I worked with Archstone Productions {LINK REMOVED} to create this series of videos showcasing their talented musician, Bree Harlow. This was added to the Other Video Area, The section.
I found the perfect song and re-did my Halloween Party 2007 (re-mastered) video from a few years back. The video was added to the Clips and Edits section.
Per usual, below is a list of some changes I've made to the site:
1. I no longer have each section of the site running in a separate WordPress Blog. Thanks to Custom Post Types {LINK REMOVED}, I was finally able to merge it all into one database, rather than having to re-create each item - post by post - thanks to the igneous plugin called “Post Type Convertr.” During the migration process, I managed to clean up a lot of the coding and unneeded pages laying around, too.
2. With all the blogs (sections of the site) in one place, I had to fix some broken links and create some new official re-directs for the main sections aside from the Blog, namely Video, Photo, Art & Design, and the Archive {LINK REMOVED}.
For example, brasscoestudios.com/pictures was converted to pictures.brasscoestudios.com.
And with that, all #118 blog posts were tweaked to have the URL's reach their intended target, or removed if invalid. Deleted areas were the planned Music section, along with all the Tape Logs (for now).
3. It took me a while to have both the Facebook LIKE button, and the Google+ button correctly display when viewing my site over various browsers and mobile devices. Removing some of the javascipt used for displaying certain fonts was the key. Also, those buttons can now be found in all areas of the site, rather than just in the blog posts.
4. With the above mentioned JavaScript change, I found out that using Google Fonts {LINK REMOVED} worked way better anyways!
5. Even though I already created a Facebook Fan Page for Brasscoe Studios a while ago, I was able to add a LIKE button for the website to the header. In addition, I added a tweaked Fan-Box widget to the sidebar, which displays image of those who have already Liked it.
6. I added breadcrumb trails to all of the sub areas. It was modified from the Prime Strategy Bread Crumb plugin.
7. Within the Photo section, I created a new area called Photo Projects and moved the (Favorite Digital Images) gallery into it. Also created are the galleries "Black & White" and "The Jumping Project".
8. Lastly, I created a website icon!
SIDE NOTE: I’ve finally begun to work on my video camera and its attachments (2012 misc - video & electronics), in preparation for a short film I’m directing. It will be shot on DVCproHD, then mathematically remastered from 2x 1080p to 4K, and will be shot in true anamorphic! Below is an image of me trying to focus the lens in Cinemascope.
I found Erick's old band site for "The Vipers" and added to the Website Creation section. I hope to eventually upload some of their songs (if cleared) to the archive, too.
In the past few months, I’ve made tons of changes to this site. Below is a short list of them:
1. For the Blog areas, I noticed that Internet Explorer fails to display my post titles correctly. This is because I use a little JavaScript program that converts the title of the post into an image, which is an easy method of being able to use any font you want, whether the viewer had it installed on their own system or not. In order to remedy this issue, I added code to display a message for those using IE to browse the site with another browser - such as Chrome or Firefox.
2. I have slowly started fixing all of my ftp uploads that connect my Flickr videos with the actual High-Definition video used to upload to Flickr. It'll probably take me the year to get all 500+ videos added.
3. Speaking of Flickr videos, in order to be allowed to have my actual videos sitting in a download folder within my ftp area, I had to create a {LINKS REMOVED} linking back to this site. It automatically displays all of the videos so far added online. The link can also be found within the Pictures menu.
4. On the Photo page, I fixed an issue where Firefox would display the next year’s set of image on the same line, rather than correctly starting on the next.
5. Up until last week, the gallery listing all digital images from 2000-2008 were manually created in a series of cell tables. I modified my method of displaying posts, in order to have it display the link only. Once that was achieved, I had to then re-add all those past image sets as new posts (by date), and watched as they populated the correct year area. The beauty of this method is when I decide to move 2009 in to that area, it will do it with a simple line of code, rather than adding all 92 by hand.
6. I had to publicly remove some of my videos from the Video section, simply because they're next in line to be re-mastered. I hope to get those back up shortly.
7. The Timeline of Projects, which lists all the clips & videos created so far, had all of it's links verified and corrected. The now-private videos are noted as such.
