I love the mekap and the big hair I got for this picture :-)

Videoblogging to me was pretty easy. First was to record myself. Which is not a problem for me since I look good and have a sexeh voice. And then I transferred the video into the computer and started up Microsoft Movie Maker. Click here. Click there. And then render it into the final video. The final step was to upload it on youtube and wait for it to be ready for viewing.

All in all, it didn’t take such a long time. Depending on the length of the project, it could take about 1 to 5 hours.

And it was a lot of fun for me!

In time, I upgraded to a better camera, higher capacity SD cards and then to Adobe premiere elements where I had fun exploring different video techniques.

So last last year, while browsing through youtube, I noticed that there was an increase in videos posted in High Definition. I was very excited to see the quality of these videos.They definitely looked bigger and clearer. I was floored. And jealous since these videos are posted by regular joes like you and me.

I want to do that too! I was really keen on editing in HD again.

I got to play with the Canon HF10 Camcorder some while back. It was a really fantastic toy, and coupled with Adobe Premiere elements, it was an awesome duo.

But while I was really impressed by the quality of the video and the audio of the camcorder, its not really for me. I’m more of an amateur videographer so I dont really need all of its functions hence I don’t really want to make the investment. I prefer the convenience of a point and shoot camera which is compact and is able to take pictures and decent video at the same time.

I didn’t think that HD recording would be available for point and shoot cameras so soon. But some months after that, attending a couple of camera launches, point and shoots and even SLR’s are getting the HD recording feature. Oooh!

Hence, after a bit of research, I got for myself, the Canon Ixus 200 IS camera and Cyberlink Powerdirector 8 for editing the video.

By the way, if you are in Singapore, dont ever buy anything in the first two levels in Sim Lim Square.

Isn’t my camera a cutie? :-D

I wish that the camera was green, there was none, but its not a big deal. On the other hand, it was interesting to see the new fuctions such as the touchscreen for navigation. We also found out that we can flick it to navigate to the different pictures.

And there were a few new image features too like the creative light effect that lets me take shots like this :

Which is cute I guess but not really something that I’d be using on a regular basis.

Anyway!

Editing on the Powerdirector was fine enough. Initially it took a bit of a learning curve since I’m more used to the Premiere Elements interface. Simple things like fading to black, the sticky magnet connector (I don’t know if I’m making sense here) and even trying to make multiple text layers was a challenge.

So it took a while for me to figure out how to do the same things that I used to just click here, click here in Premiere Elements.

So close to hitting it with a frying pan

Eventually, I got to find out about the workarounds to my problems and in the end, it wasn’t such a painful transition.

But what I didn’t expect was this.

2 hours and a half to produce my video? Woah!

And the program took virtually all of my computer resources that I couldn’t even msn or surf the web without it lagging on me. And I’m working on a 4GB Ram computer mind you. So rather than sit aimlessly at the table, I could multitask and go off to cook or shower or take a nap.

And at length when the video finally rendered, I start to upload it to youtube only to be stunned by this.

Oh my Pisang Goreng. Another hour and a half! And after that, roughly another hour for the video to be digitalised and finally be ready for viewing.

Half a day for a 2 minute video? Half a day?!

You must be crazy.

As much as I love the quality of HD, I’m not too sure if its all worth the hassle.

Is it worth the hassle? Would you care if it is a high definition or standard definition video?

Sidenote : Did you check out youtube lately? They have this new function called the ‘Caption Action’ where the software tries to analyze the audio and add subtitles.

Suffice to say, it works for some but its mostly not accurate. What the heck is an itunes chicken? Amusing :-P

So today, I’ll give you an overview of Ubuntu Karmic Koala – the operating system that I’m currently using on my netbook.

I sound like a freaking teacher

Related Links :

• Ubuntu Home Page
• How to install Ubuntu Netbook Remix

Sidenote 1 : If you’re free on the 27th December, I’ll be having a fan signing high tea session. Come and join me! I would love to meet you

Sidenote 2 : The good news is that I turn out to be one of the winners for the Win 7 contest. Although to be honest, I’m not impressed by how it is being organized.

After being jealous for the longest time that there is streetview for Rome, Google Streetview is now available for Singapore! I just realised it this morning as DK was twittering about it.

Its really easy to navigate :

First you go to google maps and then type in the destination that you want to see.

