Hello from Robyn in Queanbeyan, NSW, Australia

[rolawren]

Hi all,

My name is Robyn Lawrence (my account in the forum in rolawren - my boring old unix login from years ago) and I am 43 years old (female in case you can't tell by the name). No kids, just my partner Leo and my Golden Retriever dog - Katy.

I live in Queanbeyan, New South Wales, which is 15 km from the centre of Canberra the capital city of Australia. Queanbeyan is the older city, about 33,000 people that existed long before Canberra was ever built. Canberra the capital is around 330,000 people. There is a bit of country-side (read grazing paddocks for sheep, cattle and horses) between Canberra and Queanbeyan, but Canberra is encroaching.

I am an Australian fauna and flora enthusiast (and also into wine, bushwalking, 4WD driving, outback travel etc). More into birds, reptiles, marsupials than plants. I have worked at the Australian National Botanic Gardens in Canberra (about 17 km from where I live) for the past five years as a database manager, to manage taxonomic checklists of Australian fauna and flora. You know the sort of bird checklists of all the scientific species names. Canberra / Queanbeyan is very lucky in that we are very close to the bush, so I don't have to go far (only a couple of kms) to find wild animals to film like my Platypus shots, Wombat shots, Water Dragons, Snakes etc, that I generally can find in the river in Queanbeyan or out the back of Queanbeyan in the bush.

Anyway I have taken a year off work, to finish my Masters in Science Communication at the Australian National University. I have to do a sub-thesis this year and as part of this you have to do a major science communication project and all the ideas that I came up with relating to the Botanic Gardens were either a bit controversial, or people thought were a bit dull and similar work had been done in the past.

After reading the ranger's Masters thesis on the Brown Snakes in the Gardens, in which she said we needed some sort of educational web-site or other promotional / educational material to tell the public visiting the Gardens more about the Snakes - I thought this could be my project. The Snakes are venomous, indeed extremley so, but in the Gardens there is only about a dozen snakes in an area of 100 acres, so you don't come across them very often. So late last winter/early spring, I came up with the somewhat crazy idea of videoing the Brown Snakes and learning how to produce some sort of YouTube like or embedded video to go up on the Gardens web-site as an educational project for the public. I did not know at all how to video or video-edit, but thought since I can program and I work with computers that I should be able to manage it.

I convinced the people at head office to lend me a large old broadcast quality video camera. Canon XLS 1. They set it up to 16:9 and told be to basically use Automatic focus and to watch out for the White Balance, due to the strong light we have here. I did have a tripod, however working with dangerous animals that move very quickly when they want to, it made it really hard to use the tripod. So generally I just ran around carrying the camera and following the snake and Donna the ranger or one of the other snake catchers. Occasionally I just found a snake myself and just videoed it as close as was reasonably safe.

Here are just some snake crossing shots that I was asking a question about the other day, to get ideas on super-imposing the snake on the Gardens map.

http://muvipix.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?p=24711#p24711

Anyway I am hoping to use the Showcase forum in coming weeks, to get ideas about improving the look of the video I come up with for my project. I have four weeks left to do it. Since it is late autumn here, only a few more days until winter starts, of course I have all my snake footage and unfortunately can't get anymore. I have arranged with Donna the ranger, to shoot some interviews and joining shots where we can pretend to be catching snakes or working with the snakes, so will plan to do that.

Sorry, I have gone long enough already. And it is time for a coffee before I post another forum question and then I have to get back to coming up with a story-board for my Brown Snake 5 minute video.

I hope people will be interested enough in my project, to give me some advice. I don't have alot of time to do or learn anything too fancy, but if I could get pointed to appropriate tutorials or say look how some-one else did this effect, that would be great.

However I have found that I am really enjoying videoing and learning how to edit, so what has started as a project for my sub-thesis, has snowballed and I keep making other little videos for people, that has nothing to do with my project but relate to my general interests. I have been trying to get more and more Platypus shots, running around after a wild wombat to get see if I can get more shots of him etc. I have offered to produce videos for the local ACT Herpetological Association after attending their annual exhibition to practise videoing snakes - but this was easy as they were in cages or only pythons (non-venomous). These are shown in my Snakes Gallery. So I am becoming an video addict without planning to, I think.

I do think that because this is a nature video, based in the beautiful Botanic Gardens, that I should concentrate on showing it in a natural sort of way - not too many fancy effects (or whatever you call them).

Coffee-time!!

P.S. I wished I found this Introduction site last week, rather than launching in asking questions straight-away, without you knowing what I am hoping to get out of this forum / site.

Regards,

Robyn Lawrence
(rolawren)

[Steve Grisetti]

Welcome and g'day, Robyn! Nice to have you aboard. Australia is pretty well represented on the forum, and it's nice to know that our good will is reaching all the way over to the other side of the planet!

Your videos are terrific, even if images of deadly snakes slithering across a footpath are a bit troubling for me. We look forward to continuing to share all of our unique experiences with you.

As a fellow middle-ager, you may enjoy a thread that ran a few months ago in which several forum members posted then and now pictures of themselves. It's really a lot of fun and a great way to demonstrate the wide variety of people our little community has drawn together.

Here's that thread.
viewtopic.php?f=1&t=1911

[Helen]

Hi Robyn and hello from Brisbane

I have loved the videos you have posted already. They are informative and fun to watch. I have not got bored watching and have also learnt some interesting facts.

I have found that I get most of my questions answered here on this forum, plus I have the book written by Chuck and Steve "Adobe Photoshop Elements 4 and Premiere Elements 2 All in One". I have Premiere Elements 4 and I find that the book is still very helpful.