8. In the Video section, I tweaked the look of it - changing where the title appears and displaying the views up front.
9. Also, the main movie image was changed to a silhouette of me and some of my camera equipment. It replaced the temporary image of my old camera, which was in place since 2008. I still plan to photograph an actual image that visually looks better, but it’ll do for now.
10. For my Tape Logs {LINK REMOVED} section, I began scanning (OCR) all of my offline paperwork, in order to have complete and searchable listing.
11. Although I already mentioned that Captain EO was added to my Art & Design, I finally uploaded the actual DVD file used when adding the video to MySpace {LINK REMOVED} years ago.
12. I removed the “posted dates” from all other website areas, except for the blog.
13. Lastly, I removed the FFlick link from the header, as that site was purchased by Google, and no longer displays my movie related posts.
A quick update displaying my steering-wheel-controller install and diagram was added to the I Made That section.
I recorded Erick practicing some tunes: Erick Guitar Fullerton. The videos were added to the Clips and Edits section.
In the past year, I made tons of changes to this site. Here is a list of some of them:
1. I added some missing blog posts dated as-of when they were supposed to be posted. This goes all the way back to the site's 2008-ish reboot. There were some dated through 2007, but those were lost due to my failure to back them up correctly. In any case, I recommend re-browsing through all of it. You might find something you missed!
2. One the blog side, I finally removed the temporary main image, for one more suited to the site. Eventually, the main site image will feature both of the Brasscoe Co-Presidents. The Index site's polaroid image was also updated.
3. The blog's main menu was expanded to include some upcoming-posts-sections, while removing the image of the month and featured galleries areas. Those were combined into a Photo Projects page, which now showcases all the image I liked amongst the hundreds I take each month. That can be found within the Photo area.
4. Speaking of new website areas, I also added two new sections to the movie page. The tape logs were moved out of the archive section and now displays VHS and MiniDV [links removed] items separately. Also, I created the Brasscoe: Timeline of Projects, which chronologically lists some of the movies we have worked on.
5. In the movies section, I uploaded the video files used for each movie, making the clips available for download. A few of the old videos are accompanied with their original renders. I hope to re-master them soon. Side Note: I posted actual blog updates only for the movies I re-mastered. Older items will be posted when they get re-done.
6. The Art & Design section was revamped to include items I created, and how-to listings, along with my usual artwork.
7. Among the plugins I use for the site, I added Postviews by Lester Chan {LINK REMOVED} to help me see a visual count of how many visitors were seeing the various sections of the site. I also added Page Numbers by Jens Tornell {LINK REMOVED} which allowed me to modify how my various page counts are displayed, rather than the next and previous default. Lastly, I added the Search Highlight by Ryan Boren {LINK REMOVED} plugin in order to help identify the terms used when searching through the blog posts.
8. Since the Archive section was meant to hold the site's misc items (moved to Art & Design section), I created Other Video Area, The within it to showcase clips and shorts created in conjunction with Brasscoe, and some others I just wanted to show off.
9. On the HTML and CSS side, I moved most of the site's clip art and .PHP files into one folder, helping page load times by using the same items throughout (The site is actually made up of 9 individual blogs, all tweaked in different ways). Also, I learned how to use JavaScript in order to display any font on the website I wanted (whether the end-user had it installed on their computer or not).
As of right now, my small list of items to finish includes these two huge tasks:
1. As I finish my catch-up with old Flickr photos, I realize the total count pending is over 90GB's worth. That's over 14,000 images, and maybe 100 videos. Not too sure if I will ever be done.
2. I began a Scans - Photos & Items project and hope to have all 1000+ photographs up by the end of the year. This includes pictures from my childhood, and when I worked at Disneyland during its construction phase in 1999.
Now, if I can only figure out solutions to my two current problems...
1. Why won't WordPress {LINK REMOVED} let me upgrade the blog from 3.0 to 3.1 without problems.
2. Finding a stable hack for my Panasonic GF1 {LINK REMOVED}. So far, I successfully completed a modification to the firmware with PTools changing the video recording size from 720p to 1080p, but want it to maintain the HD MJPEG quality at a 50-80 MBps data rate without issue, which is a big step up from the default 15 MBps setting. Probably need to get a Class 10 SDHC card.
