A Fantastic idea for Craig at LED MUSEUM

Make a Video Tape.

Get, borrow, steal a CamCorder, somehow, and tape yourself, showing off all those amazing flashlights.

Obviously, you can't show ALL of them... There's too many. But you CAN show a bunch of 'em in, say, 90 minutes.

Forget editing, just "Stop and Start".

I'd buy a copy... What, say $30?

--Phil

I'd like to see this too! In fact, if Craig can get a video to me, I'll convert them to .avi files and e-mail them back to him for posting on his web site. This way, the video can be broken into individual segments and placed with each light review.

Craig, What do you think?

Telephony has some video stuff already, a Japanese TV appearance (and other things to come, I believe !).

Personally, I'd like to see some "commercial breaks" in the video, short personal scenes: a tour of the world-famous Museum, the Seattle neighbourhood.

Craig, I really enjoy seeing the photos and floor plans in various posts. Are you keeping all those shots available from a "home" page on your site somewhere ?

lightlover

Wow! An LED Museum virtual tour. Great idea! That would be very interesting. Maybe we'd be able to see some of Craig's telephone insulator collection and famous pink and purple hair!

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by PhilAlex:
at $30, that's $300.

Now... Getting him a camcorder is the problem...<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Assuming a camera is found, I suppose the next problem to tackle is where to set up the shoot. Almost anywhere a camera is set up in the apartment, the background will look like a garbage dump because there is no storage here, so everyting I own is just piled floor to ceiling in garbage bags & cardboard boxes in every room. Plus the carpet really sucks. It belongs in the garbage can, not on the floor. Martha Stewart somehow forgot this apartment the last time she came through Seattle.

The only indoor options that would look OK here from an aesthetic standpoint will be to do the whole shoot either sitting on the sofa with the camera aimed in that direction (covering the sofa, an end table, and the wall above), or sitting right here in my work area with the camera set up at my right side and aimed in the general direction of the ProMetric's target.

Barring that, an outdoor shoot would be the only other alternative that would produce acceptable aesthetics for both the scene & background, but there's no place safe to take a $600 camcorder and 300 flashlights outside at night. Bad neighborhood, heroin junkies, gun-toting "ganstas", crackheads, and other assorted riff-raff.

So what'll it be?
A "living room" setting with the couch, or a "laboratory" setting with instruments & computers filling half the frame?

I have a 100W 120V halogen video light, so scene lighting shouldn't be an issue. And I can make an acceptable animated "title screen" on the computer, like I used to do before Seismic Sam took my last camcorder away from me.

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by d'mo:
I'd like to see this too! In fact, if Craig can get a video to me, I'll convert them to .avi files and e-mail them back to him for posting on his web site.

Craig, What do you think?<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Interesting idea, but probably not very do-able. For one, I don't even *know* anybody with a camcorder, let alone own one or have the ability to rent one. I also don't own a working VCR.

And secondly, I don't have the web space to put any AVIs up. I'm already nearing my 60MB limit, and have started pulling down other websites to make room for the LED Museum. A single 10 or 15 second AVI (a few megs?) would pretty much wipe everything out. (What do you play an AVI on anyway? Windows media player?)

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by *something ridiculous ?:
Telephony has some video stuff already, a Japanese TV appearance (and other things to come, I believe !).

Craig, I really enjoy seeing the photos and floor plans in various posts. Are you keeping all those shots available from a "home" page on your site somewhere ? <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I no longer have the room for any of these. Websites of mine are falling like flies in a cloud of Raid just to make room for the ever-growing LED Museum. My Safeco Field site is gone, my "tour of home" is gone, and several of my toilet websites are also gone. Many of the pictures I've posted over the last couple of years are also gone. All consumed by the ever greedy LED Museum.

Hard to believe this whole thing started in late 1999 as a single 14K page with a few black and white webcam pictures of LEDs on it. Now it's a 50 megabyte monster that's showing no signs of slowing its growth.

Guys... You're missing the point.

FORGET AVI's

Craig sells the tape and makes $$.

If he sells 10 at $30, that's $300.

Now... Getting him a camcorder is the problem...

--Phil

Craig,

If you're serious, I'll start looking for a camcorder for you. No guarantees, but I'll give it a shot. Once you have it, you can mail me the tape(s). I'll be happy to edit them, add some titles and make copies (my home theater evolved from an editing suite). If this works out, I would be able to provide copies on VHS and possibly Video CD (sorry, no DVDs... yet).

As for the setting, I don't think CPF members will care if it's "aesthetically pleasing." I think anyone interested in the tape would be more interested in the work you've done, how you do it, and your collection.

If it weren't for you, many of us may not have found CPF.

