How to attach Floaty orange foam to back door of GoPro

Two things confused me when I opened the package.

1) Why are there two different plastic doors provided? I found the answer on the GoPro.com website, after finding no instructions on the package. One is for the dive housing, and one is for the standard housing that comes with the camera.

2) How to you peel off the backing so you can stick the foam on? I tried tugging at the orange tape, but it looked several times like I'd ruin the dense grey foam underneath. I didn't want to tear the grey foam. However, that whole orange backing has to be parted from the slim grey foam, so that the orange foam block can then be firmly pressed on (centre first so you don't get air bubbles) with some give provided by the grey stick foam which is very sticky when that orange peeling is removed. I got the sticky grey foam exposed, hovered the orange block over the standard housing (I don't have a dive housing) and pressed down evenly and hard. I should've pressed in the centre first to squeeze out air, but still it seems very firmly affixed now.

Then, I needed to learn how to switch doors from the standard see-through to my new Floaty orange back door. It turns out it's very easy. The manual (downloadable from GoPro.com) shows exactly how to do it, and basically you open the housing all the way, and pull straight down so the door unseats itself from the bottom of the plastic hinge. I wonder how the plastic will hold up to frequent use, changing between the standard, open-back, and Floaty back doors. Let's hope it's really sturdy plastic, as it seems to be.

Trying out Elgato video capture device for Mac

I can't believe it. I have been looking for a way to capture video on the computer from my old home movies on VHS and camcorder tapes.

I tried using a dazzle but mine was meant for windows, and I couldn't get any of the unofficial workarounds found on YouTube to work. Apparently there is a version for mac but i couldn't find it anywhere.

To my delight while searching today I found the Elgato device, and it was available from London Drugs, and in stock half a block away from my home!

I opened the box and the obvious cables were in there, along with a CD with capture software and instructions printed on the inside flap. I'm used to devices that are difficult to set up. This device was very easy to set up!

At the store, I was a bit concerned about quality. It captures at 640 x 480 and I hoped that was adequate. And I thought the HS is not that great of quality anyway, and the next quality up is for hardcore gamers and quite a bit more expensive over $200. This device is just over $100.

I'm just in the process of going through a tape right now to capture it, & I will keep you posted with any news and reviews about this device.

My goal is to capture my home movies so that I can practice my newest video editing skills on them. I started video editing as a child working on home movies as gifts, and I feel very confident that I will enjoy video editing for gifts again as an adult.

Right now I'm following a tutorial series on using Photoshop for video editing special effects animation. It's going really well. I have learned how to make graphics move in and out of a video sequence, and make animated logos for my video introductions! I found the tutorial lynda.com, no surprise. It's excellent quality and covers more...much more... than I've ever learned in any of my books or classes.

Check out my initial sophisticated setup:

New ink and pastel image done: You're Watching?

I've been busy organizing my website and learning some new HTML skills the past few weeks. Normally, I would like to post on my blog more frequently.

New cat drawing: You're Watching?

You're Watching? by Heidi Bada

So this drawing was done with some self-imposed pressure. Also I was a little unhappy with recent efforts at drawing the image in my head of a cat being interrupted while cleaning its paw.

Here it is, in pastel and ink. I think this time I captured the eye properly, to show that she is perturbed while being watched.

Prints will be available soon from my FineArtAmerica and Society6 galleries. Of course, this original is for sale too!

Website Project

Now the other thing I've been working on, the standalone website, started out as a venue to show off my HTML skills. However, it quickly became a goal for me to show off my illustrations in a comic book format. Then it was not so much comics necessarily, but just any storytelling goal using a website and modern HTML and companion tools.

I'm now taking a different direction with my website project, studying successful websites and figuring out what makes a good story in websites. I don't have anything up and running on my website to share yet, but rest assured this blog will be plastered with it when I've got at least a few illustrations in place.

My goal is to use ordinary webspace to demonstrate illustration as a storytelling tool, in both animated and static forms. Could be for entertainment, but more likely advertising and product demonstration. I love working with video as well, so the trio of illustration, animation, and video combined in a webspace creates a fun environment for me to work in. I'll want to create the images and the interaction/animation functions for custom projects, ideally.

It turned out that self-directed comic book sharing on comic book sites is a difficult way to get noticed and get feedback I need, regarding engagement of viewers and the qualities of my characters and storylines.

Using a website of my own, I can at least share my work, get more HTML experience, and get direct feedback from friends and fans.

My animation style was originally inspired by some Madefire comics I found using my iPad in the app store. I like how animation is minimal, and simply enhances the storyline (usually).

There you have it: a commercial application of illustration that is quite exciting and delightfully unpredictable as technology changes. Sounds good to me.

I survived creating a nearly-free web site this evening

The process took an hour or so. I was surprised it worked; I gave up on using godaddy.com a long time ago because their system seemed quite complex for the website I wanted to create.

I found freehostia.com which offers a free web hosting account. It truly is free. My website is working.

But...

It requires a domain name be registered, or an existing domain name typed in which will be forwarded. I didn't know what to do but I was sure there were cheaper ways to get a domain name. Freehostia is cheap, around $10 for a .com or other domain suffixes, but I wanted something cheaper!

To go along with Freehostia's web site hosting, I went straight to whois.com where I've registered domains before. I chose a domain name which was going to be suitable but discardable in future. I simply don't know what I want to call my "business" and I don't know exactly what type of service it will be, so I chose patiostudioproductions, which is very indicative of how I spend my days.

