Making the IslandReefJob video - Part 2 (of 2)

OK, I'll try to make this brief... because I'm really quite over this video, but I did want to document (for my own or for others future reference) some of the things I did to make the video.

I used VirtualDub for much of the video editing. To join multiple video clips, I ended up using MediaJoin (that I found somewhere out there). It took me some time and trial and error to find decent and free software for my purposes.

My main concern was to be able to reverse video. After some searching and testing, I found I could do this using VirtualDub and AviSynth. The AviSynth script (that you just drag and drop onto VirtualDub) to reverse a video is like this:
Reverse(DirectShowSource("C:\Video\video1.AVI", 29.97))

I also wanted to have some slow motion clips, which I found that I could do with a script like this, which would make it half speed:
Reverse(DirectShowSource("C:\video\video2.avi", 29.97))
AssumeSampleRate(22050)
AssumeFPS(12.5)

I also really wanted to make it widescreen/letterbox, which I was able to accomplish in VirtualDub. Here's a link explaining that:
http://www.kyleprohaska.com/brickfilms/widelet_virt/widelet_virt.html

I found myself somewhat frustrated and saddened that my walking clips were pretty shaky/bouncy, due to Amy simply filming me while she was walking backwards with the camera. I found one very cool piece of software that can be used with VirtualDub to de-shake video. I was skeptical at first, and it took some learning and tinkering (and it does have it's own pros and cons), but it ended up helping improve some of the shakiness quite significantly. Here's some info on it:
http://www.sundancemediagroup.com/articles/deshaker_guide.htm

Here's a couple other related links I reviewed and found somewhat helpful at the time:
http://www.divxland.org/video_edition.php
http://home.comcast.net/~plutarch/VirtualDub.html

One thing that I thought would be pretty simple ended up not being as easy as I thought. I had wanted the words on the screen to show up in the black letterbox bars at the top and bottom of the video, so that it didn't show up over the actual video. But, I had such a hard time trying to find free software that would let me easily place the text in that specific of a place. I eventually ended up using Windows Movie Maker to add the text and just had to deal with it covering up the video since I couldn't place it on the screen where I wanted it.

So, that's really it. It was fun, and I enjoyed the process. And, I'm glad it's done.

Here's a couple takes from the filming process, just for fun.





FYI, at this point the voting over at http://www.islandreefjob.com/ is done. The top vote getter, along with 10 others of Queensland Tourism's choosing (who will be announced April 2), will be flown to Australia for an interview process.

This guy didn't win. I think he came in second in the voting, but I personally liked his video/application better than the one who came in first. I like it in part because it's a music video like mine, just more interesting and well done.


So much for keeping things brief...

Big Guys Gotta Look Good Too

Make sure you check out the picture at the end of this post!

This falls under the category of "friends of WesSpeaks". It's all about a store in Elkhart, Indiana called Big & Tall Outlet (formerly Value Center Big & Tall Outlet). It is owned and operated by none other than my own parents.

Now, I'm not big or tall, myself, so I don't go shopping there for myself. But, I'm rather fond of the place and the people who work there, some of whom I've gotten to know a little bit. The place did help put me through college, after all.

But, I don't want to give you a commercial for the place, just the basics. You can check out their site at www.bigandtalloutlet.com (where you can currently watch one of their TV commercials featuring local celebrity Charlie Adams). The site has a pretty decent assortment and variety of merchandise available (and is growing all the time), but a visit to the store, and it's 9,000-square foot showroom, will provide the full range of options for anyone looking for sizes starting at Large Tall (LT) or 1X up to 8X or occasionally even 10X, I think. (Pant waist sizes they carry go from 36 to 72, at least, I believe.) They also have a blog at bigandtalloutlet.blogspot.com.

Contact info:
info@bigandtalloutlet.com
1-866-BIG-MENS or 574-293-0111

This is pretty interesting. I just found some other guy who blogged about Big & Tall Outlet, who just seems to be a regular customer that's pretty excited about the nice clothes and good prices. You can check out what he has to say at:
www.nosweatpants.com/2008/12/05/big-guys-gotta-look-good-too/

Now, one last thing. Here's a picture of a guy who came in recently and found some clothes to fit him. He's Igor Vovkovinskiy, and is supposedly one of the ten tallest people alive. You can find out more about him (how tall he is, his shoe size, etc.) at bigandtalloutlet.blogspot.com/2009/03/igor-vovkovinskiy.html or do a search on his name. (That's his mother on the left and my dad on the right.)