Gustav is a hurricane currently in class 3. Perhaps it will reach a number 5 by the time it has landfall. Is this another hurricane Katrina? Maybe not, but still the same, let us pray that God will save those who are in need.
To find out more about Gustav and where it’s headed, see here:
Thank you for praying,
-b
P.S. Side note: Robin Hood the show is an inspiration to me. Evermore I feel an urge to film something couragous … I hope we can do it! 😀 BTW, please pray!
Heard about BlenderAVC from Rob Scott. I hope to be able to use this as a .tod HD editing option.
A new film idea came to me recently. It’s called “Amelia”. That’s all I’ll give you about it for now. 🙂
God is good.
May you be guided along the path,
May you find the early blossom,
And may you, in the hard times of life
Find comfort in all that is around you.
May the soft kiss of the silver dawn
Grace your wearied face.
And, as you tread the morning dew,
May God seek and find you.
Let’s travel this journey together.
-b
As the days pass by and progress is made in various areas, one may wonder what happened to Minosa Films – like, where are the films?!
Well, I suppose everything has a journey. And each journey has it’s pilgrims, and once in a while, you run across a hero. Well, I am a pilgrim. And I need to do my part, and my part is not only the technical side of making sure we have a camcorder that will work, but scripts to make movies from. So, I need to write scripts. We have one script for a film titled “Is This Love?”, and I plan to make revisions upon it (basically add to/and or rewrite it.) I think it would be wise to have more than one script on hand, so, I need to write! 😉
Recently I found out about a neat project called Morevna Project. Check it out here: morevnaproject.org. I am considering contributing to it. From the website:
The main goal of Morevna Project is creation of full-lengthened anime movie, utilizing Open Source software only.
Other goals:
- Promotion of Open Source software and its ideology.
- Testing and improving existing Open Source products by giving appropriated feedback to developers and community.
- Validate Open Source tools as suitable for creation of professional good-looking animation.
- Provide content for other artists to learn from or to re-use, including documentation and tutorials
Main production tools:
- 2D animation: Synfig Studio.
- 3D modeling and animation: Blender.
- Static images: GIMP, Krita.
Also, check out this neat song by Staffan Svahn, called Red Hills.
And now back to what I need to do. God bless!
-b
Yep, it’s true! The new version of Blender is now available! Blender 2.47! However, don’t expect tons of new features, because this release is a bug fix release. The new splash screen is somewhat humerous, once again featuring a screenshot from BBB (Big Buck Bunny) but this time with the butterfly squashed by an apple. I think the idea is that they killed some bugs in the program. ;D
Looking into what to do in the future with my current camcorder. The issues that have arrisen with this particular model have caused too many problems for me to be satisfied. I would love a great camera someday, but this one may not be it. The .tod video container file and it being in HD two hurdles I am not overcoming effeciently yet, and it would be a simple, sweet solution to go with an SD DV MiniDV camcorder, though I will likely miss my current camcorder dearly. ;(
I hope your day goes well, may God bless you dearly as you walk the path of life, and may you find Him.
I so dearly hope to make some beautiful animations, and I also hope that all our live action films will work out… sorry for how it’s all turning out, guys… perhaps I will write some scripts, because “scripts are half the film”, and then when the whole technical camcorder issue is worked out, we will be ready.
Thanks a lot, God bless,
Thanks for listening,
-b
I have stumbled across some intriguing or otherwise inspring artwork.
For one, I wish to make note to an artist I had previously discovered: Mathias Pedersen, a young, Dutch digital artist. You can find his website here: http://www.mathiaspedersen.com/home/. But this time I came across some of his tutorials. The most facinating of these tutorials is this one:
10 Tips while learning Blender 3D
What I’ll try to, is to give you some general tips you’ll be able to use to work your way up the ladder and become a better Blender artist. Some of these tips are composed primarily of common sense, so you might already have figured out much for yourself.
– [http://www.mathiaspedersen.com/resources/]
These rules can be applied to more areas of life than beginning to learn Blender: they can be applied to much of life. Besides, now I have a good beginning spot to send eager Blender users ready to learn. “Read this 10 step outline and get back to me when you are done!” This is a good resource!
Besides that I came across Chaperon Rouge, an animated short by four collaborating students from the French school Supinfocom Arles (made as their graduating movie.) The style touches upon Final Fantasy and a tad little bit of Miyazaki. I want to create some 3D films similiar to their style (though my characters may have a different look.) They used (digital?) paintings and composited the character into them (for at least some of it.) Bravo!
On a side note, (however, an important one,) this following video has great importance to me.
Don’t Give Up, You Are Loved
Performed by Josh Groban.
Thanks for listening and God bless!
May all our dreams come true… see you on the other side!
-b
P.S. There are other films, etc., I could mention, but I will leave it at that for now. Thank you, each and every artist out there: you, who have persevered to create what you believe is beautiful…
Work has been done towards filming “Is This Love?”, but due to a location impasse (the location is currently set, but there are issues,) and integral script issues, it may not be soon.
