After uploading, an link appears in the standard information screen that allows you to go to a simple video editing interface.  There are tools for rotating the video, trimming the length, stabilization, contrast, fill light, color correction (color temperature), as well as an “I’m feeling lucky” button which I guess would auto apply the features (I didn’t try it). There are other tabs with audio options (to replace the entire audio track) and an “Effects” tab with visual effects like Sepia tone, black and white, and color effects from mild to wild.   The editing screen also features a side-by-side low-resolution preview of both the original video and a modified version based on what edits you have selected.

I was most impressed with the ability to see changes based on my selections almost instantly.   I don’t know how it works for longer videos, but for this one, a new preview was ready almost as soon as I clicked a button – even image stabilization!  And while the correction features are nuanced and overlap, the effects options only allow one effect at a time and has no adjustment options.  Overall, the experience was pleasant and gives me good reason to play with the feature more in the future.  In researching for this post I also discovered this.

Well, here’s the YouTube edited video.  I’m pretty happy with it but the stabilization seems to create some pretty trippy effects where the guitarist seems pretty steady but the microphone stand and everything around him seems to twist and distort in the renderings attempt to keep the frame ‘still’.

I’ve only played around with it a little tonight (before I even got it home) and I couldn’t wait to load up the video and see how things were looking. You can check out two videos I made with it below.

The first video was edited in Adobe Premier Elements 7.  This next video was a chance for me to check out the video editing software that comes loaded on the camera.

.

Initial Reactions

I think I’m happy with my purchase in general. The design of the camera does leave you to buy several necessary additions: An SD Memory Card (which is good because the memory is expandable and you can carry multiple cards for added capacity),  a Tripod (the bottom of the Zi8 is rounded unlike the Flip Cam which has a flat bottom that will allow the camera to stand on a flat surface), and a USB extension or hub (the built in USB plug is flexible, but I don’t feel comfortable putting that extra weight of the camera on my USB connection).

I think I would like the lens view to be a bit wider – self-recording can easily crop the top or bottom of my head — and I’m GOOD and aiming a camera at myself.

I LOVE that I can plug in an external microphone (stereo at that!) I got better sound with a cheap external mic plugged in – simply because I was able to have the mic closer to my voice.

So far, I’ve only done low indoor lighting and available street lighting for the two videos I’ve made.  The video is grainy in low light but definitely useable for the kind of camera it is.  I’m looking forward to seeing the quality in some well-lit areas.

I love that the form-factor closely resembles a phone – making it less conspicuous for candid street videos.  There is a red light by the lens however that lets you know it’s recording.

The image stabilization is an added benefit – but won’t replace the need for a tripod.  I hear that feature also eats up the battery.

I Don’t like the video editing software that came with it – but mainly because Adobe Premier has me spoiled. (side note: Humm… I probably have misspellings in the video… DOH!)

Those are my first thoughts.  As always feel free to leave your comments below.  I’m strongly considering a redesign to this site, so maybe in the near future you’ll see more video updates from me posted here.

It took less than 10 minutes to create this and it has a few more features that I only tried out a little.  It’s another neat way to share photos – especially as a time line or in a chronological order.

A few things that I think worked for us:

• Timing – For the past few weeks our church has been focused serving and giving.  Last Sunday we had a short service and then an event in the park where the congregation brought donations for 8 Chicagoland charitable organizations.  They were also able to sign up for ongoing serving opps with those groups.  This week, the service had a special 10-minute drama segment (with dance, music, lighting, and video) to really promote the opportunity to Inspire Others.  One woman remarked “It was great that we got everyone involved in serving the City and after that turned our attention to how to serve within the church”.  I hope to get part of the video posted (have to ask permission first!)
• Opportunity – This was the first event of its kind for us.  Being a ‘mobile church’ (having church in a space where we have to pack everything up every Sunday) fellowship times can be quite limited after service ends.  There were a LOT of new faces as well as people who’ve been around but we didn’t know what talents they have to share.

There are several next steps to figure out, but this was a big one and I’m glad that it was an enjoyable time for so many.  One gentleman commented “I was really hesitant to come since I didn’t know if my gifts would fit… now I’ve had such a great time meeting people, I’m one of the last people to leave!”

Our new serving season starts in October (and a BUSY season it will be!)  A HUGE THANKS goes out to everyone who volunteered to help make things happen today at Church and the Reception!

CHANGED from blaine hogan on Vimeo.

This music video was created for Aaron Niequist’s new song, Changed.

