In case you missed it, go visit  dancingduke's page and fave!

https://www.furaffinity.net/view/9334564/
https://www.furaffinity.net/view/9334564/
https://www.furaffinity.net/view/9334564/

I had a lot of fun filming and editing this :3 Thanks to everyone who participated; I think I can speak for Duke when I say we were both blown away by the turnout! You guys were awesome!

Till next time!
-Rev

I'll be assisting Duke with another dance video at MFF this year and you should be in it!

This time there will be some choreography, so read up on Duke's journal and watch his tutorial video if you'd like to participate!

http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/3944318/
http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/3944318/
http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/3944318/

I had a lot of fun putting this together at Anthrocon this year, check it out!



Starring  dancingduke

Posted up a con video!



Make sure to watch  camohusky,  0r30,  mangusu, and  last-fur-one for more con and collab vids!

If you haven't seen the collab trailer that  camohusky put together for closing ceremonies, do it now!



Make sure to watch  0r30,  camohusky,  mangusu, and  last-fur-one to catch the latest releases!

Every time I post a new video I get a lot of comments and notes from folks asking how I did this or that, what kind of camera I have, what lenses I use, etc, etc. In reality, subject matter and editing style are really what makes a video, but having the right equipment for the situation and knowing how to use it definitely helps as well. That and I'm tired of getting the same questions over and over, so here it is!

As for my editing style, there's not much to say really: I point the camera at cute things and add music. Can't get simpler than that! Most of my editing is very basic.. the whip-pans in my con videos and the 'freeze-frame' effect in the 'Hangover' video are mostly camera tricks.. I do very little editing to get those effects.

Note that I'm just answering common questions regarding what gear I use. I'm happy to share what works for me, but part of being a good videographer is figuring out what works for you. For years all I carried was a small camcorder and a cheap tripod and honestly, there's something to be said for keeping it simple (and cheap!).

- Anyways, on to what I use now: -

Main Camera: Panasonic GH1 - Love this camera. I run hacked firmware to increase the video bitrate and quality. Uses a micro 4/3rds lens mount so I have a bunch of different lens options.

Second Camera: GoPro HD Hero - I originally bought this for drag racing, but carry it with me at most cons. Only really useful for outdoor shots. The new Hero2 is *fantastic* for its size indoors and in low light though. For proof see any of  coyotesnack's recent productions. I see these things exploding in popularity.

Old Camera: Casio EX-FH25 - Consumer superzoom that does high speed video. Not used much any more because quality is poor. I used it for every video up untill Furry Connection North 2011 and carried it permanently mounted to a tripod which doubled as a shoulder stabilizer.

Lighting: I use a Fotodiox 312AS on-camera light just about any time I'm shooting indoors or at night. A little fill light goes a long way in separating the subject from the background. In all honestly though, it's *way* too bright for close-up shots, which is pretty much all I do. It's big and bulky and I rarely ever turn it up past 10%.

Lenses: For most of my footage I use a 7-14mm F/4 Lumix ultra-wide angle and a 20mm F/1.7 lumix prime. I also carry some old Canon 28mm and 50mm primes and an old Canon 75-205mm zoom that I picked up on ebay for a few bucks.

Stabilizer: I started off with a homemade stabilizer before upgrading to a Glidecam HD-2000 Pro. The ability to invert the stabilizer and the ease of balancing makes it far superior to other stabilizers like the Merlin, IMO.

Vest: After adding a heavy lens, light, and more weight to increase stability I broke down and bought a Steadicam Merlin Arm and Vest. They're expensive.. but try carrying a 15 lb stabilizer with an outstretched arm for 3 days straight and you'll soon discover how invaluable they really are. Also, they don't really make your footage more stable, they just make your job easier. In fact they tend to fuck up your footage until you take the time to really learn and practice filming with them.

- Effects -

Whip-pans: I use these in a lot of videos and get a lot of comments about them. Just spin the camera (on a stabilizer) 360 degrees on two separate video clips and splice right in the middle. Generally the blurring during the whip is great enough that you don't even need to add a 'dissolve' transition between the two clips. It helps to know what background music you're going to be putting video clip to so you can get the tempo right. The real trick is stopping the camera instantly without causing it to 'bounce'. It just takes practice and I only get it right about half the time.

