Warm Weekend
Anime Evolution was this past weekend. It was fun, but frankly, it was a bit of a gong show. It didn't help that I was in costume for the first two days - full plastic armour, which is just fabulous during a heat wave. (By the way, the weather forecast for the NEXT few weekends is mild and rainy.) I was generally awkward, and made a lot of mistakes over the weekend... and probably made a bit of a fool of myself on Saturday night, 'cause I got myself totally smashed. That was actually one of the better parts of the event. =p
I was largely unimpressed by the AMV contest this year. Out of...well, between 40-50 entries, there were about 5 or 6 that I thought were okay, and just 2 that were really good. The whole time I was thinking, "I could do that. With hours and hours of effort, I could do better than that". So I will. Yesterday I researched quality video editors, 'cause you can only do the basics with Windows Movie Maker. I tried out Adobe After Effects Pro, which sounds amazing....but doesn't seem to work on my computer. When I reformat it a few weeks ago, I was told to put it to 32-bit instead of 64-bit, and since I'm not even entirely sure what that means, I did. The Adobe Creative Suite programs only work on 64-bit. Dur. So I went with the second-rated, Sony Vegas Pro. It certainly works on my computer - after about two hours trying to get it to install - but... I hate its interface. It skips and lags, and both the audio and video quality suck. I went through a couple of tutorials, but I can't even do simple cutting and splicing easily. I have a feeling it's more of a user-error than a program flaw, but honestly? I prefer Windows Movie Maker. Ew. I suppose that's what trials are for, after all. I'm certainly glad I didn't pay for these!
So today I've been goofing around with video files and cleaning the kitchen. Between the heat and being essentially away for the weekend...yick. What a mess! At least I cleaned up most of my paperwork yesterday; the bills are paid, the tickets and reservations are bought, and everything to do with Cannonball is utterly complete! I just need to, um, find the form I need to collect payment for a job I did months ago, and I'll be just dandy.
I think I'm almost looking forward to work tonight. Air conditioning, and hopefully no customers. DO YOU HEAR ME, CUSTOMERS? YOU BETTER STAY AWAY!
I was largely unimpressed by the AMV contest this year. Out of...well, between 40-50 entries, there were about 5 or 6 that I thought were okay, and just 2 that were really good. The whole time I was thinking, "I could do that. With hours and hours of effort, I could do better than that". So I will. Yesterday I researched quality video editors, 'cause you can only do the basics with Windows Movie Maker. I tried out Adobe After Effects Pro, which sounds amazing....but doesn't seem to work on my computer. When I reformat it a few weeks ago, I was told to put it to 32-bit instead of 64-bit, and since I'm not even entirely sure what that means, I did. The Adobe Creative Suite programs only work on 64-bit. Dur. So I went with the second-rated, Sony Vegas Pro. It certainly works on my computer - after about two hours trying to get it to install - but... I hate its interface. It skips and lags, and both the audio and video quality suck. I went through a couple of tutorials, but I can't even do simple cutting and splicing easily. I have a feeling it's more of a user-error than a program flaw, but honestly? I prefer Windows Movie Maker. Ew. I suppose that's what trials are for, after all. I'm certainly glad I didn't pay for these!
So today I've been goofing around with video files and cleaning the kitchen. Between the heat and being essentially away for the weekend...yick. What a mess! At least I cleaned up most of my paperwork yesterday; the bills are paid, the tickets and reservations are bought, and everything to do with Cannonball is utterly complete! I just need to, um, find the form I need to collect payment for a job I did months ago, and I'll be just dandy.
I think I'm almost looking forward to work tonight. Air conditioning, and hopefully no customers. DO YOU HEAR ME, CUSTOMERS? YOU BETTER STAY AWAY!