I spent way too much time on a computer today. My brain hurts now.

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Testing Ping.fm

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I shot this video with Pastor Jeff this past week at a cool new spot in Snohomish. (Thanks Kgor). I wanted to try something new with the color grading to give it a little something extra. I did a Bleach Bypass effect that I learned from a tutorial over at Creative Cow. I also added a light vignette blur. 

Check it out below. I hope you like it.

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Thought this was a great post from Barton Damer at AlreadyBeenChewed.net and wanted to share it.

How is it that some things stand out and others blend right in? In order for BOLD to stand out, it must be different than the rest. If everything is bold, nothing is bold. When you think about design and what stands out, it’s often something that is different. Could be complex, could be less is more. It’s all relative. If everyone resorts to simplicity, eventually complexity will be what stands out. When overly complex designs are everywhere, all of the sudden, simplicity stands out. This principle applies way beyond design as well. As you plan for production in your main services, if every sunday is “special” with tons of media, music, and lights… all of the sudden… no Sunday’s are “special.” They all blend together and none of them stand out as memorable, no matter what level of production. Some times,  in order to have a “special” service, it may mean stripping away all of that. It may mean no media and an acoustic set are what will set that moment apart. Conversely, if every single sunday is an acoustic set with no media, nothing is “bold”. Nothing stands out. There’s no point in over-doing the production every single week. Choose specific series that you will amp up for. Rest up and prepare for those series during more stripped down opportunities. Your congregation will look back and remember those moments that are bold. If every Sunday is “bold”… no Sunday’s are “bold.” Be purposeful in what you will bold and not bold so that those things will stand out.

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Having edited a few videos in my career, I feel confident saying that picking music can often times be the most difficult part of the process. Something you find something that fits perfectly and other times it's a major struggle.

I'll definitely be utilizing some of these sites as I'm trying to rely less on my iTunes library and find more legitimate music sources. Thanks to Collide Magazine for compiling such an awesome list of resources for us church media creators.

If you’re a video producer in the church, chances are you don’t create your own music nor do you own a massive library of audio tracks. Enter the world of stock audio. Whether you’re looking for a simple electronic beat or a complex orchestral arrangement, stock audio has you covered. With the help of stock audio websites, finding that perfect audio track for your video couldn’t be easier. So we’ve compiled a list of some of the top stock audio sites for you to utilize.

Audiojungle.net
AudioJungle is one of the newest stock audio sites out there. This uncomplicated Web 2.0-looking site allows you to browse by category or use their simple search to find what you’re looking/listening for. Listening to audio samples is quick and easy, as long as you don’t mind hearing the word “envato” said every 5 seconds (as an audio watermark). However, being that AudioJungle is still new, its library isn’t the most extensive.

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Average Song Cost: $8
Audio Quality: Mp3 and Wav – varies per song
100% royalty free

Firstcom.com
Firstcom has been in the stock audio scene since 1980 and was the first company to provide music downloading via the Internet. Basically, Firstcom is the industry standard when it comes to stock audio. While their Flash-based site creates an attractive interface, first-time users may find the site a little hard to navigate. Because the site contains an extensive library of more than 140,000 tracks, the search function is powerful and, at time, confusing. Overall, Firstcom has the best selection of music but not the most user-friendly interface.

Average Song Cost: subscription based – contact Firstcom for details
Audio Quality: Wav
100% royalty free

Ibaudio.com
While ibaudio.com may not be the prettiest site out there, it does offer a quality selection of music at a decent price. What really sets them apart, though, is the fact that they write and produce all of the audio themselves. Simply browse the music by category or use their search to find the perfect song. Song previews open up in separate windows making it easy to continue searching while demoing a particular song. The smaller library may be a set back, but the quality makes up for this shortcoming.

Average Song Cost: $27.25 or unlimited downloads $195/yr
Audio Quality: WAV – 16bit, 44.1khz
100% royalty free

Istockaudio.com
Istockphoto.com is most likely the first place you look when in need to stock photos, but did you know they now sell stock audio? In fact, istockphoto.com has an extensive selection of stock audio and music to choose from. Each song has detailed information including key and bpm for those that need this info. However, being that the two sites integrate with each other, searching for audio clips can be a little frustrating. Unfortunately, even the categorical search only brings up photos and not actual audio tracks.

Average Song Cost: $22 (15 credits)
Audio Quality: WAV – 16bit, 44.1khz
100% royalty free

Revostock.com
Revostock.com is full of profession stock media including video, motions, and After Effects files, but it also has a large stock audio library as well. While the simple search function may not produce the best answers, the category search and advanced search should help you find what you’re looking for. Simple mouse over a song and it begins to play a short demo. Like most of the stock audio sites, you have to put up with an annoying audio watermark, but thus is life in such a computer literate age.

Average Song Cost: $10-$50 (depending on popularity and license)
Audio Quality: WAV – 16bit, 44.1khz
100% royalty free

Stockmusic.net
Stockmusic.net happens to be one of the most balanced stock audio sites out there. Their intuitive navigation system and simple search functions make it easy to find that perfect song. Search by collections, genres, moods, and instruments and simply roll over songs to play a sample. The site will even let you download a full demo of the song, of course with an audio watermark strategically placed through it. Over all, stockmusic.net is one of the easiest stock music websites to navigate with a quality library.

Average Song Cost: $29.95
Audio Quality: Mp3, aiff, or wav
100% royalty free

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This past Sunday for Easter we did the song True Love by Phil Wickham. Andrea, one of my graphics volunteers at TRC worked really hard to create the typography portion of the video. Terryl created the click track for us to edit the video to then I add the video and imagery to the background of the typography. I found the barrels on Craigslist and we modified them to fit the LED lights inside. As you can see in the video there was a combination of water and glitter on the barrel where they were drumming. Check it out.

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We recently released part 1 of the "Where Life Happens" video series. I used a technique that I hadn't done before so thought I'd share the behind the scenes/ How to view here. View below for the finished version and more details. Enjoy.

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