Good luck with your project and other little videos and looking forward to seeing more of your work.

Helen

[rolawren]

Hi Helen,

Thanks Helen, just wrote you a post and thought I would look up your profile before posting it, and it wiped out my topic. Oh well, another lesson learnt.

I think I might investigate that book you mentioned, a lot of people on forum from what I can see so far, swear by it.

My favourite little honey-eater - the White-eared Honey-eater is back outside my study window preening just now as I write (I leave the curtains open so I get a good view of the birds, and they and the local ABC radio keep me company during the day on the PC). Have enjoyed in the past couple of days since I started posting to this site, waking up to see what replies I get over-night.

Got to get back to my Brown Snake story-board for CIT (Canberra Institute of Technology e.g. TAFE) as it is due tomorrow am. I have talked my way into a second year Advanced Diploma in Graphics Design to do just one subject - Video and Sound. Unfortunately it is all Macs, Quicktime and Final Cut Pro (which I don't have at home as I have a PC and PE4.0), but I am learning how to convert to Quicktime format in the best way so I can submit work for assessment.

I noticed some-one else (a man) from Brisbane the other day asking or answering a question on the forum, so that was the first Australian I had seen. Nice to know there are some others of us out there on the forum and muvipix.

Will have a look at your videos and posts sometime when I have a bit more time. Probably on Friday, once I get this story-board started.

Regards,

Robyn

[jackfalbey]

Hi Robyn and welcome! For your nature video, I would recommend staying away from cheesy effects and use mainly straight cuts (where one clip just ends and another begins immediately) or cross-dissolves (one clip dissolves into another). Probably straight cuts within one subject and cross-dissolves when changing to a new section of the video. You might also play a bit with semi-transparent overlays if you have maps or other graphics that will be going into the video. Just watch any Discovery Channel or BBC nature program to get an idea of how a nature documentary should look. Feel free to ask as many questions as necessary; we're here to help.

As a fellow middle-ager

Since when is 43 "middle-aged"?!?!?! I'm 36 and middle age is still about 30 years away...

[John 'twosheds' McDonald]

Hello Robyn. Good luck with your project. One thing about this forum is that you can ask as many questions as you like and someone, somewhere will generally provide an answer within a few hours.

Off original topic I know but I think that the first sign of middle age is when you need something that is in another room so you get up to fetch it but on the way there you forget what it is that you were going for.

[Steve Grisetti]

Middle age is the point at which you look forward to the weekend, not for all the things you can do but for all the things you don't have to do.

[momoffduty]

Welcome Robyn! You can get any question answered here and sometimes it comes with a screen shot or video or maybe a project file to see all of the settings.

Your snake project sounds exciting, maybe a little too much since they are venomous. You are off to a great start and the video editing does become addicting.

Look forward to seeing more of your projects!

[Chuck Engels]

Welcome Robyn,
That has got to be one of the best introductions we've had at Muvipix so far

I'm sure you will enjoy the site and especially the forum which you have already found.
Lot's of very friendly and helpful people, this place reminds me of the song 'Home On The Range'

Oh, give me a home where the buffalo roam
Where the deer and the antelope play
Where seldom is heard a discouraging word
And the skies are not cloudy all day
Home, home on the range
Where the deer and the antelope play
Where seldom is heard a discouraging word
And the skies are not cloudy all day

[Steve Grisetti]

Okay, but change "deer and antelope" to "roos and wallabies".

[Rockdoc]

Hi Robyn,
I've tried to post twice now, and it doesn't seem to be working for me today. Anyway, I have been following your snake threads with interest and am looking forward to seeing your future work. I am a science educator also, and my pet project at the moment is on the Chesapeake Bay Watershed. You can see a sample of my work in the gallery here:
http://muvipix.com/cpg/albums/userpics/10019/lesson3.wmv

Good luck to you on your snake project - this is a great place you have found, and if I can be of any help, just let me know!

Jennifer

[Clayton]

this place reminds me of the song 'Home On The Range'

Oh, give me a home where the buffalo roam
Where the deer and the antelope play
Where seldom is heard a discouraging word
And the skies are not cloudy all day
Home, home on the range
Where the deer and the antelope play
Where seldom is heard a discouraging word
And the skies are not cloudy all day

Yeeeee Hawwwwwwww...

Welcome Robyn

[ridon127]

Welcome aboard.. You have just inherited about 800 new best friends
Donna

[jackfalbey]

Middle age is the point at which you look forward to the weekend, not for all the things you can do but for all the things you don't have to do.

In that case, I was right. It is still about 30 years away!
Right now, my weekends are for working on everything that didn't get finished during the week!

[rolawren]

Hi Robyn,
... I am a science educator also, and my pet project at the moment is on the Chesapeake Bay Watershed. You can see a sample of my work in the gallery here:
http://muvipix.com/cpg/albums/userpics/10019/lesson3.wmv

Good luck to you on your snake project - this is a great place you have found, and if I can be of any help, just let me know!

Jennifer

Hi all,

Thanks for your encouraging comments. Have just quickly looked at Jennifer's increase in "the amount of water that is impervious to the ground due to increase in concrete and bitumen - hard surfaces" video. Interesting, sends a clear message that is easy to take in. Here we just wish it would rain - full-stop! It's been years since people have been allowed to wash their cars at home (can go to car-washes with water recycling but that's all), and all new homes have to have rain-water tanks, I could go on and on, but time to go off to technical college and uni for the day ...

See you,

Robyn