©2009 AARONieq Music / Willow Creek Community Church

I Love this video.  it speaks in simple ways about the awesome things that God has called us to.  “How can we worship more than singing?” is a question we have to ask regularly.

Right now, I’m knee deep in planning an Arts Reception for all the creative, musical, artistic types at my church.  My hope is to empower as many people as possible to connect with our church and use their gifts and to connect with other individuals who share their passions.  I’m extremely excited about the potential of what could come from people gifted by God to do creative things getting together to spread the Gospel, provoke thought and action, and to communicate the heart of God.

Keep me in your prayers as I can get a little overwhelmed with the minute details (that I don’t really need to worry about).  I know that God is in control and working things out wonderfully according to his plan.  If you’re in the Chicago area on August 30th, I’d love to see you there!  You can get details at WCarts.eventbright.com!

Wow – that’s my response to my first experience with Multi-Track recording on the iPhone using FourTrack (Apple app store link).  It’s pretty impressive what I was able to do with little to no difficulty!  I really could have invested more time into making a better recording, but I just wanted to see how difficult it would be.  This was SUPER easy and intuitive for me.  I actually had some nostalgia thinking of my Dad and how he would have loved something like this.  He spent hours creating and recording his own music with various forms of technology.

Anyway, check out my first recording.  I’ll be the first to say, the pitch is a bit off – but that’s my fault for not getting a key center before I started recording.  This was just for fun.

Technical notes: this is actually a 6-track recording that after ‘bouncing’ or re-recording all the separate channels into one channel I imported into Audacity to add reverb and convert to mp3 format.

I did begin to get memory usage warnings, but that was only after recording a 4th track and I never experienced any trouble recording.  There were a few times where the program would lock up during playback, but exiting using the home key and returning to the program loaded everything again without error.

Transferring the files via WiFi went without a hitch as well.  I can see this app consuming hours of my creative time.

How To Build A Rockin Praise Band

• The team should work it’s best to help the Worship Leader do the best they can do in leading the congregation
• Keep room for creativity in rehearsals
• People first experience music as entertainment – so it must be engaging / exciting enough to capture their attention before it will be able to minister to their souls.
• Get on the phone or have conversations before the day of rehearsal to get the creative juices flowing within the band
• Brokenness and Celebration are key to a worship band. To really build community, people must be able to bring their pain and challenges as well as be able to celebrate their victories within the team.
• To help your sound tech learn your expectations for the mix  -  watch a concert DVD on Mute with him or her and ask them to point out what sounds should be ‘in focus’ during various shots / parts of the concert.
• Bands should rehears the musical pad / fill / open spaces that happen in services.
• Layer rehearsals by doing each song for about 7-8 minutes then moving on to the next song. Repeat this process until each song has been rehearsed several times to improve memory / retention

Building and Audition System with Jason Hathey from The Journey Church

• Churches everywhere often share the same challenges.  “Go with what God gives you”
• The Majority of worship team members have a different ‘daytime’ profession
• Ministry / Serving is a pathway to Discipleship – people who are engaged in serving are more likely to be taking steps to grow in their faith to be come Christ-like, and to serve like Christ
• Auditioning is key in part because God has put us in a place to protect the platform where we worship.
• We don’t want people to only be committed to the team but also to the church.
• Make serving something that can be done in seasons – allow people to take a break – and have someone to replace them.
• Keep people in a place where they will succeed.
• Make an Audio recording of important meetings or orientation so that everyone can listen and learn even if they missed the meeting.

Inspiring Your Church to Worship – with Sam Middlebrook of DevelopingWorship.com

This was one of the most powerful sessions I’ve ever experienced at Willow Creek!

• Why People Don’t Engage in Musical Worship: 1) people don’t know Jesus as Savior and Lord. 2) They know Him as Savior but not as Lord. 3) They refuse to worship outside of their musical preference. They Worship songs, not the Lord. 4) they come from a tradition of reverence – which is actually a modern tradition.
• We often haven’t looked at what should go into our worship.
• Paul and Silas (Acts 16) were praising God in jail – it’s part of who they were. Praise is a common thread in the life of believers.
• Praise is 1) a response to God’s goodness. 2) gives us perspective on who God is verses who we are, 3) is based on God’s character and the things he does for his Children, 4) is a function of our will – not just our emotions.  Our emotions will motivate us to action.
• How we can be biblically inspired to Worship:
  • Lifting our Hands – Psalm 63
  • Clapping our Hands
  • Playing of Instruments
  • Standing – Nehemiah 9:5
  • Kneeling / Bowing – Psalm 95
  • Singing  – Psalm 47
  • Dancing and Leaping – Psalm 149
  • Shouting
• Every Believer should use all eight of those expressions in different seasons of praising God.
• These are the ways God has shown us in the scriptures that he likes to be loved.
• Worship is respect for the Holiness of God
• Worship is an intimate language of Love that comes from the attitude of our heart.
• Mark 12:41-44 – draws attention to not only what she gave, but just how much everyone else had been holding back in the offering of their lives.
• God sees when we hold back our lives and our praise.
• Preach to the excited the importance of Stillness and Reverence
• Preach to the Reverent the importance of Excitement
• Worship Leading is Teaching as well.