Good news on that, though: longlifejas helped me find the location for “Is This Love?”. I have contacted a theater actor and he may help us with the film. So, things are moving foward in a way, but the film may drastically change at any minute.
The first episode of a short film some friends and I worked on I hope get edited sometime. I also plan to edit the interview with Dr. Narendra Singh and get that online! Whew.
I was talking to a friend, and I hope to start my own sort of animated journey like Rustboy, and just finished my first sketch for it tonight.
Thanks for listening,
God bless…
-b
New design WIP - Minosa Films blog header (Blender's node editor.)
Recently I have been working on a new header design for the Minosa Films blog. It is not done yet, but it is turning out well. I am using render layers and compositing them together, which is a first for me. Praise God! The theme is darker and has a moon, branches, the words “Minosa Films” and a nifty little design behind it.
Originally I was designing this in a hope to make an animated Minosa Films title intro for a promo video about Minosa Films. I could make it theatrical like a silver screen trailer, or I could make it more instructional, like an interview or special feature.
I need to get back to solving the mystery of a successful video workflow. My current progress on that is:
Import HD SP video file (.tod) into PowerDirector Express.
Drag video file onto the timeline. Hit produce.
Go through a number of options and choose to export as an MPEG2 (for DVDs.)
Wait for it to render.
Import .mpg file into Adobe Premiere Pro 1.0.
Place on timeline. There are no apparent “hiccups”.
Export video to .mov (Apple QuickTime.)
Play video in Media Player Classic – it works.
Goals:
I would prefer to someday edit in full HD; use a faster (better) conversion method; buy and use a newer, different, HD compatible non-linear editing (NLE) app; edit .avi (or .mpg if I choose to); export to .avi, .mpg. with no errors when opening in MPC (Media Player Classic,); be able to use After Effects (AE) in conjunction with Premiere (currently when I export from After Effects I get a jittered effect to the video and some artifacts. Most unpleasing and… terrible.)
Goals in list form:
But for now, no HD! No fooling around with the unnecessary. 😉
Thanks for listening,
God bless, prayers,
-b
Still testing. Now the video is the aspect ratio I want now (16.9.) Just a simple setting to change in Premiere Pro 1.0. Tried to convert to Microsoft AVI (not DV AVI this time) and it still will not play in Media Player Classic. Perhaps I need another codec? Oh well, we will see what happens.
Rendering (exporting) from Premiere Pro 1.0 - testing export to Microsoft AVI
Working on some film thoughts. Listening to Kate Rusby music.
I may try out Converio (http://pagesperso-orange.fr/gilles.bihan/converio_095.htm,) try some more with Squared 5 MPEG Streamclip, and perhaps other video converters. What NLE will I use? For now, Premiere Pro 1.0. No HD for now. Use what you have to the best of your ability. Will most likely test CBR1140 recording with the Everio to see if another method to get my files to a usable format (in this case, mpeg) will work.
Thanks for listening,
We will see what the wind brings,
God bless,
-b
P.S. Praise God! I have been planting this blog address around in various comment boxes – YouTube, BlenderNation, Vimeo, e-mails… it may be paying off. Here is an image of some view stats for the blog:
Minosa Films blog stats reach 80 views on 08-04-08
Praise God for everything.
P.P.S. I need to tell you what MIG (Miracle In Gansu play to DVD) is, and some more info about this blog. We’ll leave that till later. Till our next meeting, may God keep you.
May I grow still
I am still looking for a workable and effective workflow with the Everio GZ-HD7. Using PowerDirector Express, I can convert the files to mpeg2 and use it in Premiere Pro 1.0. But when I export the video, (as far as I know,) it squashes the widescreen footage, creating black letterboxes on both sides, and I cannot open the file with Media Player Classic. I may check into getting a complient codec to read the exported files.
Cannot render file
So, some progress is being made, thankfully. We will see whether I will need to purchase a commercial video converter or new editing (NLE) software soon.
I hope the ideas will come, and I need to sit down and brainstorm some film ideas! Bonsai!
Well, God bless,
Thanks for listening,
-b
It has come to my attention that I have not been preparing for film making as well as I should. You see, I need to be getting ready, writing scripts, ironing out my work cycle, and most of all, making sure my enthuisastic fellow film makers are contacted and up-to-date. Most of all, really, I need to put God first.
So, here I am. I plan to take a whack at – no, better, conquer – this filming delima and help solve the mystery of the ages… uh, that is, solve the problems involved in making a film. 😉
If you are dedicated to me, I will endeavor to be dedicated to you. We work together to accomplish a common goal, a single aim, to suceed in whatever we set our mind, and hands, to.
We will conquer.
Now, let’s see what can be done this afternoon about all those film making delimas… please pray, this may be hard.
Thanks for listening,
-b
P.S. You can see some of what I have been doing from previous blogs.
Minosa Films 