And then you drag out the yellow man icon on the top left corner into the said street

And then you’ll see your destination in 3D! Wonderful! Here is one of my favourite places to shop in Singapore. Hehehe.

I love streetview, it really helps a lot when you’re not familiar with a place and want to get a feel of the direction. For more, you might want to check out this post by the folks of Tech65.

I spent probably a full half an hour just looking at my neighbourhood in Jurong. Remembering the roads that I used to roam at. Remembering the bus rides. Somehow it eases the homesickeness a little bit.

Sidenote : 4 Mediacorp stations are back on internet streaming! Hopefully 938 live and 94.2fm comes back soon too.

And just when I was about to do a blog post about Karmic Koala which I’m geeking out about.

Anyway, coincidentally I saw a contest for a new netbook and thought that I’d give it a try

Please help me by joining the group and vote for me here. Wish me luck!

From left to right :

• Lenovo S10
• HP Touchsmart
• Samsung Innov8
• Canon Ixus 870is
• 500 GB Maxtor HDD

Looks pretty spiffy right?

I’ll go through them one by one.

Lenovo S10

My Lenovo S10 is a netbook – the hardware is not as fast as a regular computer, but its more portable than a laptop. I really like it when I’m on the go, for emails and catching up on social media sites.

I blogged about my Lenovo S10 some months back, however, my fingers were itchy and I decided to install Ubuntu in it.

I am liking Ubuntu so far, I see applications running significantly faster despite the fact that I did not upgrade my netbook. It was surprising to me that I could run graphics intensive sites like Pet Society and many HD quality videos on youtube because it was sluggish on the XP operating system.

My big issue though, is that due to technical issues between S10 and Ubuntu, I cannot do video streaming on ustream.tv. Also the internal microphone does not function! I guess no skyping for me then. Bah!

But since I mostly use my netbook to surf. I reckon its not so crucial. Oh well.

By the way, if you have a netbook, please feel free to drop in my I love my netbook group on facebook!

HP Touchsmart

My HP Touchsmart is my main computer for editing pictures, videos as well as the not so occasional granado espada-ing

I love my HP Touchsmart! With 4GB ram, its a lot more speedier than my old desktop. Hence, I could render my videos a lot more faster. Also with the internal graphics card, sceneries in Secondlife and Granado Espada looks so much lovelier.

Ok, its probably not such a big deal to most, but seeing realistic looking water ripples and the various sun reflections is a breakthrough to Virtual Worlds. We’ve come a long long way since the first VRML world was created.

Anygeekyways, I use Adobe Photoshop CS for editing my pictures.

At this point of time, Adobe CS4 has been released, but I don’t think I’ll upgrade for now. At $700 USD, CS4 is a tad bit too pricey. Moreover, new versions are always memory intensive. I think I can manage with my version for now.

For video editing, I use Premiere Elements 4. And I love it since the first time I used it.

It makes it easy for video dummies like me to use. All there is to it is, click here, click there. Finish! Also its more affordable compared to many of the video editing software that I’ve come across.

As for the pictures in this blog, I use the Canon Ixus 870is.

Most of the pictures that you see in this blog from November 2008 onwards are snapped with it. What was originally meant as a review unit sent by Canon, I found that I liked it so much that I went to buy one for myself. Haha!

Its quite trusty. And functions relatively well in less stable hands. One small issue is that it does not do time lapse video like this video I did with the Ixus 80is

Sunset from rinaz on Vimeo.

But now due to peer pressure I’m quite keen on trying out HD Videos so I’m really jonesing for a camera that does that. What that means is that I’d have to upgrade to a new video editor too. Oh boy, more money burnt

And finally, my samsung Innov8 which I use for mobile blogging and live updates.

If I see anything interesting along my journeys, I snap a picture and send it via email and in a few seconds, it will appear in the sidebar in rinaz.net. Live updates like these even have a boom(s)bastic name to it – Citizen Journalism.

Indeed, I have a spiffy workspace. Now if only I had actual work. Being a taitai is nice, but I miss my independence … and also nice shoes

Someone give me a job! You know I rock

Watch this video tutorial below on how to create watermark for your pictures.

And let me know how it goes!

Sidenote :

• If you’re wondering what software I used to record the tutorial, I used CamStudio – its free!
• Also, if you dont have Photoshop, I recommend the online editor, Pixlr.com – no need to register, and its very close to photochop

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In a nutshell : Wonderful videocam. Pity about the design.