Good afternon,


Having grown up in the imperial world of feet/etc. Moved to the SI world, I must say that celsius is a better system.

A few key points.

0 Celsisus = 32 f Freezing obviously

28 c equals 82 f

-18 c equals 0 f


Celsius to Fahrenheit:


-40 C equals -40 f

Colder than that Who cares!!


Celsius= (F temp -32) x .555

To do in you head subtract 32 from farenheit temp the multiply that by 5 and then divide by 9, pretty easy really.

Speak for yourself Dale! I had a career in the atmospheric sciences at NOAA for 16 years and I never was able to convert in my head that readily!

O.K., if both Per and Dale have bought in, then I'm sold. I'll do everything metric and Celsius and conform to the rest of the world (like we should have done a long time ago!).

Cat

Try getting stuck between the two.

We have distances and speed in miles, weights in a mixture of kilo's and pounds, likewise measurements in inches and cm's still......

Still, in another few months sterling will be parity with dollars and euros!!! That's a bit easier to figure!

We've had plenty of snow the past days and this morning I tried to film some of the little birds on our feeder. Then suddenly a little mouse came jumping out from no where. I didn't managed to get it on tape, but I figured that maybe it was out to get some of the food on the feeder :) My camera was placed in the living room, where we do have a slide (?) door out to our terrace where the feeder is placed. Then as sudden as the mouse came out from no where, there was an ermine (short-tailed weasel or stoat). I tried to film it, best I could but is was fast and I couldn't get it in to focus. Then it dissapeared for a while and after a few seconds it came out from under our terrace with the mouse in it's mouth. I'm not sure if I can use it in my long form video, but it sure made my day :)
Two screenshots and a videoclip from the start of my Valentines day.

ermine-stoat

Geir Inge

Very nice footage of the weasel/stoat. Not an easy subject to film!

I'm at work this weekend, but of duty next week. Out in the wild for a whole week, can life be better :-)

What a cutie Geir !!!.....well at least until he has the mouse in his jaws! The stoats and weasels certainly are powerful hunters contary to their size and looks.

Great stuff

Thank you Per and Mat.
Well, I live on an island and in fact I didn't know we had stoats living next door, and I've been living here for 16 years know.
Now my aim is to search for it's lair, maybe I'll catch it's family on tape :)
We do have a little forrest/wood of spruce (fir) near by, maybe in there somewhere?
Today the rain set in and I had plans for a tour, country cross skiing - no chance :(

Geir Inge

Geir,

What a wonderful bit of footage!!! Great when things happen like that!!

Bust
 

Well, we were out for the most part of all day yesterday shooting footage. It was about -20 with no wind for a change. Had my polar bear on the camera and boy does that make a difference!!!

With the high humitdty there were ice crystals in the air and that made the auto focus not have a clue!!! The manual was not much better as the image in the view finder looked slightly foggy!!! The falcon I did get a bit of was white on the underside and that with a pale blue sky that was foggy was grim.

I did get some people footage that may be useful, for the most part a full day and a tank of gas down the drain!!

Great stoat shots their Geir Inge!

Here is a video that was on the bbc website last week - a stoat "going mad" in the snow that we had!!
BBC NEWS | UK | Snow-crazed stoat 'goes berserk'

Has anyone received instructions on posting the Feb update for the long form? Were am I supposed to post my storyboard? Bob

Hi Bob - Meryem needs a little time at the moment. Myself and Kevin are sorting something for the long-form. Most probably a new page on the website.

What format is your storyboard?

Mat

I was going to write it out as a narrative. It deals with a video trip I am planning on doing in late May/early Jun.

I think you miss-understood fella. I meant What file format ? - This is not somethig we've thought about really but I guess if everyone sticks to .rtf or a .doc then everyone will be able to read things ok.

Mat

Hi Bob: You will load these through the feedback thread uploader, which allows document and picture uploads. DVinfo has its own uploading option. Just be sure that your attached docs are in the following formats:

Valid file extensions: bbp bmp chf cpf doc gif jpe jpeg jpg mov mpg pdf png psd scn suf tif tiff txt veg wav wma wmv wmx xls zip

Look under the thread window and you'll see these prompts...some of you may not have ever used the DVinfo uploader, now is your chance.

Full advice in your email...

Uploading problems
 

I have tried to upload my film from "Microsoft Explorer", "Mozilla Firefox" and "Safari".
It fails all the time.

I select “Upload my entry” at www.uwolchallenge.com.
I pick my file “Faale_Straholmen_UWOLLongForm.mp4”.
I am pressing “Upload File” button.
The status window appears and displays following script:

#!/usr/bin/perl
### XUpload v2.6
### SibSoft.net (18 Jan 2007)
use strict;
use CGI::Carp qw(fatalsToBrowser);
use lib '.';
use XUploadConfig;
…

I am not asked for username and password.

Can anyone please tell me what I am doing wrong?

