Was requested to help out as videographer again for this yr concert … … and it’s the start of my nightmare.
On concert day, discovered my Sony video cam might not record usable video bcos of dirty head. Even though we cleaned it, it seemed unstable. Last min called up Lil’ Fish and rushed down to her hse to borrow her Panasonic video cam.
Still wanna test out my cam, I placed it on a tripod & just let it run during the concert. Man was at the back with the tcher’s Sony video cam and I was at the front row with Lil’ Fish’s cam … … so total, 3 cam for a concert and thus 3 formats: MPEG (Sony digital), AVI (Sony tape) & MOD (Panasonic digital).
Horror set in when my Mac cldn’t read MOD & MPG files even after several consultations with 2 IT gurus (Shawn & Man). Man actually cld open the files in his PC, and he helped me to convert those files … alas, still cldn’t work properly in my Mac.
Then came the next problem … … Man recorded the whole concert w/o stopping the cam. Even though the cam automatically saved to 5 clips, but each clips was abt 2G and when ran on Windows Movie Maker, it hang. :’(
Testing my luck on my old Windows notebook, was elated when it cld open all the files & loaded the 2G file w/o hanging the s/w. But my problems didn’t seem to hv ended.
Started to edit the 1st song this morning. As I need to combine diff shots fr the 3 cam, the main audio has to be extracted out … … dunno why, used 2 diff s/w to extract to mp3 but the audio tempo was slower than actual audio in the video. Still thinking of ways to overcome the problem … … *sigh* … … testing it on my Mac later, hopefully it cld solve my problem.
***** Records for Future Reference *****
Cam1: Sony digital cam – .MPEG
Cam2: Panasonic digital cam – .MOD
Cam3: Sony analog cam – .AVI
MacBook Pro: OS X (Ver10.6.4); Win XP (Ver2002)
QuickTime (Ver10.0): Only AVI
Win Media Player: All OK
iMovie 09 (Ver8.0.6): Only AVI (MOV also OK)
Win Movie Maker (Ver5.1): Only AVI (Hang when file size abt 2G)
GarageBand: Extracted audio fr video w/o change in tempo
NEC Versa S3300: Win Vista
Media Player & Real Player: All OK
Movie Maker (Ver6.0): All OK (No problem with 2G file size)
Real Player Converter & Switch: Extracted audio fr video but change in tempo
Hd been busy for the past 1wk and finally cld find time to go to SGP Gdn Festival 2010 on its last day, ie today.
After parking our car at Suntec, we were greeted with nice wall paper at the lift lobby promoting the event. As we stepped out of the lift at L6, the corridors were decorated with lots of plants. Near the entrance, we were unwilling to fork out $1 to pay for the ‘map’ & 2 small btles of fertilizers … …
L6 was basically a display of landscape designs. Some looked artistic, some nature-like but some looked lousy (like not putting much effort in designing). The girls were happily snapping pictures away and guessing which c’tries were the installation from. When we left L6, we were stamped on our arms, it said “Well Done” … … wondered what had we done.
L4 were full of orchids and I love orchids. There were also stalls selling plants (mostly orchids), planting tools, paintings, etc. One gd thing abt going on the last day was things were sold cheaper or at better offer. Other than buying an orchid shawl for MIL’s BD, we didn’t buy any plants bcos i only got black fingers, not green.
At one corner, there were several pots of vy well trimmed & controlled bonsai plants … the owners must hv spent lots of time and effort in maintaining these plants. I liked one (水梅) tt looked like a golden tree under the warm light.
Didn’t expect to spend 3+hrs there, we were famished after the tour, not to mention aching legs. Luckily it was not crowded at L1 Food Republic where we chomped down Hokkien Hae Mee, prata, you tiao, bao and teh tarik. :d
Even though I was against it, GG insisted on wearing her Chinese costume for today’s Racial Harmony Day.
That costume was worn when she’s in K1, so can u imagine how she look with a pair of red trousers at knee-length instead of ankle-length???!!! But frankly speaking, with her 2 plaits, she looked damn cute … … an elderly neighbour even wanted to give her a kiss when we met in the lift, but she held GG’s hand and sayang her instead.
