Want to know how to make a video?

We're hoping to see some video submissions in O-R Flix soon. Not that we don't appreciate all the photos (we do), but we'd be excited to see some moving images from our readers. And what better thing to film than fireworks?

For those of you taking short mpg videos with a digital camera using memory, you won't need much help. Just hook the camera up to your computer with a USB or Firewire cable and drag the movie files onto your machine. Edit them if you want or upload them raw to our system. However, if you're running off a camera that uses miniDV cassettes, its a little more complex. Read on.

If you've never uploaded a home movie off cassette to your computer before, its not too hard...well, it depends on a lot of things, truthfully. First, I'm definitely a PC person but I have to be up front here; you Mac users are going to have an easier time of getting your movies up. You'll need a video camera (obviously) and a means of connecting it your computer. This means a firewire cable if both your Mac and your camera are new enough to support that (if they were made in the last 8 years or so, they almost certainly are; check your user manuals), or if you're working with older equipment, AV cables and a video capture card. If you don't know what a video capture card is, you probably don't have one. Google it; prices aren't too bad and setup is fairly easy.

The last thing you need is software, and this is where Mac makes it easy. If your Mac was made any time this millennium, it has some version of iMovie on it. Again, Google is your friend; search for tutorials on how to use the various features of your version of iMovie. We aren't expecting Citizen Kane here, so if you feel intimidated by all the fancy titles, transitions, and effects, just skip them! Remember to convert your video to a format supported by our site (popular formats such as avi, mp4, mov, mpg, and wmv are all supported but dv is not) and to keep the size below 30 mb. These options are also easily available in iMovie.

As I said, Windows users are going to have it a little harder. The steps are basically the same but the software is hit or miss. There is no iMovie for Windows and the alternatives are frankly less user friendly most of the time, not to mention more expensive. Different PC vendors like HP and Dell will typically include proprietary video software on all but their most basic machines. You can give that a try but the features are typically lacking and/or the controls are far from intuitive. You can also look into paying for a better program, but the price is normal pretty steep by the time you're looking at something worthwhile (and I use the description worthwhile based on my needs; you will also find that the best programs have a lot of features you will never want or need). Still, with a little effort most Windows users will be able to find something they are comfortable with and can start uploading video too!

Linux users will undoubtedly have some open source programs they can toy with; if you're using Linux to begin with you're probably pretty tech savvy and don't need my help.

Once you feel daring enough to try out a movie and get it uploaded, don't forget to help us out by providing a title and description for it so we know what we're watching. We're chomping at the bit to see what some of you might have to offer us in the way of original video content.

Back on board

It's vacation season, so ...

All right, I was going to use that as my excuse for not posting in like three weeks. This is a blog, for goodness' sake. You're supposed to put up something new every day!

That's not good for people who would've been naturals for "Short Attention Span Theater." Or those who need 25 hours and eight days. Or ...

OK, no more excuses.

I'll tell you that I have a lot to write about in the very near future, catching you up on some great music I've been witness to, plus I have a couple of artists' recordings to tell you about.

Summer's here, and the time is right for dancing in the street ... as long is it doesn't rain on you.

Speaking of which, I had an opportunity to see the Jaggerz the other night and caught this medley before the guy running the soundboard turned off the audio patched into my camera. Oh, well. This is pretty cool:

• "Dancing in the Street' > 'Some Kind of Wonderful" at Chartiers Township Community Day, Chartiers-Houston High School auditorium, June 29, 2008

Check out Jimmie Ross in his Wild Things jersey:



He and Benny Faiella are the two originals in the 42-year-old band, and they still know how to put on a show.

-- Harry from the paper

More on O-R Flix

I've been noticing a lot of you taking advantage of the O-R Flix system we've set up. I think this is a great system that allows you to not only share you photos (and videos too!), but also to rate and comment on each others' submissions. I've noticed one thing that our uses can do to help get submitted content online faster.

When you submit your content, it has to go through a quick check before it goes live. That's just in case someone decides to submit something...questionable. However, we also have to check each submission and make sure it has a title and description. I can come up with titles of some submissions myself, but sometimes I won't be able to. This is mostly when I have a picture of a person that I don't know.

If you want to see your content appear on our site in a timely matter, it may be helpful for your to add your own titles and descriptions. If you don't know how to do this, its fairly simple; while logged in to O-R Flix, click "My Gallery." You will see all of your submissions. Under each submission is a small link that says "edit." Click that and then fill out as much of the information as you can, although all we really need from you is title and description.

By doing this, you'll help us get your material up sooner. Thanks, and keep using O-R Flix! We'll be looking forward to your 4th of July submissions! Don't be afraid to try video uploads too.