The Wolfs Dance Christmas 2011 *NEW VIDEO* [from The Wolfs Dance Disney folks]

[tallen429]

Hands down one of the most incredibly beautiful things I have ever had the pleasure to see!

[brea]

So first of all AWESOME videos. I just came across this today and watched both. Very cool to see that your kids are the ones featured alot in the disney advertisements.

One thing I loved about this was that I showed it to my mom to see what her thoughts were and she picked out the parts that tied to our vacation when I was kid. It seems like your video's allow people to live their memories through your families adventure in a great way! Keep up the good work. One question I have is how old was Zoe in the first video? The wife was wondering for our DD.

I totally saw myself as a kid waiting anxiously for that water to hit me in the face and I had the same reaction!

[Pixiedust530]

I stumbled upon all of your videos about 3 days ago. Since then I have:

• Shown your videos to everyone going on our fall trip (6 people)
• Narrowed down our list of song choices
• Experimented with the video capabilities of my Panasonic Lumix FZ50 camera & my Sony Bloggie video camera
• Played around in iMovie 09 and made a "test" video to estimate the learning curve (See video HERE) (Note: Some of the video is low quality because it came from a cell phone camera...it was just video clips I already had)
• Upgraded to iMovie 11
• Priced Final Cut Pro and Motion (I can't afford)
• Researched Adobe Premiere and after Effects (can't afford those either)
• and have tried to figure out if I have even the SLIGHTEST clue what I'm doing and what I am getting myself into.

My video capture questions:

• Do you just capture as much video as possble so you have stuff to choose from?
• How much time do you spend each day in the parks on shooting specific footage for the video?
• How much of the video is rehearsed vs. your family having fun & enjoying vacation?

My video editing questions:

• I feel like iMovie 11 doesn't have as much of the "special effects" capability as I would like but Final Cut Pro is out of my price range. Is there a happy medium?
• How are the time lapse shots done? (Like in your Oasis video of you sitting by the pool)
• You mentioned Motion was a steep learning curve. How did you overcome that? Books, websites, trial and error? Any book or website recommendations? (I might be able to justify purchasing Motion and just live with iMovie 11)
• Last but not least....Your opening sequence in your 2011 video (with the 6 video frames) was done in Motion, correct?

Sorry for so many questions, but I REALLY REALLY REALLY want to make a video on our trip. This will be my 4.5 year old son's FIRST trip to Disney and what better way to capture it than with a COOL video!

Your family is spectacular and it looks like you all really have fun together! Thank you for sharing and for answering questions here for all of us amateurs!

[CVW]

Originally Posted by brea

One thing I loved about this was that I showed it to my mom to see what her thoughts were and she picked out the parts that tied to our vacation when I was kid. It seems like your video's allow people to live their memories through your families adventure in a great way! Keep up the good work. One question I have is how old was Zoe in the first video? The wife was wondering for our DD.

I totally saw myself as a kid waiting anxiously for that water to hit me in the face and I had the same reaction!

Thanks! Those are really fun words to hear. Doing the video definitely motivated all six of us to try to have fun in new places around WDW. The squirting fountain is a great example. We usually just pass by it on our way to the next attraction. This time it was, "Hey, Dad! Film me getting wet!" Our four kids were 13, 10, 7, and 5 in the first video in 2009. They are 15, 12, 9, and 7 now.

[CVW]

Originally Posted by Pixiedust530

My video capture questions:

• Do you just capture as much video as possble so you have stuff to choose from?
• How much time do you spend each day in the parks on shooting specific footage for the video?
• How much of the video is rehearsed vs. your family having fun & enjoying vacation?

I capture as much as I can...probably around 2.5 hours of footage for this project in total. You know you're doing well when you force yourself to leave great stuff out of the video. I HATE being 90% done with the video, because I start to realize what's going to be left out. Just remember, NO ONE wants to see your video as much as you do.

I brought two cameras to the park each day. One was a camcorder which I could pop out at any moment. The T2i I would often put in a locker and bring it out for no more than an hour or so a day.

As for the rehearsal, little is truly "rehearsed" except practicing the lyrics in the car a couple of weeks before we leave; and also timing the lyrics with my moving camera in the opening. So while it's not "rehearsed", it's most certainly "planned". For instance in the opening of the song, I'd tell my wife to "stand still while I video the castle; I'll swing the camera around, then you make stupid faces for ten seconds." The whole scene was done in thirty seconds, and we were off to the next attraction. She had no idea what I was doing, and didn't care till it was done. I had it mentally mapped out weeks before, so it didn't slow us down.

Map out ("storyboard") everything ahead of time, keep your camera batteries fully charged, and you won't slow down anyone's vacation.

Originally Posted by Pixiedust530

My video editing questions:

• I feel like iMovie 11 doesn't have as much of the "special effects" capability as I would like but Final Cut Pro is out of my price range. Is there a happy medium?
• How are the time lapse shots done? (Like in your Oasis video of you sitting by the pool)
• You mentioned Motion was a steep learning curve. How did you overcome that? Books, websites, trial and error? Any book or website recommendations? (I might be able to justify purchasing Motion and just live with iMovie 11)
• Last but not least....Your opening sequence in your 2011 video (with the 6 video frames) was done in Motion, correct?

