Blender for Video Editing

It was recently pointed out to me that Blender can be used as a video editing tool. This is great news, since I thought it was only a 3D graphics application, and I like the idea of using fewer programs so I can learn the ones I do use more thoroughly. The following video provides the basic experience of using this program for editing videos.

It actually looks (relatively) easy to use. I am looking forward to learning more about this software. There are other video tutorials available, as well as loads of documentation. So look around for that stuff before getting too frustrated at its complexity.

Remember; I am just learning how to use this stuff myself. I want us to learn together. So throw up links in the comments if you know of other resources.

New Camera Means New Struggles

Technology is supposed to make our lives easier, and it does, sometimes. The big problem is that the new technologies keep on coming, and each new thing has a learning curve involved with it that actually slows us down, at least for a while, before it helps us to pick up speed in the end. And how long will we be able to use that before we feel compelled to chase after the next generation of gadget?

I'm very happy with the camera so far, and with all the junk I bought in order to use it. I got a full size tripod and a tabletop version, a shotgun microphone, light system with stands, carrying bags. I am quite sure that it can produce high quality images and videos because I accidentally get the settings right on occasion. It's less than ideal for a first camera, and probably not good enough for a professional. It's just about right for me, even though it's taking some time to learn how the menus work.


The camera itself is not where the greatest difficulty lies. The editing software is what has really bogged me down. I've never used it before because I haven't had good enough images to start with to warrant trying to improve them. For editing photos, I think GIMP is going to work out well for now. I haven't yet figured out what I will be using for video editing. If you have suggestions for a Linux user, let me know. It's got to be fairly easy to use, yet capable of handling 4k. I haven't looked too hard for this stuff though. I've been collecting some content so I'll have something to edit. Soon.

Creation vs Curation

Let's reflect for a minute about Social Media. Many times we focus quite heavily on content creation. Maybe we want to start a blog or YouTube channel, but we don't know exactly what it is we want to create, let alone how to go about creating it. And there's lots of materials out there to try to figure that stuff out. But you're probably already creating some content of your own in the form of microblogging. Most people online have either a Twitter or Facebook account, if not both. And there's a ton of other platforms, too, maybe with LinkedIn or Instagram. The point is that you are already engaged with creating content, even if only shorter versions of what I am doing with this blog. If this is true for you, then you have already started your creative expression. So it's just a matter of lengthening it up a bit and maybe changing formats.

Yet there's another side to Social Media, something a little more passive. And it does happen in the same platforms. When you like or share somebody else's posts, you are doing what is known as content curation. It is another component to your overall branding. By sharing other people's content, you are expressing a type of editorial control. It does reveal to others what media you are ingesting. It tells the rest of the world what world you are looking at. 

I assume that most people are doing a little creation and curation all of the time, but in a fairly unconscious way. I also assume that creativity is not always easy for people, especially when they are still learning how to use the technology to create their own content. In my opinion, curation has a value unto itself, and I believe there's a place for it in that arena. I suspect that thinking of curation first may be easier for users to find out for themselves what most interests them and what they might be most familiar with so when it does come time to create more, they might extrapolate some kind of theme from the stuff they have liked or favorited on their other platforms. 

Ubuntu Studio

I'm a fairly poor fellow, so I have to cut costs where I can. It seems the single best way to do that is to dive into the Linux operating system. There is quite a learning curve to this proposal, however. So, you should either just settle with Windows or OSx unless you are willing to do at least some work in learning at least some rudimentary things about operating systems. Probably the most frustrating thing about Linux to the new user is the sheer number of flavors it available. And to understand that, you have to put yourself into the frame of mind of an Open Source development paradigm. You see, anyone is free to modify the work done by someone else, so long as attribution is given. This is referred to as a 'fork,' and the resulting mod is known in the community as a 'distro.' The single best reason to get into Linux is that it can take a machine designed to run on windows and make it faster and more secure than what Windows OS achieves on the identical hardware.



There are literally hundreds of distros to choose from, however. Just tons of different options that can be useful for a more advanced user to get precisely the kind of optimization they are looking for. That being said, I would recommend that any first time users stick to either Linux Mint or Ubuntu. I use Linux Mint, myself, but I have modified it by adding in some Ubuntu packages. It's not really my objective to get into my reasons for that here. Specifically, the packages I have added to Mint come from a fork of Ubuntu known as Ubuntu Studio. It's probably the way to go to just get that entire distro if you've never tried Linux before. And I mention this in my blog because there's tons of advanced software for studio work that comes built-in to that version of Linux.

I don't know all of the ins and outs of the software I have managed to get for free. There's simply so much stuff to look through that it can be intimidating to get started with it all. It might not cost anything in terms of actual dollars, but there sure is a time investment required to go this route. Though, I can't imagine the stuff that you have to pay for in Windows or the stuff you get from OSX is all that much easier to learn how to use. At any rate, you probably owe it to yourself to at least check it out.

Meta

So I've started the blog. It exists. So something has been achieved just in that. All that this much success requires is a Gmail account and then setting up a blogger account and Blogspot address. So far, so good. I added a post that embeds a Youtube video. Quite simple to do, but that means you have to get your hands dirty with the blogger editor. Very minimal learning curve so far. Then I added a couple of static pages and modified the header so those pages can be navigated easily. So now I am free to write and do most basic things that I need a blog to do. Most of everything else I will do to modify this blog are just fancy effects. There may be a little functionality yet to be achieved, but that's probably more for my own benefit than what would be for the benefit of any audience I might have. And as I add more posts, the blog will start to develop a personality. Hopefully. And maybe some of the visual modifications I do to it may help to reflect that personality. But we shall see, right?