Drool time!

Ooh, what a loverly couple of weeks I've had!

I've moved my hollow-chisel mortiser to my friend's workshop, which has freed up a bit of space, and my old and trusty tablesaw has gone to a mate who can make use of it. I can't film it because it doesn't comply with modern H&S regulations, although it complied with the rules of the day when it was bought, about 15 years ago.

The resulting space has been filled with a nice shiny new Xcalibur cabinet saw from Woodford Woodworking Machinery . Roy was supportive of my idea from the first conversation we had back in November, and now it means that not only can I film knowing that the machine is legal, but I can also photograph it for my articles in Good Woodworking. It's always been a problem avoiding photographing the old saw, and so now all the machines in my shop comply with current regs. Thanks Roy!

The only problem with it is its huge size. The footprint is not much bigger than my old one, just and inch or so, but it is the rails that cause the problem. I could cross-cut a full 8ft sheet with this, if I had the space, the rails giving me 50" capacity to the right of the blade, but I simply don't have that sort of space. I'm loathe the cut down the rails, especially as the saw isn't actually mine, so I've been out and bought some angle and box-section steel, and the 1.2m lengths will give me a capacity of 500mm, which will be ample for most of my needs. I'll still have the long rails if I really do need to fit them.

Well this is supposed to be about filming, not table saws, so I can tell you that we have re-shot some earlier scenes. This is beginning to become a habit, because as we get better, I'm more aware of the flaws in the early work. Some I can fix in software, but some I just want that little bit different, a higher angle, more to the right, that sort of thing.

I'm beginning to get a bit of a backlog of footage though. One of the challenges of film-making is keeping track of all the little bits of footage. Some are only a few seconds long, and if we have several takes it can mean that a 5-minute sequence can consist of quite a few separate files, especially when you tot up the voiceovers, music and stills that may be used as well. I dare say that there is a well-established organizational method for handling all this, but without any formal training, I'm having to re-invent the wheel.

This week I have a deadline for some GW writing, and that should take a day or so, so I really need to crack on and get this footage sorted and get back up-to-date.

It's just graft now

We did a bit of filming yesterday, but not very much. But since our last shoot I've modified the lighting to make it softer, and I think that has improved matters, especially from a shadows point of view. The initial excitement of all this has worn off now, it's just hard graft, and the end still seems a long, long way away. Still, can't stop now, I've told the world!

We started to film a new jig yesterday and I was happy with the result until this morning! I woke up realizing that I could improve the design, so unfortunately most of what we did shoot yesterday is going to be superseded.

I still haven't downloaded what we shot last week yet - my computer has been on the blink all week. I tried to install some software, and just kept going round and round. Trouble was, it did actually appear to be working, just very, very slowly. After several days of faffing about, I eventually found some references to the problem, and did as they suggested. But what sort of program has to be installed in Diagnostic mode, after modifying the registry and disabling System Restore, not to mention being connected to the internet with no firewall or AV software running???

Anyway, the upshot is that I've got nothing else done this week, but my PC is now singing, as it has forced me to do some house-keeping, like removing temporary files and defragging my disk.

One thing I have managed to do is to register some domain names. I'm calling the DVDs "Workshop Essentials", but unfortunately workshopessentials.com has already gone. However, I have got workshopessentials.co.uk, workshop-essentials.co.uk and workshop-essentials.com. The latter is quite nicely readable, too, so I'll probably use that. None of them point anywhere at the moment, but as I'll have to revamp my website for this venture anyway, I'll get them all to point to that.

On the subject of pointing, the US company I bought off doesn't offer redirection as standard; I was astonished that they want $120 a year to redirect the domain to my webspace! Stuff that, my UK host, HomepageUniverse, offers that for free with the basic package. I have to wait 60 days before I can transfer my domain to a different host, but I sure will. That's ridiculous. Pity really, as I was very impressed with their support. I even got a phone call from them welcoming me on board! Sweet.

Bob is away next week, so no filming for a fortnight, but I now have a bit of a backlog anyway, and I need to check that my idea for a better jig is actually sound before I film it, so I still have plenty to do.

It's a long way to Tipperary...

Back after the hols!

Happy New Year to all!

It was back to filming yesterday and today after a break for Christmas and New Year.

I have spent much of the holiday editing and learning about Authoring. I'm not ready for that yet, but I figured it would be good to know what I will have to do, in case it affects the way in which I edit some of the footage. Fortunately it all seems to make sense - maybe I'll find all the pitfalls when I actually come to do it!

I can tell you now who my Sponsors are - some of you will already know - it's Festool. They have been incredibly supportive, and I now have a few nice new Systainers with super-duper tools in them to play with. Nothing has disappointed me yet :) .

I've also had generous help (not just products, but technical help, too) from JSP who manufacture safety equipment and Bighead who make specialist fasteners, and a promise of support from another UK company, too. Watch this space.

We have FINALLY got the sound sorted - at least I jolly well hope so. I have bought another radio mic (is this the fourth?), and ironically I found it at my local independent AV store, Nottingham Audio Visual, within walking distance of my home! I wish I'd gone there first. They were very helpful, let me try it out first, and even the price was good too. Altogether excellent.

The last one went back to Lancaster just before Christmas. That reminds me, I must check that they have actually refunded me, I've had no paperwork back yet...

That's it, really, not much to report, as it's more of the same in the studio, really. But we are getting faster at filming (at least we are when I can remember my script) and setting up for shots is quicker too. I can just say "Bob ,we need a green shot", or, "Drill press next, Bob", and he sets up the hardware whilst I get the props together. It's becoming quite smooth.

Oh, just one more thing - we might have our first commercial video commission. Bob's son takes after him as a good musician and plays in a band. We are going to have a go at making a pop video! OK, so "commercial" is perhaps being a bit optimistic, but it will be doing it for someone else, not just me!

I can see a whole new career opening up before me!