Finally I feel like I could get all of the things on my to-do list done... someday. And it's all because of one productive weekend. :)

Let's state the obvious first: journal redesign. I couldn't bear the christmas header anymore. It was just... the wrong season. So it's a series 3 header now. Including Martha, Jack (*grin* @ dune_drd) and the creepy weeping statue (still can't forget that terrifying I'm-gonna-devour-you-face *shudders*).

I did another non-livejournal header.

Well, I also attempted to work on the vid I started in January. I'd still like to do it. And I promised angela_caida I'd finish it. I'd finish the series 1 and 2 Doctor Who vid centering on the Doctor and Rose. Suffice to say, I failed. I am currently in the mood for something different and I've already done a few vids with a similar theme. As much as I want to do it, I had to postpone it. Still, the song stuck with me.

Instead I started a new vid. A Farscape vid. That's one show I always wanted to vid but always doubted I would. Reason #1: I have to rip all of the clips from my DVDs. Reason #2: The change from letterbox to widescreen. Fortunately, I had similiar problems when I did the Firefly vid. No reasons to NOT do it when I stumbled upon a fitting song.

Progress: 20 seconds and a helluva lot of cuts are done or in a nearly-finished state. I expect this to take a while, especially as my oral exams are about a month away.

Oh, and I finished playing "Two Worlds". Very disappointing ending. Have I ever experienced such a lame boss fight? A few arrows, a tiny bit of damage and the guy dropped dead.

I made it! Wo-hooo! After some days of editing, the Firefly/Serenity vid is finally finished. Always feels good to have the final version uploading to various sites (not to mention cutting the last clip before the encoding process can begin :D ).

This time I decided to use no or only subtle effects for the most part. So it's mainly cutting... and cutting... and more cutting. *g* Also had to cut off the edges of all the material I've taken from Serenity. Since I didn't expect it to be so Serenity-based, I chose to go with 16:9. Well, at least I had some room to maneuver in the clips from the movie afterwards.



Artist: Nerina Pallot
Details: 42.8 MB, 3:51
Description: The crew of Serenity find themselves in more than one war. Death lurking behind every corner, they hope to make the right choices and pull through alive.

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Download at Megaupload
Download at MediaFire

Time for my after-vidding break again. Hopefully I'll be back with an idea for the Doctor Who-vid. I already have some songs in mind that need a closer look (or listen). A slow one please. After this one, I want to have clips that are longer than 1 second. :)

PS: I'm realizing just now, I really like "No Tomorrow" by Orson. So energetic after a long vidding session. Found it by chance, all thanks to skipping through the Jo Whiley Christmas Special looking for another song. :D

Lots of vidding news over the last few days.

1. Thanks to jagwriter78 and her freshly set up website Inside the Tardis, I now have all my Doctor Who vids on a permanent webspace. And I still can't believe it! :D If you're looking for free webspace for vids, arts or fanfics head over there and register.

2. One more thing I can't believe: Remember that I submitted "What's Left of Me" for the FNVAs and the NFVAs in December? Well, I won an award on each site! WHHHEEEEEEEE! Especially with the NFVAs I'd never have hoped for this (since they only got so few categories).





I am so proud of these two! :D

3. I'm finally working on my 3 seconds Firefly vid again. Only that it is 1:30 minutes long now and is becoming more and more Serenity centered. The workflow with Vegas is slightly different, but safe for a few things I have now settled in just fine. There are already a a few, uhm, video "manipulations" I couldn't have done in Premiere. Or wouldn't have, since they're barely noticable and would have been far too much trouble. Funny that I'm working on a Firefly vid now that I have webspace for Doctor Who vids. *g*

After endless waiting for the final export, I'm once again in the process of uploading my finished new vid. :D The export never depended on luck this much before. A few attempts and a lot of crossed fingers (that there wouldn't be some bad frames this time) later, I only hope that I haven't screwed up my codecs completely with deinstalling, reinstalling and double-installing XviD. And that I didn't miss any displaced frames in the final version.

Despite all of the technical difficulties, I enjoyed making this one very much because it felt very different. I was going for 'different' (ok, and dark and depressing), but in the end that also describes the process. Maybe it had something to do with the song and obviously its influence on the vid, maybe it was because I hadn't used the character and most of the material before. *shrugs* BTW, this was the first time that the beginning of the vid was one of the last things I did.

Anyway, my point is, thank you once again, dune_drd for reccing this to me! I think I was also influenced by your character analysis of Jack a while back. *g* Well, there's nothing I can do now but wait if you like the result... Oh and this time I can also thank angela_caida (that's what you get for getting yourself an account ;) ) for pointing out the editing choices she didn't like. Don't know if you'll notice, but I changed most of it accordingly. (hey, a whole paragraph about special thanks!)


Artist: Linkin Park
Details: 38.6 MB, 3:38
Description: Jack tells Gwen the story of his life before Torchwood - his journey with the Doctor and Rose, dying in the process and finally being left behind.

Watch at YouTube
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Download at YouSendIt

Enjoy! And why is it, that no matter at what point I upload to YouTube, processing's never finished when I'm done writing?

