VoiceOfEmerika

Nothing too special about this one — other than the content that is.

This was added after the original post — it was taken the same evening — the same clouds.

This too was added later… I had a big day.

Finally… the produced version of the trains we filmed when we stayed at the Izaak Walton Inn in Montana. Oh, Karen also recorded the train sounds she used there too. –Thanks Karen!

Without further ado…

There was a total lunar eclipse August 28th. I spend the early hours of morning on the sand with a couple of cameras setup to capture the event. Luckily for me I brought my binoculars and made sure I enjoyed the sight in person. The photos of the eclipse were a complete bust. even with eight megapixels the moon was so tiny you couldn’t make it out. Only a telephoto lens would have helped.

Fortunately, I suspected this would be a problem and I aimed one camera out at Long Beach. The exposure wasn’t exactly right and this isn’t lovely, but it’s alright.

We spent Saturday afternoon at The Pike — across from The Queen Mary. I made a few movies while we were there. Some blended some not. Watch for the fireboat — what a surprise that was.

Unblended first (It’s the best)

Now blended — a little goofy.

Zoomed for the fireboat.

The first movie here was a originally a disappointment. I really thought this would be cool, but instead it was too choppy.

Here’s a heavily blended version of the same. (Everything is exactly the same except for the blending.) The details are: blending 19 frames and intermediate frame generation.)

I am not in love with this movie, but I do like it. I think it effects are pleasing — and a little strange. I gives me something to think about. I am wondering if 19 was too much…

I have blending working now. It is definitely a ‘tool’ and its use depends on the content. I have a new version of the Trains at Izaak Walton Inn (which you can’t see yet :) that uses a blend of three and the effect is pleasing. (A blend of three means that each frame is a blend of itself and the next two frames.) It just turns out that the effect is most pronounced in the sky. The processing time has gone up dramatically. I’m generally these running this overnight.

Along the way I quite easily threw in intermediate frame generation. This simply creates an additional frame between every pair of frames which is a blending of the two. This helps a lot when a movie needs to be slowed down and becomes too jerky. I can use blending and intermediate frame generation together–you just have to do the blending first and create the intermediate frames afterwards.

In the example I have here, I use a blending of twenty frames. Yes, that’s a lot. I hesitate to even show this because the source material isn’t that nice. Still, it’s a decent example of why I think the idea is sound. (See the original unblended version here.) In the original I find the the waves too disruptive. Especially as the sky is so smooth. In this blended version the ocean has come under control–though I think the sky suffered some what. And the whole thing is too dark and the contrast too low to be that nice.

One interesting thing to note in this movie is the way the ending gets more focused. As I reached the end of the frames I no longer have the selected number of frames to blend with. For example, if I am blending twenty frames, when there are twenty frames left in the move I don’t have enough to continue. At the moment I just use the number left — 19, 18, 17, etc. In some cases, the effect is nice and in some I don’t like it. I think I’ll add the ability to choose which behavior I want– either stop when you run out of the indicated number of frames or run out gracefully like it does now.

If anyone is having difficulty viewing these large movie files, please let me know.