“Ted Writes a Novel” Recording Demonstration Posted

Over the last 2 ½ years I’ve been recording the writing exercises I’ve done in the writer’s group I joined. Recently someone who heard about this asked me to do a demonstration video about how I did it. I’ve posted that demo video now.

I’ve used some of my writing exercises as the basis for a few of the short, animated videos I’ve done. Part of the reason why I started to record and post my writing exercise was to develop my skills in recording voices for my animation videos.

At first I was reluctant to do such a demonstration, because I felt what I was doing was rather primitive compared to what others could do. Eventually I convinced myself that there were some people who could benefit from my experiences.

For my demonstration, I wrote a very short story, “Ted Writes a Novel,” so the demonstration video wouldn’t run too long.

I use Audacity on my PC computer for recording and editing. The microphone I use is a Yeti Blue USB. I modify my voice for different characters using voice.ai. I use Natural Reader text to voice for some characters.

I used OBS Studio to record a video of the process of recording, cleaning up, and editing the video. After some procrastination I edited the 32 ½ minutes of raw video into a 10 ½ minute video. I wanted to keep the final video short, so I cut out or sped through repetitive sections. I also used the opportunity to cover up some of the mistakes I made.

I finally finished the video this week and posted it on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ffwmb9_XIs

I hope you find this useful.

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

Project Updates – November 2023

I have been lax in my blog posting. In fact, I actually got some stuff done though. A couple of writing exercises written, recorded, and posted. I thought about some other projects but haven’t put those to bed yet.

“The Last Thing He Said to the Late Great Chef”

As the end nears, two old friends recall high lights of their relationship.

https://soundcloud.com/dynamiclethargy/the-last-thing-he-said-to-the-late-great-chef

As I write this, I am struck by the similarity to my script “After You’re Gone.” This wasn’t planned, I just reacted to the random title we got.

“The Mystery of the Resourceful Chiseler”

Jeffery recalls the life of Ralph, a notorious conman and chiseler he locked horns with, in the past.

https://soundcloud.com/dynamiclethargy/the-mystery-of-the-resourceful-chiseler

After I wrote this one, it occurred to me that chiseler could also be used to describe a type of sculptor. I have an idea for a short piece based on that but keep procrastinating.

Removing Audio from Sound Cloud

I have been posting the recordings of my writing exercises on Sound Cloud. Unfortunately, I am getting closer to the limits of my free account. I have removed some of my older posts from the site and put them on my own website. Posts on Sound Cloud do get more hits than audio posts get on my site. However, the number drops off fairly quickly, so I don’t see that I lose much by removing the older ones. I plan to start loading all my older recordings to my site and removing more from Sound Cloud.

“Ted Writes a Novel” Demonstration Video

I made some progress on my “Ted Writes a Novel” recording demonstration video this week. I had a first cut that runs about 16 ½ minutes. I felt that is too long, but I was not sure what to cut. I think there are places where I can fast forward the video through repetitious sections. I would rather do that than cut them out. It is some thing I’ve been planning to do tomorrow for the last month.

This week I watched the first cut four times and identified around 30 changes I want to make. Now, all I need to do is make those changes, and I’m done.

“Felix”

“Felix” is a short story I first wrote a decade ago. I wasn’t happy with how it turned out and I’ve gone back to look at it from time to time. I did an outline to help me get a better handle on the story. Over the last few days I’ve though that I should just to a minor rewrite and post the story. That will make it a “finished product” for me and I can concentrate on my other unfinished projects.

Other Unfinished Projects

In my last blog post I listed a whole bunch of unfinished projects that were hanging over my head. By no means were these all my unfinished projects. Maybe, like “Felix,” I can go ahead with minor rewrites and thus leave them behind me. It all takes time and energy though. Some of those projects are not worth the effort.

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

Incomplete Projects – September 2023

I am frustrated that I have so many incomplete projects hanging around. This is not a new problem. But, with my lack of energy these days, it seems worse. What I need to do is start setting priorities and whittle down my backlog.

“Ted Writes a Novel” Demonstration Video

I started this project in response to a suggestion to do a video demonstrating how I record the writing exercises I post. This has been my main project since early August. I wrote the short story, then recorded a video where I did the audio recording and edited it. Later, I recorded some additional voice overs to describe what I was doing. Now I am editing the video. I am almost done the first cut. My main worry now is that it seems boring to me.

“The Dread of the Daring Rocketeer”

This will be an animated video using NAWMAL based on a writing exercise I did in 2022. I collaborated with an actor to record the character voices. I got stuck when I couldn’t work out how to show a rocket. Eventually I was able to get a rocket image I thought would do using Unreal Engine. I did an initial version of the video in Nawmal. It needs a lot of work, but I haven’t looked at it since May. I think this one should be my priority after the “Ted Writes a Novel” Demonstration Video.

“Time Enough for the Anxious Social Media Manager”

This will be an animated video using NAWMAL based on a writing exercise I did in 2022. I collaborated with a couple of actors to record the character voices, but I haven’t even looked at creating the video yet.

“The Audience for AI Films”

This is a satirical/cynical take on AI films. I used NAWMAL to make a video about two minutes long. As it stands, I feel that it is too short, but I got stuck when I tried to write some additional material. I haven’t added in the camera angles I want yet. I did show the work in progress to a couple of people. I haven’t done anything on this project since last May.

“After You're Gone”

This is a fictional story based on conversations I had with my wife before she died. I’ve had encouraging feedback from people who’ve read it. Because it is so personal, I have struggled with whether I should continue to develop it. I translated it in the Chinese and sent it to my brother-in-law.

“Bright Freedom”

This is a project I’ve picked up and dropped multiple times since I first conceived the idea back about a dozen years ago. I alternate between feeling I owe it to the main character to finish her story, and frustration that I don’t know how to fix the problems with the story. I took another shot at it earlier this year and shared an outline with several people. That generated a new pile of problems I don’t know how to solve. I think I’ve abandoned it for good now.

“The Barrier”

I completed a version of “The Barrier” back in 2014 and posted it on YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ATcKnFAwlU0 I wasn’t happy with it and planned to revise it. I did start on a revised script in 2015, but I haven’t looked at it since then. I would be a large project and I find it intimidating.

Script Collaboration

I’ve been collaborating with an actor on a script off and on for over a decade. We do have a script now, but it needs work. With my current lack of energy, I find it hard to get back to work on it. I feel the obligation to see it finished, but it is hard to get motivated.

New Website Host

I wanted to switch my website to a Canadian based host. Back in April I decided to go for it, but there were snags in the transfer and we had to cancel. At the time there were a bunch of other issues I had to deal with, so I decided to leave it until later. So far, I’ve done nothing. My current hosting agreement comes up again in a few months, so I think I should get back at this.

New Software

I started to investigate how to use Blender, Unreal Engine or iClone for my animation. I have used Blender but think I can do more sophisticated animations with it than I’ve done so far. Both Blender and Unreal Engine are free, but I found it difficult to learn how to do the things I want to do. iClone looks like it may be easier for me to learn, but it is a paid product. It has a free test version, but it has a time limit on its use, so I didn’t want to try it until I had the time to try it out.

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