Zoter

I watched Brian Germains 'Vertical Journey' the other night Whilst a 'little' dated ( the sitflyers were wearing chute assis ? suits- suits with big air pockets on the arms..) I found it quite instructional and very creative.....definately learned a few things.

I wrote this little story in response to a story in Photography/Video forum about Chromakeying (link to forum post below) http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=2323212;sb=post_latest_reply;so=ASC;forum_view=forum_view_collapsed;;page=unread#unread Its a little long , but if you have a few mins ...sit back with a cup o Coffee and enjoy.... ****************************************** OK...so it was Autumn 2004 (if I remember correctly) I was seeing a gal who lived a few hours away from where I lived ( in London)....so most weekends were spent up at her house , which she shared with a cute lil dog called 'Gin'. We were lucky to have one of the UK's best DZ's quite close.....so most of our weekend days were spent there. Well this particular day , the weather was crap, so we were at her home....looking out the window, at the persistant rain...hmm what to do,what to do...... well I enjoy video editing and had my camera with me and had been thinking for a while about trying to do some effects with 'Chromakeying'. For you non editors , thats where you use a computer and green (or blue) screen to replace certain parts of a movie frame with scenes from a different movie.......example.....you want to show a movie of a ..erm...horse ...skydiving, so you shoot some footage of the horse , with a green screen behind it,.....and get some footage of the sky during skydiving. Now you use your video editing program to 'key out' the 'green' areas on the horse footage and to replace those green areas with the sky footage.....so in the end it 'looks' like your horse is falling through the sky...?? .. Simple right..? No no no...far from it......you see your subject 'cant' have any similar colours to the green screen or they can be 'key'd out' as well.....which doesnt look good. I had some great ideas for this effect and as a budding editor , wanted to 'realise' my editing dreams ! In particular , I wanted to use this chromakey effect to shoot a scene of 'Gin' skydiving.....I had the sky footage...I just need some footage of 'Gin' against a background I could use the Chromakey effect on.. We raided the house for green sheets.....err nope So it was off to the local cheapo market for some sheets. OK now it gets interesting....:) So my vision was to shoot film of Gin in a skydiving pose.....but as you know, asking Dogs to sit is one thing, asking them to assume the Mantis position ....is quite another !....so I figured if Kate ( my partner at the time) dressed up in 'Blue' against our sheet clad 'Blue Chromakey' background.....she could hold Gin in the right position and just be part of the background which I could chromakey out... So we emptied this shop of bright blue sheets and pillowcases to use in our masterpiece. We got home and used the blue sheets to good effect...setting up our 'set' and background........I was already getting a little worried when I realised the lighting we had was far from sufficient and there were shadows everywhere all over the sheets !! but crack on I thought....get the footage.... Next its was Kates turn.......in a nutshell she was covered with a blue sheet with two small eye hole cut out..(think very bad Halloween Ghost costume here) and for her arms and hands I tied blue pillow cases around them .......needless to say, this looked hilarious...but Kate to her credit was as committed to doing it as much as I was ......even though I kept breaking out periodically in a fit of giggles and controlled laughter behind the camera. Gin ....who has always been a very sensitive creature that really doesn't like surprises....was by this time just a tad concerned...nay petrified....by this scene....picture it.....he is in his front room that has this strange blue sheet draped over one side of it.....and is being coaxed to step onto the sheet by a voice he recognises dressed head to toe in a blue sheet.... I swear I could 'hear' the confusion in that dogs brain ....and definately could smell the fear ! Anyway......we eventually managed to coax him into cooperation....with some biscuits and Kate proceeded to lift him up into the 'required' skydiving positions for the shoot.... The next 30 mins was a scene you rarely could contemplate in small Lincolnshire town....and in fact should anyone have walked through the door at any time , I'm positive there would have been a silent pause by all parties for at least a minute, whilst they contemplated what the hell is going on and we were contemplating what they were thinking !......In fact I'm sure the only movemnet would have been Gin....keen to escape the blue 'sheet of death' After a particularly long laughing fit ... assisted with tears at the site of Kate in her blue sheets lifting Gin up....we decided to abandon the shoot and just take away what we already had ( Gin was super happy at this though by the way) Well I got home later that wekend ....and loaded up the footage ...keen to see what I could do....As it turns out the total lack of forethought for lighting ( and the black shadowing it caused) , combined with a very poor consistency of blue in the 'blue screen', meant that my attempts to chromakey the footage was a complete and utter failure..... But I've never cried so much with laughter whilst trying to edit something..... When I root out the footage I'll post a couple o screenshots for you all to enjoy !

