Samsung HMX-Q10 HD Camera Package Kit Suggestion

This is a decent consumer camcorder, but if you need an entire HD kit for under $300...this has worked pretty well for me. I will post some video tests soon. But for now, here's some screen grabs of the kit (the prices for the camera have come down by about $30 since I created this):

Social Media Links and a Great Infographic on Social Media and Nonprofits

My social media sites:

Twitter: twitter.com/#!/podclasstv
Facebook: www.facebook.com/people/Hannah-Smith-Walker/825932941
Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/smithwalker
Flickr: www.flickr.com/photos/smihan13/collections/
Youtube: www.youtube.com/user/smithwalker13
Blogger: podclasstv.blogspot.com/
Klout: www.klout.com/#/podclasstv

One of my favorite infographics: (created by http://craigconnects.org/infographic-2)

via

QR code animal ID attempts

I learned about QR codes at the Jackson Hole Wildlife Film Festival. If you want to learn the basics, I wrote an article for the Festival blog. Go to: http://jhwildlifefilm.wordpress.com/2011/10/05/qr-codes-101

I am currently working on an idea about tagging wild animals with QR codes. It would be amazing if the general public could help scientists keep track of individual animals. I did a test tonight on my not-so wild animals. And I am finding that if the codes are just a little blurry or distorted, they won't read. Here are three photos that I cropped and rotated the QR Code. Only one of them would read with the QR readers. I tried several, and http://zxing.org/w/decode.jspx is the only site that would read one of the below. Can you guess which one?

1.


2.


3.


Only number 1 would read. The other two won't read, even when I photoshop to fix the distortion and increase the contrast, sharpen, etc. Does anyone know of a QR reader that will work with slightly blurry/skewed images? Or has anyone had any luck fixing QR's with photoshop?

Alpha Channels and Chroma Keys

For all my test animations and test stop motions...I have been using the chroma keyer in Final Cut Pro. I use my video camera to shoot my toys in front of a green screen, then I use software I dial out the green. But, I think I can get a better key if I shoot with my still camera, then delete the green background using photoshop. It's easy to get rid of the green using the magic wand. Then you have an image with a transparent background. The trick is keeping that background transparent once you save it. The only way I knew how to do this was to make animated GIFs. These take a lot of processing power, and I gave up on that a long time ago. But I remembered something about alpha channels that might work. I am going to write it down here so I can come back if I forget. I feel like I re-invent the wheel every couple of years when it comes to some of the obscure tricks in photoshop.

The way you maintain a transparent background in Photoshop using alpha channels:
1. double click on your layer in the layer palette to unlock it
2. click the "channels" tab next to the layer tab
3. click on the "new channel" button at the bottom (this adds the alpha channel)
4. turn the eyeball on all the channel layers
5. do a "save as" and make sure the "alpha channels" button is checked
6. import into Final Cut Pro

It seems like there should be a more intuitive way to do this. I would love to hear if anyone has a simpler method.

Here's a frame grab of my alpha channel test. There is still a lot of green around the pigs, but I did not light this correctly. Once I shoot everything in the studio, there shouldn't be any green outline.

I also taught myself how to export flash movies with transparent backgrounds. To do this using Flash:
1. Have an animation ready and select "export" then "export movie"
2. Choose the save as a QuickTime format
3. Click Save
4. make sure the "Ignore stage color (generate alpha channel)" is checked
5. Click export
6. Import file into Final Cut Pro

Here's a test of this technique:

My Thesis Film

Knock, Knock Game

This is my first stab at making an online game.

Guess the woodpeckers by their knocks and calls