What can I say? I'm in a writing mood. And I don't like to have a comatose livejournal. ;)

The new flat is looking better and better every day. And it better be! This constant hammering, drilling and many more unidentifiable sounds all day long is getting on my nerves. Especially now, that I'm at home most of the day. Oh, I couldn't think of a more peaceful way of waking up than by the sound of WHAMWHAMWHAM. Or the VRRRRRRRR and the whole ground trembling underneath my feet while I'm having breakfast. Also very annoying when you're watching tv. Dramatic scene with lots of almost-sobbing in it: I am soooo sorry... RRRROOOOOAAAAAA! *sighs* At least they are now getting to the point where it looks more homelike and tidier every day instead of more dirt and exposing ugly walls.

Next part behind a cut, Torchwood spoiler territory for episode 4:
( Read more... )

Then there's the new vid... Jack-vid to "In the End"... now that I've finished about 2 minutes of it, I have to thank dune_drd immensely for reccing the song and pitching the general idea for the story! :D I knew, it would be a challenge and it really is. So far, I'm mostly happy with the outcome and hope, that I don't ruin the remaining minute with lyrics and the beginning and ending without lyrics. I still need to decide how the next few seconds will come across best visually. Wanna see, what comes next. I was thinking tomorrow. *crosses fingers*

BTW, I'm struggling a bit with the vid in the technical sense. I had to deinstall the XviD codec for VirtualDub to open the files (strange, because they are XviD - and now I'm having some problems with MPEG2 files). Now, sometimes when the scene changes, like a cut from one person to the other, one frame from later on in the scene sneaks itself in. Most of the time it's only from a few frames later. And i have now idea why. Especially annoying when the clip I want to use is short already and I have to hide the beginning to avert twitching people. Whyyyy?

I also discovered, that HD is a gorgeus invention but will bring my pc to its knees. HD clips: bad idea. HD clips with lots of effects: worse idea. HD clips with lots of effects on two layers: *is killed by pc* Seriously, there's times when I have no idea what I'm vidding until I export it. Makes timing a nightmare. As much as I love the quality, I now decided on using HD only when I really need it. Like clips where I want to zoom. Everything else has to settle for normal quality. Downside: the logo is now a mix of BBC HD and BBC3. At least it's slightly amusing when I pay attention to it.

Must-stop-writing-now. Time to sleep a bit. Just when I wanted to mention, that I finished watching Casanova weeks after the first part. And yes, dune_drd, you were absolutely correct, I loved it. :D

Yup, I made the last change in the vid a few minutes ago and now I'm encoding and uploading (and obviously writing).

My original idea was to make an episodic vid. When I was by chance reminded of this song, I thought it would fit "The Idiot's Lantern" quite well. In retrospect I'm relieved that I changed my mind. I don't see how I could have found enough scenes that fitted the mood of the music without repeating myself.

I have to thank the lyrics for that. And probably a quirky mind. When it hit me (and made me start grinning ;) ) what I was going to use for the "first real six-string" there was absolutely no turning back. Tried to keep some of the original idea as well but I'm happy with the broader scope it gave me. There were enough restrictions because of me wanting this to feature (almost) every companion of the New Series but no Nine.



Artist: Bryan Adams
Details: 30.1 MB avi, 3:33 min
Description: The Doctor, the TARDIS and his companions living through their adventurous journeys. Or: what "Summer of '69" really is about. Spoilers through Doomsday.

Watch at YouTube
Download at Megaupload
Download at YouSendIt

Put together a matching icon again. Hmmm, at this rate I should start thinking about switching to a paid account. It's not too expensive and 15 icons are simply too few...

I've been trying to write an update for the past days. Surprisingly work gets in the way. That's absolutely astounding to me, who had given up hope to ever get something to do here. Ironically, I've got my last day here on Thursday next week. Now I'm thinking it wasn't too bad here after all. I might actually miss this place... a little.

I'm also in the process of getting my own flat. Lot of work still to be done (from Friday on, one (supporting) wall will be teared down, another one built, one still needs a hole for a new door). I just want to know how it will look like when everthing's finished. Still need some money for furnitures, so some of that will probably have to wait a while. Why do these things have to be so expensive?

One thing that has to suffer because of all of this is my next vid. It's now a WIP for about 2 weeks. That's probably the longest editing time I've had. Last week there were lots of days when I didn't get to do anything and when I did it weren't more than a few seconds. I really wanted to do something, finally getting that song ('Summer of 69') out of my head but things kept getting in the way. Then I devoted a huge part (when compared to what I should have done for flat-planning) of my weekend to continue editing - and watching the first part of Casanova (so funny and lighthearted, put me in the right mood for vidding - but, my god, what's with the blue contact lenses? they looked horrible, especially in the darker scenes). Anyway, 20 seconds to go, a few re-edits, then it's finally, finally done. Wheee!