gigapan: Alexander & Qisoundra – follow the link and click anywhere in the picture to zoom in and see the individual pictures.

I made this for display at their wedding – it was a hit!

I’ll be posting as much as I can from the conference which is Wednesday June, 10th through Friday June 12.

These are my notes / recap of my favorite moments and quotes from today.  Oh… and by the time this post goes live, it won’t actually be ‘live’ but oh well.  It was an exciting title.  The notes are after the break.

Also, I had the neat experience of connecting to other Twitter users real time at the conference. I one of the vendors exclaimed my name when he saw me walk up to the table! He’d seen my tweets about the conference and recognized me from my picture on my profile.  Earlier in the day I connected with a stranger who happened to be in the same breakout session.  Even leading up to the conference, I found friends of mine who were also going to the conference.  It’s neat to see social networking in action IN REAL LIFE!  Now on to the notes…

Day 1 Opening and 1st Session:

• Opening: “Worship Leader Warm-up” – great parodies of our worship leader stereotypical moves (the microphone clap, the holding your chest while singing, the jumps we do… the clothes and styles that are popular right now).  Absolutely a fun and funny way to start the conference and set the tone!
• “I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord” – Jeremiah 29:11 – a wonderful song was addressed to worship leaders as we struggle and press in what God has called us to do.
• I also enjoyed the dance / drama that talked about the inspiration and frustration of the creative process – realizing that what we do still comes from someone greater than ourselves (God).
• Realizing the Key Enemies of Wonder (Wonder is where where creativity is cultivated).  Top enemies of wonder for me were: Hurry, Noise, Information Overload, Unrealistic expectations, and the Absence of Celebration. (I have to actively work against those in order to overcome)
• Never forget the moment when you realized the awesomeness of this: “Jesus loves me”
• Take time to enjoy life.
• Top people I’m thankful for in the moment: Nick, Fran, Dr. Rodney, Sha, Willow Church Fam, Michael, Cheryl, Latrice, my small group
• I still have to get Shauna Niequest’s book: “Cold Tangerines” – I absolutely love her writing that draws you from the colorful details of everyday life to a celebration of thanks for all that God has made.
• Isaiah 29:13-14 – when our hearts were far from God – when we worshiped out of habit and grew cold, God responded by astounding us with wonder upon wonder. – what a powerful thought!
  

Session 2:  Interview with Darlene Zschech and Hillsong United leader Joel Houston

• Building a Worship Culture: “Serve the Lord with Gladness” – Psalm 100 and Psalm 45: God will anoint us (worship leaders) with the oil of Joy (gladness) and set us above our companions  – this is literally the call of a worship leader.  it’s humbling to see exactly how God calls us out and equips us.
• Intentionality in developing teams / leaders: being intentional about building pathways for people to find and develop their gift for leading in worship.
• Training is done weekly: Spiritual teaching as well as musical teaching.  Getting your own lessons outside of church is also expected.
• THIS IS HUGE: Being Committed to People for more than what they can (or can’t) do for your ministry.  Being willing to walk with them through the process of finding their right fit in ministry.  We have to earn the privilege to speak the truth in love to people.  When we have earned that, we can give people negative feedback yet they know that they are still loved and cared for.
• Hillsong has a songwriting culture, where all of there songs are reviewed, workshopped, tweaked, critiqued, and developed.  Many people are involved in the process and they even have a pastor who reviews the lyrics to be sure that they are all biblical!
• “Generational Transition” – being mindful that we’ll need to replace ourselves. Being prepared for God to give the increase and being able to accommodate that because leadership has already been developed.
• Hillsong Church: “Church isn’t built on the gifts and talents of a few, it’s built out of the sacrifices of many”
• Worship Leader Real Talk: don’t focus on a ‘dry audience’ or how people aren’t responding – we have to refocus on God in those times rather than be frustrated.  God may be working powerfully in their hearts, but YOU are looking for something you can see with your eyes (and that doesn’t require FAITH).
• Keeping your heart fresh / having a soft heart: Digging into the word is essential, Be led by the Spirit of God.  Keep your spirit nourished and your soul fed.  Have time to get away and do something that you enjoy.
• Proverbs 16:9 – God’s plans prevail – he’s already given us what is actually needed.
• Avoid the temptation to lead the way your leader does.  You have to find your style  – not live to copy another.
• Encourage someone else! See them grow and released into their ministry!
• Be BIG! BE BOLD!

