Reach for the Lazers Boulder Problem

A new boulder problem in Alcaidesa that Ant and I found, cleared and cleaned. This preview from my new climbing film shows some of our many attempts at sending the problem. You will have to wait for the final film to find out if we manage it though.

The boulder problem starts in a cave with some unusual hand holds. A powerful pull is then required to get out of the cave followed by some awkward slopers. The second half becomes a pumpy traverse with big reaches for the hands and little ledges for the feet. Lots of effort required to get to the end.

For the editing of this piece I wanted to tell the story of first discovering the problem and then working the project. The music plays a key role in telling the story with cuts made to the beat. This was also the first time I used a film burn as an effect. The finished film will show in more detail the clearing and cleaning of the problem as well the final send (hopefully :-)).

Let me know what you think in the comments and stay tuned for more video previews, climbing action and an in depth look at my workflow.

January is almost over and 2013 is in full swing. My aim for this year is to get more Gibraltar design clients. With that in mind I have been working on updating my website to entice new clients. Specifically, I am designing a new Home Page to replace the existing one. Users are currently taken straight to the Portfolio Page. Although pretty this does not explain the purpose of my site. A new page with mission statement, work samples, key links and overview of design services will replace it.

Below is the new James Holtom Gibraltar Design home page, click it for a more detailed view. Changes may still be made but it is close to being finished. Let me know your thoughts?

I am also updating the SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) for my website, making it easier for people to find me. Another area of my site I will be working on is my blog. I will be posting a lot more about my passions and free time activities. Expect news and videos regarding my video project about climbing in Gibraltar and Andalucia. I will be uploading Premiere and After Effects tutorials to help fellow film makers and will continue to post my favorite Vimeo videos.

Stay tuned.

As part of 2013 I really want to share with you a little more about what makes me tick. My motivations, my drive to discover new things and my quest for happiness. This climbing project I have challenged myself to complete combines all these things and more.

As well as being a freelance designer based in Gibraltar I am passionate about climbing. The concentration involved whilst climbing is total, nothing else enters the mind. It is very calming and a great way to stay fit. To combine my passion for climbing and my love of design I have set out to create a climbing film with my good friend Ant.  Based in Andalucia the film will explore the culture, people and stunning scenery of this beautiful part of Southern Spain.

The above film is a test piece I did for the climbing project to familiarise myself with the GoPro camera. Lookout for brand new videos from the climbing project over the coming weeks.

Right now, Ant and I are working hard on editing all the footage together. It is slightly overwhelming with over 400 GB of raw footage but we are plugging away and making good progress. My aim is to finish the film by early Spring. I will be updating the blog with news, designs and videos over the coming months so stay tuned.

The quality of student work that is being produced today is truly breath taking. Students often have the same tools available to them as the professionals and it is clear from the many examples of student work out there that they know how to use them. I have collected a few examples below but there are so many more. Enjoy.

R’ha

R’ha is a CGI Science Fiction extravaganza . Written, directed and animated by Kaleb Lechowski it is a truly impressive feat. The quality, attention to detail and sheer scope puts this film on par with many  professional productions. Amazing work with the sound and voice acting too.

Mac ‘n’ Cheese

Mac ‘n’ Cheese is a short created by four students from the Netherlands. An unrelenting pace combined with great character design makes this short a lot of fun. It reminds me of an adult version of Coyote and Roadrunner. Sit back, hold on and enjoy the ride.

Khoda

A painting everytime you pause. Created by Reza Dolatabadi, Khoda consists of over 6000 paintings which were painstakingly produced during two years to create a five minute film. A psychological thriller that is truly beautiful to look at. A few years old now, but still golden.

This list of the Best Free Media Players is short and sweet. I am not going to bombard you with a huge list, just my favorite music and video players I use on a day to day basis. The following media players all work brilliantly and they are all FREE.

Video Players

Media Player Classic – A light weight video player that works on almost all computer. MPC makes the list because it plays pretty much every video format that is available today. Install either the K-Lite Codec pack or the Combined Community Codec Pack and MPC will work like a dream. It loads quickly, is easy to use and is bug free.

VLC Media Player – This is my backup to Media Player Classic. Any video files that do not work in MPC should work with VLC. Its true advantage though is that it does not require additional codec packs to work. Install both players, experiment and test the features of both and decide which works best for you. You will likely never need another video player again.

