DIY videos good and cheap

Animoto.com is an online do-it-yourself video production program so easy your grandchildren could absolutely create their own videos. It’s effortless and affordable. We found it fun and quick enough that the shortest attention span can hold out during the production process.

For free trial use go to the site and clicked on the get started link. We found seven options to make shorts, full-length, unbranded video and four kinds of greeting cards. We got an immediate nudge for upgrading to a paid subscription, but hey, they’re in business to make money. Once you buy a membership – you can begin creating videos. We chose the All Access level and decided to make an unbranded, short video.

We found we could turn photos or clips into a 30 second video the one featured above, with storytelling text. The site is straight forward and easy-to-use. We uploaded still images from our computer to the site. You can use your own images, select from Animoto’s stock library or retrieve from another website like Flickr, Facebook, Picassa. You’re responsible for monitoring copyrights on your own. In other words – use only material you have rights to.

Once we uploaded, the amount of time required was governed by length and resolution of the videos or stills. Animoto allows 8-15 elements (clips or images) in shorts. We chose four still images, typed a little text  and clicked. Animoto took us to background music selection, the  we gave the video a title and short description. Our video processed, analyzed and rendered, letting us know what it was doing each step of the way, for about 60 seconds. Then Animoto began actual production, showing us in color animation what it was doing. I was interested in following the progress over one and a half minutes it took to complete the video.

When finished, Animoto loaded the do-it-yourself video into the page and emailed me a copy. I didn’t have to keep the browser open. You can go do something else, or start another video in the meantime. The end result was attractive, high quality video in less than ten minutes. This process is slick and appealing. You can produce videos for your social media – Facebook, Twitter, YouTube – or email them to friends and family. They would be suitable for showing customers your entrepreneurial products, or for sending a video resume to employer prospects.

An enterprising person could buy the pro-quality level and start a business producing wedding or family videos for profit. Animoto has been around for about three and a half years and began as a consumer level product. It has expanded to serve photo professionals and will increase its capabilities this year. Bottom line – we couldn’t find anything to complain about. The prices are justifiable, the quality outstanding, the process simple and fast. We recommend you give it a try. My partner, not easily impressed, said, “This is actually totally cool.”

Price points:

Pro account $249 annual subscription – produce unlimited length, unbranded, commercially licensed high res videos. Three months for $99.

All access: $30 per year. Unlimited full length greetings and videos for the price of an evening at the movies. Finished product has the Animoto brand name on it with music video style credits on it indicating your name as producer. It’s like watching real music videos and there are awesome embellishments available. Animoto will provide a downloadable MP4 file for $5 or a DVD for $20. If you can’t find a use for this product, you’re not a photo enthusiast.

FREE movies on CHEAP TV services

Times are tough – getting better, but tough. Let’s continue to look at saving money on home theater and consider a little gem called Roku and an awesome provider known as Netflix. You’ll feel frugal as all get out, have all the TV you can consume, and spend less than ten buck per month. Ready?

Ten ways to save money with Roku and Netflix:

1. Learn about what’s out there in antennas for FREE TV.
2. Install a digital TV antenna – cost is about $80, time to install – maybe an hour.
3. Read about the Roku set-top box for TV programming and movies.
4. Purchase a Roku box for under $100 – a one-time cost.
5. Get to know your Roku – it installs in under one minute
6. Out of the box Roku receives Amazon On Demand – a pay service that allows you to pay-as-you-go to download as little as one TV episode, or a full length movie instantly. They get new releases about the same time as video stores. HD is available. Quality is outstanding.
7. Explore the new channels available free through Roku – many are experimental. All are worth a look. It’s expected that Roku will add up to fifty more “channels” or services by 2011.
8. Open a Netflix account and activate it on your Roku box. You have access, for about $9 a month to hundreds of TV series that you can download right to your TV, instantly. Not in ten minutes, right now, in seconds. Additional cost? Zero.
9. Download movies – new releases, older films, classics, to your TV instantly. No additional charge. Still at nine bucks.
10. Receive as many DVDs as you can watch, through the mail, keep them as long as you like, no late fees. The $9 account allows one DVD out at a time – as soon as you return it, you get another in about one day.