'Freeze-frame': As popularized in the 'Hangover' video. *Everybody* asks about this >.> All I did was have the suiters stand very still and slowly walked the camera past them. I then sped it up and slowed it down during editing to get the desired effect. That's it, simplicity is key!

That answers the basic questions I think, if you have any more here's the place to ask!

1) Would you have Chex with me if you could?

2) Have you Thought about it before?

3) What kind of bowl?

4) Big spoon or little spoon?

5) How many scoops?

6) Flavor(s)?

7) 2% or skim milk?

8) Gluten free? or bucking the trend?

9) more than one person? or bogart the box?

10) what do you think it would be like if you could?

FCN 2012 was great! It seems like I meet more people at FCN than at any other con and it's one of the major reasons I love going. Y'all are great!

Also, major thanks to everyone who stayed after the parade to help capture footage for  firr's VJ set, it turned out awesome. Thanks to  kristofur for masterminding  coopertom 's 'Stupid Cat' video on Friday, and  diezelraccoon  kristofur  eleete  pandez  nightprowler  BINKS_Wolf  pamfer  mtendo_the_skunk and everyone else for participating in the 'Hangover' music video on Saturday.

Speaking of music videos, I may have run across another troop doing the exact same video on Sunday >.< I tend to keep my plans for videos somewhat of a surprise for one big reason: sometimes a video doesn't work out or I don't get all of the footage I need.. and there no disappointment if you never knew I was working on it! But in this case I missed out on a great opportunity to collaborate with an awesome set of dancers and videographers.

I'm really looking forward to seeing their spin on the song and hope I get a chance to work with them at another con.. I think we could do something epic!

So from now on, I'm going to try to announce most of my video plans prior to execution so that anybody who wants to join in has the opportunity to. No more missing out!

FCN videos released so far:

Thursday Night:
http://youtu.be/0KABOUasBFQ

Stupid Cat:
http://youtu.be/s37D22hW320

Hangover:
http://youtu.be/K7Qr067KUf4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_TqKhIwFj0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_TqKhIwFj0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_TqKhIwFj0

Saturday and Sunday coming when I get some more time!

I'll be there with the camera rollin'! This'll be my first time in Atlanta, so who's coming?

Also, anybody up for doing a music video? If we can drum up enough miscreant fuzzies to help  SyberFoxKune that would be rulin'

-Rev

I had a few folks ask for a download link for the video I posted yesterday.. I don't have a fileserver but I've reposted it on Vimeo so those of you who want to can download the original .mp4 (I think you might need a Vimeo account, though..)

http://vimeo.com/34727064
http://vimeo.com/34727064
http://vimeo.com/34727064

Thanks for all the kind comments! My inbox exploded with furries yesterday and I totally wasn't expecting that. Y'all are what the fandom is about :3

Here's the youtube link as well:

Rather than write a journal with words, grammar and other things unbefitting a cat, I'm posting a video! It's like a picture-book that moves!

It's up on Vimeo now because YouTube apparently didn't care for my music selection :/

http://vimeo.com/32762123
http://vimeo.com/32762123
http://vimeo.com/32762123

I figured it would be worthwhile throwing this information up here, considering the bewildering number of furries I meet here and on Twitter that share similar automotive, electronics, and DIY interests with me. These are the some of the places I feel are great sources for all-manner of shit when starting on the next-big-project™ or expanding your shop.


Surplus Stuff

HGR Industrial Surplus- Used machinery Mecca. HGR is located in Cleveland, OH, and every self-respecting DIYer should attempt to journey up there at least once in their lifetime. Inside their warehouse you'll wander through 12 Acres of machining centers, tooling, robots, motors, gears, valves, test equipment, welding machines.. you name it. They are a high volume surplus store.. they scrap daily and rotate stock every 3 months on average, so it's like stepping into a new store every time you go. The last time we were up there we bought a lathe and a couple threading machines and they threw in an old Bridgeport vertical mill for free. Thank you HGR.. you found the way to my heart.