You can find that story...here http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=2324194;sb=post_latest_reply;so=ASC;forum_view=forum_view_collapsed;;page=unread#unread Its long but its a comedy read..!

Just thought I'd share some videos I created for mine, and a friends , FJC earlier this year. They are daytime jumps but were done sensitively on daytime 'tolerated' sites.... If any locals find them a bit too public.....please pm me and I'll remove them. Enjoy... 'S' Jumps http://www.skydivingmovies.com/ver2/pafiledb.php?action=guestpass&id=f35q0 'E' jumps http://www.skydivingmovies.com/ver2/pafiledb.php?action=guestpass&id=asgz7 Some Comedy moments... http://www.skydivingmovies.com/ver2/pafiledb.php?action=guestpass&id=qt3ym ..

Have tried Chromakey using sheets......poor results. You need a uniform colour which means no creases (causes shadowing) and optimal lighting to acheive a 'uniform colour' I've played around with different sheets and materials....but it still looks cheap and nasty when edited...... I'd like one of the pro fold out screens that pop into an 'instant background' .....but y'know...£££ Mind you the story of how I first experimented with sheets for Chromakey effects is too funny.....when I get some time I'll post it in the Bonfire.....:)

Two hands is my 'alternate' plan in the case of a hard cutaway....ie bring left hand over to cutaway pillow whilst looking at reserve handle. Logic behind a hand on each is in case the harness shifts with the cutaway so the reserve handle position changes. I have observed a change in the position of the reserve handle on at least a few of cutaways ( mainly malfunctioning mains.....not PC in tows )that I have seen on video....not massive movements but movement all the same... I have not had a 'live'reserve pull yet....but I maintain my gear and practise my EP's regularly in a hanging harness. I'm comfortable with my EP procedure, which I think works the best for me.

Do you practise that in a harness......its quite hard to arch AND look at your handles..... Look , Locate (1 hand on each) ,Peel/Punch red (to Full arm extension),Peel/punch silver , Arch......

Depends on your need and likley editing use. If you have a PC ....get XP and you have Windows Movie Maker installed on that already. If you download service pack 2 , the latest version is included. Its TOTALLY fine for everything but advanced editing.....and you will know its time to 'upgrade' when your editing skills /needs dictate......but to start off with its free and cant be beaten. As you progress there are many editing suites that will satisfy your needs ( Pinnacle, Canopus, Sony Vegas, Premiere Pro etc) but dont be in a rush...windows Movie Maker can teach you alot about editing and is pretty intuitive to use.....(as well as FREE) I have very limited experience with Macs so I'm sure someone will chime in their. Likewise for Linear Editing systems.

Good stuff...... Hair in frame is just funny...:) Were you guys the only people on the load....if not WTF was all that time waiting in the door..? were the uppers 70knots or what...;)

I wasnt even joking...I remember watching Costyn at yours J...doing some of this and thinking he was coming uP/programming with some new formula for glo white toothpaste.... Is it easy for us... erm 'write your own program in xxxcode' idiots....or is it easily picked up via paralog ( which I am getting ) Uncle Charlie......just the mere mention of 'Photoshop' and 'Frames' is making my left eye and right ear twitch uncontrollably at the mo....far too much time on Premiere Pro over the last week....I even started to stroke my PC last night to make it render a bit faster.....that was a clear warning to STOP ..lol

Could you elaborate....

Thats nice Costyn.......how many IT degree's does it take to be able to lay the flight data over the video? Is it pretty easy??

I use a paragliding helmet "Charley Insider" Its a full face helmet with ALOT more absorbative padding than any skydiving helmet and excellent peripheral vision.

