On Hearing the First Cuckoo in Spring

[David Porter]

Another of my little efforts where the music takes centre stage, this time by Delius (somewhst edited), and I have added some of my images of the English countryside that he liked so much, hopefully to complement the music. Comments and Suggestions always welcome.

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[Guest Yachtsman1]

Hi Mick

I'll download it Sunday when my new months BT allocation starts, don't think I'm neglecting you

Regards Eric

Yachtsman1

[rick235]

Hi Mick,

Great shots of the English country side at its best.

Thanks

Rick

[Ken Cox]

Mick

makes me jealous to see so many flowers at this time of year

color great - full screen on my ws monitor - timing right on

great production

ken

[Lin Evans]

Hi Mick,

Soothing music and lovely imagery of the bucolic countryside. Very nicely presented.

I think what might work even better for the little Cuckoo might be an animated gif made from a few frames of video. That technique has not been yet properly exploited. I'm considering doing a study and possibly a tutorial on the construction of such. If you have or get the chance to take some brief footage of a Cuckoo in flight or hopping from perch to perch I would appreciate the chance to break it down by frame and possibly create a few animated gifs which we could share on the forum.

Best regards,

Lin

[fh1805]

Mick,

What follows is, of necessity, a personal opinion. This is your show and you must build it the way you want it to be.

I'm not a great fan of "motion for motion's sake". Those slides which were panning or zooming throughout their life did nothing for me, and they were paced far too quickly for my taste. The image quality seemed to be diminished because of the motion. I know Ken Cox goes on about having manual control so he can stop and look at individual images. I felt that I wanted to do that with these moving images. I didn't do it because, as I believe, you were offering an AV sequence and not a slideshow with background music. It would have broken the flow that you were creating to have interrupted it.

As an ex-birdwatcher I have to say: that middle cuckoo was a "wrong 'un". It wasn't the European cuckoo that gives the classic "cuckoo" call; and that jarred with me.

If you want to bring in the images of the real cuckoo, why not use the perching bird image and have it pop-up and vanish each time the clarinet (or was it oboe?, I wasn't concentrating that closely on the details of the music) plays the cuckoo call. That then gives it some purpose within the sequence. As it was, the inclusion of the cuckoos came across as a bit of a gimmick.

The flying cuckoo looked very artificial as it tracked around the arc of a curve. Perhaps having it move along the lower part of the arc (as it does) and then switching to move it along the upper part of a similar arc might look better. And, if it is possible, I think a gentler arc (greater radius of circle) would be an improvement, too.

Despite all those comments, I enjoyed the sequence and found it very evocative of the English countryside. Thanks for giving us the chance to view it.

regards,

Peter

[Ken Cox]

GLAD I COULD STOP IT TODAY AS I HAD PEAT MOSS ALL OVER MY HANDS -had just planted some "Ruby Stella"- "gee i better go wash and start again and see what they are growing over the pond"<BR><BR>maybe the the bird was a bit cheesy but it didn't detract me from enjoying the flowers <IMG class=bbc_emoticon alt= src="http://www.picturestoexe.com/forums/public/style_emoticons/default/cool.gif"> <BR><BR>btw Pete <BR>"with these moving images. I didn't do it because, as I believe, you were offering an AV sequence and not a slideshow with background music. It would have broken the flow that you were creating to have interrupted it."<BR><BR>after studying this you can always "play it again Sam"<IMG class=bbc_emoticon alt= src="http://www.picturestoexe.com/forums/public/style_emoticons/default/cool.gif"> <BR><BR>ken

[morturn]

Mick

I thought that was an excellent slideshow that could of stood head and shoulders with the rest of the best, your images show the British countryside off at in all its sunning beauty.

Unfortunately the cuckoo just looked so unrealistic, it became a distraction not an addition. The effect of this was to hijack your concept of the music taking the centre stage, which as an original idea, was quite good.

I am quite OK with the movement, with the exception of the rapid zoom into the cuckoo, to me the movement does add a little extra to the show if done subtlety.

A great choice of music, and a show like this does give one the opportunity to listen and relax.

Thanks for sharing it.

[Bert]

Hi Mike,

I think you made a beautiful show with the pictures and music enhancing each other. Others have commented already about the use of the cuckoo, I did not mind it the first two appearances. The images you showed remind me a lot of the country side where I live in North West Connecticut. But that is I think why they call this area "New England"

Thanks for showing.

Bert

[David Porter]

Hi Mick

I'll download it Sunday when my new months BT allocation starts, don't think I'm neglecting you

Regards Eric

Yachtsman1

Have you not got cable in your area, I'm sure you would get a better deal.

ps I've just seen your double on morning TV reveiwing the papers - a yorkshire poet but I didn't catch his name.

Mick

[David Porter]

Hi Guys,

Thank you very much for your comments and input. Seems to be the cuckoos are the main issue. Yes they are a bit gimmicky but, I thought, a bit of fun. Ill have a go at making them more realistic but may need some help.

