Roxane

So now that I have the equipment I am trying to find stuff to edit. We tried to take a lot of footage of Roxy while she was feeling a bit more frisky. Here is the result. It's a bit dark, and you need to have Quicktime 7 to view it.

Legal Newspaper?

As part of my DBA, (A TLA {three letter acronym} for "Doing Business As") I have to publish my intent in two legal newspapers. It appears to be a bit expensive. $35 is the cheapest I have found so far. I have been puting it off but I really need to get it done or eventually my DBA will be null and void.

I worked a wedding with Rachel today. Made exactly enough to cover the cost of that. Is it a sign? I am now seeing each job with Rachel, not in terms of dollars, but in terms of equipment and materials. Next week I'll be working for a tripod. Two weeks later, a light.

That's a lot of real estate

I now have two working 21" monitors for $50, including shipping. Ry came over this afternoon. We took apart the whole darn thing (almost) and couldn't see how we could fix it. WE gave up, put it all back together and decided to try it one last time.
The darn thing worked!
We can only figure that it was feeling negelcted and needed some attention.

Almost there

Got the cables and the monitors are hooked up. There is a problem with one. I hope I don't have to send it back. The FedEx guy is going to hate me. ;o) Ry said he has an idea to try. He also showed me some CDs he labeled with his lightscribe burner. Now I really want one. Darn brother keeps finding more things for me to spend money on.

Two 21-inch monsters

The monitors arrived today all 160 pounds of them. I'm worried that the table will collapse. It is going to be nice to have all of that screen space, but wow they take up a lot of cubic feet. They came with no cables. Not even power. So I am putting a call out to all of my resources for various monitor cables

AurilliaVideo.com

I am satisfied. My web site, while not my ideal, is now something I am not entirely ashamed to show people.

Highlights on the web!

I completed Sara & Kent's hightlights and then after seveal rounds of playing with settings, converted it to quicktime and uploaded it. Now it and two sections of our wedding are on the web.

Stupid iTunes

First of all I know it is illegal to use music when I don't have the rights, but so far I haven't sold anything. I buy a song from iTunes and try to use it for a video but it has to be converted to AIFF format. Can't be done with iTunes songs. I tried burning it to a disc and then converting it. No luck. I am almost sure there is a way I just have to find it. In the mean time, I will not be buying any more from iTunes.

Ours is done too!

I just burned our wedding video! Yes, I finished most of it way back in August, but there were a few problems that I have needed to fix. It feels so good to have it done. I even added an out-takes chapter that plays separately. There was so much interesting audio from the pre-wedding part that I had to get it in there somehow. Now I'm planning to do a highlight version of Sara & Kent's wedding and figure out how to post it to the web site

More DVDs

Went out and bought a stack of 50 blank DVDs today at Comp USA. then drove all the way over to Micro Center to check out the lightscribe DVD burner Ryan talked about. They had an OEM version for $60. I think I am going to hold off but, but boy do they look cool. I also got some skinny DVD cases.

If you can't stand the heat...

So I worked all day on a highlight video of Sara & Kent's wedding. I had several set backs and overcame them all eventually. I showed the movie to Peder and he had some problems with one section. I was really disappointed. Even though he was right about the section that wasn't so good, I just wanted to hear how fantastic I was. I got over it eventually. I think I worry that I have no talent in this area and I am fooling myself into wasting time and money.

I also missed our women's video meeting.

Arrrrgh!

I have finished Sara & Kent's video. I have been dying to finish this thing since September. It is amazing how fast I can render. stuff that used to take 15 minutes now takes 10 seconds. Now I am ready to burn it (my first DVD!!!!) But, ugh, there is no sound. So I do a ton of searching on the web. Find a few possible fixes, but no. still not working.
Call in to Apple living up to my previous experiences, the guy is really patient. Almost too patient, I do what he asks, say "okay" and I wait for him to respond. Apparently he missed it so evantually says, "let me know when you get that done." This happens about 4 times before I finally realize that i need to say "okay that's done" loud and clear every time. Eventually we get it fixed. Yay! Burn the DVD and I am on top of the world. My first complete wedding DVD with chapters and everything.

G5 Dual Core Baby!

It's here! After two fake outs with the FedEx guy delivering my pre-computer stuff: airport card & applecare package (Why the hell do they have to ship these things seprately?) My 65lb computer is here! I borrowed a monitor from Ryan yesterday. Now I have to set it up and see what this baby can do!

Under Construction

Go Daddy provides ad supported web hosting and building.
I decided to go and play with the software. I'm not thrilled with what I have made, but it's a start.

AurilliaVideo.com

AurilliaVideo.com

Another benefit of this name is it allows me to get a "dot com" domain name. (serendipityvideo would have to be .net)
So I set up a domain through Go Daddy. I found a discount through another website and saved myself $2 off the $8.95 price! Yay!

Aurillia Video

I knew I wouldn't have to register if I just used my own name, but wasn't happy with that.

A few emails back and forth with Rachel helped inspire me. She said that her sister said if she could do it again, she would name their business after her daughter and son. After some thinking I fell in love with a name Peder had suggested for a potential female child: Aurillia.

Today I filed with the state Doing Business As Aurillia Video

I also set up a business checking account at our credit union! I am making headway!

Finally! I can do some editing.

I did our taxes and got us a nearly $3000 refund! So after talking to Peder we agreed that I can use the money to buy a new Mac!
I went through the education apple store and ordered a refurbished G5. My brother suggested that I check out the new Minis with Intel chips, but they won't support my version of Final Cut.
I am so excited! It should be her on Wednesday!

What's in a name?

I am not wanting to limit my work exclusively to weddings, so I am looking for something that gives a whimsical, family oriented, romantic feeling.

We had a brainstorming session last night and here are the options:

-Rolling Downhill (my favorite)

-One Plus One

-Invisible Video

-Fields Afire

-Spark! (FP's real favorite)

My husband suggested 'Shotgun Videos' and 'Brides Gone Wild'. I've asked him to stop suggesting names.

I also posted them on my husband's blog, because more people read it.

RIP Serendipity Video

Maybe you have noticed the new title and location...
It was time to lay down my cards, face the music, and pay the piper.
In doing her taxes Rachel confirmed that for this year, she would have to with hold taxes if I am an employee or I need to establish my business officially. Guess which one she wanted.
Where would I be without her? She is such a great teacher and cheerleader. I am going to owe her big time.
So after talking it over with Rachel I decided that I needed to contact Jennifer at Serendipity Photography. I drafted an email explaining what I was planning, that I could see there could be some conflict, and asking for her feelings on the subject. She responded quickly, thanked me for contacting her first, and asking me not to use the name. Pretty much the answer I expected.
I am strangely okay with it. I think I knew this is the way it would work out and that I was delaying the inevitable. Now I have to find a new name...

And get new business cards! Maybe I will hold off until I get the computer.