New Video On-line: “Sunset #7”

I posted a new video called “Sunset #7” on YouTube. The title is apt, since it is video of a sun set. I made to help people relax.

I did two version. The first version is 83 minutes long. The second version, for impatient people, 5 minutes long. Some people won’t want to watch a sunset for an hour and a half.

“Sunset #7” (Long Version):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5OgIzJ9WE50

“Sunset #7 for Impatient People”:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQBreJDpcUs

My inspiration came when I came across many videos of nature scenes while I looked for relaxation videos on YouTube. Some of them run for up to 12 hours long. I find they do help me relax. They can also be quite popular with millions of views. I hope I get a few views.

Video

As should be obvious from the title, this isn’t my first attempt. I shot several sunsets in 2017 and then several more in 2018 before I got one that I liked. The image quality goes down as it gets darker, so I had to cut off the end to avoid the worst of it. In the version for impatient people there are some obvious shifts in the exposure, but I didn’t notice that in the full-length version.

Audio

I wanted to use the audio from the recording. Unfortunately, it was too quiet, except for some distracting loud noises. Earlier I created an artificial surf sound audio to help me relax when I go to bed. I used the white noise generator and tremolo effect in Audacity to create the sound. I took that as a starting point and built up a soundscape that is supposed to sound like wind in the trees. Surf sounds and wind sounds are not that different.

Now that I’ve gotten this video done, I want to get back to my “Red Star Flyby” video.

This post is a mirror from my main blog http://www.dynamiclethargyfilms.ca/blog

“Sunset #6” and Relaxation Video

I made some progress on my “Sunset #6” video and worked on a little side project for my personal use.

“Sunset #6”

I recorded the sounds outside one evening when it was quite windy out. I added that to the sound track of the sunset video I shot earlier. It turned out OK.

One of the problems with the sound was the extraneous background noises, like buses going by and some hot shot in a sports car speeding down Crowchild Trail. I had cut out some of the more obvious disruptive sounds, but didn't really notice the others. I may go back and cut them out, or I may try a new recording on another windy night.

I usually put my videos on a USB stick. I can plug that into my TV. With the sunset video after it plays for a while, maybe an hour, it hangs up. I have to unplug the TV to get it to work again. I use Premiere Pro CS4 for my editing. It is getting long in the tooth, so I wonder if it uses an outdated CODEC. I have been experimenting with ffmpeg lately, so I used it to reformat the mp4 file. The file was about half the size, and it worked just fine on the TV.

All the same, I wonder if I should upgrade my editor. I installed the free version of Lightworks, but found it difficult to understand. I'm not sure I would use Premiere Pro enough to justify the annual fee.

My new microphone comes on a stand with hand tightened screws on it. Some how I managed to screw one side so tight I couldn't move it. I had to get out my pliers to loosen it up.

Relaxation Video

I worked on another little project – mainly for myself. I had a video of water ripples I shot in Jasper back in 2009. I had recut it earlier to make it longer by cycling the video. Because I've been so tense and that was affecting my sleep, I wanted to add a relaxation exercise to it. I had a recording I got at a relaxation seminar about 30 years ago. I've used it off and on for many years. I added that to the video. I tried it out last night and I nearly went to sleep. I still was a bit tense when I went to bed, but I know that you need to practice it for quite a while before it real becomes effective.

I am not that happy with the video itself. Although I like the image and sound, the image quality is poor. It was in Standard Definition and I had to zoom in so I could move the image to eliminate my hand jitters. The resulting image is very fuzzy. I would like to reshoot it some time. My hand jitters have not improved, but I know better than to try to do these things hand held, and I do have a tripod. Three tripods actually.

This post is a mirror from my main blog http://www.dynamiclethargyfilms.ca/blog

Sunset Movie Update 2017 August 20

I made a few more steps forward on my Sunset video. I've run into a few issues I'll have to over come.

A short time ago I posted about my idea to do a video of a sunset. http://dynamiclethargyfilms.ca/sunset-2/

Since then I've tried to get a good video several times. I'm on “Sunset #6” now. I am not all that happy with the video I got so far. For the most part, the sunsets were not as impressive as I would have liked.

This week I noticed we had some much more visually interesting sunsets. The Sun has been a bit dimmer and red in colour when it nears the horizon these days. There has also been just the right amount of cloud cover to produce a pleasing image. Not too much and not too little. Sometimes the Sun gives an almost golden colour to the clouds.

Unfortunately, as we more inexorably toward fall,  the Sun sets further south every day. When I started, back in mid June, the view from my study window was just what I wanted. Now the Sun is blocked by big tree long before sunset. That makes for a rather dull sunset video.

I was out for a walk a couple days ago, and there are some other places where I could get a better view. However, when I can shoot from my study, I can set up the camera and go do something else. At another location, I would need to stay and babysit the camera until the sun was down. On the other hand, if I don't try a different location, I'll have to wait until next June before I get another shot at it.

I worked on the audio for the video too. The sound I got from the camera really wasn't useful.  I used a microphone I got recently to get some ambient sound. I matched it to the video I had. It is better; the microphone gives much cleaner sound.

Unfortunately, there wasn't very much interesting sound. Over the hour and a half I recorded, there was one bird that squawked a bit, one car drove down the lane, and a couple of planes flew over. I think I will need to construct an artificial “natural” sound. Many of the so called natural soundscapes you can get are done with a lot of creative intervention.

 I think I'd need to collect sound for many days, and pick out the interesting stuff. I missed an opportunity to get some good wind sounds a couple nights ago.


This post is a mirror from my main blog http://www.dynamiclethargyfilms.ca/blog