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Matthew Modine Video - Bicycle For A Day.

Click here if you are having trouble viewing the video

Matthew Modine rides the streets of New York on a bicycle to tell everyone about “Bicycle For A Day.”

“Bicycle For A Day” is a fun, open and proactive invitation designed to inspire individuals, communities, governments and corporations to take a step towards solving the current environmental issues. BFAD is a global initiative bringing together people who choose to ride a bicycle rather than use gas-powered motor vehicles.

BFAD will debut with small, VIP events during Summer / Fall 2008 that lead up to a gathering at The South Street Seaport in NYC, to mark the “official” BFAD day, September 20th.

This is not a bicycle race! BFAD is a day to demonstrate how doing ONE thing can help improve the environment.

Tags: video, global warming, bicycle for a day

I was at the Torrey Pines Gliderport the other day, and it was very foggy and overcast. I left my house and it was over 100, and I get down to the beach, and it was 75 and cloudy. I stopped at the Torrey Pines Gliderport hoping to catch a few gliders doing cool things, and instead I watched them struggle to take off.

Here is a short video of one guy struggling to take off in the bad weather.

Tags: torrey pines gliderport, la jolla, video

A few days ago, my youngest and I ventured down to our neighborhood park and launched a few model rockets. That was the most fun we have ever had for ten bucks. In the age of computers, and video games, we soon forget how fun it can be to actually get outside, and enjoy the small things in life. There were about 10 kids watching, and after each launch, they became the recovery crew. All we had to do was stuff the rocket, and push the launch button until we ran out of rocket engines.

Tags: video, park, murrieta

Quicktime, and a fast processor needed (and a little patience, the file is 247mb!)

Here is a flash version for weaker computers

Khula Happy Singers St. Lucia from Jan van der Meer on Vimeo

According to the original poster, here are the stats

Sanyo Xacti HD1000 sample video
Straight out of the camera at 1280×720 60fps h264

Tags: sample video, offsite video, xacti hd1000

SloMo Promo 1 from Pathos Media on Vimeo

Tags: offsite video

Panasonic HDC-SD9 sample video (Quicktime, and strong processor required)

Shot at 1920×1080 29.97 fps, highest quality setting
Computer: MacPro Quad, OSX 10.5.2 Leopard
Converted with Voltaic to 540p, then encoded with VisualHub at max mpeg4 settings.

Raw video file directly from the camera: Panasonic-HDC-SD9-test-video-original.MTS
Video after encoding (same as above): Panasonic-HDC-SD9-test-video.mp4

The video was shot on a tripod. As you can see, the video quality is very sharp. Trying to hold this camera in your hand, and get good quality is a real challenge. The only fault I can see in this video is the stuttered motion as the white van drives across the screen from the left to the right. My opinion is that the camera does not set the internal bit-rate high enough to capture motion well, and/or the original source was interlaced, and going to progressive, may cause some choppy motion. Check the original video I posted, and you can play with it.

AVCHD (the codec this camera uses) is still pretty young, and although they did a decent job, it will leave you a bit disappointed when you try to capture motion at the kids soccer game, and view it on a pc. Going to an interlaced player such as a DVD player, or TV, should be fine though.

Overall opinion:

Shoot with a tripod, or you will be disappointed. The Panasonic HDC-SD9 is not quite ready for every day family shooting, and software options are very few and far between. As of the date this was posted, you cannot edit the camera’s video without converting to an intermediate codec first. It doesn’t even work with iMovie. Wait a bit before you get rid of your DV camera.

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