tasty blog snack

hahahahaha, I had met these girls at the Apple Store because they were watching Justin Bieber videos on the computers. They were kind enough to do a little dance with me and sing!

Love this awesome music video spoof of Justin Bieber “One Time” by the talented winterspringpro on youtube!

While we’re on the topic of video tips — I had a lot of questions asking how I make large files smaller. I use this great program called Stomp! It’s really simple to use.. just drag and drop a video, choose a preset and hit process!! …yeah, that’s it. You’re done.

Another question I got from a few people was how do I do screen captures. Made by the same company is a great little program called ishowU. There are a few other programs out there that do this same thing, but this one is by far my favorite. It’s really easy to use and the render time is much quicker and doesn’t hold your computer hostages when you’re saving a large capture.

They all have free demo’s but if you’re looking to purchase one or both of them check out their bundles before doing so.. you can get em both a little bit cheaper!

Feel free to leave a comment if you use something else — would love to check it out if I haven’t already!

** UPDATE **

Lots of you guys were commenting and telling me about the Quicktime Snow Leopard capture — that’s always an option if you just need something quick. I love all of the features in ishowU, but if you don’t need all that.. more power to you

I get so many questions about how I make videos that I finally decided to make a complete behind the scenes video of everything that I did to make a video. I thought it’d be fun to use my Nikon Festival video since I actually went outside and had to do a shoot by myself.. it shows you that you don’t need to be a professional! Just have an idea and enough guts to make a fool out of yourself for the sake of a making a cool video!

Also, just to note in my behind the scenes video that starting at that first clip.. I had NO idea what video I was going to make. I really did just come up with that right on the spot while the camera was rolling and then went from there.

Not everything that I do might be the “right way” but it works for me. For some of you new people to making videos, it’s okay to make mistakes and sometimes when you’re making stuff specifically for youtube.. no one cares!

Feel free to leave your tips and video tricks in the comments. I’m always learning new things everyday that I make videos.

THE GEAR I USED IN CREATING MY VIDEO:

• Nikon D90
• Nikon Coolpix S70
• Blue Snowflake Microphone
• Random tripod I bought at Radio Shack 10 minutes before shooting
• Joby gorilla pod
• iPhone to playback audio
• SanDisk Extreme III 4g / 8g cards
• FinalCut Pro
• My new 8 core Mac Pro thanks to the Price is Right
• Lighting is just some lamp from target!

One of the BIGGEST misconceptions I think people have is that you NEED to have all kinds of expensive equipment to shoot great videos. No, you do not. A lot of videos that I shoot on youtube are all done with a little tiny camera or my iSight and edited on my Mac.

A few things to keep in mind when making videos is that lighting and audio are very important. You don’t need studio lights, but what I’ve been using are those pole lamps from Target that have 3 lights on them (about $25). You can bounce light around and evenly light yourself without it looking too harsh.

Get yourself a decent tripod that is pretty stable. I got this one I used in the video for $30 at Radio Shack. Also, if it comes with a few extra mounts.. Put one away for safe keeping because you’ll most likely need it when you lose the other

What other things do you want to know about making videos for youtube? Leave me a comment here or on my youtube video and I’ll be answering them all week when I get free time! Yay!

Thanks for watching! I look forward to checking out some of your submissions for the Nikon Festival contest. Get your vids in before December 15th!

Noooooo!!!!!!!!! I just started playing this addicting puppy game from ngmoco called Touch Pets Dogs and it’s been keeping me from harvesting my crops on farmville! Meet Snackie.. the puppy that I’ll never be able to have in real life.

CLICK HERE TO CHECK IT OUT IN THE APP STORE

It’s pretty fun (and free at first) so check it out if you’ve ever wanted a little virtual puppy on your iPhone. I’ve played a lot of these types of games and this is probably one of the best. There is a lot of different interaction that you can do with you puppy and if you have push notifications on, you’ll be alerted when your little friend needs some attention!

Oh, and did I mention it poops?

A lot of these types of games have virtual currency so unless you have puppy coins, you’re not going to be able to do much in the very beginning. You gain coins with just about every action you do.. petting, feeding, and playing with you puppy! This will allow you to buy accessories, clothing and cute little props for you pet.

