Beta test my first web video

I just dedicated a page on my site to tiki sites I have visited. Just a fluff piece really. In the Hale Tiki write up I have a link to a video featuring Bartender Mel Serving up a Hurricane.

http://www.nicefishy.com/TikiRoadtrip.html

If you guys could give me some feedback as to how it shows up on your browsers, it would be quite helpful. It appears large on my monitor and doesn't look the greatest until I scale it down.

Also I could really use some good pics of Hale Tiki, The Royal Hawaiian (Laguna Beach), and Trader Vics (London). I can only offer photo credits and maybe a link.

looks good to me , now i am thirsty
love the website too.

Looks good...well, crappy, as far as video is concerned...fantastic, as far as drinking and computers go! I'm using dial up on a mac, osX Safari. Comes up big, chunky pixels, but I can see everything perfectly, and like radiotiki I'm feelin' mighty thirsty! LOVE everything you're doing!

Great work, Raffertiki! I feel like I've been there now. The music is great too with the fading text. Can't wait to see others.

The video worked fine.
Use a higher pixel/quality next time (not to be anal, I do this for a living) and have a choice for modem or broadband.
Mel's shaker technique needs some work too.:)
Enjoyed it.

Thanks for the feedback guys. Yeah, it makes me thirsty too.

I finally realized how to constrain the vid to a smaller size which will make it appear somewhat sharper. If you feel you can suffer through it one more time, I'd like your opinions on the new format. Although now it auto-starts as soon as the page opens. I think that can be fixed in Flash.

Unga, I converted this into a Flash vid, which I thought would make it pretty much one-size-fits-all. What do you know that I don't? By the way, do you happen to be a Final Cut Pro guru? I have a glitch I've been trying to fix for quite a while.

Looks pretty pro to me.
Yeah, I would LOVE for raffertiki to give some good tips on doing video, I have yet to try it sometime.

On 2004-10-19 20:15, Raffertiki wrote: If you guys could give me some feedback as to how it shows up on your browsers, it would be quite helpful. It appears large on my monitor and doesn't look the greatest until I scale it down.

I LUV to see this kinda thing!
Good job! Comfortable visuals.

It's small on my monitor. I would save the .mov at a higher aspect ratio.
use a reflector on the subject.
or low fill in light.
Pull back on shots that cause you to pan too much; the fruit shot ; subject falls out of frame. I would have the bartender make some eye contact with camera. smile. Nothin worse than a blase barkeep.
To keep editing tight, i would cut the few frames that show her apparently washing dishes or whatevahs. Where she burrows unda da counter. Not needed.
Mel needs a slightly more enthusiatic shaking technique.
I would reshoot the end; Unappealing to see a bartender handle the suckin' end/tip of a straw.
Bartenders, esp. the ones that also handle money, don't touch rims of glassware or the tips of straws.
...other than those 43 things, great!
got more?

[ Edited by: lanikai on 2004-10-22 00:40 ]

Thanks for the feedback Lanikai, and for providing Surfin' and the rest of us with some good tips. Reflectors, fill lights, and multiple takes are great in a controlled environment, and definately should be taken advantage of. But sometimes you have to take what you can get, especially when you're in tourist mode. Mel was nice enough to let me shoot the sequence. Asking a working bartender (who knew me from Jack)to act and reshoot was not a consideration. But sure I would love to go back and reshoot. I just need to fly into Atlanta, rent a car, and drive 200 miles to Augusta. Not that I wouldn't, but probably not in the near future.

Surfin, when you have only one chance, guerilla-style, frame the shot first, then refrain from using the zoom control, unless absolutely necessary, especially when you don't know in advance the actions your subject. Getting caught at the end of the action in a close-up is a bummer.

rrrrrrrrrrrraffertiki-
ummm,...I guess, what I mean, is, what's the best method of having video on your website. Quicktime? How does it work for different browsers...what's the deal with streaming? With imovie and Toast, should I just save as quicktime, throw it on my server, set up a link on the website and that's it?
I guess I've blown it off all these years, because it's memory hoggin stuff...true?

On 2004-10-20 15:43, Raffertiki wrote:
I finally realized how to constrain the vid to a smaller size which will make it appear somewhat sharper. If you feel you can suffer through it one more time, I'd like your opinions on the new format. Although now it auto-starts as soon as the page opens. I think that can be fixed in Flash.

Unga, I converted this into a Flash vid, which I thought would make it pretty much one-size-fits-all. What do you know that I don't? By the way, do you happen to be a Final Cut Pro guru? I have a glitch I've been trying to fix for quite a while.

Hi Raffertiki,
Flash is great for video. I meant the file size for downloading. Someone with a modem won't wait around too long for a large download. (place joke here)
I use Pro Tools and Adobe Premiere. No knowledge with Final Cut.
The new version is great. Nice work!

On 2004-10-22 06:53, Raffertiki wrote:
Mel was nice enough to let me shoot the sequence. Asking a working bartender (who knew me from Jack)to act and reshoot was not a consideration.

Got it! I suppose I am spoiled; Got alotta favorite tiki bars here; they know me and after a couple maitais and kinda heavy tipping, I get alotta raw footage I can do much with.

Can we see more? Of other drinks and other bars?
After you get about almost an hour of edited footage, burn some dvds and offer them (for a few clams) to the TC ohana! (and ebay. what the heck. why not!?)
mahalos!

Surfin',
Sorry for the misunderstanding.

I choose to output my vid through Flash because I didn't want to deal with different formats. I figure most people whether thay use PC or Mac have Flash. Flash also let me get my file size down to 968k while keeping a reasonably decent quality.

Unga, I think people with dial-ups are going to have difficulties with all video. They are probably used to it and just move on. Eventually they will catch up with technology, or technology will catch up to them.

I suppose I am spoiled; Got alotta favorite tiki bars here; they know me and after a couple maitais and kinda heavy tipping, I get alotta raw footage I can do much with.

Lanakai, If only I could walk for a week in your sandles. It must be nice to have the access you have. Where can we see some of your footage?

Lanakai,

On 2004-10-22 15:50, Raffertiki wrote: I choose to output my vid through Flash because I didn't want to deal with different formats. I figure most people whether thay use PC or Mac have Flash. Flash also let me get my file size down to 968k while keeping a reasonably decent quality. I think people with dial-ups are going to have difficulties with all video.
Lanakai, If only I could walk for a week in your sandles. It must be nice to have the access you have. Where can we see some of your footage?

Those with dial up hopefully know video requires DSL, and whatevahs... Soon one hopes, they will upgrade. Flash is good. don't know if that contributes to the mosaic pixelated look of some stuff. i try to keep clips down to about 2 to 3 mgbs each. and save as qt. Not flash conversant yet. Just imovie (I know, I know..) and Final Cut. and save as QT.
QT is cross platform; most PC users have it and all mac users have it. (safe assumption)
footage upcoming. You want the extended director's cut or the walmart cut?
You're on a PC with QT, yea?

You want the extended director's cut or the walmart cut?
You're on a PC with QT, yea?

Extended director's cut please. I'm on Mac at home, PC at work.

50% of internet users are on dial-up. 61.3 million, slow movin', time wastin', no phone ringin', people (like me!)
that's your fast fact of the day.

I feel for you surfin', but the only other option is noone gets to see videos. On the other hand, I pay 50 clams a month for my cable modem. Technology will split the difference one of these days.

Fine piece of video Raffer from Long Island. Are you drunked id? i am

Thanks Flounder. I certainly was the night I shot that footage.