morturn

I don’t want to open up a debate about copyright on music tracks, I think that’s been done to death several times. However as a photographers and filmmaker, copyright on music tracks does have an impact on the work we do. I think most of us prefer to do the right thing when we can too, so it is always nice to find a source of quality music tracks that we feel we can use, without attracting the attention of the righteous police. I thought I had done this with a company called Audio Network. They have a number of reasonable music tracks, with an option of buying track to suite their use, i.e. home and none monetarised You Tube publications etc. I bought some tracks and published a couple of films on You Tube only to find that Audio Network had made a claim for monetarisation, and consequently I now have some distasteful (in my opinion) advertising popping up with my films. I wrote to Audio Network who responded by saying: Thanks for your email. The home/student licence is a non-commercial licence for use on YouTube. However, in lieu of the low licence fee we maintain control over the monetisation in order to generate revenue for us and our composers. This licence allows you to use the tracks in any videos that aren’t promoting a business, product or service. If you don’t want advertising over your videos, our current policy is to release claims if the uploader has a corporate licence or above. If this is something you’d be interested in, please let me know. Now a corporate licence is £120 per track, so to me, buying the track as home/student licence user is a waste of time, you have effectively bought and paid for nothing. You may as well go and use any track of the internet and just agree when You Tube monetarise your video. Company’s like Audio Network always open the debate with the moral argument, we are getting the best deal for our composers. However we have to understand who the prime beneficiary is, Audio Network is a commercial company. I did get back in touch with them, as they did offer to release one track, but to me, this is just papering over the crack. This is my response, I would welcome your thoughts or comments of how we as photographers and filmmakers can get a better deal: Many thanks for your email…. I will decline your offer to release the claim on my video, I see as papering over the cracks and not as a solution; however, thank you all the same. While I understand your moral obligation to ensure you are getting the best deal for your composers, and your commercial obligations to your company, what is on offer under your present pricing structure give nothing to the filmmakers or photographers. I personal feel that in this now digital age of social media, photography and filmmaking there is an incredible opportunity to promote the platform that the photographers and filmmakers provide that mutely rewards both the endeavours of musicians and the photographers and filmmakers too. With your current pricing structure, business model and terms and conditions, I have effectively paid for a music track, and ended up with nothing. I don't think I need to tell you that the internet is full of billions of music tracks, of which I can use on you tube and just agree the copy write claim. There is also an incredible about of quality work released under the Creative Commons licence; so why buy off audio network? As I have said, I have had some interesting conversations on this subject, where photographers and filmmakers really want to do the right thing, but there need to be a mechanism to do so. Perhaps if you do find a way to review your business model, please let me know, you have some superb music, but your terms of use are not for me. Thanks again

Right, its easy to over think things, especially the ones you have a passion for and are in love with.

Peter I can see a slight difference, and would say that the even number images have slightly more contract. Do bear in mind that my colour vision is not very good anyway, but the even number images just look a little brighter. Are you going to tell us which one was what?

Guerrilla knitters stitch up Saltburn Pier - Saltburn has once again been the target for some serious yarn bombingas the Guerrilla knitters have struck again - and how! If you strolled down the pier on Saturday you would have found it difficult not to notice pieces of brightly coloured knitting tied along the pier railing.... Working under the cover of darkness, the elusive team stitched their latest creations to the railings on the town's historic pier.... I have just posted a new slideshow in Slideshow club, I just could not resist photographing this amazing display of kitting on Saltburn pier. I love these accidental art gallery's that everyday people do for the benefit of the community.

Merry Christmas to you all too

I would like to say that PTE was a key player in the production of this sequence, as was the technical support I have received from this forum and its contributors over a number of years. I was more than happy to place credit to PTE on the sequence, which is now being seen worldwide. Thanks again.

Yes indeed this can be done in PowerPoint, you write your comments on the bottom of the page of each slide, then set your presentation to " presenter view". It seems to work better in office 2010, where not only do you see your notes, but you also get a view of the next slide too.

Great slideshow, you have captures some amazing shots of an amazing building. Its is such a same that its due to be demolished, if it has not already; there must be a whole host of memories associated with this places as a school. Thanks fro sharing it.

I do use face book for a number of reasons. Its is perfect for promoting yourself if you run a small company or a trust; its a great opportunity to promote you cause, allowing people to be kept informed of changes and to keep in touch with members. You can post details of events, milestones or offers, and see who may attend events and get feedback. While in the past face book may have had some negative reviews, it has both got its act together in terms of privacy of its membership and its client use. The younger generations were using face book in a very superficial way, however now a more mature population has really taken the bull by the horns and is exploiting face books facility's to the max. You just need to take your time to set up face book privacy setting and news feed notifications in a way that best suits you. The benefits are that you can keep in touch with a very wide audience.

Aginum Very nicely done.

It is not always possible to get all your film shots done from a tripod, in fact a lot of media is filmed without. However when you are filming, you should in my opinion always aim to get shots that will not need stabilisation. Hand held filming need practice; the trick is not to try to hold the camera dead still, as this introduces vibration which does not look good. Instead the trick is to allow some full body movement so the movement flows gently. Watching news reports are great examples of this. Last year I was asked to produce a short promotional film for a heritage trust group, the practicality's of the site dictated that some hand held shots had to be made; I don't think that the results look to bad. http://youtu.be/uUNjdtE1TI8?list=UUr94oT1lZFb2vsKAfmYRsVA

Yes, defiantly a sturdy tripod with a fluid head, I would have reservations using a pistol grip, or worse still a monopod. Filming video is a different skill set, panning a camera takes a lot of practice, as do hand help shots, which I would certainly avoid unless you have a decent mount and plenty of experience.

Hi Eric I have deliberately built in blurring to the sequences to make give it a film like look and make the sequence run smoother. In the film industry this is called 'shutter angle'. You can of course go for pin sharp images, if your looking for a more jerky action like look, which can be quite effective. In fact on the tilt and shift effects, dropping out frames of a film done in real time does give it a time lapse styles. Its one of those things where its worth experimenting, to get something that you like the look of. PS anyone want to buy a second hand Canon EOS 7D, one careful previous owner.

OK, I have managed to upload my In and around Birmingham time lapse slideshow to slideshow club. A very big thanks you to Bill and Igor for their help and support.

Hi Bill Ok thanks for that.