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A collection of 19 posts

Covering the Beatles' 'Eight Days a Week' and Recreating the Ed Sullivan Show using Unreal Engine 5

Video video 1 min read

The past few months marked the last summer before my daughters were both away at college. We passed the time working on a project together.  It combines all our interests, from music to engineering to filmmaking. So what was it? Well, we set about recreating the set of the Ed Sullivan Show and performing a cover of Eight Days a Week by the Beatles. Why? You'll have to watch the video to find out.

We used Blender for modeling, Unreal Engine 5 for creating the environment and lighting, Cubase 12 for recording music and vocals, Artlist for crowd noise, a

A Short Ride with a OneWheel and Skydio 2 Drone

Video video 1 min read

A couple weeks ago I spent the afternoon OneWheeling with my nephew. We decided to let the drone accompany us.

Let me just say the Skydio 2 is brilliant. DJI drones certainly win for camera quality, but this Skydio drone tracked us better than any camera tracking system I've ever used, and it did so while navigating complex obstacles like trees and cars and houses and street lights. Once or twice, we almost lost it, but that was operator error. I thought I chose a setting I hadn't actually chosen, which caused some erratic drone behavior. Even then, it always

Unboxing Ohmie, A Lamp Made From Orange Peels

Video video 1 min read

Kickstarter is fascinating place. Some campaigns offer niche products you never knew you needed. Others offer rewards you won't find anywhere else. In some cases, you back a campaign simply to support ideas you believe in or ideas that represent progress towards a worthy goal. Ohmie: The Orange Lamp was such a campaign.

I backed it in July 2021. The idea was simple: an organic, fully compostable lamp 3D printed from inedible orange peel waste. It hit all the sustainability goals: repurposed waste applied to a near-wasteless manufacturing process to produce re-usable electronics and a compostable product in compostable packaging.

Testing the DJI Mic On a OneWheel

Video video 2 min read

A couple weeks ago, I picked up the brand new DJI Mic. I own a couple lav mics, but they can be complicated, and they require XLR inputs, and they're never charged when I need them, and they're all just a little more cumbersome than I want them to be, which means I rarely use them. That being said, they record great audio. So the question became: if the DJI Mic is better from an ease-of-use standpoint, how good is the audio quality?

Before I made the purchase, I watched this review and this comparison. both reviews are better (and

Remembering My History with the TV Sitcom Wings 25 Years After its Final Flight

Video video 8 min read

On May 21, 1997, the tv sitcom Wings aired its final episode.

As strange as it may sound, discovering that show proved to be the beginning of a lifelong adventure. Together with my interest in computers, the emergence of the internet, and a desire to create, Wings helped jumpstart my career.

I explain it all in the video above, but here's a recap.

In early 1994, I started watching Wings by accident. It aired in syndication immediately before my favorite show, Quantum Leap. I'd occasionally flip on the television early, putzing about my dorm room, and I'd catch bits of

My First Studio Test

video 1 min read

I recently rented a space to work, to make videos, to shoot green screen and mocap footage. It's a place where I can set up my filmmaking gear without needing to disassemble every night when I'm done. Plus it frees up some space in my home office.

I have plenty of ideas for how to use the space creatively and how to use it for my various businesses, but, on the most basic level, it's a space to learn and experiment.

The first true output: this sneak peek test video. I'm thrilled by the way it turned out. After a