Surplus Center- I've only used them once or twice for some pneumatic cylinders. They occasionally have interesting things like entire golfkart transaxles that I'm still trying to convince myself I can use.

Mendelson's Liquidation Outlet- Huge inventory, but usually wildly overpriced. Mendelson's used to be a great resource for everything from transistors to endmills to popcorn machines.. now they're just an interesting stopover on your way to the Dayton Hamvention. Peruse the warehouse and revel in floor after floor of gilded junk you can't afford. Don't die on the cargo elevator.

American Science and Surplus- The pun-masters. Quirky company mostly specializing in small, inexpensive items. Toys, motors, labware, optics, magnets and other miscellany. I haven't had the opportunity to visit one of their retail outlets yet.

Debco Electronics- Local electronics surplus store, though they do mail-order and Ebay as well. Great source for inexpensive connectors and other odds-and-ends.


Metal

Garden Street Recycling- Scrap yard with locations in Ohio and Florida. At the Cincinnati location, at least, they pre-sort incoming metal and will sell back to you at a modest markup. I buy lots of aluminum scrap for $1.25/lb currently. Mostly fresh ingots of 6061 from large fab shops that scrap all their drops. You can save thousands here, no joke.

Metal Supermarkets- Invaluable resource for small metal orders, especially oddball stuff like titanium, inconel, or other uncommon alloys. They're moderately expensive, but if you only need a small amount of something it's usually a lot cheaper than buying a full length of material from somewhere else.


Tooling, parts, and everything else

McMaster-Carr- McMaster is like Digikey for Mechanical Engineers. Not familiar with either? I'll start with McMaster: if you need a part that might possibly have a place in an industrial environment, they probably have it. Tools, hoses, metals, fittings, nuts, bolts, chemicals, motors, bearings, filters, valves, gaskets.. whatever, they'll have it. They also have the most indisputably easy-to-use website in the business. The only gripe I have with McMaster is that shipping is not calculated until after you have placed an order - usually not a big deal, but watch out if you're ordering anything that might possibly have to ship Hazmat. Also, the manufacturer of the part you are ordering is not usually given, but rest-assured it will always be top-quality part. If you order a hydraulic fitting, it will probably be Swagelok. A pair of wire cutters will probably be Klein. I have never received junk from McMaster-Carr.

Enco- McMaster's little brother. Enco also sells some Chinese tooling and machinery as well, for more budget-minded DIYers.

Little Machine Shop- All kinds of replacement parts and add-ons for benchtop lathes and mills. They also sell some of their own branded machinery as well, including a nice turn-key CNC mill. Great source for inexpensive tooling.

DigiKey- The ubiquitous electronic component supplier. I have never had a wrong order from Digikey, and I buy a lot of stuff from them.

Mouser Electronics- If DigiKey is out of stock, Mouser may have it. I use Amphenol Mini-Fit, Jr. connectors on a lot of personal projects and DigiKey runs out occasionally. Mouser is a great back-up.


CNC and Automation

Automation Direct- Stepper Motors, Variable Frequency Drives, Power Supplies, HIDs, et. cetera. Lots of good stuff here.

Keling Inc.- Great source for some HUGE stepper motors. I have used a few of their 2830 oz-in NEMA beasts in some applications that are literally moving tons of material on a daily basis.

Triangle Research- Very low-cost programmable logic controllers (PLCs). I've used a few in industrial applications now with great results. They're very robust little units at a fraction of the cost of more popular PLCs.


Molding/Casting

Smooth-On- I've used a great deal of urethane plastic and urethane rubber compounds from Smooth-on. They have quite a few excellent tutorials on the proper use of many of their products. They've been an excellent company to deal with so far.



That should be a good start. If you've got any more resources to suggest please do! But now.. bedtime..

http://www.youtube.com/revfur

Con vid to follow!

I'll be there, but you probably already knew that.

Yuengling ho!

I threw together a bunch of clips from IndyFurCon, feel free to check it out:



Sorry for those suiters that I missed. The fursuit parade started so fast I couldn't whip the camera out quick enough.

Thanks to the IFC staff for pulling off a great con!