I was totally blessed to hear the song “You’ll Come” being sung by thousands of creatives gathered in the name of Jesus Christ and being replenished spiritually as they sing with arms lifted high “Lord Come, Let your Glory fall as you respond to us. Spirit rain; flood into our thirsty hearts again”. To know that even world-famous worship artist like Hillsong United face frustration and need to be recharged is so powerful!

Breakout Session A: How to Build a Rockin’ Praise Band with Stan Endicott of Mariners Church

Key Points

• Build as much consistency with band members as possible – people have to learn each other and be able to ‘feel’ each other for greater growth and progress
• Communicate as much information as possible about your expectations for the style / grove of a song before people arrive for a rehearsal.  It’s key that people are engaging with the song(s) with this in mind before they arrive.  This also fosters creativity!
• This music is still entertainment so we must create excitement and grab someones attention naturally before we’ll be able to connect to them spiritually.
• I loved this worship lead statement ” Let’s fill God’s house with God’s word” then have the congregation repeat a scripture that leads into a song.
• 70% of music in church is what you’ve rehearsed – the other 30% is padding, fill, and open space – this kind of music needs to be rehearsed as well!
• Listen to the other parts (and be sure the mix is right so you can hear them well). you want the band to fill the entire campus – not everyone trying to paint in the same spot.
• The band / worship team should have the attitude of supporting / helping the worship lead to be the best that he or she can be.
• Key elements in a worship Community: Brokenness and Celebration – we have to bring both if we’re going to have authentic worship TOGETHER.
• Tip to help communicate to your sound guy:  Watch a DVD of your favorite concert – with the sound muted. Identify how the mix should change according to what’s on the screen.
• Tip for rehearsal: LAYERS – if rehearsing 4 songs – rather than spend 30 minutes each on the songs, layer it by doing 7.5 minutes on each song and cycling through so that the team can practice remembering the songs continually.
• Freedom vs. Structure: we’ll learn it exactly as it is written in practice, but be ready for it to be done differently.

Overall the day one was AWESOME… so great that I forgot to eat dinner before the Hillsong Concert!  I came home at 9pm just as excited and full of energy about all this as when I left at 8am!

But NOW it’s time for bed.  Night night!

Read my review and get the code after the jump…While I was away, it appears that the service has been improved in a few ways.  They’ve added stock images via iStockphotos, added new music genres, and have given a few more options for how videos are produced (such as turning off the ‘music video style’ credits at the end.  I like the new features, although I’m hoping to see the music collections for commercial users diversify a bit more and update more frequently.  I love that they make it easy for me to use music fairly by providing royalty-free music that’s licensed for commercial use — I would love to see more sites take this kind of initiative.  Part of me also worries about the production style of this hot new product becoming as ubiquitous as the “Ken Burns Style” effect for showing photos.  But I also realize that I’m the one who grows tired of things more quickly than the ‘average consumer’ so I should be OK for a while. 8-)  Don’t get me wrong – I love the Ken Burns style but you see it as a randomized default in so much that it becomes cliche.

One of the greatest things about this company is the customer service.  I’ve contacted them on various occasions with product / service ideas as well as to report bugs.  Each time I was responded to by an individual I’ve seen ideas I’ve sent in incorporated.  I love that and it makes it clear that the company is connected to its users.

Overall this is one of the few products that I can genuinely recommend to both the amateur and the professional.  I think it’s simple enough for anyone who has ever uploaded a photo online, yet high quality for more advanced uses.

Check out the site today.  You can create an account for free and make 30-second videos that you may post online to YouTube or embed on your page.  I’d love to see what you make or hear how it goes for you!

