Show Notes - Cheap Tube Paint Storage

As I mentioned in my last show notes, I haven't been entirely happy with the results of my recent videos and had spent some time learning what I needed to know to move things forward. Part of what I learned was that I needed more light (okay, I already knew that) and how I could make that happen on the cheap.

I made a trip to Home Depot and picked up some 100w (equivalent) daylight fluorescent bulbs for my existing two lights. I also picked up a cheap clamp light (and another bulb) to add even more light. The results are pretty amazing. All of a sudden the camera isn't fighting to get a decent shot. I have more options in terms of settings for the aperture that don't involve seeing what the upper limits of the ISO are.

One of the other things that I discovered in my explorations of the basics of videography was that the settings that I use for sharpness, contrast, saturation and such for my still photos may not have been the best option for video. So I made some adjustments there as well. I think that the differences between this video and previous videos with this camera are pretty dramatic. I still have a ways to go before I'm completely happy, though. My focus could be better. I think I need to get something to stand in for my on the chair so that I can better set my focus point.

Oh, as to the subject of the video, I when I was out shopping for lighting equipment I found some super-cheap, stackable, organizer trays that work really well for holding tube acrylics. This gave me a good subject for a short video to immediately try out what I'd learned... and the stuff that I bought.

Show Notes - Building Custom Paint Racks

With this video I was killing two birds with one stone. I had actually received a question about my paint racks so this was a good way to answer that question - which sharing that information with everybody. I was also feeling like I needed to do a video - any video - since I had been avoiding doing a new video ever since the Diskwars videos were completed. So, this was a quick and dirty way to get something out there.

This video does the job I wanted to do, but I was really unhappy with the look of the video when it was all said and done. After completing it I realized that I just wasn't getting everything out of the camera that I wanted to. I figured that there was a good chance that treating the camera like a still camera (which is something I know) as opposed to a video camera (which is something I really don't know) was probably a bad idea. So I did what I usually do when I want to learn something. I searched YouTube for tutorial videos on shooting video with a DSLR. I also looked at some videos on video lighting on a budget. I think my next video reflects some of what I learned.

Show Notes - Warhammer: Diskwars Review

I've been wanting to do a video with more of my family for a while now. When my son picked up Warhammer: Diskwars I suggested that we do a review video. This was the result.

My intro was done in two takes. We didn't use take 1 because it turned out the sound wasn't recording properly. This was fortunate because we didn't know until later that the video didn't record either. Kind of a happy accident there. Take 2 was okay so there we go. I don't tend to script stuff on paper, but I do tend to go over it in my head for days before I do something like this. I like the sound of myself in conversation mode more than me reading a script.

I think that Tim did a pretty good job explaining the game. I had him do that part because I've always been impressed by his ability to teach other people how to play games. We probably should have broken this down into several segments to give this part of the video more structure and to give him time to breathe. This was not scripted at all. I essentially said "go" and off he went.

The opinion portion of the video was just us talking. I already knew how Tim felt about the game in general and we talked a bit about what elements to bring up, but this really was just sort of a conversation that we had off the cuff, It was fun. When we were done I was more excited than I'd ever been on completion of shooting a video.

In my enthusiasm to get the video up I ended up cutting some corners on stuff that I had wanted to do. Specifically, more close-up cutaways to see specific elements of the game. I should have held out until I could get that b-roll shot, but I just couldn't contain myself. This was all on me because Tim had brought it up multiple times and I decided to just go with the stuff that I had shot earlier in the day.

The feedback on the video has been super positive. It's already has the most day 1 views of any video that I've done previously by a large amount. It also has more views at this moment (3 days in) than any other video that I've created in the last five months. 

We've already decided to follow this video with a Let's Play video. I'm very excited.