The suffix .biz was on sale, so I purchased patiostudioproductions.biz for $5 or so, and paid using paypal. I won five bucks a long time ago, and apparently it was still sitting in my paypal account.

I put in a partial name and address, so my real info wouldn't be visible whenever some joker looks up who owns the domain. I didn't want to have to pay extra for privacy. To have my name and address hidden, the cost per year is double what I paid for the domain! I don't approve of that practice.

There was a bit of setup required. You have to log into the whois.com (or wherever you bought the domain) domain centre and change some DNS settings to match the website host. You log into the domain centre on the website host as well...

To make a long story short, I just opened a desperate help chat window at the whois.com website and they typed enough instructions that made the whole problem disappear.

It worked. Like, right away! Within minutes I could type my new website address into Safari and it appeared! I had created a simple home.html file that said "Welcome" and so on, and it actually showed up all of a sudden. Those DNS settings are important. I'm glad the process worked; it seems my cutting and pasting of settings moved the right details into the right text boxes.

So there you go, I have a domain name and web host to practice and show off my HTML5 and CSS skills I learned earlier this summer. Who knows, maybe I'll become a producer of some...productions...! They will be artistic no doubt, and likely involving web design and video too.

Prissy Kitty coming along, even though I was busy doing a few freelance gigs today

Fiverr.com is keeping me really busy with app reviews. I love that computer geeky stuff, too, but I felt a little weird the past few days to not have much time to work on drawings.

So tonight at 11:00pm I blocked out a little time and no pressure to make a little progress on my sleek cat drawing idea that I started recently.

Cat looking a little more colourful after 20 min

I feel good that I made some progress. I still need to define in my mind how elongated I want her to be, and what kind of muscle tone I want to portray. I'm definitely leaning towards the clay sculpture look that I love so much.

Thoughts about transitioning from traditional to tablet drawing

While working with Corel Painter for this drawing this evening, I discovered a pastel drawing tool that feels very much like traditional Pan Pastel. It was Real Soft Pastel brush. I managed to get a real soft imprint as though I was using a sponge with Pan Pastels, especially when holding the pen in an overhand grip.

This pen grip doesn't always work with the graphics tablet, and works a lot better if you tilt the tablet so that the pen is making adequate contact at an angle. It effectively makes you notice how your whole arm is moving, rather than just your wrist. I prefer to not rely on my wrist, as I'm looking for soft, sweeping movements of course for my kitties.

I don't see any discussion online so far in my travels about how to transition from traditional drawing methods to a drawing tablet. I don't really want to give up my spontaneous and freely-moving arm gestures; a lot of comments online about Wacom tablets indicate the users are adopting a handwriting grip when using the pen.

I'd love to hear opinions on how people hold their drawing tools, whether pen, pencil, brush, or digital tools. Even my drawing books don't address this much, except for the one I'm currently reading. It's called Drawing Basics and Video Game Art by Solarski and it goes into some good detail about how to hold a pencil in various ways for drawing.

Finally trying out a Wacom digitizing tablet for drawing and photo editing

My first impression is that it's very easy to use. I didn't know what to expect. They were simply on sale, and I've always wanted to try one, so I got the medium Intuos Pro. I'm still waiting for it to charge so I can go wireless, then I'll give it a better look.

Meanwhile, it's still useable (of course) while it's plugged into the USB. However, my desk is very small so I plan to use it on my lap, thus also keeping my arm relaxed, so I'm prepared to wait. People online say it takes 6 hours for a full charge.

Some people on Amazon, etc, complained about the cord between tablet and USB. I agree it's a bit loose at the tablet end, but basically it works. The wireless feature requires plugging in a little USB wireless port to the back of my Mac, and I've decided to remove it when not in use, because I think it might keep the tablet in semi-sleep mode. I'm just not sure, and there's no instructions about whether you are supposed to leave it affixed to the computer. My rule of thumb is to unplug anything not necessary, to prevent wasting power.

Here's a sense of the size of the item - it's almost as big as its box, but weighs less than you might imagine. It's like having an oversized iPad on your lap. The specs say 12x15" and 2.2 pounds roughly. Check out the specs of the various sizes at wacom.com if you're concerned about this. Also note that the sensitive drawing area is only between the four little white 'corner marks' on the surface - not the whole thing.

I was shocked with delight when I started up Photoshop. The pen must contain something that the tablet can sense without the nib having to touch the surface. The mouse moved when I moved my hand (with the tablet pen in my grip) towards my trackpad! You can move the mouse as usual, without setting anything at all, or in my case a trackpad, PLUS whenever the pen is hovering above the tablet, it moves the cursor on screen.

Until I purchased a table, I had been wondering  how this works - how does the tablet and Photoshop know where the brush strokes are going to start. It's so obvious now. Hold your pen above the tablet and orient your position where you want it to start drawing, then drop the nib to the surface. Then your pen handling controls kick in. Right away I could tell that Photoshop brush strokes range from barely noticeable to quite thick strokes, depending on how firm I press with the pen.

That's all for my initial reaction to the product. I can't wait to sit back a bit, cordless in another hour or so, and try out some more features. I don't even know what the buttons on the tablet do, nor the button on the pen.

It's an exciting addition to my drawing tools for sure.