Well...after having only *half* of this video show up on Youtube, no matter how many times I tried to upload it in its entirety, I finally fixed the problem. I tried using the media-convert.com site to go from the 3GP format to WMV, but there was *no* audio for the second half of the clip. I don't know why it was doing this, maybe because there is very little audio until the very end when the camerman says, "..and Cut! (...because that sucked ass!!)" but I have fixed it by finding a free conversion program on the web, Mobile Media Converter. This fixed the problem, so now everyone can laugh and make fun of my piss-poor cutting! The fix for this video came about from my recent interest/fascination/obsession with making and editing my own videos. When I was back home in Indy this summer, I had a friend hook me up with ordering this High Definition Sony camera:
..througn the 'net, and had him send it to me here in Japan. (They were on backorder so there was a delay in shipping. Despite it being a Japanese brand, I was able to get it about $500 cheaper in the States...the days of getting "great deals" on Japanese electronics *in Japan* are long gone. The best deals are now found on the Internet, not on the streets of Akihabara.
Of course in our brave new world of ever-improving technology, my ultimate ass-kicker PC that I built 4 years ago is now the ass-kickee. Its Intel P4 3.0Ghz Cpu/2GB RAM is woefully inadequate for editing high definition video, which is probably the most demanding, CPU and RAM intensive application for home PCs. So I had to build a new PC to edit the HD footage. I also wanted to add effects and make my vids look as professional as possible, so I had the same friend order the Adobe CS3 suite of software using the education discount they have available...saved me about $1000!! (Thanks J!) All of this has finally come together the past couple of weeks as I have gotten my new PC up and running and I made my first "movie" this weekend. Using Windows Movie Maker, Photoshop, and Flash, I put together a short slideshow of party pics of my me and friends taken over the past 5 years in Japan, accompanied to the song Good Riddance by Greenday.
With all these new toys at my fingertips, I decided to try and fix my first video, which was taken at my second ever test cutting practice in Shinjuku. A download and a format conversion later, and I am golden! So hopefully this blog will actually start to have postings and *content*...what a concept!!
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