Help required - Weather & the Elements

[merseyj0ker]

Hello Fellow Vj's,
I was wondering if anyone can help me. I am vjing at a place in a couple of weeks time. The theme of the event is based around weather and the elements. I was wondering if anyone can point me in the right direction of footage based around the following.

Weather and the elements

heat/ sun/ light/ water/ rain/ storm/ lightening/ thunder.

I am particularly keen to find loops containing lightning.

many thanks

merseyj0ker

Also can anyone recommend any VHS /DVD containing similar stuff
pls

[myogenic]

it takes a while to sift through the crap, but have you tried searching on the stormchaser websites?

[syzygy]

I've picked up plenty of 'wild weather' type videos from charity shops. They are exactly the sort of thing that people buy, watch once, and then dump into oxfam etc.

Dan.

Editted to say: note that using such videos in public performances may be a breach of copyright.

[merseyj0ker]

Thanks Guys. Always get a rapid response for the community.


merseyj0ker

[Amukidi]

Errrrm....Oh never mind...

[merseyj0ker]

Any specific websites. Its a minefiled lookin for weather vid footage??

[sputnik]

go to :http://artbeats.com
type in any keyword

[Amukidi]

Yeah - why not send this link to your promoter and cut out the middle man?

[merseyj0ker]

Respect Sputnik for the link. Your probably right Jaffa. I will the url to the promoter next time.

merseyj0ker

[psychodude]

Maybe it's a crazy thought but why not make it yourself, with a program like Bryce. (http://www.vjcentral.com/software/show/3004)
It very easy to use, especially for things like skies and suns and moons and things.
This way you rule out the copyright-issue :)

[Amukidi]

Actually, the point I was trying to make was, why not make it yourself with real weather and a camcorder! This country has a huge range of weather conditions - I was woken on Sunday by a massive thunderstorm, very sunny now, pissing down thismorning get my drift? Make your own footage and save ?200 on Bryce (which, in the same way as 3DS Max does, always looks like Bryce!!).

[unjulation]

i dont want to derail this thred so i'll be short, well about 5'10" actualy but enough of the c**p jokes.......

jaffa i have to say that not everyone wants/has the resorses to do as you sergest, personaly i'd rarther rip a good quality (yes i know quality is an abstract) well made clips, by people with a grater skill then i have then use some shakey cam s***t, call me phiniky if you want but i hate shakey cam its like warching your old mans dodgey home movies and thats not what i need to be remided of when i'm out partying

[holly]

Hey, Unj, they make this thing now called a tripod....:D

BRYCE is ass-slow. There are some others, TERRAGEN and MOJOWORLD. I just made all this fire footage out of one plug-in in AE (Fractal Fire by _________ I'll check when I next open AE and repost). There's another one for water: PSUNAMI but it's pricey and slow, but wow, looks just like real water. Clouds I've made with Artmatic and also most 3D programs have some kind of sky control, but real clouds are cooler if you can catch it on the right time of year... Rain isn't necessarily about sky but could also be a puddle in the street....

This is the sort of thing you can't just make in a day (or all from one source), so it might as well be an on-going project.

[Amukidi]

Unj - you surprise me! A good second hand camera can be had for about ?100 more than a copy of "Bryce". Surely, as a visual artist, a camera has to take priority over almost all other kit? I use a Jessops ?25 tripod, which is shit, but keeps the camera steady, before that, I used to sit the camera in a rolled up towel, you cannot use expense as an excuse not to own a video camera. Just think of the satisfaction to be had when folks say "cool clip man" and you shot it yourself! You get total control over all your work - sure, that means thought and planning, but the benefits easily make up for it. I know you are not alone on this forum on this issue, but that does absolutely amaze me, there's only so much you can do with someone elses work - but a blank tape in a camera - that's potentially limitless.
If you are truly skint - borrow one, most of this years gigs have been made with approximately 3 or 4 days worth of shooting. No excuses!!

[MightyMouseLBC]

Bryce is definelty the way to go for any weather patterns you might want.


Very user friendly

[Amukidi]

Err, you saying that its better than the real thing? As I said - anyone with any experience can spot a "Bryce" produce piece a mile off, which precludes its use for anything serious in my book! Its a bit like saying wanking is better than sex!

[holly]

Sometimes a wanking IS better than sex:shake: Depends on who it's with and how far they're willing to let you go....

Likewise, sometimes you gotta go for the simulation Jaffa, when the real thing won't cooperate.... Can't expect all weather to happen within a day or two. We don't all live in UK....

But there is a difference between weather and terrain. Mostly Bryce and the others is going to give you terrain, maybe MJ wanted something a little more focused? Abstract? I have a couple of cloud and fire clips I guess I could put on my server for a little while. Would that help?

[agsystems]

premiere has its own piece of ass lightning effect... why not use that?

:zzz:

[agsystems]

wanking is underestimated for sure...

it has a kind of immediacy and can have a quite powerfull effect on crowds of people...

sitting in a field waiting for a tunder storm that may never happen, is slightly less interesting

perhaps somewhere between the two? its easy to make found fuutage your own, with a bit of clever editing or re-filming [i gues this is the 'hire a prostitute' analogy?]


//apologies for any typo's, poor spelling, or offense...

