You Can’t Just Be Creative
A while ago I wrote a blog post about buying a new camera for my YouTube videos. I was struggling just filming with my phone, and felt that a camera would be a decent investment. I narrowed down my choices and ended up getting the Sony ZV-1.
It has been a pretty good choice for me. The main complaint I have about it is that it eats battery life like it is starving. To combat that, I purchased three additional batteries along with a charger, and that has worked for me thus far. I may need more batteries down the line, we shall see.
I knew a while back that you can't just 'make' YouTube videos. You have to edit them as well. I started out on simple software that allowed me to do basic things. As I gained more knowledge, I needed the ability to do more. A lot of people use Final Cut Pro (Apple Produce) or Adobe Premiere Pro.
I did not and do not like the idea of paying a subscription service for a product that I rely on to do things if that makes sense. It is the same reason I haven't upgraded from Microsoft Office 2007. There is nothing in the Office 365 version that I need bad enough to subscribe and have to pay a monthly fee for. No thank you. With a little help from my husband, I started using Blender.
Blender is known as a 3D rendering software. It allows you to make art and stretch your creativity. It also has a video editing portion and that is what I use. It allows me to do a lot of the things I see other youtubers do. If you can do it in Final Cut Pro, chances are I can do it in Blender as well. There are also a ton of tutorials on Youtube for Blender. Everything I have learned how to do, I've learned from Youtube. It's gotten to a point where I can look for a tutorial on how to do something, watch it, and it may be set up for FCP, but I know the tools of Blender well enough to apply the tutorial to Blender itself. It may take a few extra steps, but I get it done.
I never thought I would use the other portions of blender. I am not a graphics artist. I am not an artist period. I suck at art. I literally got a D in 6th grade art. But I am learning I can create visual effects for my videos in the other modes of Blender, which means more tutorials.
What I am learning in my ripe old age, is that doing something doesn't just mean doing it and being done with it. I wanted to make podcasts. You don't just record and that's it. You have to learn your software, you have to learn to edit, you have to learn how to upload. You can't just make youtube videos. You have to know how to edit. If there is something special, you have to learn how to do that as well. Sure, you can pay someone to do it, but you have to at least know a little bit so you can express what it is that you want from them. Every time I pick something up, my brain gets stretched a little more. In the beginning of the pandemic, I started writing again. I wrote a whole fan fiction book. You can see the improvement from where I began to where I started, as fiction and dialog writing is much more difficult that writing a blog. I have been out of school for many years, I have forgotten the rules, so I had to do my research. My bookshelves are filled with K-pop and writing books.
The same is true with all of my other hobbies. I am learning and growing. It's never a simple matter of just doing the thing, no matter how much someone tells you that you just need to get out there and and do it. For you to be great, you have to be willing to learn. I like to succeed in everything I do. I'm trying. I'm learning, and I am working. Thank you for sticking with me.
Tech Talk: This camera ain’t doing it
Recently, along with the podcast, I have also been doing videos here and there on YouTube. Here is an example of one:
All my life, I have had the worst luck with cameras. Currently I am using my phone and a Nikon CoolPix L830. I was super pumped when I got the camera a few years ago. It gave me the DSLR body I wanted, without having the bulky lenses, and the screen adjusted to help me take pictures.
It takes great pictures, but video, there are some issues. I am typically filming myself, and though the screen adjusts, it doesn't adjust so I can see it if I am facing the camera. So I can't really see myself, and I can't see if any adjustments need to be made. This was a lesson I learned with the most recent video that is coming out. The entire thing is blurry. It is insane. I am still going to post it because it took me forever to make and edit and practice makes perfect.
I do not have the ability with this camera to add an external mic. Not a big deal when I was just doing pictures, but now that I am making videos, I need an external mic. The microphone on this camera is not doing me any favors. For now, I am connecting a mic to my phone, and making a loud noise so that I am able to sync up the sound in editing. I am a big proponent of working smarter, not harder, and it seems to me that a smarter option would be a camera that has the ability to have an external mic.
So What am I Thinking About Purchasing?