Of course, you will need to get food for you dog and you’ll have to buy that with real money in the app store ranging from $0.99 to $29.99 — it’s definitely worth it if you enjoy these types of games. There’s a lot you can do with these little guys!

If you get bored with just petting, cleaning, throwing frisbees, balls and playing fetch with this Steve Jobs look-a-like plush doll.. you can always start a career path with your puppy. Mine is working on becoming a celebrity right now in talent shows and photoshoots!!

This games uses the Plus+ network which allows you to interact with your real life friends and their dogs. You can go on playdates and start building relationships with others. It’s kinda like the Sims.. but with animals

Let me know what you think after trying out the free version!

Ooo boy! I’m so excited! Today the Nikon Festival launched and I’m one of the judges along with Rainn Wilson and Chase Jarvis. Above is my video example entry where I show you that it’s okay to go out and film yourself all day.

Right now I’m editing a fun behind the scenes video of how I made that video.. everything from concept to editing and a few outtakes of people making fun of me while I film myself. Will hopefully be posting that today if I get it done!

Anyways, this is a really fun contest and you have a chance to win $100,000 or $25,000 plus a Nikon D5000 D-SLR kit. All you have to do is film a cool video 140 seconds or less around the theme of “life through your lens” — I know you guys are creative so I’m sure most (if not all) will come up with something pretty hilarious.

HERE’S THE TWO WAYS YOU CAN WIN!!

• If your video has the most views and highest ratings, you’ll win the Audience Award. So..basically spam everyone you know if you’re a finalist to watch and rate then win $25,000

• Us judges will be looking for videos based on the following criteria: quality of video, originality, and the ability to stay in the 140 seconds or less time frame then win $100,000

FESTIVAL TIMING:

• You have until December 15th to upload your videos.
• Once the video submission period’s over, we’ll choose up to 50 finalists who will be eligible for the Audience and Judges awards.
• Decisions on finalist videos will be made and announced on the site by December 22nd. Don’t worry, we’ll remind you in case you forget.
• If you’re one of our lucky finalists, tell your friends and family to come back, view your video and rate it for your chance to win one of the huge prizes!

(yes, I copied that right from their website but just wanted to give you some more calirty if you were still confused as to what’s going on!)

Wooo!!! Definitely keep me posted on if you guys enter the contest. I’m going to be also doing a fun askij video where I review some of the entries.. so start filming I shot my video and edited in a day so there are no excuses!

Okay so I can’t believe I haven’t even posted a blog entry about this — I know most of you guys have probably already seen the full episode of my Price is Right appearance, but if you haven’t.. CLICK HERE for the full episode

Sorry to anyone who isn’t in the US.. you can’t watch on their site. I’ll throw together some highlights from it when I get a chance!

This is the video from the day we filmed this episode months ago. For months we had to keep it a secret that I won the showcase! I’m so excited because I finally have a new real computer to edit on.

Just a vlog.. been a little busy and I have zero software on my Macbook Pro!! Haven’t been able to do much today

Anyways, here’s a boring little vlog with some updates and hellos.

Love you guys!

Tonight is finally the night (for those of us NOT in Canada) that the episode of Law and Order SVU I’m in airs! Woo! I’m so excited to watch it Can’t wait. This is my favorite show ever. My episode is titled “Users” and it’s on tonight, Nov 4th at 9p

This is the last bit of video clips that I shot from the shoot so hope you enjoy it! Let me know if you watched the show and what you thought.

I know, it’s sad that I’m dead but I had a great time dying!

This episode will re-air on Saturday if you missed it tonight.

..and just as a reminder, tomorrow I’ll be on the Price is Right then I will be off your TV for awhile until another fun project comes up lol — What show would you like to see me on?

Had a really fun night going to the taping of Dancing with the Stars with Lindsay and Kailette Some of you guys were tweeting that you saw me in the audience. So cool!

Some guy ended up stepping on my ankle during a commercial break dance off (they invited everyone up to the stage to dance who wanted to show off their skills) — ouch!

I went back and read this old blog entry of when Woz was on the show.. and this graphic was there! Totally forgot I made it haha. Ooh archives. You rock.

So.. what do you think? Should I try to be on next season? I mean.. I’ve already go the dance moves. Woo!