"Trevor's 1st Birthday"

[debngar Profile Private message]

If you can stand it through the boring pics of people you don't know, there are a few effects in the usual places throughout this show - beginning, middle and end. If you skip forward, you may miss something.

This was shot Saturday afternoon. I wish I was better at exposures, flash (and everything I guess), but unfortunately I'm still learning.

Thank goodness for PS Elements or I would have little to no pics at all for a show!

"Trevor's 1st Birthday" - length 3:58 min
http://www.photodex.com/sharing/viewsho ... 0878&alb=0

Debbie G.

[gpsmikey Profile Private message]

I like it !! Especially the goofy gopher -- reminds me of the
movie "Caddy Shack"

The "I will absorb the cake through the skin" shot sequence
was very good too. All in all, nice.

mikey

[57Corvette Profile Private messageWebsite]

Debbie,

Cute show for the little rug-rat.Nice special effects as well. Not sure I would eat any of that cake after that kid got through with it, but the other food looked mighty good.

Bob

[debngar Profile Private message]

Thanks Mikey.

I wish I could figure out how to get rid of the dang jitters in the show for the images that do a lot of panning across the screen though. The opening and closing sequences are awful. I have tried everything I could think of in combinations of smoothing, non smoothing, etc and still get them. Argh.

Debbie

[debngar Profile Private message]

Hi Bob,

That was the "special" cake - just for him. He was in quite a funny little frenzy.

We ate the cake you saw at the beginning of the show - thank goodness!. Yes, the regular food was great too. My sister-in-law is a really good cook.

Thanks for watching.

Debbie G.

[lostdutchman]

I wish I could figure out how to get rid of the dang jitters in the show for the images that do a lot of panning across the screen though. The opening and closing sequences are awful. I have tried everything I could think of in combinations of smoothing, non smoothing, etc and still get them. Argh. :(

Debbie

Debbie,

Nice job capturing what look must have been a fun family time.

I went back and watched it twice to see about the "dang jitters." I couldn't see them and I was watching for them. My computer has 2gb ram with a super fast duo core processor, so that could be why. This morning I took a show I'm working on to work on my flash drive. I put it on the computer of a co-worker (an older model - computer not co-worker) and it had lots of hesitation in the opening 20-30 seconds. I tried it on my computer at work and had no problem. So I suspect your processor speed may be playing a role.

The only thing I didn't like was after the "4 Generations" slide -- the little balloons coming back pulling the slide and then having it disappear. I had already seen that shot and I don't understand the symbolism of the four people flying away into space. Perhaps just me.

I did like the symbolism of Trevor rising into space at the opening. To me it spoke of unlimited horizons --reaching for the stars -- his whole life ahead.

Ken

[alcain Profile Private messageWebsite]

Debbie,

People who don't know your profeciency with Proshow will absolutely be "blown away" by this show!
It looks like a "Big Budget" production.
Liked your choice of background.
Your camera does a great job.
The "burst mode" shots are awesome.

My only "official issue" was at the very end where you gave yourself credit... Everything was fine except for the web address. I would keep the fonts the same for everything else but have the web address in an ariel font so it would be easy to read and remember. But this is only my opinion.

Fun Show! Thanks! ~al

[kaylef Profile Private message]

I loved this show and you gave me some great ideas for a birthday video.

The pictures of Trevor eating his cake were very endearing. What gorgeous eyes! I like how they were a series of movements, very effective.

I find png files sometimes wobble a lot across a moving background, and they slow down the software too. Some of the ones I get from digitalscrapbook sites are really noticeably bad to use. I give up and try another one. (Although yours is extracted)

Sometimes I remove it and add it again and it works better, for no apparent reason. Maybe thats it? Just a guess.

I watched all your short samples today, and really appreciate all the time you took on them. They were so very helpful.

Kay

[debngar Profile Private message]

Ken,

Often when there is a long panning sequence from one end of the screen to the other, an image and/or caption can jerk as it moves along its path.

The opening scene starts jerking halfway into the slide as the pngs veer off to the upper right corner. Also the "4 generations" image jerks as it moves up and out of view on the screen.

It's worse than I've ever seen it in any of my shows with this problem.

I have 2Gb RAM on my machine with a 2.8Ghtz Pentium 4 Processor. I don't think it should be doing this badly.

I will no doubt have to upgrade to build 1967 at any rate because I have a lot of masking layers going on in this show which really gets messed up in rendering with 1942, the version I'm currently running.

