Stop Trying, Start Doing
Posted on 02 June, 2009 at 17:37 PM There are already 18 Comments

About the Show

We encourage you to start doing it and stop trying. Instead of waiting for the perfect moment we encourage you to just put it out there. We have mentioned this many times before but it keeps popping up so we are saying it again.

We also announce their new sponsor, Woothemes!

There are also a whole new bunch of Wallpapers that we have uploaded and are ready for you to download! This time the wallpaper is of our theme called 'Left Handed'.

Go wild.

'Left Handed' Wallpapers to Download!

Links mentioned in this post

User Comments

Dave 02 Jun, 2009 17:26:24 PM

The typeface from lefthanded really reminds me of the opening sequence and end credits from Napolean Dynamite.

Can't wait to see this one

David Perel 02 Jun, 2009 17:29:11 PM

Sometime next week I will be showing you how we created that look. Stay tuned ;)

Oxide 02 Jun, 2009 17:32:47 PM

Good episode. I totally agree on the fact that people shouldn't be shy. After all everybody learned how to walk before running....

Swerve 02 Jun, 2009 17:34:43 PM

Haha! I actually watched the red couch vid (tinyurl.com/ltla7k) earlier based on your tweet tinyurl.com/mymv5r Had a good lol, you guys have very much improved over the past few months, well done!

Off topic, why are the posts on the home page not paginated?

Looking forward to #lefthanded

kyle steed 02 Jun, 2009 17:42:25 PM

I'm still grinning from ear to ear. Thanks for the encouragement. And as you already know by now, I did post up my first video blog this morning. I took your advice David before I started last night, and closed my eyes and tried to imagine I was talking to a person, instead of the camera.

And now I'm so happy that I went through with it. The amount of response and comments I've already received have been nothing but good. So now I feel pumped to get on with my next vlog. I think I may even invite people to have a beer with me, as that's a great way to relax.

Now I'm off to watch Epsiode 2, and 1. ;)

David Perel 02 Jun, 2009 17:48:18 PM

@Swerve - Pagination is coming soon, we have to finish these themes first. Its been something which we keep bumping down the list but I will eventually be done. Fun fact: FtC used to only feature one show on the front page!

@Kyle - I am stoked for you bro!

Rob MacKay 02 Jun, 2009 17:49:09 PM

haha you guys and Kyle have inspired me now... I've wanted to post a video for a while - buutt you know, the other half of me doesn't want to lol

So I will have to figure something out, I don't really have a camera though...

What do you guys do to encode and upload? I've never made a video of anything before LOL

- Rob

kyle steed 02 Jun, 2009 18:02:53 PM

Rob,

If you use a mac, just open up iMovie and record straight from the built-in iSight that comes with your computer. However, for quality sound I recommend getting a decent USB mic. My wife is a musician, so I borrowed her mic that she uses, and that made the audio portion a whole lot better than the built-in mic on my laptop.

I look forward to seeing what you come up with. Let me know when you post it up.

Aaron Irizarry 02 Jun, 2009 18:11:34 PM

Hey guys, Way to go this is what the design community is supposed to be, helping each other get to the place that we cant get to on our own. This approach and attitude is well needed in the design community.

@kyle way to go pal... i feel ya i am always over critical of my stuff, whatever it is. Put it out there take the feedback apply where relevant and do YOUR thing.

I think this is my fav FtC yet! even they all re pretty damn rockin!

Marc Perel 02 Jun, 2009 18:13:16 PM

@Rob - It'd be awesome to see a Rob McKay video post! I'm sure you're not missing out in terms of content :P

We use basic movie editing software to cut up the videos convert them into mp4 format for uploading...

Jacques Bruwer 02 Jun, 2009 20:05:54 PM

Nice one guys. Ditto ditto

Really loving the vibe. Rocking some Left Handedness on my desktop now.

Cheers

Rob MacKay 02 Jun, 2009 20:09:39 PM

@Marc - thx dude, and I will have to steal the vid cam from my dad the next time I go to see them lol - I dont think my webcam is really up to it!

