Hello from South Carolina
 

Hey there...Rob Neville here in sunny South Carolina. I've been lurking for a while and thought I should introduce myself and say hello.

I'm in my late 30's and I'm part owner of a software company based here in SC. My interest in DV film-making goes way back to my childhood. I grew up in SE Wisconsin and my best friend, his brother and I would frequently make silly movies and try to imitate stuff we saw in the theater, etc.

All we had to work with were consumer VHS full-body cams and 8mm cameras, all editing was done in the camera, etc. It's fun to think about what we might have been able to do with access to a digital format and modern (even crappy free) NLEs.

I've never really lost that interest in movie making though life gets in the way a lot and I've dabbled here and there. Having kids made a good excuse to go digital several years ago and that's when I discovered NLEs for the first time and was blown away with what I could do....I could actually *edit* LOL.

Things changed all over again when we picked up an HD Flip a couple of years ago and I was blown away by the relative quality of this little camera and the awesomeness of no tapes. Then my oldest son (now 13) started making movies with his friends and it brought back a lot of memories. I've been teaching him what I know and rekindling the film maker in myself all over again.

Figuring it was time to update the SD camera and the Flip (as awesome as it is) has too many limitations for me, I pulled the trigger on a shiny new Panasonic TM900. The forums here have given me a lot of really useful information about the camera and y'all seem like a great group. I'm also looking forward to getting in on the film contests too to get those creative juices flowing again.

Enough rambling now so I'll end as I began....
Hello!