LED Museum said: <BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR> scene lighting shouldn't be an issue <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I don't think any of us worried about that part.

Craig,

I've managed to acquire an older model camcorder for this project. If you're still interested, please let us know and it will be on the way.

I'd also be happy to provide my editing and copying services - all proceeds, if any, to go to the LED Museum or CPF.

What do you think?

Ok, guess I'd be stuck with VHS...no prob!

Originally posted by d'mo:
Craig,

I've managed to acquire an older model camcorder for this project. If you're still interested, please let us know and it will be on the way.

What do you think?

Click to expand...

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">I guess my next step is to start gathering up lights, buying hair dye, digging up the video light, and cleaning out a couple of spaces to do the shoot in. Does that answer your question?

What kind of tapes do I need for this camera?
The one I lost in the quake used VHS-C. And my VCR uses regular VHS; both types are very readily available in the Seattle area, unlike some types of batteries.

With this settled, I think the next course of action would be deciding on exactly how I should make the presentation. Show the flashlight on and off, of course. Demonstrating some of the lab equipment would also be mandatory.

Should I also demonstrate battery changing and bulb changing procedures? Throw the flashlights on the floor or bang them against something in front of the camera? Run them over or step on them?

Does the video camera have a battery so I can throw in five or ten minutes of discontinuous footage showing my neighborhood and places I go? Or is it a vidicon tube model tethered to an AC cord?

Questions, questions...

Craig:

None of us are after Aesthetiks.

Just show us da lights. Show us the features, the neat parts... Stuff you'd show us if we dropped in for a visit.

Uh... We ARE allowed to drop in for a visit, eh?

Originally posted by Saaby:
Ok, guess I'd be stuck with VHS...no prob!

Click to expand...

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">Why not at least use S-VHS? -The VCRs (and the raw tapes) are Very inexpensive these days 100 more line of horizontal resolution.

Originally posted by mr.glow:
</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">Originally posted by Saaby:
Ok, guess I'd be stuck with VHS...no prob!

Click to expand...

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">Why not at least use S-VHS? -The VCRs (and the raw tapes) are Very inexpensive these days 100 more line of horizontal resolution.</font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">I just meant I couldn't buy the film on VCD. VCR isn't S-VHS or Quasi S-VHS so that doesn't work either, no problem though...really!

OK- <

d'mo would the VCDs be on a CD-R? My DVD player will do VCR but it will not play any recordable media...

Craig, both! Good cinematography demands both the couch and lab shot

Originally posted by Saaby:
d'mo would the VCDs be on a CD-R?

Click to expand...

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">Saaby, yes, VCDs would be on CD-R. Unfortunately, I'm not sophisticated enough to burn commercial quality / quantity at this point.

Originally posted by The LED Museum:
</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">Originally posted by d'mo:
[qb]Craig,

I've managed to acquire an older model camcorder... [qb]

Click to expand...

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">I guess my next step is to start gathering up lights, buying hair dye, digging up the video light, and cleaning out a couple of spaces to do the shoot in. Does that answer your question?

What kind of tapes do I need for this camera?
The one I lost in the quake used VHS-C. And my VCR uses regular VHS; both types are very readily available in the Seattle area, unlike some types of batteries.

With this settled, I think the next course of action would be deciding on exactly how I should make the presentation. Show the flashlight on and off, of course. Demonstrating some of the lab equipment would also be mandatory.

Should I also demonstrate battery changing and bulb changing procedures? Throw the flashlights on the floor or bang them against something in front of the camera? Run them over or step on them?

Does the video camera have a battery so I can throw in five or ten minutes of discontinuous footage showing my neighborhood and places I go? Or is it a vidicon tube model tethered to an AC cord?

Questions, questions...</font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">Craig,

The good news: It's a Zenith VHS-C, three tapes, RF converter and RCA cables to connect to a TV or VCR. A little bulky in comparison to new model camcorders, but...

The bad news: It does not have a battery, charger or VHS-C adapter to use in a VCR. I think I can come up with a 9.6 V coax adapter to enable it to be used off the mains,, but this will delay shipping. I can ship more quickly if you're confident you have something that will work.

If anyone has a Zenith battery pack 402/403/415/445 and/or charger, we could really use it to allow Craig to be mobile. I'll keep looking on my end as well. Craig, It might be possible to adapt the camera to be powered from your chair battery.

To rectify the VHS adapter dilemma, I'll be sending you a VHS VCR. Just connect the camcorder to the inputs to make VHS copies from VHS-C.

As to content of the video, the choice is yours - you're the star, director and cinematographer. Don't bother trying to edit with the VCR and camcorder. Once we have enough raw footage, send me the tapes for editing, music and titles. I should be able to e-mail you clips for approval.