Hi Mike:

I've posted on my thread some before and after pics of my attempt at some color correction. Would you mind having a look and seeing what you think? I so appreciate the advice!

Your explanation of how you are doing the flying vulture effect is mind boggling! It's really cool though.

Cat

Mike,
I have enjoyed your film. You have a variety of good scenes of different animals.
The opening scene is interesting. I am happy for the documentation of your technique (much work). It struck me that most of us have a job to do with the color correction (me included!).
I am looking forward to your final video.

Thanks Finn-Erik and Dale. For me, color grading is the next to last step in editing (right before final audio mix down). When I changed my entry at the last moment I had to send it up without those steps. It could really benefit from both. Best of luck, guys. I hope to see you both here next month.

Hi Mike

For some reason I can't view your videos. The site comes up but it is a blank page that does nothing. (This happened to me with your first round as well if you remember.) I will have to wait for Mat to upload the films onto the uwol site and then view your film from there.

Marj

Marj- Sorry you weren’t able to download from my server again. Mat moved the files a couple of days ago. Let me know if you are unable to download off the UWOL server also.
Index of /longform (http://www.uwolchallenge.com/longform/)

Hi Mike - didn't think to look here. The Uwol Challenge site itself does not have them up yet. Will try this. Thanks.

Hi Mike - managed to download your film via the link you provided - thanks again.

You are busy painting such an interesting and comprehensive picture of the dessert biome. What an amazing collection of plants, animals and birds you have - seems like you have been working very steadily this year!

Your turkey vulture POV was a bit short to appreciate fully - but looks like there is potential there. You could use a couple of aerial shots quite effectively without the tv in it as well I should think.
I can’t comment on the quality of the video itself as I have viewed a small file, but in general I would say this is shaping up to be a very good film.

Marj

Marj- Thanks for taking the time to make another attempt to watch! Suffice to say that the image quality is not as good as yours. I purposely kept the vulture animation brief to let viewers take it in but not have time to analyze it. I only use it three times in the whole story for the same reason.

I’m back from what was supposed to be my last shooting trip for this project. I had to revise the ending because I have failed to get two shots crucial to the story as originally conceived. The revision left me missing some shots that would be easier to get (I thought). Wrong! It didn’t help that I got out there to find my blind vandalized. I’m going to do what I can to “fake” the shots and go ahead and finish as soon as possible. If I can get through with a day or two to spare I might give it another go.

Here are my final files:


For final thoughts, here is the back-story.
Late Indian Summer before last, I was camped alone in the habitat referred to in the video as the High Desert (there are other schemes for naming the Chihuahuan Desert habitats). It had been a very dark night until 3AM when a full moon rose that was so bright that the thin tent nylon did little to filter it. I was full awake when a male Great Horned Owl landed on the ridge pole of the tent. I watched him in perfect silhouette at arm’s reach. He began to call back and forth with a female Great Horned Owl which was perched in the nearest large tree (in this habitat it was a five foot tall Mesquite about 200 feet away). You can tell the sex of these owls from the pitch of their calls. Over the next couple of hours, as he carried on a conversation with his girlfriend that was quite over my head, I managed to drift off to sleep. I awoke with a start at sunrise, the half-remembered remains of a story about a Turkey Vulture evaporating from my dreams.

When Meryem announced the UWOL Long Form Challenge a few weeks later, I knew immediately what story I would attempt. Now, over a year later I’m struck by how eerily reminiscent the resulting video is to that gift dream from an owl…

Mike.... I have been enjoying your film... I was mildly amused at how we both had more or less the same idea for the initial opening of earth from space and them zooming in. I'll have more detailed questions for you privately, but I liked how you did that.

Your editing was nicely paced and tied things together - though I can only imagine how much work that must have been.

I'm not quite finished yet but have enjoyed your film immensely. I said this before,but your catalougue of animals, birds, reptiles and arachnids etc is fantastic.

I'll post more later after I finish my first and add a 2nd watch. Good job. Good luck !

Chris Swanberg

sorry Mike, pulling your link until we have sorted through the final entries...you can re-post it once we have these linked to our UWOL website...

Here is the link to a larger version:
http://www.hotspot-online.net/Video/Over_the_Mountain_Final_large.mp4

Hi Mike:

You've been so quiet on the threads, I was beginning to worry about you!

Cat

Chris- The animation you asked about is easy to do with NASA World Wind using the blue marble data set and Movie Recorder plug-in. It’s all free and public domain. I think it’s the best software to use for animating satellite imagery. Contact me if you need help getting started.
NASA World Wind (http://worldwind.arc.nasa.gov/download.html)

Thanks Cat. I have a long list of tasks that somehow got postponed until November that I’ve been working my way through. Then on Thanksgiving I took time off to excavate a crater in the lawn so I could have a go at some faulty plumbing. You know, the usual…