Have you priced Final Cut Pro X? I think it's $299 and does way more than you can possibly learn in less than a couple of years. It's very powerful, and a third the price of the previous version. True professionals hate it for reasons you don't care about. But if you know iMovie, I'd say it's a very, very good option for you. I don't know of anything that's "better than iMovie" anywhere near that price point.

You'll really hamstring yourself using Motion without FCP X. I'm not sure if it's even possible, but maybe it is. I doubt that you'd really want to, though, until you learned Final Cut first.

I tell people iMovie was like learning to ride a bike; Final Cut like learning to fly a plane; and Motion like learning to fly a helicopter. But with Final Cut Pro X, I don't think the learning curve is as steep as it used to be.

I did a lot of training with Apple One to One at the Apple Store, as well as the official Apple Training Series. (lynda.com is the most popular place to get it.) Also vimeo.com Video School is amazing and free.

Yes, the opening sequence was created in Apple Motion.

As for time lapse, you'll need a DSLR and an intervalometer. I learned time lapse by memorizing this tutorial:http://digitalartwork.net/2007/01/30...apse-tutorial/

Keep me posted. Good luck!

[DISFaninMI]

Just wanted to thank you for sharing your video. My 3-year old loves to watch them on my laptop and identify the spots we visited in the world.

Did you have any copyright warning issues when uploading to YouTube?

[CVW]

Originally Posted by DISFaninMI

Did you have any copyright warning issues when uploading to YouTube?

Yes. But usually only Warner Music Group (WMG) will block the video. Just do a test of the music before you choose it. Even if you do choose a WMG song, you can get it on by claiming "fair use", i.e. not using it for profit.

[strollerchick]

I didn't see the new video until today, and WOW, you've outdone yourself! I used your first Disney vid as a primer to get my toddlers psyched for their first Disney trip, and they ROCKED out to your new one today as well!
Thanks for sharing!

[Chicago Mo]

there is new thread on the board they posted your video! you are SO talented! To see the fun you are having and just all around family joy!!!
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2786047

[CVW]

Originally Posted by Chicago Mo

there is new thread on the board they posted your video! you are SO talented! To see the fun you are having and just all around family joy!!!
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2786047

Hey, thanks for pointing me to this! I noticed some extra activity, but I couldn't figure out where it was coming from.

[Goofy_Mom]

Hi, ya'll are awesome!! What great imagination!!

I wanted to chime in for the PC users. I use Power Director from Cyberlink. The version I have (8) is under $100. The newer versions have blueray capabilities. I bought this because my video camera is AVCHID (a Canon Vixia) and Widows Movie Maker doesn't support this format. For those with limited editing skills, you can pick what clips/pictuers you want in your movie, click on slideshow, add the music, and the software will do the rest. You can add credits, cartoonish effects, effects on the clip (like grainy or B&W), and trasition effects between clips. You can upload to facebook or youtube, burn to DVD with a menu and scene selections. In addition to what it comes with, you can download more frames, effects, and menus for FREE from cyberlink that others have made and shared.


This is an example. This is a slideshow of our Disneyland trip in 2010. I'm still working on getting better (still a novice). I'm not sure if it will work cause it's on facebook. I tried to upload to youtube, but I have since moved the files around that made up this slideshow.
http://www.facebook.com/#!/video/vid...66609760049998

[Chicago Mo]

Originally Posted by CVW

Hey, thanks for pointing me to this! I noticed some extra activity, but I couldn't figure out where it was coming from.

your welcome! too talented to not post EVERYWHERE!

[jcamacam]

Originally Posted by CVW

Well, two years later, and we finally "did it again". We just finished our newest "Wolfs Dance Disney" video, this time with some real DisBoard help! Hope you enjoy it. You can find it here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZXqGRdbQkNI

Nearly all of the motivation for our family's hobby/obsession has come from encouragement from the Strategies board. In that regard, I hope we can use this thread to help you strategize your own Disney videos. Please feel free to post any camcorder/video/editing questions you have here. There are several of us who would be happy to help you out. If the question list grows, I'll iron out an FAQ and repost it toward the top later on.

I know you've heard this a million times before but just wanted to tell you that I SOOOOO enjoy your videos! You have such a beautiful family and an obvious talent. Thank you for sharing with the DISboards! Maybe my family will see you dancing in Disney someday and join in the celebration! haha

[MK2010]

Hi! Your first video was such an inspiration to me! I probably showed that video to my kids once a day on average before our last trip. I had to work a TON of overtime and your video helped get me "out the door" on the days I didn't wanna!

I subscribed to your you tube channel (hope that isn't creepy). Just cause I love to see the fun your family has on vacation.

Finally, I can't believe how big those kids have gotten. I especially noticed it with the girls. Wow.

[theduck619]

I did not realize you had started this thread. Sorry to ask my questions on the other one.

As I mentioned before, great videos. We have watched them all and it has inspired us to be more creative rather then just taping something we will never watch.

We have iMovie09 so hopefully I can cut my teeth on that and see where it takes us. Thanks for all the tips