Draw backs of using Roku and Netflix

• Once in a while you’ll get a funky download wherein the audio or video is not good. Rare occurrence.
• You might return a video and find it gets lost in the mail. Customer service is the most responsive I have ever experienced – call them and they’ll help you.
• New releases from Netflix are not as timely as videophiles might hope for. It takes about 28 days for them to become available. Did I tell you you’re paying $9 a month for all you can watch?
• Amazon On Demand can be as pricey as a video store – but for something you simply have to see right now, it’s worth it. You can rent a lot of titles from Amazon for the cost of pay TV services.

I gave Roku boxes to several people for Christmas gifts. This month, a few of them asked me to help them choose a digital antenna–they’re dumping their pay TV services. My son’s wife threatened him with a frying pan because he installed the Roku and couldn’t stop watching. At last count he had listed more than 500 programs in his Netflix queue.

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http://www.speedofcreativity.org/2008/11/18/videoconference-with-your-grandchildren/

I wanted excellent reception, lots of choices in programming, movies, and CHEAP entertainment at home. I found ways to save $1000 a year and not feel deprived. First, I tried out four home antennas from Winegard, a major manufacturer.

Four easy, affordable TV antennas, supplied by Winegard

SS-3000 is an amplified low-profile indoor television antenna for excellent reception within 0-30 miles of the station transmitter. It’s not bad looking – an easy-to-connect, free-standing indoor antenna with a plastic enclosure. It comes with a built-in pre-amp and a power supply included. A thing called a power injector supplies additional power to the pre-amp.

Being 42 air miles from the transmitters, we couldn’t  get lower band VHF channels, including Chicago WBBM Channel 2 and WMAQ Channel 5, but picture quality was better than Uverse on the upper channels and audio was perfect. SS-3000 is designed to reside on top a TV or on a shelf. It looks way better than rabbit ears. MSRP is $59.99.

Sensar GS-2200 is an amplified indoor/outdoor VHF/UHF contemporary design antenna. It’s intended for reception within 10-45 miles of the transmitter. This is an out-of-the-box plug and play. No assembly required. We received all the digital channels. Occassional pixelation on a stormy night, good sound. If used indoors, it goes in the attic–outdoors on the roof or a mast. MSRP $62.99

HD1080M is a two-bay bowtie, outdoor UHF and high band VHF (channels 7-13) antenna, suggested for 0 to 40 miles from transmitter. Out of the box, it requires carriage bolts to put it together. (here’s how to install it). HD1080M  is not a space hog. It’s about the size of a DirecTV dish, though not that shape. Mount it to the roof or outside wall. At 42 miles from the transmitter, our reception was decent but channels 5 and 2 were again MIA. This is a non-amplified antenna for near-in locations. Especially suited to townhomes or condos where you wouldn’t want a big, honking antenna. $69.99

HD7694P is a pretty big momma antenna meant to be installed outdoors on the roof. The manual suggests a range limit of 25 miles for UHF and 30 miles for VHF. Interestingly, we put it in an attic crawl space. We put a preamplifier on it and got outstanding reception of digital channels. Channel 2 is still mildly problematic.

Clarity from these home antennas is remarkable. We put a pay TV connected television next to an antenna connected set and the difference was clear. Hands-down, the off air signal, the antenna, gave a better picture and better sound. We have noted very little pixelation or drop outs. Our pay TV service is constantly wracked with artifacts, drop outs and other garbage, for over $100 per month. I’m saving nearly $1500 annually without pay TV, premium channels, and movies on demand. Where do I get my movies? Read the next post to learn my secret!