As I finish up my complete website overhaul, I finally updated the landing page with a new polaroid image. It was added to the collection of older images within the Image Manipulation section.
Added to existing post: Site Polaroids
Added to the Digital Artwork section is this image I drew on my laptop during a road trip home.
Below are some of my favorite digital images added to the gallery: Photo Projects within the Favorite Images 2010 section.
While scanning some of my old photographs, I found a few images of the "Johnny 5" robot character - from the movie Short Circuit (1986) - that I made out of Lego and added it to the I Made That section.
Below is one of my favorite digital images added to the gallery: Photo Projects within the Favorite Images 2010 section.
For one of my Halloween costumes this year, I needed to make a Press Pass for it. The below image was added to the misc graphics post within the Image Manipulation section.
Added to existing post: Misc Graphics
Below are some of my favorite digital images added to the gallery: Photo Projects within the Favorite Images 2010 section.
Below is one of my favorite digital images added to the gallery: Photo Projects within the Favorite Images 2010 section.
Years ago, I made a Lowrider truck out of wood - complete with a speaker box in the bed. Pump that bass! A few of the images were added to the I Made That section.
I took some photographs of my little dinosaur created in junior high and added it to the I Made That section.
I added a post to the I Made That section of my nickname (while in high school) made out of wood.
I love messing around with digital images, and so I created old photographs out of some of them. A few examples of this were added to the Image Manipulation section.
Below are some of my favorite digital images added to the gallery: Photo Projects within the Favorite Images 2010 section.
Here is another drawing I did to accompany my station notices. It was added to the Digital Artwork section.
Below are some of my favorite digital images added to the gallery: Photo Projects within the Favorite Images 2010 section.
Below are some of my favorite digital images added to the gallery: Photo Projects within the Favorite Images 2010 section.
Edit Note: A few image were added to this update after the post date.
During our Big Bear Weekend, we snowboarded, had a snowball fight, and rode a home-made sled! The video was added to the Clips and Edits section.
Along with my main websites, I've created artwork for many other sites. A few examples were added to the Image Manipulation section.
Just like my email signatures, I've always created artwork to accompany my station notices. This one was added to the Digital Artwork section.
Below are some of my favorite digital images added to the gallery: Photo Projects within the Favorite Images 2010 section.
Edit Note: A few image were added to this update after the post date.
ADDED MORE TO THIS GALLERY:
Per the above picture set, here are two videos of Erick playing with the Sons of Mothers...
Erick performing at The Mist 1:
Erick performing at The Mist 2:
And again, since this post is music related, two more related videos...
Adrian freestyles to NO music while heading to the bar. The odd dissolves is me trying to match him up to the beat:
Karaoke Taxi - The gang sings "Hero" after leaving the bar [Video 1 of 4]:
Below is one of my favorite digital images added to the gallery: Photo Projects within the Favorite Images 2010 section.
Below are some of my favorite digital images added to the gallery: Photo Projects within the Favorite Images 2010 section.
Edit Note: Both of these image were added to this update after the post date.
For my Halloween costume, I made a prop gun in the style of the "No Country for Old Men" (2007) killer, and added how I created it to the I Made That section.
Added to the Image Manipulation section are two posts showcasing some of the numerous images used on both of my old websites: this Brasscoe site, and Tramstop (our Disneyland Parking Lot Website).
Below is one of my favorite digital images added to the gallery: Photo Projects within the Favorite Images 2010 section.
Edit Note: The image above was added to this update after the post date.
Below are some of my favorite digital images added to the gallery: Photo Projects within the Favorite Images 2009 section.
Edit Note: A few images were added to this update after the post date.
I've created numerous index polaroids for my site. I added a few of them to the Image Manipulation section.
There are a number of things I've been doing behind the scenes, so I decided to list them here:
1. Archiving - I now have about 50 MiniDV and HDV tapes, filled with footage from 2000 until now. I have since begun digitally capturing every tape, from beginning to end, to the hard drive. Each hour takes up about 13gb of space. So far, I have captured DV tapes 1-8 and 19. Once the drive is filled up, I will submit it for online backup. The purpose of capturing an identical copy to the HDD is to not lug out each cassette when looking for footage.