I am the absolute queen of impulse purchases. I see something that is close to what I need, and I grab it, and a few months later down the line, I find out it does not have all the features that I want or need. I am trying not to make that same mistake with a camera, because let's face it, cameras are pricey as hell. I am not made of money and I cannot purchase a new camera every two years because I realize that a bell and whistle that I need, I didn't get because I picked the first thing that caught my fancy.
So far, this is what I know I want/need
- Movable screen so I am able to see myself when I am vlogging
- Ability to add an external mic
- I would like a small form factor, something I can shove in my purse and go and won't hurt my wrist to hold up for an extended period of time.
- This isn't a requirement, but if I could get a small form camera that has interchangeable lenses, that would be cool.
- Bluetooth capability.
- Under $1000 closer to under $700 would be ideal
- Really good stabilization. I waddle. It's a fact of life. I have waddled my whole life and so video tends to be shaky.
- I would like something possibly over a year old so that it has a lot of tutorials out for it that I can read and learn from.
- Common form factor storage card - Please no cameras with their own proprietary storage card. That gives me a headache. There is no need for it. SD is here, other forms of SD are here. PICK ONE AND USE IT!
- I need to be able to do 4k vlogging.
I don't have a pixel requirement because in this day and age, most cameras will give you what you need in the pixel department.
With these 9 things in mind I have started looking at cameras.
The first one is the Sony ZV-1
As you can see straight off the bat, it has the screen that I require. It has the ability to hook up an external mic, and from the videos that I have watched on it, it takes great pictures and video.
This one is the newest of the ones I have been looking at and has the highest price at roughly $800.00. I cringe at that cost. However, if you look on YouTube it has some of the best reviews. People even revisit it in videos and still enjoy it months later.
The next one is the Canon G7X Mark III.
This has everything that the Sony has. It is older, so it doesn't have all of the new shiny bells and whistles, but I don't know if I even want the bells and whistles. Its viewing screen does pull out so I could see it, but all I have seen thus far is that it pulls out above I believe. I like the ones that swing out to the side, but that isn't a deal breaker, you know? It has the small form factor and it clocks in price wise at around $650. which is a touch better, but what am I giving up for that extra money? Will I regret it when I discover I need something else?
The final one is killing me. It's the Canon M50.
This one is a little larger, but still has a small form factor that won't hurt my wrist. It has interchangeable lenses. You can buy it with one or two (obviously the price goes up if you buy it with two. It has the swing out screen, and also runs about $650.00 (with the single lens). It's killing me because this is the one I would immediately impulse buy, but I am trying to be the adult I know I can be and do my due diligence so I am not staring at other cameras when they come out. It also does not do 4K, which is a thing I will need.
I have watched this guy's videos and will continue to do my research.
Do you work with cameras? Do you have opinions? I'd like to hear it!
How many times should you dust yourself off and try again?
Whew Chilay. It has been a week year. I don't even know where to begin with this.
I talked a little bit about this on Instastories earlier today. I graduated from college in 2008. That means I have been in the world of Information Technology for 11 years. 11 long, thankless years. For those of you that do not know, my major was computer information technology with a specialty in Microsoft Networking. I've never used the Microsoft Networking portion of this degree because does MS even deal in networking? Who knows. After working crap jobs for so many years, I kicked off my IT career doing help desk.
I've worked some form of help desk over the years, working my butt off, striving to do better and be better than I ever was *cue Pokemon song* but it seems like I could never get ahead. A few years ago I wrote a blog called When a Geek is Fed Up. It detailed some of the abuses I dealt with in a large corporate environment. I got away I was free and life was good.
Until it wasn't.
It seems no matter where I go or what I do, I can't seem to get ahead or get promoted. When i first started out in my field I understood. I worked for a tiny company. There was nowhere to go, nowhere to promote me to. I eventually worked up the nerve to ask for a raise and title change. I was told no, because my manager at the time didn't believe in different titles (which confused me to no end, but whatever). The environment I was in when I wrote 'When a Geek is Fed Up' was absolutely toxic. I applied for a position that would have been a promotion and I nailed the interview. I was what they were looking for. I found out later that the person that I was interviewing with, the person that would have been my manager actually wanted me for the position, but it was a good ol boy system and he was pressured to hire someone else. Namely my supervisor at the time who wasn't even eligible for the position at the time (he had just gotten a promotion and should not have been able to take another position for at least a year).
