[TheForge] web cam (& best alternatives)

Mon Jul 10 06:31:11 EDT 2006

Here's my two cents.....

When attending an ABANA conference it's impossible to see everything at once
anyway.....so I figure the next best plan is to take a guy who's dedicated
at least 12 years to filming demonstrators, has purchased and bought his own
cameras, recording gear, and has traveled across the US to many of the
Affiliate demos and made documentation of demonstrators willing to have him
film them.  He has also been responsible on the set up crew of the past
three ABANA conferences in setting up and taking down.  (so he's had a great
handle on what was happening, who was demoing what, and which ones to demo -
if so approved).

I simply buy DVD's from Roger Degner - he's so dedicated to documenting the
work and methods of blacksmithing that one can not go wrong.  Getting five
Rogers to do this would be an amazing trick to finance, organize, and pull
off - but one thing you can do is support his bad habit and buy his
DVD's..... I find his work to be commendable, his DVD's good to excellent,
and worth the money is not even part of the equation to the time he puts
into travel, editing, and making his CD's.

Roger was in Seattle - I'm sure he's filmed some parts of the conference -
and the other good way to catch things you miss is thru the CD's Dave
mentions of the Galleries. Those are done very well by pros and capture all
the work in the galleries and sometimes there is more than one gallery so
it's cheap money as compared to a $50 book of inspirational pictures
.....and with the CD's you get work and styles from not just the US - but
from all over the world.

So for about $30 you can buy a gallery CD and the things that Roger filmed -
my money is on him to catch the best demonstrators doing some awesome work
as he's into it. I'm looking forward to his report on the conference and
buying the CD's he made during his trip.

I can't say this is any comparison to catching a conference in person - but
when you have to rebuild your shop that a hurricane took down, or watch out
for your mother who's had a heart attack recently, or just plain can't
afford to go - I'd say Roger Degner is a secret agent on our side for
helping us see some of what we missed.

If someone wants to run for the board of ABANA great, I'm certainly not
condemning Pete or his idea to film more - but just making you aware of the
best bang for the buck from a guy who's purchased the past Gallery CD's and
many of Roger's DVD's - which have all been worth well worth the watch.

Dave Mudge, Thanks for all you do on the board - I like knowing there is
someone I know and believe in - working for us members.  

Ralph 

-----Original Message-----
From: theforge-bounces at mailman.qth.net
[mailto:theforge-bounces at mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of dave mudge
Sent: Monday, July 10, 2006 1:57 AM
To: TheForge
Subject: RE: [TheForge] web cam

Pete, I have been able to get a web cam set-up at LaCrosse, Richmond and
Seattle. I e-mailed just about every blacksmith on the planet and invited
them to visit the web cam.
All things are possible given enough money, equipment, planning,
coordinating and volunteers including a person to be responsible for pulling
together all aspects of any given project. I think that your idea of
videotaping the major demos and producing DVD is a great one. Lets think for
just a moment what it will take to pull it off. First we need a
comprehensive plan and presentation to TheBoard. That's not too hard to do.
Next we need a dedicated volunteer /coordinator for the project. This person
will really have to deliver results, no b.s. The coordinator (committee
chairman) will have to round up capable and experienced camera operators
that have equipment, time and interest to volunteer and are going to the
conference anyway. They will also have to deliver or the whole project will
be jeopardized.  Now if you want to video five demos that are going on at
the same time, you will need five camera operators. Let's not forget about
the legal stuff. You will have to get permission (in writing) to tape and
sell the demonstration and image of the demonstrator and whatever
intellectual property may come into the picture.
Ok, so you pull that off, now you have to edit, edit, edit. This involves
computers, software, more volunteers. Lastly and probably the easiest part
is getting the actual DVD's made. That just takes some money and
coordination. Oh, where did that money come from? Was there a line item in
the extremely tightly stretched ABANA budget? Did it come from one of the
department or committee budgets? Which one? I know that on the last two
conferences we had CD's made of all the gallery stuff and other interesting
things. We hired a professional photographer ($$$) and ended up with some
really nice CD's. They are available through the ABANA Store,
www.bookmasters.com/abana/index.html  for about $15.
I am NOT trying to put a crimp in the idea of videos of the demonstrations.
I think it's a great idea. This is pretty much an outline of what it will
take to produce these DVD's and maybe a little understanding of what we had
for the web cam. If we had even one other web cam, laptop with wireless
connection and a dedicated volunteer that is going to sit with the camera /
computer all day and night, demos, tailgate, auction, midnight madness,
galleries, lessons, beer garden, slide presentations, etc.  It's all
do-able. Just takes volunteers and coordination and money.
Who wants to run for a position on TheBoard? Get your application in ASAP.

Dave Mudge
ABANA Member Services
Affiliate Liaison
Internet Committee Chair

P.S. I haven't heard the Seattle numbers yet but Richmond and Le Cross were
something like 1200 registered participants.

-----Original Message-----
From: Peter Fels And Phoebe Palmer [mailto:artgawk at thegrid.net]
Sent: Sunday, July 09, 2006 2:34 AM
To: dave mudge
Subject: Re: [TheForge] web cam

Hi Dave:
Points taken. And a great deal of credit is due for all the
thousands of volunteer hours that go into this. I'm grateful to
yourself and Mr Guy for the glimpse we get..no doubt.
I'd assumed that the more esoteric equiptment would be rented.
For our less well-to-do members,like myself, attendance is
prohibitively expensive and the conference is
enticingly,frustratingly out of reach.
Would it be possible to use inexpensive videocams to record the
demos and burn CDs from them? They could be sold or rented to
members for a few bucks and we could all benefit from the
conference, rather than a fortunate few hundred members.
I know..." tastes like moose turd pie...but it's good though!"...PF

dave mudge wrote:
> Your ABANA dues 'almost' cover the cost of the two magazines that you get.
> The budget for the web cam for this event was about $150.
> Jim Guy used his own web cam and his own laptop and his own wireless
set-up.
> He volunteered his time and expertise.
> I had to really push hard to get ABANA to pay for the wireless phone
hook-up
> to broadcast the signal from the web cam.
> You have obviously never looked into the cost of  "streaming video" or the
> equipment that one would need to be able to send 5
> different signals, simultaneously to the web site. For an event that
happens
> for four days every two years, I don't think that it would be a wise way
to
> spend the member's money.
> Dave Mudge
> ABANA Member Services Director
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: theforge-bounces at mailman.qth.net
> [mailto:theforge-bounces at mailman.qth.net]On Behalf Of Peter Fels And
Phoebe
> Palmer
> Sent: Saturday, July 08, 2006 1:09 AM
> To: Sponsored by ABANA
> Subject: Re: [TheForge] web cam
>
> I take it our cameraman has gone to bed as it keeps repeating the
> same image.
> In this day and age we should be able to see and hear live feeds
> from each demo...Abana membership ain't cheap, can it really cost
> all that much?....Pete F
>
> schade at acegroup.cc wrote:
>
>>the abana webcam seems to be working.
>>
>>http://www.abana.org/webcam.shtml
>>
>>It seems to reload every 30 seconds. A picture of an open area with
>>people walking across. No hot iron action yet.
>>
>>Bob
>>
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