2. Tape Logs - Speaking of searching through content, I have added the MiniDV/HDV and VHS Tape Logs to the Archive section [links removed]. Although not entirely complete - or verified to be accurate (most were written years ago with no timecode to date stamp it) - I plan to list the content of every tape on hand.
3. Raw Footage Updates - In going through my tape archiving, I have come across raw footage of moments recorded that (to some) may find interesting or funny. At least to me, it is. Some of that footage will finally make its way online, or help to re-master content already available, but in HD.
4. Re-Mastering - There are still quite a few videos left online that are low in quality due to its upload date compared to when Vimeo & YouTube finally made the change to 1080p viewable. Arg! So obtaining all that raw footage is helping me do that! The first item for complete re-master and re-edit is the NYE 2000 / Pseudo Porno short film. I am halfway done with the edit in Sony Vegas HD, and will make it a nice 10 minute version, removing all the extra non-essential junk that sat in there all this time.
5. HD Downloads - I have now made it a habit to first upload the High-Def versions of my Flickr videos to my site before I add them to Flickr. This way, once added, someone will have the option to view on Flickr (which has proven to be horrible when a low-light video is added with lots of video noise), or download the full HD version I used in the first place. I have also tried to go back and add the other missing HD versions of other videos. Yes, I plan to have it all online, soon.
6. Flickr - Yes, I have lagged so much on this! It is mostly due to my backup & re-organizing attempts. At last count, I still need to upload 29.7gb of stuff. That's almost 2900 image and almost 100 more video clips! Oddly enough, in my other backup folders, I have found even older content that was thought to be lost. I hope to finally be back in the Flickr mode this weekend and get it all up before the New Year.
7. Lastly, backup! - Since I am realizing that my hard drives won't last forever, I have since been using Mozy {Link Removed} to backup all my content. At the moment, I have 283.8GB backed up online, and 2.2GB still in progress. When all is said and done, the 500GB drive I use as my main content holder, will have its copy online (just in case).
Below are some of my favorite digital images added to the gallery: Photo Projects within the Favorite Images 2009 section.
Edit Note: A few images were added to this update after the post date.
Below are some of my favorite digital images added to the gallery: Photo Projects within the Favorite Images 2009 section.
I used to add seasonal pictures to my email signatures, especially during the holidays. A few examples were added to the Digital Artwork section.
It's hard to believe I haven't made a full site update since January! Time flies...
First off, I had to put aside my Flickr updates for over a month while I re-designed this entire website. The choice to do so was when I found out I can run multiple blog indexes under one main blog component! It has made my updating efforts a breeze. To get a glimpse of the nerdy process, feel free to watch the YouTube video I found: {LINK REMOVED}. It was the most simplistic way to do it, I found.
In the past, I had to manually modify each website section by hand, taking the html grid and thumbnail placements and changing it all in GoLive, which is an HTML editor. Now, all I need to do is add the updates as a new posting, and it moves the older items over.
As for WordPress templates, I used The Unstandard for all of the website sections: art, archive, movies & pictures. For the actual blog section, I went with Plainscape. I did my best to match the multiple blogs into one consistent look that matched up, site-wide.
In the before and after screen shots below, you can see how much I needed to change everything from stock.
This includes the page layouts.
The hardest modification came from the section templates. I found one that displayed blog posts as image and had to severely tweak them!
And again for the page layout.
For copyright reasons, I wanted to give the template authors proper credit:
The Unstandard template belongs to {LINK REMOVED} and can be downloaded free: {LINK REMOVED}. The live preview is {LINK REMOVED}. The Plainscape template belongs to {LINK REMOVED} and can be downloaded free: {LINK REMOVED}. The live preview is {LINK REMOVED}.
As far as catching up on pictures goes, I am so behind.
Currently, I have about 25 sets and a few misc updates to upload to Flickr. Doing a search, it looks like a total of about 3000+ pictures and about 100+ videos! Those updates are coming soon.
Back in the days of MySpace, I used to post image comments for people's birthday and an occasional seasonal greeting. I added a couple to the Image Manipulation section.
I added posts to 3 original websites created in connection with Brasscoe Studios to the Website Creation section.
BCBlues22 (aka The Blue House)
Stubriks Steakhouse
Below are some of my favorite digital images added to the gallery: Photo Projects within the Favorite Images 2009 section.
