to diffuse the light source. It’s basically the difference of a bare light bulb and using a lamp shade. The light from a light bulb without a shade is very harsh and direct, the lamp shade will soften the light and also spread out the size of illumination. So how can this be done with these large halogen work lights. I’m a photographer so I have some tools from portraiture. I sometimes use a white portraiture umbrella. The light will shine through the white material of the umbrella creating an effect similar to a soft-box. Attaching the umbrella to the stand can be done with a clamp. Another diffuser to try is a chinese lantern. I keep mine flat and clamp it to another stand in front of the light. The least expensive option is to use parchment paper. This is the same stuff used for baking, and is therefore designed to handle the type of extreme temperature these lights put off. Pull off a piece of this paper and use a clothes pin to attach it to the light. Make a curved shape to allow for a larger surface. Again think lampshade.

I’ve been using these lights for a couple of years now and have produced several movies with them. Most recently a commercial submitted for the Heinz Ketchup contest.
Sure most people in the movie and lighting industry might look down on this, but now you have saved some money for something really important, like a 3 chip camera.

This episode shows 3 alternatives to Tripods for better Digital Photos and Digital Video.

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Traveling with a Tripod is very difficult. Not only is the bulk and weight of the tripod annoying, but with airplane travel it is even more difficult to get through security. So here are 3 possible solutions.

The first is to use a small bag of some product, such as rice or beans from the grocery store. This can be placed on just about any surface regardless of how uneven it is. Then place the camera on top of the bag and press it into material. You can modify this design with a fabric bag with your choice of filler that might look nicer. They also make nice gifts to the creative in your life.

The second is to use a water bottle. The Tripod connection on the bottom of most cameras is a standard 1/4″ #20 thread. So you need to find a short bolt to go through the cap of the water bottle. I have seen this design around on the internet for a while, I’ve made a modification by using 1/4″ neoprene coated washers. Use one washer on each side of the cap and place the bolt up through the top of the cap, with the neoprene of the washer facing the bottom of the camera. Screw this into the bottom of the camera. This can also be used handheld with a small digital video camera to allow a bit more stabilization.

The third is to use string and a 1/4″ #20 eye bolt. Attach the bolt to the camera with the string attached to the ring of the eyebolt. Stand on the string and pull the string upward to create a more stable image than with handheld. Keeping the camera’s own electronic or optical stabilization on will help this even more.