Probably won't be today, perhaps tommorow. If it doesn't get done this week and something gets in the way for the whole weekend, I will be sooo disappointed... and in a bad mood for the next week. *keeps her fingers crossed*

Random things:
- I put up my first ebay auction yesterday (am I behind on that or what?)
- slightly more than 4 days, till I get to see Torchwood - why do I have to work on that day? And dare you who gets in my way Monday afternoon!

About 5 minutes now till the vid is encoded and I can start uploading. That gives me some time to write the entry to post the video on my journal first. How's that for a spin? :)

I wonder why I never get to do vids to the music I want. Why is there always something that gets in the way? I still don't fully understand how I could get myself stuck with "What's Left of Me". What I wanted to do was a video about the Doctor this time and one with a slow pace for a change. Along came this song and the lines "will you take what's left of me" and "now I'm broken and I'm fading". Anyone else who thinks this is a perfect description for Nine to Ten's regeneration?


Artist: Nick Lachey
Details: 39.5 MB avi, 4:08
Description: The Doctor reflects on the last few months of his life shortly before his regeneration. Will Rose accept him in his next incarnation? And can there be a happy ending afterwards? Angst, shippiness and spoilers up to the ending of Doomsday.

Watch at YouTube
Download at Megaupload
Download at YouSendIt

I really think I should take a break now. 4 vids in about 1 1/2 months... I don't want it to become too much of a routine but to be able to take a different approach. Unless another song comes along that I can't get out of my head. *sighs*

New icon, new icon! Ok, it's just the one... and it wasn't created on purpose but the vid banner looking iconishly at me... it's the thought the counts. (hmmm, where do I remember that from... aha! Babylon 5! Great scene. :) )

Update: the links have arrived!

As always, my journal is the last to know, cause it's the place, where I need some more time to babble a bit about the backstory. Sooo, 3rd vid. I got the song from watching a german casting show (similiar to "American Idol") - for the first time in my life, cause I try to avoid all those reality shows as much as I can. But a friend of mine wanted to watch, so we watched the whole thing. Then this song came on, I had heard it a few times before and I just loved it because it was so uplifting. You know the feeling, when you just want to have something and you don't even know why? Well, that's the one I got in that moment. One week later I had the song. And after listening to it two times I decided it would be perfect for my next vid (I still remember that I promised to make a video with a happy theme and no Doomsday). :)

Started working on the vid - sadly so veeery slow (0:20 after two days). I'm a bit surprised I was able to finish it as fast as I did in the end, but the process was still much slower than with my previous vids. I suppose it's just cause the song has such a fast beat. Even so, I still love vidding. :D Thing I especially loved this time: playing around with time. After all it's a show about time travelling, giving me very right to do that. :P

Ah, before I get ahead of myself, here's the result:



Artist: Melanie C
Details: 33.5 MB avi, 3:27
Description: With all the adventures Rose and the Doctor have gone through, they sometimes come across as something of a superstar themselves. - A mostly lighthearted and fast paced video covering their journeys from "Rose" to "Army of Ghosts" (NO Doomsday in this one and just the beginning of Army of Ghosts :) ).

Watch at YouTube
Download at Megaupload
Download at YouSendIt

At the moment I'm just a bit puzzled and demotivated cause the ratings on YouTube have been going down ever since my first vid. 4 1/2 stars, then 3 1/2 and now 2 1/2 (though it raised to 3 stars a short while ago :)). But no negative comments, meaning I really don't know if I'm doing something wrong. Do I need a longer break or am I developing my vidding skills in the wrong direction? *puzzled*

PS: *notetoself* I really need some new/additonal icons for my journal.

Six days since my first video and I've already finished the next one. I really thought it would take longer. Well, it's not my fault that my imagination went rampant. I just sat on the train, Friday, 6.50... no, 6.30am, listening to music when suddenly this song started playing. Didn't even know it was on my mp3 player. And it was just instrumental with this choir in the background. Sooo not my type of music.

But then it was kinda fun to see Daleks and Cybermen shooting at each other and the Doctor and Rose in the middle while the landscape was speeding by. Hey, at least I was awake afterwards. Didn't start till Monday, so it had gotten a little more concrete and I could start right away. However timing all the clips was still hell.

Gave it the finishing touches today and now it's online at Time and Chips:



I *think* I might take a vidding break now. Besides I still got that idea for a new wallpaper and I wanna see how that turns out. :)

After posting everywhere except in my journal I'm gonna rectify that. A few hours ago I finished that fanvideo I was talking about before and I'm still excited about being finished after almost a week of cutting scenes out of episodes, a lot of clicking, watching, bugging my friends, finally making notes, registering at various uploading services... and making a doctor-icon which was about time.

*copyingandpasting*


Title: Drops of Jupiter
Artist: Train
Details: 33MB wmv, 4:18
Theme: Rose's journey from the moment the Doctor stepped into her life. Spoilers up to Doomsday.

Watch at YouTube
Download from MegaUpload (higher quality)
Download from YouSendIt (higher quality)


On top of it all I got the silver award in the wallpaper category over on Stargate-Project. Making that wallpaper (which I have yet to post here) started me on that crazy "creativity"-trip that I blame for leading me here (journalling and vidding). So it's really full circle today... and one eventful day. :D