"X" marks the spot Part 1

First Happy Labor Day to those in the US.. Relax and enjoy The firestorm around Apples release of their premiere Video editing platform, Final Cut Pro X, continues to burn. At this juncture there seems to be two very distinct factions involved here. New users who find it a easy to use, powerful piece of editing software. And users of the older, now legacy software, Final Cut Pro 7 and older. As a new user of Final Cut Pro x (frankly I could never afford the old full version, only a watered down variant. Final Cut Express.) I have to say, with a little help from Ripple Training ,the venerable Lynda.com and not to forget the virtual online sources like fcp.co and it's window to a growing user base, Final Cut Pro X is getting, familiar and easy to use. And I think this (training) is at the heart of the issue. FCPX is so much different then FCP7 that it seems some users try it, mark it as unusable because it just doesn't fit into their workflow, and join the badmouth team. Of course some of their bitches are legitimate. No support for XML, old plugging architecture, high end tape imports, and a propensity to crash (a lot). I'm sure the program was mature over time just as the orginal Final Cut Pro did over it's twenty year lifespan, which at the time was labeled and buggy, ill thought and hard to work with. (you get the picture) Next time we'll look at some of the features I love, love, love.. And why the program is working for me.

A Perfect Storm of sorts.

Sometimes out of the most spontaneous of events, doors can open, curtains can be pulled back, on new worlds yet unseen by this seasoned traveler. Let me set a stage of sorts. Midweek a very close friend and colleague, MaryStarMagic, discovered Jay Kishor, Sitar and Surbahar maestro, and frequent visitor to her house was placed in a hard spot by some very short deadlines for a cover photos for an upcoming CD. I was asked if interested in helping, and true to form I jumped in to offer full support to the project. About the time we were talking up the shoot, a tropical storm named Irene decided to take aim on the Eastern Seaboard of the US, of which last I looked, was where the Washington DC area was located. Saturday arrived, both the scheduled day of the shoot and projected arrival of the hurricane later that evening. To say there wasn't some frantic emails back in forth would be a lie. But press on we did arriving at the site of the shoot early enough to hopefully avoid the storm.. What unfolded was more then the sum of the parts. Jay turned out to be one of the most warm and open people I've had the opportunity of meeting in many years. As the sky's darkened outside with the hurricanes arrival, inside the shoot progressed with a easy productive tempo. With a subject such as Jay it really didn't take long to get our shots, We were treated to first a wonderful lunch by Jays production manager, Savana and then to a short sampling of music form their upcoming CD.. Does magical seen to strong of a word for the experience.. Actually it's not. As it was. I could have stayed all day, but Hurricane Irene had other plans for us. The rains had started and we high tailed it back up north to home and kin.. Nuff for now.

"Dust-n-Dirt" - A peek into the (my) creative process.

I will fist preface this posting with a single statement "It has been a struggle with this project to date" This video is dedicated to the memory of Gary Nixon..... Over at www.fdphotovideo.com I've finally posted a link to a shot teaser video, ( well a short teaser of the intro segment) of my current video project currently titled "Dust-n-Dirt" (Always subject to change of course, as is my customs) It will be composed of HD video captured on my 5DMII, stills DV video from tape, captured audio from my Zoom 4HN audio record over the last 4 years at Baltimore County Trail Riders @ AMA motorcycle flat track events. Final Cut Pro X has been both a curse and a blessing. A blessing because I understand it more than any of it predecessors, bar none. It's allowed me to do things I never could with the older versions. And I'm still learning which is part of the curse. As I learn something new I want to go back and change what already is in place. So nothing is really completed, ever. And a curse because FCPX & the New Lion OS can really tax a 5 year old low memory computer. Like bring it to a complete halt, freeze, stop, whatever. Until I can "Push Z Button" reboots are now a way of life.

Dust-n-Dirt - Intro Trailer - (Teaser) from DigitalDoug on Vimeo.

BCTRA After the Gold Rush A retrospect

A visit to the track the day after the final event.

 

How long has it been? July 3?  I'm falling behind almost too much to catch up on but I'll try.

(Quick note, seem my old favorite blogging software BLOGO doesn't support the new Mac OS 10.7,  so I'm giving MarsEdit a try until…….  BLOGO comes up with an updated version, I find something cheaper <$39.00-ouch> , the 30 day trial is up and I have to buy.)

But I digress, back to orginal story line.

The 5 race  BCTRA Kevin Mcnicholas Memorial Short Track Racing Series has come & gone  As schedule would have it, I only had the opportunity to attend the 4 Friday night sessions, but I'll take what I can get.  How can you even begin to look back at those 4 night of action?  The racing was hot (so was the weather for the first 2 sessions if I recall), attendance light compared to other years.  Seeing as the new groundbreaking Mac video software package Final Cut Pro X is in my toolbox, this year I decided to try something completely different.  Less captured images, more HD video for a project I decided to undertake, attempting to capture some of the special magic offered up by the BCTRA and the dedicate army of local racers. Unnamed as of yet, it has been quite the learning experience. The video part is easy as long as one keeps it simple, trying fancy Hollywood techniques, like extreme DOF in daylight using neutral density filters, maybe not the best idea. Slide tracks, again a cool effect, but a real PITA to drag around. The interviews presented a "whole-nother" challenge, like sound. Which bit me in the but all 4 nights. I got better at it but their is room for improvement.  End state I shot less images, maybe less then 2K for the whole series compared to the 10K I shot at last years events. But captured over 2 hours of interviews, race and "B" roll segments. Enough for now, back to processing media from Friday night.  1385 stills 1 hr of DV video, 38 min of HD video. Lots of material to work with.

Gary Nixon RIP  You will be missed by me and the local racing community.

(Note: Links to all my racing images can always be found at my FDPhotovideo Website)

A Cut in Time -- Final Cut Pro X -

Final Cut Pro X - A non professional look.

Ok I pushed the button (by mistake), I have the software, On initial look iMovie it's not. A Pro Video editor I'm not, but iMovie doesn't cut it. Final Cut Pro 7 costs to much and Final Cut Express is getting a bit dated. Time to dig in and learn the in's and out's of the new kid on the block. I've taken on a request from a friend to make a digital collection of highlights from trips to Ireland from several VCR tapes. HD it will be not but it will give me a hands on dealing with the powerful cataloging functions of FCPX.. Updates as they happen

Pair-O-Videos

This was a very unusual week for me. I actually finished up one long open video project, and completed another video project that for various reasons had fallen off the production schedule.

The long open project was a video compilation of images I shot while supporting the "Rebuilding Together, Howard County Project in in April. I made the video right after the project and it sat, I never finished it. It took a request for more images from the project manager to remember this video was sitting around waiting for a home..

The second video project was driven by a capture made in Lancaster Pa. during a photowalk, of a lovely young street performer (Brittany Clawson), entertaining passerby's outside the Central Market with her violin. If memory serves I shot a series of still images of her playing, and walked away. When the softly receding strains of Ashokan Farewell (made famous by Ken Burns classic, "The Civil War") reached me, I stopped in my tracks and quickly returned to request a repeat for the camera. I married up that video with some clips shot last fall in Gettysburg to showcase her talent.

Linthicum 4H Hi Riders 662011

The day started out threatening rain. but then the sun came out and became HOT and dusty. With 56 posted equestrian events, it promised to be a long day.

But seeing how the riders faced the same conditions, I toughed it out. The faces of the competitors after the events made it all worth while. I had a great time and look forward to the next event.

Link to event Galleries