Animoto Promo referral Code: sqiwugyp (Update 9.15.2010 – the promo has changed, use the link to take you to the site)

My web design clients are beginning to ask for social networking pages so I figured I try some things out on my own twitter page.  I’m gonna have to create a ‘social networking package’ hummmm…

Anyway, if you’re on Twitter, let me know!

Christmastime at DarrenCalhoun

Originally uploaded by Darren | QuickClickMedia.com

I’ve updated this blog for Christmas.

Let me know what you think!

I battle with fear when it comes to singing solo / lead.  I thought this was obvious to everyone – especially since we use a huge projection screen at church.  A few weeks ago I shared this with our Music Director as I was feeling pretty bad about a small lead part I did in the service.  I got complements from several people but I couldn’t receive any of them.  I even got complements on the clothes I was wearing (which were new and I liked a lot) but i didn’t even feel good about that. I realized that this was my issue and things weren’t quite as bad as I was making them out to be.  I just was afraid of ‘messing up’ and even more afraid that I was bad and no one would tell me.  Me telling Fran (our Music Director) about how I felt along with talking about it in one of my groups really helped me to see just how my attitude was.  It was exposed and in the light and suddenly it didn’t seem so big.

Fast-forwarding to this week, I was given a lead part with two solo verses.  Fran really wanted me to pray about leading this song because the lyrics were definitely something that I could sing from my heart.

Sometimes at night
I am afraid
I cover my eyes,
Cover my shame
So here in the dark
Broken apart
Come with your light
And fill up my heart

Oh great light of the world
Fill up my soul
I’m half a man here
So come make me whole
Oh great light of the world
Come to impart
The light of your grace
To fill up my heart

– Great Light Of The World by Bebo Norman

[See post to watch Flash video]
I immediately wanted to sing the song, but was afraid that it was too high for my range.  Fran and his wife Cheryl were really accommodating and willing to work with / support me in whatever way I needed.  Now it was time for me to really work on the song by myself since we wouldn’t have our normal rehearsal — due to the Thanksgiving Holiday.  I practiced… realized I was even afraid to sing loud at home (what would the neighbors think) but pushed past that fear too.

Sunday morning finally came and while I was sleeping I had a dream – it was too random to go into detail here, but it charged me up with confidence that I was a valuable part of the team at Church and that I needed to do what I do there.  Our pre-service rehearsal went well with only a few corrections along the way.  The service flowed well and the message was convicting to me.  I got some new insights on the teaching that John the Baptist did in preparing the way of the Lord. And after the message was the time for my song. I sang it and thankfully my mom was sitting down front and one of my friends stood the entire time I sang – that support blessed me so! I sang the song… I think I up a few words at end of a verse or two, but overall I did my best.  I still felt rather neutral — and didn’t anticipate any positive response.

After the service our Music director gave me a big smile a “great job” and one friend came to tell me she cried as I sang the song. Another friend said he stopped what he was doing to come in and listen.  Several others gave complements and a couple people asked me “how dod you do it? I would be way too nervous or scared!”  They were amazed when I told them how little confidence I had going in!  I realize that – especially on stage — I’ll project confidence even if I feel everything but!  Part of my challenge is learning to feel good just in knowing I did my best.  Validation / approval from others is GREAT ( I promise you it is!!!) but for me to grow more, I’m going to have to internalize that for myself. I was really happy that I pushed past so many of the fears I’ve had in the past and that it resulted in a great time of worship for me and for many in our congregation. That’s purpose!

The other great thing that happened today was having the 20′s/30′s group unexpectedly sing Happy Birthday to me.  My Birthday is coming up on Wednesday and I’d honestly forgotten that the date was quickly approaching so I hadn’t made any major plans.  But it was just neat to know that others are thinking about me and were happy to lift their voices in song.  It took me back to one year ago when I was first becoming more connected at church.  To know that because of the good relationships I’ve found there SOOOOO many things in my life have changed and are being healed.  I’m taking more responsibility for myself, I’m growing emotionally and spiritually.  My community of friends and family is amazing.  I’m becoming more sure of my gifts and callings.  I’m growing my business and growing up as a man.

I’m really surprised I’m not completely in tears at this point.  I’ve had to stop several times today just to rejoice for how God has blessed me.  I really am SO happy.  That isn’t to say life isn’t without it’s challenges and difficulties.  Those will always be a part of this world.  But to face life with the hope and support of God and his people is something that’s powerful beyond words.

I thank GOD for his purpose and the hope that he’s given me!  Indeed, he’s come to my rescue, he’s lit-up my life, and has redeemed me!

Jeremiah 29:11