January 2025

Happy New Year everyone. For this years resolution I will... think of something. Today I reviewed my collection of AI tools to determine if I should upgrade or not. I thought the best upgrade for 2025 was "HumanTalk" by Paul Ponna. Compared to other recent apps like TechSmith's Audiate and Synethsis's new "Genesis/Super Humans" AI Avatar generator.

I didn't purchase any of these tools, even though they are all on sale today only. Not because they aren't good tools but because I already own several AI tools that fill the purpose. Including "HumanPal", "ChatterPal" and "AvatarBuilder." My favorite new tool of 2024 is "DaVinci Resolve 19." Also the hardest one to master.

I thought the price for new AI tools is still too high and will come down in the near future. I usually don't purchase AI tools that are subscription acces as opposed to a one time fee. If I think a product is worth it I get the 30 day money back guaranteed applications.

And now for the website tools tip of the day. Don't forget update your copyrights notice to this year's date (2025). I utilize a subroutine on this site to simplify the update. It can be seen at the bottom of every page.

Speaking of website tips. My advice every year to content creators is get Solo Build it and build your own website.

This year I took the camera to Mom & Dad's house to exchange Christmas Presents. This is a chronicle of a medium size family on Christmas Day. It features kids, parents and grandparents gathered together for a family staycation. It's 14 minutes long so I won't mind if you skip right to the end...

Christmas Presents A Family Staycation

Website tips for this post are:

1. Don't overwork your project. There is such a thing as putting too much effort into a video project. I spent 2 days shooting this footage and 2 weeks editing it.
   
   Day after day I thought this could be improved and that could be better. And in the end I didn't stop because I was completely happy with all my work. I stopped editing because creativity brokedown into nitpicking.
   
   My advise is to learn what you can on this project and apply that to your next project. In this way you improve. Not by nitpicking a project to death, which often results in dissatisfation with your work.
2. Segment your processes. Organization of tasks will give you perspective on the project length. You can divide the project into tasks to do like Audio, Color, Editing, Polishing, Special Effects and finaly Rendering and Distribution. Then give each task a time to complete schedule. I gave this project 2 weeks.
3. Work methodically. Divide the project into segments and work on each one successively. Allow an equal amount of time to each segment then move on when your time alloment is reached. Assign a time for nothing but "Polish" This is the special effects and nitpicking phase. Don't overwork this segment, polish the job is best.
4. Details matter. In this video there is some unintelligible narration that is clarified by subtitles. I was surprised how much the microphones actually picked up that I missed at the time. Subtitles are important and add value to your video.

I started this project by cataloging the footage, then sorting by narration, then a rough draft cut and video editing, followed by color correction. Once I have a rough draft I polish it and add special effects. Rendering and distribution are always the last thing to do.

I have developed subtitles to an artwork and provide a service that includes video editing with subtitling and audio mixing on fiverr.com. Check it out...

Adding Dynamic Captions To Video

I always wanted to get a turntable to do some product beauty shots. So, I picked up a this Flyrivergo 16.5" photography turntable from Amazon.

This turntable features 5 cover pads of different colors, A remote control with forward, reverse and 4 step functions. Step functions can be 1deg, 45deg, 90deg and 180deg rotations. And it can be indexed to a home position.

There are a few versions to choose from including a 13.5" turntable and with USB power. I chose this one because it can hold up to 220lbs, is big enough and has a smooth motor to avoid shake and stuttering. It has a speed range from 22 to 60 seconds per revolution.

It claims to be fairly quiet but isn't completely silent. No problem if you are shooting product because you can fix that in post. I was able to isolate the motor noise and eliminate it with noise reduction in DaVinci Resolve Studio.

This next video shows what can be done with a turntable. Check it out...

IAME KA100 Motor On A Turntable

Website tips for this post are:

• When selecting a turntable ensure it is capable for what you want to display. Meaning has a sufficient weight limit and is big enough for your product.
• The turntable will need to be powered. I selected 120v AC version as opposed to a USB powered device because I have it available at no extra cost. Whereas a USB powered verion is more expensive and unneccessary.
• Lighting a beauty shot on a photography turntable is extremely important. You should pay extra attention to light and shadow. On this shoot I used level and high angle lights on both sides of the motor. I wanted to illuminate the space between the fins.

  I used 5000k daylight lamps for a stark neutral look. Sometimes color filtered light makes for an unbelieveable look. For instance, once I was shooting a tan colored car. The lighting director added a purple filter to the lighting in one spot. The car looked like it was punched out and bruised. Oops, he didn't ask me if that was okay.

  Being the video engineer I was in a control room away from the set. I tried to color correct out the bruise. To no avail. The rest of the lighting fell apart and the carefully crafted look was gone.

  I went to the set to see the lighting director and pointed out the issue. It took 20 minutes of haggling to fix. 20 minutes the Producer lost and tried to blame me for. I told him next time I would keep it a secret and he could do a reshoot or order a post production color correction session. Either way was good for me.

So, the moral of that story is; lighting beauty shots takes some planning. Now who wants to scope out some photography turntables...