Are you sure that pud isnt part of a 'pull out' system.....it kinda looks like one...dont it?

http://www.wrigleyvideo.com/videotutorial/media/basictitles1tut.zip

1)Silly suggestion...maybe , but is the camcorder compatible with your project settings ? ie is it a PAL ( since you are UK) camcorder and are the project settings of your editing suite set up as PAL? I have seen what you are describing when trying to export an NTSC project to a PAL camcorder.... 2) I recently had very bad problems exporting to and from camcorders....couldnt figure it out....I replaced my HD and everything was fixed just like that.....consider the state of your hardware...does it still work fine with that project on your old camcorder as well...? I would suggest trying to export your project back to some'elses' camcorder first and then work the fault back to the PC/software...

If you dont already Freefly , 10 jumps is a bit ambitious to get signed off for FF1 ! I dont know many who have achieved this You wont do yourself any favours if you attend with the intention of getting your FF1 in 10 jumps......in fact it will work very much against you. Go get some coached jumps of some of the best freeflyers in the world and take it from there.....whatever level you bring back from that you can continue in the UK.......just about every DZ in the UK has 'someone' who can take over your training towards and sign you off for your FF1. Make sure the skills are your priority , and not just the sticker.....thats all I am saying Good luck , have fun !

This is straight off Form F188, from the BPA website GUIDELINES FOR OBTAINING FREESTYLE/ FREEFLYING GRADE 1 (FF1) 1. Introduction Freestyle/ Freeflying Grade 1 (FF1) is designed to teach parachutists all the necessary skills for flying in a controlled “head up” body orientation, alone and with other parachutists. 2. Eligibility Parachutists must have completed at least a-e of the Formation Skydiving (FS) requirements. Whilst Formation Skydiving Grade 1 (FS1) is not a requirement it is certainly desirable. Appropriate and safe parachuting equipment should be used during all FF descents. 3. FF1 Requirements In order to obtain Grade 1 in Freestyle/ Freeflying (FF1) the parachutist must be introduced to FF by a CCI nominated FF2 Grade parachutist or equivalent of proven FF instructional ability, received a full safety brief and demonstrated the ability to:- a) Fly in a controlled sit/ stand position b) Control fall rate in a sit/ stand position b) Control forward and backward movement in a sit/ stand position c) Control turns in both directions in a sit/ stand position d) Fly relative to others in a sit/ stand position You can read the rest of this document here: http://www.bpa.org.uk/forms/docs/Form%20188%20-%20Guidelines%20for%20FF1%20&%202.rtf

It opened with a 'splash' I believe....

Is that 'mainly' or 'man -ley' Hanwag support crew in the house.....these boots are comfy for everything....climbing,hiking and jumping (OK BASE anyways)....really really comfy,durable boots

Correct me if I am wrong.....but you can play both NTSC and PAL on your PC without problem... Its just playback on a TV. (well my NTSC's playback fine on my PC anyways)

I have knocked together a small edit of some jumps my group made and stuff I saw going on, during the HeliBoogie.....nothing technical...just regular jumps. You never know ...you might be in it http://www.skydivingmovies.com/ver2/pafiledb.php?action=file&id=4165 I look forward to seeing all the other Boogie vids that no doubt are 'hot' in production

Just let me know if I hit that nerve again....you really should get it covered up

s'ok.....I'll correct your errors as usual

Agreed .....the a pullout system may 'look' the same as a freefly pud....but the way they work is very very different...... Dont mix up a pullout system with a regular 'throw away' system because the handles look the same..!! Its also worth noting that the freefly puds themselves come in varying designs which you may want to research. Many would advocate that the pud shown in the pictures (wings) is not the ideal design as there is a length of line which attaches the 'pud' to the pilot chute........this does 'offer' the potential opportunity for the bridal to wrap around this attachment and around the PC pinching it off. Another freefly pud design...eg Mirage....has the pud sewn directly to the PC...so this risk is eliminated.... I personally have a wings and have had zero problems with the pud attachment.....so far Look at the designs....do the reserach ...get what is going to work best for you.