XBMC – If like me you use a laptop to play videos on your TV, this is the only media player you will ever need, guaranteed. My netbook stuggles to play HD files and YouTube is unusable. XBMC is the only player I have found that can handle smooth playback of 720p and 1080p video files on netbook. It is hugely customisable, has hundreds of plugins (e.g. YouTube and Vimeo plugins) and is very well supported. It also plays music, photos, the weather and more.

Music Players

Foobar 2000 – A super light weight music player that is easy to customise, has a lot of different skins to choose from and is really easy to use. Whatever features you want to use whilst listening to music Foobar will be able to provide. Any other features you do not use can simply be removed from the interface. My music player of choice.

Songbird – This is a great iTunes alternative with all the features of iTunes and then a lot more extras as well. It loads quicker, is easier to use and is straight forward to transfer all your playlists etc from iTunes to Songbird. The add-ons give you extra features such as video playback and web browsing or you could just keep it for playing music.

Introduction

In this tutorial I am going to take you through the process of using MPEG Streamclip to create proxy files for editing in Adobe Premiere. MPEG Streamclip is an amazingly powerful piece of software that is completely free. You can download it here. The one minor downside is that you need a particular version of Quicktime for it to work. Follow the instructions on the Square 5’s website and it will soon be up and running.

Step 1. Folder Structure

Create a new folder on your PC where you want to keep all your project video files. Call this new folder Footage.

Within this Footage folder create two more folders. These will be where you keep your original footage and your new proxy files. Name the first folder Proxies and the second folder Original.

Step 2. Populating Folders

Copy all your camera video files to the Original folder. It is important to never delete or overwrite these files. You will always want to be able to access your original high quality files.

Step 3. MPEG Streamclip

Open MPEG Streamclip where you will be greeted with a window like the image on the right. File navigation is along the top, a big video preview window in the middle and video controls along the bottom.

To add video files so you can start exporting them to proxy files click the List menu at the top of the window and then select Batch List. Or if you are short on time and like using shortcuts simply hit CTRL + B.

Step 4. Importing Video Files

A new Batch List window will open. To populate the Batch List click the Add Files… button which can be found at the bottom right of the window.

A new window opens, this time navigate to your Original folder and select all the video files you want to convert to proxy files. Once all your video files are selected click Open.

Step 5. Export to DV

This is where it starts to get a little technical and a knowledge of codecs, compression, file types and formats is helpful, I will keep it light on detail.

Click the drop down menu and select Export to DV. Premiere LOVES the DV format so most computers can handle this codec. The one downside is large file size. Click OK to bring up the next window. Navigate to your Proxies folder and click OK to save them there.

Step 6. Proxy File Settings

This final window may look confusing but very little needs changing. Select DV (DV25) from the Compression drop down menu. If from Europe select PAL from the Standard drop down menu or NTSC if your American.

My original video files were filmed at 1280×960 with a GoPro so I selected 4:3 for my Aspect Ratio. If you have filmed at 1280×720 or 1920×1080 you should select 16:9 for the Aspect Ratio. If unsure a general rule is if your original video files are shaped like a letterbox select 16:9 but if shaped more like a squashed square select 4:3.

The final setting is to deselect the Interlaced Scaling box to make your proxy files progressive. This means the final output will be for a computer display such as YouTube or Vimeo.

Click To Batch to start creating your proxy files. If MPEG Streamclip does not automatically start creating your proxy files simply click Go. It is now time to wait whilst MPEG Streamclip does it’s thing and create your proxy files.

Step 7. Editing with Premiere

Open Adobe Premiere, create a new sequence and hit CTRL + I to import your video files. Navigate to your Proxies folder, select all your proxy files and click Open. The aspect ratio of the proxy files is 720×576 which will likely be much smaller than the original footage, do not worry, this is fine. The proxy files will also probably not fill the whole of the editing window, again do not worry. Time to start editing.

Step 8. Replacing Proxy Files with Original Files

Once happy with the sequence it is time to export the final video file. Before clicking Export navigate back to your original Footage folder. Simply rename the Proxies folder to Replaced and the Original folder to Proxies. Premiere will still be taking the files from the Proxies folder but they are now the original files at full resolution not the low resolution proxy files. Amazing!