www.dougdaulton.com

Powell & Mason Cable Car

• Dropped off my clothes at SFGreenClean, a company that wet cleans “dry clean clothes in a very environmentally-friendly way. My clothes smell and feel great while looking sharp.
• Grabbed the Powell & Hyde cable car to work and watched Alcatraz Island and three-masted schooner disappear as it crested a hill.
• Texted friends with reliable service from AT&T throughout the ride.
• Listened to French, Chinese, and Japanese being spoken as locals and tourists chatted with one another on the ride.
• Smelled the delicious scent of burning wood from the cable car brakes.
• At Market Street Turnaround, a Spanish tourist asked me for directions. Within seconds, a local stopped to ask if we needed any help. I’ve seen this sort of local support for tourists and newcomers repeatedly in my six weeks here.
• Walking from the cable car stop to the office, I was treated to a wide variety of talented street musicians, including:
  • Man with guitar belting out an acoustic version of Snoop’s Gin & Juice.
  • A freestyle rap troupe including a human beat box.
  • A talented drummer using five-gallon tubs and an old Zildjan cymbal.
  • A guy and a girl singing the theme from Grease … a capella.
• A street-team marketer handed me a sample can of a high-end Italian iced coffee.
• A little old lady fell at the curb trying to get to her cab. Four random passers-by stopped to help her up.
• As I opened the door to the office building, I realized that the one thing I’ve been missing the entire time here was smog. Well, I haven’t actually missed it, but I expected to see, smell and taste in the air of a city this size. I don’t. I think the electric buses, cable cars, subway, electric taxis and ZipCars, not the mention the abundant greenery are all at work to keep the air clean.

I know that walk sounds like something from a Coca-Cola commercial, but it happened just like that. And, aside from the occasional foggy, chilly day, my experience in San Francisco has pretty much been like that every day.

So yeah, I heart San Francisco.

Peace,

Doug

Alcatraz Island (Chestnut & Hyde)

Scooner in the Bay (Chestnut & Hyde)

A lot of folks have asked for more details about the Mobile Streaming Kit (MSK) that we used at NAB 2010 and on the set of Marty Rosenberg’s film. In the most recent episode of Gear Media Tech, Alex breaks it all down for you in under five minutes. And, you get to see some big bald guy lugging it around after a day on the floor of NAB. ;^D

At some point in the near future, we’ll produce a more in depth video that provides greater detail on the rig itself. We’ll also include some lessons learned from the field and some cool insight on the forthcoming HD version of the LiveU unit.

Peace,

Doug

My first work as an intern for the Pixel Corps was as the streaming camera operator at NAB 2010. The segments shot at that show are being used to relaunch Gear Media Tech on PixelCorps.tv. With that in mind, it is fitting that my first real post-production work be on the same show.

The first day in the office, I transferred and reviewed all of the EX-1 footage and began digital capture of all of the HV30 footage. With all of the footage in hand, it was my job to organize the segments into related chunks and create a production plan to get the show out the door. Along the way, we realized we need to rebuild all of the motion graphics (open, close and lower thirds) and related sound design. That task also fell to me. The results can be seen in the footage above and the subsequent episodes of GMT in the pipeline.

Credit for the 3D logo design belongs to McKay Hawkes, a talented 3-D artist on the Pixel Corps staff. Working with his logo, I created all of the remaining assets myself with input from fellow intern, Vlad Korishev. Using Soundtrack Pro, I also built all of the audio tracks found in the open and the close. That was a lot of fun and far less intimidating than it appeared at first.

I’ve built such assets from templates in the past, but this was the first motion graphics project I developed completely from scratch. I learned a lot and am looking forward to working on more complex projects down the road.

Peace,

Doug