I tried to get the first cuckoo to swoop rather than fly in an arc. I did achieve the flight path I wanted by altering the Centre figures in O&A for different keyframes but could not get the bird to point in the correct direction by adding the image as a child of itself and using Rotate. Ill review Lins tutorials on this and try again. I did think about Peters suggestion just to have them appearing at each cuckoo but as there are quite a few, I thought this may get monotonous but it would certainly be more realistic. Sorry Lin, no Cuckoo video but I hope somebody can help or I could do some Gull shots (I can recognise them). Original Cuckoo shots came from Google Images, so Im blaming them for any misidentification!

I agree the fast zoom into the Cuckoo and wishing well shot does not work and I will alter that. However, the zoom outs I have used to give some emphasis to shots I particularly like when viewed full screen and the pans I have generally used for close up shots of plants of flowers where there is little other interest in the shot. I am reasonably happy with these although your comments may have an effect on future shows.

ps. Sorted the flight path.

[snapcam]

Hello Mick

Very enjoyable sequence of lovely images. Like Peter I am not a fan of movement just because we can but here I thought you handled it very well.

The panning across images of single coloured plants was good. This adds interest to what can be very static shots. A couple of the zooms I thought were a little quick for the relaxed mood of the sequence

There is mostly nice progression through the sequence.This can be lacking in shows like this and turns them into slideshows with music.

I just watched and enjoyed a relaxed journey through some beautiful countryside.

But now the cuckoo in the nest Im sorry to comment on something that you obviously think should be there but I felt the moving bird jarred and broke my mood each time it appeared).

I think the music gave me the impression of the cuckoo when needed. A more subtle way may be to fade in and out a partial image of a bird in a corner of the image on screen, however its your show.

As I said really enjoyed it (and the photography wasn't bad either )

Snapcam

[David Porter]

Okay the Cuckoos have to be re-vamped but I'll need some help. Perhaps Lin will come up with something with animated gif but what about video, masked and reduced opacity to cut down the background. First we need some video.

[Guest Yachtsman1]

Okay the Cuckoos have to be re-vamped but I'll need some help. Perhaps Lin will come up with something with animated gif but what about video, masked and reduced opacity to cut down the background. First we need some video.

Hi Mick

Can't download your show until tomorrow so this cuckoo thing isn't clear yet. if you want some cuckoo video try Youtube.

Regs Eric

Yachtsman1.

[David Porter]

Thanks Eric for the Youtube link but I don't know how to download it to something that can be edited etc., matybe there is a way.

Mick.

[Ken Cox]

Mick

if you have firefox -- c/w the download helper you can save files - but it takes some diddling

then maybe insert the video into pte

there likely is a way but somebody else will have to give you the details

I have an old version of firefox on my xp system and have been able to save Colin's large flight simulator files to avi format

ken

[Guest Yachtsman1]

Thanks Eric for the Youtube link but I don't know how to download it to something that can be edited etc., matybe there is a way.

Mick.

Hi Mick if you search through DG's posts from about a month ago there was a link to a free YouTube downloader.

I'm about to download your show to see what all the Cuck*** fuss is about

Regards Eric

Yachtsman1.

[Guest Yachtsman1]

Hi Mick

I've downloaded & watched it & kept it. Lovely photographs, relaxing music, but I'm afraid the cuckoo has to go.

I've just finished a similar type show of the gardens surrounding our retirement property. It has 4 video clips which took it over 150MB. It's not of a quality I would want to use some of my BT download quota on, which is one of the disadvantages of using video.

Regards Eric

Yachtsman1.

[Guest Yachtsman1]

Hi Again Mick, the Youtube downloader link is http://youtubedownloaderhd.com/donation.html you don't have to donate it's up to you, no seniors rate I'm afraid

Regards Eric

Yachtsman1

[Ken Cox]

Eric

thks for the reminder - have just got 2 collections done on my win 7 system/ie 9

i used

http://www.youtubedownloaderhd.com/help.html

have to watch tho' - they want to install a lot of xtra's

ken

[David Porter]

Thanks for all the input and the fate of the cuckoos has been decided. As my wife and a couple of other friends thought the cuckoos are a bit of fun, they are staying for display on my TV and Youtube. But for the purists, subject to anyone coming up with a realistic flying cuckoo, I am going to follow Peter's and Snapcam's advice, find some better shots and keep them grounded, fading them in and out as required. I'll put it on my website when done.

Eric, thanks for the Youube conversion link. It works very well indeed.

[fh1805]

I am going to... find some better shots...

Mick,

Google Images "European Cuckoo" will show you lots of images; some might be in the public domain. However, you'd better not waste too much time; they'll all be heading south back to Africa in a few weeks!

regards,

Peter

[David Porter]

Mick,

Google Images "European Cuckoo" will show you lots of images; some might be in the public domain. However, you'd better not waste too much time; they'll all be heading south back to Africa in a few weeks!

regards,

Peter

I'd better call it "The Last Cuckoo of Summer" then!