iMovie
I’ve imported all the creek and deck photos from 2006 into iPhoto on the iMac in preparation for using iMovie. (In general, i haven’t been impressed with iPhoto.) It seems the brief video bits that the Minola will capture can be imported into iPhoto, as well, making it a very useful cache for iMovie. I’m hoping that the audio notes can be imported as well. I can imagine making a Stevens Creek slide show at some point.
I had a fairly interesting time experimenting. It does seem that if i’m going to apply some sort of video effect (like the watercolor filter) it should be done before adding in transitions. I had a well timed transition that became “off” after adding the video effect. I’m not sure i have the timing specification down.
I do wish there was an option where one could have a still photo and and create drop zones — essentially making an iMovie theme. We have tiny videos i shot with the Minolta camera, 320×240, that would be OK as an inset, but not so impressive as full screen. The watercolor effect does help there.
Garden
Side note from going through the photos: I bought some sort of flower bulb, as yet unplanted, on Jan 22 — the same day i got the first birdfeeders. (Only the hummingbird feeder remains from that purchase: squirrels 3 – Judith 2)
I also did a bit of refreshing of the garden. I went through the worm bin, add that soil on top of the sweat peas soil (just seemed it might help) and under the cat garden. It wasn’t exactly a repotting but it should have loosened up any compaction and aerated the soil. I pruned back the daisy-like shrub, tied up the nasturtiums, and seeded a bit with saved marigold and sunflower seeds from last year. I’ve got a few floral volunteers coming up as well as the almost weedy parsley.
Digital Art
I did fiddle around a bit with the wacom tablet and photoshop, wanting to make doodles the same way i do pen to paper.
Click for very large images
The results were a bit rough. The pressure sensitivity is not in the range i use with real pens; i have to press much harder. And, since i was wanting to work on something with a narrow dimension of 2550 pixels (300 pix/inch * 8.5 inches) there was just some difficulty working on 6 pixel by 2000 pixel strokes.
Shopping
After work on Monday we zipped to Michael’s to get Christine a proper stretcher for her needlework, and a few items for myself. When i go, i tend to collect a sale yarn or two to add to a stash, hoping that the little balls will be enough for a trim — at least for toys. This time there was a fun yarn in a blonde brown color and from the remaindered craft section weird plastic “sparkle yarn” that may or may not have been a complete mistake.
With the