More Video Cheer

So, one great thing about a Mac or Powerbook with a built in Superdrive and out-of-the-box iMovie and iDVD is they let you take that sloppy video footage you've amassed by pestering people with a camera in their faces (or elsewhere) at opportune moments (or otherwise) throughout the year and turn it into a pretty nice holiday gift. And, you can throw related photos on the selfsame DVD in slideshow format, synched to music; very slick.

My dilemma, however, is that movie files exported for iDVD can get huge, fast. I coastered two DVD-Rs before coming to terms with the fact the 10.7 gigabyte file iMovie made for me simply wasn't going to fit on the 4.7 gig DVD-Rs that work with the Superdrive (the inarguable math wasn't lost on me, I just thought maybe the iDVD burning process would sufficiently compress the file without more work on my part). This is a 56 minute video that (1) I am not going to re-cut (too much work), and (2) believe it or not, the recipients actually will want to watch, as it stars their adorable children, among other bit players such as myself.

I'm posting this in hope you Mac and QuickTime mavens (Kevin?) will confirm I've arrived at the best solution for this, or offer other suggestions. I need to compress this puppy, but it can still be a big file; up to 3 or 4 gigabytes I would think. I upgraded to QuickTime Pro (for the second time; grrr). I imported the 10.7 gig file, then, after trying and rejecting some of the smaller options, exported it to one of the two "2x CD-ROM" formats. This seems to yield pretty good quality in about a 550 MB file. (I initially thought MPEG-4 would be the way to go, but it comes out way too small and pixelated). I can go bigger than this and still get it on the DVD, but (1) the format has to be iDVD compatible, and (2) I don't see any better pre-formatted QuickTime options than what I've already done. I suspect I could venture into the custom settings and bump up the quality even further, while still slimming down my 10.7 gig fatty, but here, for me anyway, "there be dragons." Thanks in advance for any input.

Video Cheer

Cool, the donations for Doc are starting to come in. Keep it up!

Sprouting

Forget the calendar: spring is roaring in early this year.

Zapping Doc

Doc, on finding unexpected, free high-speed Internet access in his Supernova digs: "I love this motel."

Doc got zapped in a less pleasant way when his Sony PC-110 camcorder didn't come home from a party last week. Having seen Doc in action with this thing, I can well appreciate how much he hates to lose it. Doc's camera rounds out his coverage of the many conferences and events he travels to and shares on his blog and elsewhere. He mentions a bunch of photos at that last link, and here are some additional ones he took at Digital ID World.

I set up the following PayPal donation link in hope of restoring Doc's camcorder. If you'd like to help, please donate and/or share the link. I'll forward the proceeds to Doc at the end of the month as a holiday "thanks." (I looked around a bit to see if anyone had yet done this and came up empty; if I'm wrong, please let me know and I'll be sure to coordinate the efforts.)

Self, Meet Self

Just when you've gotten smug in your demographic-trouncing disparateness...someone comes along and shows you you're just another walking wallet.

I sent the link to this Fast Company article -- Sophisticated Sell: Why are so many women interested in shopping at Anthroplogie? -- this afternoon to my three best friends, bemoaning that the jig is up, we've been pinned to the wall, boxed, wrapped and tied up with a bow. Seems like it's just in time for the holidays, but this outfit's been surreptitiously at it since 1992, apparently:

The Anthropologie woman is not so much conflicted as she is resistant to categorization. Her identity is a tangle of connections to activities, places, interests, values, and aspirations. She's not married with two kids: She's a yoga-practicing filmmaker with an organic garden, a collection of antique musical instruments, and an abiding interest in Chinese culture ( plus a husband and two kids ).

Ugh, there's more. If this is a shade too close to home, go on over there for a good laugh or cry -- your call.

No, I don't have two kids. Yes, I do shop there, it's been like six years now.