There are new networks with the new digital TV systems. Each channel has up to three subchannels in digital, and they are using them to provide some interesting stuff. We’ve used an antenna for nearly a year, now, and are delighted with the results – although Channel 2’s signal drives me nuts and probably always will until and unless they go to a higher frequency. For a savings of well over $1000 annually, I’m hopeful we’ll adapt nicely. We’ll keep you tuned in.

Footnote: At this point, early 2010, the U.S. government is considering selling off the frequencies that house free TV. If they do that, you will be compelled to purchase your TV entertainment at whatever rates anyone chooses to charge you. The digital conversion last spring was such a SNAFU that the program apparently cost more than it earned in the selling of some frequencies. Read more about that and stick with me – I’ll follow this story.

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People are abandoning expensive pay TV services for free digital over-air signals. Broadcast TV has come of age. Winegard, premier manufacturer of TV antennas supplied us with evaluation units to try out, after I told them I hadn’t even been close to a TV antenna in 20 years. But take note! It may be too late to advantage this prize – there’s talk, serious talk in Washington, of selling off the bandwidth and getting rid of FREE TV.

The first thing we found out was that installing an antenna is pretty much one of the simplest things we’ve ever done.

The instructions packaged with the antennae weren’t the best ever written, but a person with rudimentary knowledge and technical skills could get the job done. These observations are true of all four we worked with.

What comes with antennas

Opening the boxes, we found that three of the four had multiple parts to assemble. Included with all were

1. antenna components
2. mounting hardware
3. assembly hardware
4. RF coax cables
5. electrical cords where needed
6. power supply where needed
7. instructions

The items were not particularly well wrapped and packaged, but they survived.

Our most complicated sample was a two-part antenna that needed carriage bolts (included) to connect two parts. The instructions were good enough to walk us through that process. They were a little confusing and the illustrations a bit vague. I will say that Winegard has a live tech support line and further info on their website.

Installing the antenna

First, we consulted Antenna Web, where we plugged in our address. Their application told us what kind of antenna should serve us best and where we’d want to point it. It listed the stations in range and an estimate of signal strengths at our location.

We assemble the components per Winegard’s instructions and the knowledge base. This is usually no more than two or three pieces, and no big challenge.

We went up in the attic crawl space, electing not to put the antenna on our roof, though that is the recommended preferred installation point. We put down two 2×4 sheets of plywood and screwed the plywood into the ceiling joists. We set the tripod base and mast on the plywood and screwed the tripod down to the plywood.

The tricky part is making sure you don’t spread the elements of the antenna wide apart before taking it up to it’s final home, it won’t fit through the crawlspace entrance if you do. That’s why the plywood was cut in half, too.

We used the included bracket to secure the antenna to the mast, using the u-clamp and a 7/16th inch wrench (or nutdriver.)

Once the antenna was pointing toward the broadcast transmitter, we tightened the clamp down.

Now we had to run coax cables (not supplied) from the antenna to each TV, through whatever paths made sense to us. Multiple TVs need a splitter (not supplied). Now, we connected to our TVs (or digital converter boxes).

We turned on the digital-ready TV (or digital converter box and analog TV) and ran the scan function as defined in the TVs user manual.

If you do all that, you’re set to receive free TV, including all or most local networks, UHF channels, and new digital networks like ABC-Live Well Network. In our area, 42 miles northwest of the Chicago transmitters, we get about 40 stations. The programming is not the same as pay TV, but we’re finding we watch more channels than we did with pay TV.

Other antenna manufacturers:

• ChannelMaster
• Wade Antenna, Inc
• Terk by Audiovox - click on the Terk link

what's the diff between a dino & a chicken?

Discovery Channel has a new dinosaur series for the holiday season. Clash of the Dinosaurs has awesome technology — video and science wise. The animation and robotic animation is perfect, giving a feeling of you-are-there. Sit down with your grand children and have a look.

Virtual body scans, bones, muscles, and body systems come to life. You’ll actually see how their formidable teeth were formed and why. My family enjoyed the action scenes, of course. The age group we shared the preview with was three to 60 years. What could be better than a roaring dinosaur on a big screen home theater? But, they were  fascinated by the science, too.