Tom 02 Jun, 2009 21:33:15 PM

Great post.

Three suggestions to take your videos to the next level:

1) Move the couch away from the wall to reduce shadows and the "mug shot" effect. This will also help unmuddy the sound as it won't be slapping immediately off the wall and reaching the mike out of phase. It will also keep the light spill off the wall...right now the wall's brightness creates too much visual competition for the two of you.

2) Use an external mike that's much closer to you than the camera (ideally a lavalier mike on the lapel that's closer to the one not wearing it.)

3) Have Natalie zoom the camera out as far as possible, then walk the camera toward you until you both fill the frame. (It looks like she's doing the reverse, and the effect is less intimate, more mug-shot.)

If Natalie wants to run a second camera, she can make better use of it by making it a close, raking two-shot (practically over one brother's shoulder) at eye-level. This will be a great angle to cut to. (The b&w weird angle thing is a cliche, anyway ...it's the blinking text of video production.)

Nat Perel 02 Jun, 2009 21:58:06 PM

@Tom - Thanks so much for the advice, realise I have to work on the 2 camera vibe. 3months ago I didn't even know what it was like to hold a video camera, more of a photo person. I'm slowly gaining more confidence and wanna become more 'original' with the shots. I've been playing it quite safe;) haha.

David Perel 02 Jun, 2009 22:08:17 PM

@Tom - Hey man, thanks for all your tips. We always appreciate suggestions and #4 is definitely something new to us in the sense of the blinking text. We will keep that in mind for future episodes.

With regards to no.1 and no.2:

1) We are not too bothered about the lighting setup, we purposely did this and you will also notice it in our video's on Obox Design. The other thing is that the room we shoot in is not big enough to move the couch far enough from the wall. From the Couch is a compromise in many respects, maybe one day when its generating money directly off the site we will have a proper studio... but I doubt it because people really enjoy the rawness of the shows. Remember, we used to shoot these episodes with a cellphone camera ;)

2) Mics: This one is something which will never leave us. We considered mics up until it came to the cost. They are quite expensive and for a show like this its not 100% necessary yet, as it is the sound is pretty solid... in the sense that people can hear what we are saying. We are taking each upgrade one step at a time, for the moment we have ordered a directional mic for the HD cam and if people rave about that we will *maybe* invest in lav mics. But for now the cost will not justify itself.

3) That camera angle was a new one that we tried today. Usually the cam is fully zoomed out and we fit in frame from elbow to elbow ;)

Once again, appreciate the feedback.

Tom 02 Jun, 2009 23:50:53 PM

I should have prefaced my post by saying that your videos are already better than 99% of those on the web.

And I wouldn't worry about spending a lot on a microphone...even a mic as cheesy as the one I linked to in the "link" field above would be a big improvement if it were _right_ in front of you, not on the camera. (ie, a $2 extension cord that lets you put the mike in front of you will produce a bigger quality increase than a $200 microphone sitting far away on the camera.)

(Re: waiting for someone to comment on audio quality...it's not something that will necessarily happen. You will probably never hear from your clients that they're happy you used sprites, or subtle gradients, or 1 pixel accents, or a grid, or a hundred other things. They will just sense that your sites are "better" than other people's, but they won't know why.)

As for moving the couch...even a foot would help. (I wouldn't do the studio thing either, btw.)

(BTW, your CSS sprite video helped me tremendously two weeks ago...it is the best sprite instruction on the web.)

Julie 03 Jun, 2009 02:11:04 AM

Haha Poor Marc!! Apparently Nat's Drama coaching worked...lol Great advice guys! Cheers.

Sean 03 Jun, 2009 10:04:53 AM

Nike said it best "Just Do It". The only way to get better at something is to do it. The only way to succeed is to do it. Loser's talk about doing something, winners shut up and just do it.

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Stop Trying, Start Doing
Posted on 02 June, 2009 at 17:37 PM There are already 18 Comments

About the Show

'Left Handed' Wallpapers to Download!

Links mentioned in this post