Edit Note: A few images were added to this update after the post date.
Below are some of my favorite digital images added to the gallery: Photo Projects within the Favorite Images 2009 section.
Edit Note: A few images were added to this update after the post date.
Below are some of my favorite digital images added to the gallery: Photo Projects within the Favorite Images 2009 section.
Edit Note: A few images were added to this update after the post date.
Below are some of my favorite digital images added to the gallery: Photo Projects within the Favorite Images 2009 section.
Edit Note: 1 image was added to this update after the post date.
Below are some of my favorite digital images added to the gallery: Photo Projects within the Favorite Images 2009 section.
Below are some of my favorite digital images added to the gallery: Photo Projects within the Favorite Images 2009 section.
Just like my other how-to page, I added to the I Made That section a post describing the steps I took when making my custom coil-over setup.
Back in 1997, I brought a video camera to work and recorded us goofing off. The video Arby’s Freestyle 1997 was added to the Clips and Edits section.
I began writing a feature-length film back in 1995, which has changed titles and test-promotional artwork over the years. The various versions were added to the Image Manipulation section.
Below are some of my favorite digital images added to the gallery: Photo Projects within the Favorite Images 2009 section.
Every once in a while, I'll make a template image to be replaced later. I added this one in particular to the Digital Artwork section.
I often try to visualize what an item would look like modified... then enters Photoshop! I edited the Toyota Corolla and Other Cars, including a Scion TC (same as what I drive now). Both posts were added to the Image Manipulation section.
Below are some of my favorite digital images added to the gallery: Photo Projects within the Favorite Images 2009 section.
Amongst the numerous random graphics I've created, I decided to post a few them on this site. They were added to the Image Manipulation section.
On my old Corolla Project website, I had a how-to page describing the steps used to create my see thru dash guages. An updated version of that was added to the I Made That section.
Below are some of my favorite digital images added to the gallery: Photo Projects within the Favorite Images 2009 section.
Below are some of my favorite digital images added to the gallery: Photo Projects within the Favorite Images 2008 section.
Since it has been a month since my last blog post… I feel the need to explain why - I got sick!
On Friday December 6th, Ian and I were done drinking and trying to crash at Nicole’s house, knocking on her door at 3am. Since there was no answer, we crashed in my car. Me, in the back seat, and him sleeping out on the grass, next to the car… with his feet inside, on my passenger seat. Now, with the door open until 7am, and me with no jacket, I assume I caught the cold that way. Argg!
Exhibit A:
Anyway, here is a list of what I have been doing:
12/5 Uploaded most of HD versions of straggling 2008 digital camera videos.
12/15 Began to prep 2006 for tags.
12/16 Finished tagging all of the 2006 image, but realized I messed up on a few.
12/17 Cataloged the HDV tape #53 and added it to the tape logs. I also added a temporary link to both tape logs and published it to the website.
12/19 I finished all 2006 tags.
12/20 I rendered the 2007 Halloween video back to HDV tape as a Master.
12/21 Began to create the video page for the Halloween video on the website.
12/22 & 12/23 I worked on finalizing a corrected output master for both raw footage videos (jack in the box & palm desert). Printing it to HDV tape for the Master and back to MiniDV just didn’t work as I wanted.
12/24 I created the movie pages for both the Jack In The Box & Palm Desert Golf Cart Dummies videos. I decided that all MiniDV footage will be Mastered as 720p HD at 30fps or 24fps (depending on originating frame rate).
12/25 Verified my logs for DV tapes #2 and #4. I noted HDV tape #54 which contains the raw footage of the BDR acoustic session at Travis’. I also uploaded the corrected 720p version of Jack In The Box to YouTube & MySpace.
12/26 I began to edit the BDR acoustics session. I also uploaded the Palm Desert Dummies 720p version to YouTube & MySpace.
12/27 I uploaded the 2007 Mareanne Halloween 720p version of the video to YouTube & my ftp. On that ftp, I also continued to upload the other HD versions of the videos for public downloads. Lastly, I rendered the BDR song Danger of Monotony at The Roxy video.
12/28 Uploaded the BDR Roxy 720p HD video to YouTube & MySpace, along with adding it to my ftp. I also rendered out the Flickr videos from my company holiday party.
