3reef's DIY Video Contest!

[Matt Rogers]

Things have been awfully busy but the recent donations and 3reef memberships have not gone unnoticed. So I'd like to announce as a token of thanks, a new 3reef Contest!




1st Place - A Seachem 50 GPD Pinnacle RO Filter!
2nd Place - A full line of Seachem Aquavitro supplements!
3rd Place - 3reef Shirts and stickers!

All you need is a video camera or camera phone and a moment to become a 3reef member and you can win a Seachem Pinnacle 50 GPD RO Filter!


DEADLINE FOR YOUR SUBMISSION IS JULY 20th!

The last one was a blast but a bit more challenging than the ones in the past, so we are going to make this one a bit easier...

THE IDEA:

3reef Tech Video Contest!

- How to videos - how to set up a sump, protein skimmer, wiring, etc.
- DIY - Do it yourself videos - how to make a stand, filter, etc..


We think that this one will be informative and a lot of fun! Big thanks to 3reef Supporter bbsbliss for the idea.

DEADLINE FOR YOUR SUBMISSION IS JULY 20th!

Start the gears turning! And thanks again for supporting 3reef.com. It's truly appreciated.



Once you have made your video... Start a thread here on this board with your video using the YouTube button above the post box (details below).


To embed the video:
<-- THIS IS THE BUTTON! Found above the text box when you are typing a new post.

Then put the ID of your video in between the tags like this:

[ youtube ]iW7dtZIwISA[/ youtube ]

(I added the spaces around the word 'youtube' for demo'ing. )


Your Video will be voted on by visitors and members of 3reef.com.


(voting date to follow)


HOW:

Originally Posted by scubba.steve

Hey i would like to try and submitt a video, using my digital camera..
My question is....... Is there any free video editing software out there that lets you splice more than one video together and add pic's?
Ive never edited a video before and would like to know how this is done so i can submitt a descent video.
Thanks

A quick search found these:
Free Ultra Video Editor freeware download - powerfull video editing program ,you can apply varity and wide range of effects - Best Freeware Download
Avidemux 2.5.0 Freeware download page - tested and reviewed software downloads from SnapFiles

And a list of video editing freeware here:
Free video editing software list for all platforms.

If you have a reef-related video you would like to share, simply click the YouTube button found above the new post message box and add the video ID! (ex: Zi_v3GSHyTA) It's as simple as that!

HOW TO UPLOAD VIDEOS:

1) Create an account on YouTube.com. It's free.
2) Look at their suggestions for video compression. They are helpful. Videos must be 100meg or less.
3) I recommend virtualdub at virtualdub.org to compress videos. I compressed the video in this example from 379megs down to 44megs with little more than setting the video compression to mpeg4, lowering sound quality to 8bit mono and resizing it to 320x240. I think I should have done 340 I think as I don't think the ratio was quite right, but you get the idea.
4) After uploading the video to youtube, grab the video ID to post here.


ADD YOUR VIDEO TO THE GOOGLE 3REEF GROUP:

I created a video group on google called 3reef. Please add your videos to that group. Here is the link to the group:
3reef Group on Google

All you have to do is click the 'Add to Groups' link found under your video player on the Google site. I think it would be really cool if we link all our videos to that group so we get a nice video library going. What'ya say?

RULES FOR VIDEOS ON 3REEF:

1) The usual, as with YouTube policies, no porn or anything illegal or you are banned.

2) Please post reef-related videos.

[Matt Rogers]

There is always some trepidation with every 3reef Video Contest. Some brave soul has to be the 1st one to jump in the pool before everyone else does.



I want to show you how easy it is these days to upload videos.

Sign up for YouTube here
It's easy to do and free.

Then note that they accept pretty big videos these days that makes uploading easy:

About Uploading

• Up to 1 GB in size.
• Up to 10 minutes in length.

Best Formats for Uploading

YouTube can accept almost any video format for upload, but for most users we have found the following settings give the best results.

• Video Format: H.264, MPEG-2 or MPEG-4 preferred
• Aspect Ratio: Native aspect ratio without letterboxing (examples: 4:3, 16:9)
• Resolution: 640x360 (16:9) or 480x360 (4:3) recommended
• Audio Format: MP3 or AAC preferred
• Frames per second: 30
• Maximum length: 10 minutes (we recommend 2-3 minutes)
• Maximum file size: 1 GB

YouTube can also accept just about any video format for upload! This includes your cell phone movies!

CELL PHONE Video Transfers:
* Mac Users - turn bluetooth on on your phone and on your Mac topbar. Select phone from menu and 'browse.' Go to video folder and download.
* PC Users - you may be able to use bluetooth as well or download bitPim to transfer your phone video files. It's free!

If you would like to convert your video file format to .avi or the like to drop into a video editor, use formatfactory. It's free and easy to use!

Format Factory is a multifunctional media converter.
Provides functions below:
All to MP4/3GP/MPG/AVI/WMV/FLV/SWF.
All to MP3/WMA/AMR/OGG/AAC/WAV.
All to JPG/BMP/PNG/TIF/ICO/GIF/TGA.
Rip DVD to video file , Rip Music CD to audio file.
MP4 files support iPod/iPhone/PSP/BlackBerry format.
Source files support RMVB.

SO THESE DAYS, THERE IS NO EXCUSE!
Uploading videos, even from your phone is easy.
You don't even have to compress your videos.

SO GET STARTED SO YOU CAN WIN!

[jakeh24]

haha awesome i just started my video today

thanks for posting all of that stuff i have had trouble in the past with videos failing to upload.

[Da_Gopherboy]

Just got back from home depot with materials for my project, video to be comming soon

Matt, did you want us to post links to in this thread or did you want us each to make a thread for it?

[wastemanagement]

its an oldie but a goodie
heres a little kick start for you noobies

[Matt Rogers]

That is a good one WM. I also really liked your DIY wavemaker one! I hope you do another one!

Originally Posted by Da_Gopherboy

Matt, did you want us to post links to in this thread or did you want us each to make a thread for it?

Start a new thread please. I look forward to it.

[Matt Rogers]

Here are some example videos from past contests to give you some ideas.






I look forward to seeing your videos soon!

matt

[Matt Rogers]

T - 19 days left for submissions.

Anyone working on it yet?

[jakeh24]

Originally Posted by Matt Rogers

T - 19 days left for submissions.

Anyone working on it yet?

im about half way
waiting on one more thing in the mail should be here today or tomorrow

[Matt Rogers]

Originally Posted by jakeh24

im about half way
waiting on one more thing in the mail should be here today or tomorrow

Awesome!