Similar upload problems
 

Meryem,
I tried to upload my video, named as in your convention. When I press "Browse", then "Open", the box does not have the title in it, but says "O:\UWOL Long Contest.
If I then click "Upload File" a box entitled:

File upload status

appears with a bunch of HTML code. Is that right?

Also, the note at the bottom of the page says files are limited to 60 MB. Your instructions said 180MB. Please clarify.

Uppload?
 

Hallo Finn Erik and Steve.


I got the same problem,But I think the file oppload: got a blue marker
in the adr:line. So Mat I hope you got the film??!

All Best
VJV.

We had to change our IP and things may have been moved in the shuffle.
Mat may have to reconfigure the uploader if they've changed the directory structure on us.

Ugh, sorry to hear about this, guys, let me look into it, because as you're describing it, I have no idea what you are talking about, and we have been using the same system for the past 4 contests...

ok, just to update you guys...our contest was migrated to a different DVinfo server several weeks ago, and Mat is furiously emailing the DVinfo web czar, Jeff, to get the issues sorted out. so the team is at work. I'm sure that we'll hear from Mat the minute that he gets it resolved.

couldn't be easy, could it??

Just to let all you folks know the uploader seems to be functional again! Sorry for the down time.....pesky server demons!

When is the deadline? Sunday this week?
The rules say the week of feb 16-18, so if the deadline is today, then I'm out of the long form challenge.

I've moved all the files uploaded for the long form challenge into a longform directory.

So you can link directly to your files but going to http://www.uwolchallenge.com/longform/xxxx Where xxxx is the name of your file

Wow,
I haven't even finished looking at all the entries so far, but thought i had to leave a message here.
From what i have seen of the entries thus far, i am gobsmacked at the quality of footage, & the level of professionalism in everyones projects. I am looking forward so much to seeing the finished films, i think it will be like looking at National Geographic channel.
Good luck to everyone with their films, i really hope you can all put together the film that you have in mind.
Regards,
Bryce

I have been trying to down load off two different computers for two days!! I can not get it done the normal fashion. It always stops just before finishing!!

I knocked it down to 50 megabytes.


??????

Ok,

Yes i got it uploaded. All is well in the universe.


Thanks for all the work you gentlemen do to keep this up and running.

Hey I hope it is okay i have put my footage up here.


braiiins.com/UWOL


I am still struggling with the uploader and thought it best to have a back up already somewhere so i don't miss the deadline!

cheers

Jennie

O.K. I'm getting a little bit pissed off!

I have my long form storyboard completely worked out and know just what I need to do (lots!). But this is the kind of entry that you go for everything right? So I have exactly the music scores I want to use. I've got them stuck in my head and I don't even want to think about using something else. These pieces are classical pieces for heavens sake, where the composers haven't been around for a century!

So I am attempting to get permission to use these scores and I keep falling into a black hole! What a run around! No one responds. I'm caught up in an e-mail/phone message nightmare.

This is a not for profit entry... why is it this hard? Is anyone else having this problem? Does anyone know what I can do about this? I'd like to use selections from Handel, Tchaikousky and Copland...

Meryem, do you know how to deal with this?

Comments welcome!

Cat

try this guy's site...

Royalty Free Classical Music. Probably the largest collection of Classical Music Downloads online.

the issue with classical is that the copyright for a specific performance is still held by the performing artist(s), so you need to find recording artists that are willing to pre-license the performance itself.

this site has a pretty good selection. i am sure that there are others....

Thank you Meryem, this is a great resource. I've been hovering around the 'everything audio' portion of dvinfo.net this morning and found some good hints. The site you recommend is full orchestra. The CD's look like a great deal.

PS - got any leads on Rock Music?

OK Cat,
You started this, and since it is one of my pet peeves, I'm going to go out on a limb and take it one more step. (Please don't think I actually do this.)

Tchaikovsky, et al have been dead along time. No problem with rights. Unless you can find a performance from the 1930s, the performance is copyright. However there are hundreds of recorded performances of any popular classical piece. Some are from obscure orchestras in Eastern Europe, some are Chinese. In order for anyone to take you to task for using their performance, they would have to be able to recognise it as their own first.
this is hugely unlikely for several reasons. 1. Not many folks follow this venue. 2. If you only use a short portion of the performance, recognisably unique passages may not even be included. 3. The older the performance, the less likely that any subliminal identification material has been added. 4. If you alter the tempo or pitch, it is even less likely to be recognised.
I tend to use purchased material from Music Bakery, or Kevin McLeod or the Royalty free Classics, but boy, I sure think a lot about just going to my old record collection, especially for productions that are not going to be for sale. Who would say no?

it's not a question of whether you can get away with copyright violations, of course it is likely that you can. there are several ways in which you can cheat this contest and get away with it...but what is the fun in that? as i say tirelessly, you can always make your own movies according to your own rules, and then no one can tell you how to do it. UWOL exists to help you learn best practices, make friends, make pretty movies, and have fun.

but let's be clear that copyright violations are legal violations, and the integrity and legality of the contest (and DVinfo) are what is jeopardized when you break the rules, not just the integrity of your individual piece.

we don't want to spoil the fun for each other, folks, the rules are what they are for good reasons.

there's good music out there that is not that expensive...try sounddogs.com, q-music.co.uk, smartsound -- there's tons out there...

make your own loops, that's loads of fun, though it takes time. or ask local bands for written permission to use their music - many of them will love the exposure...