Just when I finished sewing a badge on her Brownie uniform, she came back with another one. Hmmmm, interesting … … this one reads: “I am a smart cookie”. So fr yummy brownie to cookie, and a SMART one somemore.
As I sew the new one on, I wondered for those vy active Brownies with many badges, isn’t it heavy to wear their uniform???
The Snr ‘retired’ recently and ALY has promoted to be IC of games, how nice.
*****
I looked back the time when she 1st joined Brownie, I was amused tt my prophecy came true … kekekekekeke.
This yr RoboCup was held in SGP, and was glad to catch it today which was the last day of the competition. We were a bit late but luckily we still managed to catch a few matches here and there.
We 1st went to Level4 at Suntec and saw a crowd gathered at a mini soccer field. 3 robots were having a soccer match: 2 goalies and 1 striker. Their movements were very slow, but still it was interesting to see those robots reacted to situations. Then we skipped to visit some booths where they sold courses, robotic toys, and high tech motors/mechanical machines.
We joined another big crowd forming at a corner. Each team sent in 3 robots to the soccer field, which were smaller & better looking than the 1st one tt we saw, they were also more agile and able to do more intricate tasks. The teams and crowd here were more lively too as they cheered & clapped loudly for those robots. What an interesting sight!
Next we went to Level6, several teams were having matches and some cheered very loudly for their teams. On the table, 4 micro-mouse kinda robots were having a match. Their movements were fast and furious … I was worried tt the mouse might fall apart, of course tt didn’t happen . This brought me back to my micro-mouse project during Uni.
Leaving the micro-mouse, we went to see another soccer match by robots tt looked like big vacuum cleaners. Even though they didn’t look high tech like those we saw at Level4, I was impressed by how fast and good they were at reacting to situations.
This event was an eye opener for us, and it’s nice to be able to get so close to watch those robots in action. Glad tt we made an effort to go down.
Who is Walter? Well, Walter is a vy cute 4m x 6m inflatable rabbit created by artist Dawn Ng.
Saw Walter at 8Q SAM today when I brought the girls there for “Children’s Season: Art Garden”. Actually I read abt Walter & Dawn Ng some time ago in the newspaper, and was delighted to meet this big and cute rabbit. However, it seemed slightly deflated on the rooftop and i cldn’t get a good view or pic.
Our favourite art installations at 8Q:
Floribots by Geoffrey Drake·Brockman: Interestingly that vy common and simple origami was transformed into a mechanical flower … … rows and rows of mechanical flowers moving up & down, open & close. When GG read that some flowers were purposely made to hv moods & respond to visitors’ movement, she ran round and round the installation & ‘interacted’ with some flowers deemed ‘naughty’, ‘excited’, etc.
Enchanted Forest by Sandra Lee: I like this, especially after I read abt her characters and ideas while waiting for the girls to complete their butterflies colouring. A nice rainforest with memories, dreams & hope.
Daisies by Theodore Watson: GG laid on the floor, and soon daisies bloomed on her body and everywhere! Though the daisies were only projected images, but it’s funny yet interesting to see them grow on GG … … kinda tickling the senses.
Funky Forest by Theodore Watson: We loved this! We spent the longest time there as GG & ALY were busily growing their trees. I was mesmerized by the Forest and how I wish I cld install this at home.
After 8Q and lunch, we dropped by SAM. Was glad that the girls found interest in some works … … but they also giggled and wondered why there were paintings of naked women.
Was washing & scrubbing the girls’ sch shoes just now … … noticed how dirty GG’s shoes were compared to ALY’s, and her shoes base are so worn off tt there are holes. That’s how active she is … …
Every yr MIL & relatives will gather and make bak chang. For so many yrs, I nvr help out, I only eat . This yr, I brought the kids over as they are old enough not to ’cause trouble’ to my already vy busy IL.
But … … we still create some trouble . 3 of us, nvr trained in wrapping bak chang, decided to get our hands dirty. With 3rd aunt as the master chef & trainer, we learnt how to make our own bak chang and ALY happily made her vegetarian bak chang. After several attempts, we still cld not do it properly w/o assistance. ALY and GG made 2 each, and they gonna save 1 of their dumplings for daddy.
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