Discovery Channel’s promo blurb says:

…this new series premiers Sunday, Dec 6 at 8 pm (EST). Cinematic photo-real 3D graphics and cutting edge paleontology reveal the inner workings of these magnificent beasts.

You can believe the verbiage. Yes, the skeletons and models we’ve seen for years have thrilled us, I mean, what choices did we have? It’s not like there are old cinematic prints or photo negatives of dinos laying around in prehistoric archives. This series is different, and even if some viewers will notice the heavy repetition of special effect video footage, no one will leave to grab a snack or text a pal while this show is on.

It’s pretty cool, too, to see the big beasts’ skin peeled back and their anatomical workings out there. Those secrets are what made them survive longer than we have, or are likely to. Hats off to the teams of scientists and techies who worked on this show.

Speaking of science – want to know how one man wants to make a dinosaur form a chicken? Watch this two-minute CBS video.

Impress your youngest family members– check out how these technologies are coming of age:

• About 3D and 4D photo real
• Discovery Channel’s extensive dinosaur website
• A scientist who wants to make a real dinosaur

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Build a home theater

Are baby boomers tweeting on Twitter?

You want a home theater. You have some of the right stuff. How do you build it? Dave Letterman said, “You need huge home theater stuff. Can’t live without it. But first, you gotta have a hundred and fifty-foot living room.”

People with 15×17 living rooms, like me, might pile them full of enough sound equipment to do justice to a moderate amphitheater. My husband and I, always game for the latest technology, started in that direction.

We gathered good speakers we had throughout the house. We set them all up in the middle of the living room and were about to begin stringing wire. Dan, my husband, who worked in the audio industry for years, said maybe we should think about this.

If some sound is good, huge is not better

First, speakers produce heat. If we loaded our living room with a mass of huge speakers, we’d tax our air conditioning system. We live in the sunny south. Our living room, and likely yours, is rated as a small space when considering sound. Most churches are rated medium – think about that.

The human ear, especially untrained (and mine are incredibly untrained) can’t discern sound quality differences above certain points. We wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between fantastic sound and phenomenal sound.

So, resurrecting a drawing from his days with Pacific Stereo, Dan showed me how sound emanations cross over (little triangle lines on paper) at an apex where the sound is theoretically best. You’re supposed to put your chairs there. Using mega-speakers, ours was in the middle of our driveway.

Buying new theater stuff

We put our dollars where we needed new equipment. We made do with stuff we had or could get reasonably at online auctions. Buying used speakers can be a great idea. If treated well, speakers last a lifetime. There are bargains to be had on 1970s and 1980s gems.

We bought a new sub-woofer and center channel. The Sony subwoofer, good quality, 200 watts, provided darkly weighted sound to counter-balance highs. Like explosions on 24 – ya gotta hear those, right?

Our center channel was Boston Acoustic’s CRC7D, relatively small, but clear and perfect for our room. It enhances mid-tones – where speech comes across. Dan bid online for two Advent 3Cs, vintage beauties — our satellite speakers. The ones behind the listener.

Our splurge was a high-end Panasonic plasma HD TV. The old saying is “garbage in, garbage out”. Without good origin, you don’t get good results. If the picture is lousy, sound doesn’t matter.

The Sound of Sound

We hooked it all up with new cables. Meanwhile, a friend was acquiring mega-wattage speakers and no less than 10 preamps, tuners and switches. He built a steel shelf above his TV to hold a 10-foot center channel speaker. His satellites are as tall as I am. That kinda stuff tickles him.

His living room décor doesn’t appeal to me now, but his sound level keeps the neighborhood clear of small rodents. If you want that experience, tune in to the Home Theater Forum to hook up with soul mates.

To deepen your movie and television watching experience and enjoy intimate, theater- quality sound without climbing over speakers to get to your recliner, read up at sites like Shavano music. Talk to an audio expert at your retail store — one who’s been around and knows it isn’t always about size.