[holly]

Yeah, yeah! Hire a prostitute and get the job done by a professional, if you can afford it. That's always best. Of course there's nothing exclusively yours about it....

[videotechno]

merseyj0ker - i've got some lofi quicktime clips made with psunami up on my site (they've been up far too long incidentally), and you're welcome to those. shoot me an e-mail after you've grabbed what you want, and i'll try to swap that stuff out for the cloudy/lightning stuff i had up there before (some bryce, some AE with lightning/advanced lightning/turbulator/fractal noise/whatever).

-rick

[merseyj0ker]

Thanks for the all your help vjs. Obviously in the ideal situation it would be good to go out and film various weather conditions.

I basically havent got that much time before the event so I thought I would ask the community for some advice.

merseyj0ker

[silk]

can't you tape something from " discovery" any weather docu's ?

[syzygy]

jaffa - two points

1) Britain has varied weather but there is some footage of weather effects that you are just not going to get in this country(hopefully) e.g. tsunami, giant mid-west thunderheads, hail the size of small cars etc

2) merseyjoker has only a couple of weeks until his gig. He is unlikely to get any snow footage between now and then (even in Britain ;) )

I'm all for collecting our own footage - that's we we try to do as much as possible nowerdays, but sometimes a better result can be acheived by using footage that a pro cameraperson has filmed.

Where would dance music be if every producer insisted on personally sampling every sound in their music from life?

(I don't really want this thread to trun into another copyright/filming your own stuff/ artistic integrity thread but at least that will be more on topic than the relative merits of sex and masturbation :) )

[merseyj0ker]

I am relatively new to vjing and only recently started using my own footage when I play at events. I find this more satisfying now than ripping off other peoples.

Once again I stress this is purely a time issue. The promoters have asked for visuals based around the theme "weather and the elements". Cant really turn down paid work if it comes my way and all that.

The forum for me is the main place to ask questions because I guess many of you have been there, seen it, done it before.

Thanks Syzygy, Silk and the rest for your input. My intention was not to start a war.

merseyj0ker

[holly]

Don't take it personally. Things have been dead around here lately so everyone's being silly and Jaffa's just itching for a good horn-locking. We've been trying to lure him over to less practical, more esoteric debates.

In the US we have shop.PBS.org where you can buy VHS and DVDs of weather documentaries. There must be a UK equivilant....

[merseyj0ker]

Excellent Holly. Good idea. I will check it out the internet.

merseyj0ker

[Amukidi]

Yeah, sorry 'bout that - I'm just programmed at the moment to jump down people's throats whenever they make enquiries into "found-footage" - I often think I'd be better off keeping my mouth shut.

[videotechno]

oh yeah--digital juice have a set of video loops ["jumpbacks"] called "Weather & The Elements" - downsides for you may be that it's NTSC & around $250.

here's da linky: http://www.digitaljuice.com/video/jumpbacks_gallery.asp?volume=15

[psychodude]

there is no real problem anymore using NTSC tapes 'cause nowadays almost any VCR will take NTSC aswell as PAL. I 've just (proffesionally) some VCR's from various quality and they all did the thing (even the cheapo 30 ? one). Some older versions sometimes only give black and white, so you better test it first.
But if you wanna use NTSC tapes it should work.

[holly]

I'm just programmed at the moment to jump down people's throats whenever they make enquiries into "found-footage"

Well, I'm in agreement here Jaffa. I think in general sampling from television is stealing, and (just my opinion but) television has so little worth watching it's an insult to be shown it at a club, even with 20 funky-doodle filters on it. Television revenue comes from advertisers who pay per eyeball watching the show, so you are in effect showing to more eyeballs that what has been paid for, while stripping out the ads. Some television is paid through subscription, but it still works the same way (cable company estimates how many viewers are watching a certain station and pays accordingly).

BUYing a disc off a specialty website and showing clips from it is not stealing (at least according to vague copyright laws) as long as you are not sharing or pirating. We all know we can rip a CD to mp3 and listen to them on our laptops, and there's no law to say other people can't listen when you play them. There may be licensing issues about public showings, but I'm thinking in the real world if you have a receipt for the video it's a business expense (one that should be passed along to the client for special requests, btw), and a tape was sold that otherwise wouldn't have.

Even the motives are completely different (and if you think motive has nothing to do with what is a crime and what isn't, tell it to the judge). MJ is asked by a client to show weather. He could charge them $30 for a VHS tape (plus a little more for prep), or he could tell them to wait a year while he compiles weather footage on his own and he'll calculate the hours at the end.... Which attitude is going to get him the job?

[Morninglight]

Originally posted by sputnik
go to :http://artbeats.com
type in any keyword

:eek:

http://artbeats.com/products/RF2/graphics/RF223.jpg
3.6mb $149.00

:confused:

[holly]

I know, I know. It's stupid right? You could buy the plug-in that made that lighting footage for way less....

But, it is minimal (no storm clouds in the background), completely artificial, and ready to Lumakey. You cannot buy something like this on video tape or at the local DVD store. This is specialty merchandise. So what if we know how much it cost to make something like this, the ad house's client doesn't know and I'm sure the ad house doesn't mind passing along the expense to the client.