The last shot - Hmmm. I was trying to find a decent way to end the show, to connect it all, the circle of life, etc. The 4 generations shot was done at the end of the gathering that afternoon so I thought to use it there for those reasons. Partly I was also attempting my hand at some key-framing to duplicate a similar effect I saw in a Photodex demo that I hadn't tried before.

Thanks for taking the time to watch, check out the jitters and to comment and critique.

Debbie

[debngar Profile Private message]

Hi Al,

I think you're right. I probably should change the address at the end to ariel or something other than 3 hour tour font.

Ideally, I should get my act together and produce some kind of branding segment but haven't thought of anything yet that doesn't already look and sound like someone elses. So I'm going to continue it this way I guess till something else comes to mind.

Big Budget production???? LOL If you mean I've probably spent too much money on my camera equipment and still never get paid to do any of this, well, yea - more like over budget perhaps in that case.

I have to find someone who wouldn't mind paying me some for my services soon or else I'll have to get a real job when we sell our hardware store to cover living expenses!

Yes, the camera does a good job - but only when the operator uses it properly....

I forwarded the link to my nephew's father-in-law (grand parent) via email this morning. It will be interesting to see if the other side of the family likes it or not.

You know, I try to value and consider all opinions and greatly appreciate the time you spend giving your feedback.

Thanks!

Debbie

[KellyInAz Profile Private message]

Wow, that was really great! Loved all of your original ideas. Just may have to "borrow" a couple of them Thanks for sharing!

Kelly

[debngar Profile Private message]

Kay,

Thanks for watching.

Sometimes I don't mind to delete an image or slide and re-insert it to get it to work right. But if I have to re-create the beginning and ending animations in this show, I think I will wind up going bald from tearing my hair out.

It would be nice to have a feature that would somehow group layers and their settings together so when you move them around they all move together and size together. I wonder if that'll ever become a feature in Producer.

I spent the most time on the logistics of those two sequences in this show.

Maybe I need another defrag of my computer and see if that helps, besides installing 1967.

Glad you could find the tutorials and short samples helpful.

Debbie

[HunnyB Profile Private message]

Nice show!!!!!!!

HunnyB

[alcain Profile Private messageWebsite]

I have to find someone who wouldn't mind paying me some for my services soon or else I'll have to get a real job when we sell our hardware store to cover living expenses!

Debbie, there are a lot of opportunities out there, but you have to do a bit of "selling yourself". My best money maker right now is being the Princess Anne High School "Photographer". Most schools do not even think about having a photographer, but go to the Band, Orchestra and Drama teachers and present themj with your "offer". I follow the marching band's progress (shooting about twice a week - and I get into all the football games for free - as the "Band Photographer"). I also do a portrait session for the band and orchestra. For the "privelige" of being able to do the portraits, I give the Band and Orchestra's a 2'X3' framed Band/orchestra wall hanging with the name of the school, year, and individual portraits with the names under them - for free. How do I make money??? I sell each year a band portrait CD (custom made for each member) with the portraits of the child, a "best portrait" of each band member (the kids LOVE that part) and of course, a video slideshow (made in producer) of the entire year. These CD's sell like hotcakes. Last year I sold 122 of them at $24.00 each (that is close to $3000) but the sweet part is the CONTACTS I get. Most of the kids trust me and want me to do thier Senior portraits, many of them reccomend me to family and friends to do family portraits weddings (LOTS of weddings) and pet portraits. All because I "sold myself" originally to just the Band Director.

It is approaching "marching season" right now... My band told me they already had a videographer when I approached them, but I showed them the benefit of still photography and the videographer and I work together nicely. He even uses my images in his big video yearbook, giving me full credit for my still photography. (He gets $48 for his video yearbook and sells tons of them...)

Just some advice on how I earn my spending money...

Blessings, ~al

[debngar Profile Private message]

Hi Al,

I realize 90% of the photography business is just that - the business part. So I need to get my act together besides improving my technique to make it a success.

As you probably know, I have shot events for my church non gratis. I can see schools an excellent potential source for networking but not sure if I want to get into regular football game duty though. LOL

My hubby's old school buddy is a quite the musician. He's a band teacher and also plays in a band. That might be a good contact for school stuff too.

It seemed like in our day, the kids took all the candid pics for the yearbook didn't they? They were pretty awful that I can remember.

I'm not likely ready yet for weddings if I decide to do them. Maybe good for a second shooter someday soon though. I think I have the eye.

Thanks for the suggestions!