If you ever feel the urge to drive yourself stone batshit crazy, I recommend shooting a bunch of video with two GoPro HERO 3 Black Editions, only one of which works with any degree of reliability, and then editing the pile in iMovie 10, which you have never used, on an 11-inch MacBook Air, which is basically an iPhone with delusions of grandeur and a keyboard.
Good God awmighty. My brain hurts. Especially when I recall that I did this for free, just to see if I could. The next time I see a beach ball spinning that wildly, that often, I’d better be on an actual beach, and full of drugs, too.
Mad Blog Media 
February 19, 2014 at 10:17 pm |
I likey.
February 20, 2014 at 7:55 am |
Thanks, Libby. It was nice to get out of town, wear the summer kit for a change, play with some different toys. A guy gets into a rut sometimes.
February 20, 2014 at 5:38 am |
Well done and in 720P. Guess I need to upgrade this old (2009) iMac with Snow Leopard and start using iMovie.
February 20, 2014 at 8:04 am |
Thanks, Patrick. The latest iteration of iMovie that comes with Mavericks takes a little getting used to, especially on an 11-inch MacBook Air. Not much screen real estate there, and the fan kept coming on during editing/voiceover, which doesn’t do much for sonic clarity.
I probably should’ve used a lapel mic’ and put a little distance between me and the hardware. But then I’d have needed binoculars to see the tiny screen. I may have to trade the little feller in on a 13-inch MacBook Pro like the one I got Herself a while back. Bigger! Faster! More cowbell!
February 20, 2014 at 6:21 am |
Excellent job, Patrick. I can’t help but think there is a market for this stuff. Maybe you could sell that short clip to the Duke City for its civic advertising campaign. Well, in that case, maybe edit out Matt’s Ghost Bike….
February 20, 2014 at 8:14 am |
Gracias, K, but I need more practice before I try to sell anything other than writing, editing or cartooning to people. There are 19-year-old ADHD types out there who make me look like a one-armed cave painter, and they’ll work for a T-shirt and a few cans of Red Bull.
I was fixin’ to take a hammer to one of my cameras, too. It was troubled from the get-go, and I’ve spent uncounted hours debugging the thing via email with a GoPro tech. I thought we had resolved its multitudinous issues, but I had to stop to reset the thing a half-dozen times on one ride. Lost all kinds of footage. Bah.
February 20, 2014 at 6:39 am |
Sharing some positive energy and a sign of Hope for the future: the Dutch Olympic team brought their own bikes to Sochi. Orange, of course.
February 20, 2014 at 8:16 am |
Nice. What did the U.S. team take, Harleys?
February 20, 2014 at 5:10 pm |
Two Navy warships with helicopters and SEAL teams in case the paranoia got too intense. Should have put Ted Nugent over there with the team. He could have protected them with much less expense to the taxpayer.
February 20, 2014 at 9:43 am |
Getting smart is not always fun.
February 20, 2014 at 2:57 pm |
Especially if you never get there.
February 20, 2014 at 1:41 pm |
Watched this first with the sound off (SO in room) and the cuts made my head hurt. The editing made a lot more sense with sound so I can see why putting this together was so difficult.
Pretty damn nice, better than I could do with two cans of RedBull and a night’s sleep.
Oh and who was the thin guy who’s shadow keeps showing up?
February 20, 2014 at 3:03 pm |
It was an interesting experiment, for sure. First time I’ve ever used all-GoPro footage (what remained of it after one camera failure, that is); first time I’ve edited video in iMovie 10; and first time I’ve done a video project on the MacBook Air. Lots more practice and better technology is indicated, I think. Some ambient sound might help, too, but the GoPro audio is awful, especially if you keep the camera in its protective plastic case.
As for that Shadow … who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men?
February 20, 2014 at 2:48 pm |
Reminds me of why I stay away from video. Those bike trail bridges must be pretty generic, they look like the ones in our neighborhood. We had rain, sleet and snow today, plus lots of wind. My spring break can’t come fast enough!!!
February 20, 2014 at 3:06 pm |
Shooting video or watching it, Lorenzo?
Yeah, I think someone has a mortal lock on the bridge concession. There was a metric shit-ton of the things in Albuquerque, and they all look exactly like the ones we have here. A bike makes much bad noise crossing one of those things.
February 20, 2014 at 5:29 pm |
Certainly the making of them, if there’s any tech involved. I pretended to be a mechanic in one
http://bikeraceinfo.com/tech/bike-wash.html
which probably explains why I don’t watch many of ’em either? A friend of mine shot it with an I-something while Bill McGann tried to make something useful out of video scraps. I’m not waiting for any awards.
February 20, 2014 at 6:33 pm |
I like making ’em, kinda, sorta. Something fresh. But using a Canon camcorder and an iMac is a whole lot easier than going the GoPro-MacBook route, lemme tell you. I’m still waiting for my eyes to uncross.
February 21, 2014 at 4:47 pm |
I thought it was a good performance Larry. Picked up a good tip too. Never thought about using a cone shaped brush for nooks and crannies and between spokes. I use Turtle Wax Express Shine spray wax for the last polish. It will remove any dirt, oil, or grease left on the frame after the wash without leaving any white wax residue. Let it dry for a minute then wipe with a clean soft rag. Frame will look like you spent an hour waxing it with carnauba and a diaper. Plus, washing is easier next time.
February 20, 2014 at 3:26 pm |
The big thing in Albuquerque is separate facilities. As O’G has pointed out, the motorists down there do nothing to dissuade the cycling community that such is a bad idea. Its either separate facilities or my own fantasy, a scaled down CIWS system you can mount on the back rack. Imagine what a scaled down version of this baby would do to the front end of an Excursion. Anyone for 5.56×45 depleted uranium?
February 20, 2014 at 6:13 pm |
That’ll teach ’em to hang up and drive.
February 20, 2014 at 8:06 pm |
Nice! The trail looks very similar to our local gem, the Jed Smith Memorial Trail (aka American River Bike Trail). Flat, some turns, no bridges though, and lots of people.
February 21, 2014 at 6:18 am |
I kept waiting for the meteor to show up, but it didn’t.
February 22, 2014 at 7:53 pm |
Nice shit tho – you have met your arc.