Why am I writing about this? Because it has happened again. I applied for a position I am qualified for. It would be a good jump for me, pushing me further in my career. It was with the same company I am currently with. I was hopeful and excited. The first month.
Two months after I applied they finally interviewed me. I thought the interview went well. I was to go on vacation a month after the interview but I figured I would have an answer by then. I was wrong. Two months after the interview, still no response. At this point we are 4 months past the point where I applied. Another two months pass. I finally got a "we're going with someone else."
Six months. It took me 6 months to get a rejection from a job in a company I work in. And what's more, I got the rejection while I was at work. This may sound strange as if I would get a response after work, but I was applying for a department. They are in another state. They typically call me after hours to let me know news. I then had to make it through another 4 hours at work without crying rage tears.
I know some people can suck things up and move it along to the next opportunity, but it honestly feels like I am drowning. I enjoy the people I work with, but my job duties have changed so much in the past three years, that I no longer recognize this position. There is no longer any joy in it as half the time I have no clue what is going on. I am disinterested. I want to focus on what I actually want to do for a career. How do I do that, when I can't even get a foot in the door of a company that knows my work ethic? It feels like I will always be slowly scrabbling at the ladder and I am so tired of it.
Laptops, Netbooks, Ultrabooks, and You.
I am a big believer in using what you have. I am one of those people that is resourceful with the tools around me. My husband is frequently amazed by the meals I make with whatever we have in the kitchen. To me, it is like a puzzle. Use what you have and be as frugal as possible. That way you have money to splurge on other things. That is why I have been trying to use this Kindle Fire tablet and keyboard for the longest.
This is not working for me.
The keyboard is way too small for my chubby fingers. I can’t properly admin from it. The touch screen thing drives me batty. Also, I don’t care what you say, SILK IS NOT A BROWSER (#BrowserBias2018).
While I do own a lovely laptop, my laptop is a behemoth. I hate lugging it anywhere. It is a proper gaming laptop. I need to be able to write and admin the site from my living room, or the break room at work, or wherever I am at. I think it would be conducive to me trying to write more in 2018. Not just for the blog, but in writing prompts and the like. I could be wrong though and it would just devolve into another way for me to read more fan fiction. We shall see.
Intel has trademarked the term Ultrabook. For them it means a line of high-end sub notebook computers that are smaller (think old school Net Book) but has a decent battery life. This is exactly what I am looking for. I need something small and compact. I don’t need to game on it. I need to be able to admin the site, surf the web and write my short butt off. Also, and this is a pure vanity situation, but I need it to fit into my new Kate Spade backpack. There is a small list of older models of Ultrabooks listed on Wikipedia here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Ultrabook_models. That will give you some examples on what I am looking at.
I have some other rules for this new piece of equipment coming into my life:
1. It must be small. No full sized laptops
2. No HP Laptops. I had an incredibly bad experience with HP that nearly caused me to fail a college course several years ago. Ever since then I have been put off HP. HP if by some chance you see this blog, and want to talk to me and prove me wrong about your products, feel free to reach out. Leslie@geekygirlguide.com
3. No Lenovo laptops. Want to know why? Read here: http://money.cnn.com/2015/02/19/technology/security/lenovo-superfish/index.html
4. I need a solid state hard drive
5. No less than 128GB of drive space
6. I would prefer a Windows machine, but would do Linux if everything else was there
7. My price point is $500 dollars. Ideally it would be under $400, but I am not holding my breath on that one. For all of you scoffing at the price, saying I will not find what I want for that price, you better watch out. I love a challenge. Also, one thing I love more than reading? PROVING PEOPLE WRONG!
So that is it as far as my requirements. I must tell you, when I first started writing this, I scoffed because I thought I only had one or two requirements. Turns out I am slightly picky. Picky is good though. It will ensure I get what I need and what I want. I’ll be taking you along on #UltrabookWatch2k18 with me. I’ll be researching Ultrabooks and writing about what I find here, using the requirements up above to see if what I find is a good fit for me. I hope you will come along with me on this journey. Maybe you will find something you didn’t know you were looking for as well.
Espionage Cosmetics