12/29-1/4 I took all my free time to catch up and render out all of the videos that accompany the image to their color-corrected and edited Flickr versions.
1/5 I began to upload the image & videos to Flickr that I have taken over the past month but noticed a problem. Flickr has since chosen to use the new H.264 MPEG-4 codec for their uploaded videos. I like the idea, but it is seemingly changing my videos’ frame rates which is causing a ghosting/strobing effect. So until the problem is figured out, I will only upload image that weren’t taken with any videos.
I enjoyed my Christmas and New Year vacation time off. Now back to the regular routine!
My cousins and I head over to the Jack In The Box Drive Thru for some food, and waste time before ordering. The video was added to the Clips and Edits section.
While at the PD condo, Erick and Eric decided to goof off with the golf cart. This lasted up until security gave us a talking to. Twice! The video Palm Desert Golf Cart Dummies was added to the Clips and Edits section.
Below are some of my favorite digital images added to the gallery: Photo Projects within the Favorite Images 2008 section.
I added to the Paintings section a painting of the *upcoming* Spider-Man 3 (2007).
Spider-Man 3 (painted in 2006)
While watching the movie, Lemony Snicket’s: A Series of Unfortunate Events (2004), I decided to sketch out and watercolor the character, Klaus Baudelaire. This was added it to the Water-Color section.
Klaus Baudelaire (painted in 2005)
Since it’s been almost a month since my last update, here is a basic list of what I’ve been up to:
10/27 & 10/28: Began to render my birthday videos.
10/29: Having wanted to see some old footage, I popped in and captured my MiniDV tape #04. It shows me and my cousins, Luis & John, in a Buena Park drive-thru in 2000. I decided to quickly edit the raw footage for YouTube.
10/30: After normalizing the audio, I began to render out various versions, attempting to remove the 30fps interlacing for a correct 24 progressive image.
11/6: I finally uploaded the Jack In The Box Drive Thru raw footage.
11/10: On the same tape, I found some PD footage, named it Palm Desert Golf Cart Dummies.
Also began to re-design the Movie section.
11/11: Finished my birthday videos - to be posted up soon. Cont’d on the Movie section.
11/12: Uploaded the new Movie section design - STILL UNFINISHED.
11/21: Uploaded most of the missing HD versions of the digital camera videos. I will add them to Flickr as downloadable links soon.
I added my first real acrylic oil painting to the Paintings section. It's an image of my buddy, Adrian, falling over some boxes at Arby's.
Adrian Bumpers (painted in 2004)
I've created tons of artwork over the years and recently re-designed this site to include it. Below are 2 items added to the Water-Color and Paintings sections.
Snoop Dogg (painted in 1993)
Racer Needs Repair (painted in 1997)
Below are some of my favorite digital images added to the gallery: Photo Projects within the Favorite Images 2008 section.
After two weeks, I finally finished my latest video - footage from Mareanne's 8th annual Halloween party! But more on that later...
Due to time constraints, I only managed to upload 2 galleries to my Flickr account, as seen in the previous post, with 1 more pending; my birthday!!! There were about 380 images taken that night, along with 7-or-so videos. I pretty much don't remember any of it. I plan to get those up next week, after rendering out the videos for Flickr.
Anyway, I received an email from YouTube on 10/16/08 that scared me at first. I thought I had lost the rights to show off my most popular video: 2001 Toyota Corolla, due to Copyright Infringement! What!?!
EMAIL NOTICE:
YOUTUBE USER NOTICE:
It turns out that the song I used, Kanye West - Two Words, was detected by Universal (UMG) but was deemed acceptable and left untouched - public - so long as a small advertisement is placed on the webpage.
I thought to myself, "Oh. In that case... Sure! No problem." I guess reaching over 20,000 hits prompts the system to double check the video and/or audio content.
And so, per the image above, Halloween is upon us! I decided to edit the footage I recorded last year at Mareanne's Halloween Party 2007 (re-mastered). Click on the picture above to see the pictures taken that night (which includes a better glimpse of my awesome Pirate Costume).
Below are some of my favorite digital images added to the gallery: Photo Projects within the Favorite Images 2008 section.
Below are some of my favorite digital images added to the gallery: Photo Projects within the Favorite Images 2008 section.