Imovie has a stack of free tracks included in it.

archive.org has a lot of music posted under the very liberal (free with credits) creative commons license.

as for rock music -- that covers such a wide range, I would not know where to start. I can usually find something to fit the mood in my q-music library -- it cost me something like $350 for hundreds of tracks -- unless i am looking for something very specific.

and i just used something generously donated by DVinfo's own Peter John Ross (Sonnyboo.com, loves America and wants to have a Zima with George Bush) - he has posted 20 free free free tracks for filmmakers...all he asks for is a mention in the credits.

doesn't UWOL player Oliver Pahlow also have donated piano tracks on his site?

lots of resources, lots of freebies. use 'em....

Round 2
 

Well, how's it going folks?
Ready for round 2 I guess?
I had plans to film the Grey Heron as it breed in a little forrest near by.
They always make a hell of a noice each springtime when they mate.
I have tried to capture their flight, as they all in one row take off from the treetops and fly down to the sea. It's a wonderful sight with a snow covered mountain in the background.
This "flight movement" is going on for just one day, maybe two days, each spring and #%#"§&%¤#" (a norwegian word I wont say in English) if I can get it on tape.
Well, today was their day-of-flight-in-flock-down-to-the-sea, and of course I failed again, hehe. Maybe I get a second chance tomorrow, or I'll have to wait until next year.
This is what I like and dislike about wildlife film making. You never can tell what happens :) Both exiting and frustrating at the same time, eh?
Anyone else having kind of trouble with their plans?

Geir Inge

Thanks Meryem for the tips. I'll let you guys know how it works out.

And thanks Steve for the insights... but after Meryem's whoopin, I'll stick to the tried and true first ;).

Cat

Cat,
Do you mean whoopin' or whoppin'. I haven't been able to sit down for hours.
(Those were some mightly fine suggestions, however, Meryem).

Steve

I just got back from two shooting trips. First to East Texas for an unrelated project (I’ll show some footage later). Then home for less than a day before off to West Texas to shoot for the long form. I did pretty well, several interesting things including Spotted Owls. There was one exciting bit. Several years ago I was shooting Lucifer’s Hummingbirds feeding at a century plant flower spike for John Vanderpoel’s (Peregrine Productions) Hummingbirds of North America DVD. The birds were coming in every 10-15 minutes for only a few seconds. I had been standing in a rocky draw for several hours mostly just waiting. I had been there with my eye to the viewfinder for several minutes anticipating another visit when I heard a terrific clatter. I looked up in time to see a Jackrabbit go tearing up the draw. It ran between the legs of my tripod and continued up canyon to my right. I started to turn to follow it when I caught a movement in my left eye and turned to see a mountain lion standing less than ten feet away. The wind was blowing toward me and until I moved my head she didn’t know I was there. She just looked at me for a moment and then slowly turned and walked back down canyon. I had a 500mm lens on and didn’t have even a chance at a shot. Since that time I’ve made it a point to revisit that canyon every time I’m near. I’ve seen signs- spoor and tracks- but no cat. On this trip I saw a spring running that I had never seen with water so I set the blind to see what might be coming in. After only about two hours I managed to get a few seconds of a cat approaching. The wind wasn’t with me this time and it quickly detected me. I foolishly hadn’t brought any cover scent (that might be a good subject for a UWOL thread). I’m hoping to get back in about a week and try to do it right. Anyway, 10 seconds is way better than naught! I hope everyone is having great good-luck, and that I haven’t now used all mine up!

Mike,

Getting any big cat footage in North america is fantastic!!!! I hope you get some more, I love seeing big cats!!

Nice when effort actually pays off!!!

Wow Mike,
That must have been fantastic! Great that you got some footage of the cat. I'd love to see it. Good luck on your return trip there, i hope you get some more footage. I am curious about the cover scent you talked about, & would love to hear more about it. Might have to google it to find out what it is & how it works! I too am hoping to get some cougar footage for my film, but to be honest, i think that will be even harder than getting footage of the mountain caribou.
Bryce

Well, rumour says that the puffin has landed at Runde island.
I'm on my way with charged batteries, enough tapes, my brand new outdoor jacket and in my heart I'm carrying rule nr 11 :)
If I find the puffins this evening, I'll post a picture of it in my feedback tread later on.

CU
Geir Inge