Watch This Video on the Construction of the OS Xbox Pro

I'm fascinated by how-to videos that are well done and show an interesting or goofy idea. Watch this one as a guy turns an Xbox into a PC with Apple OS. Not only is his handy-work and skills with various mod tools impressive, but his video work is top-notch too.

This video documents the build of my newest computer that I call the OS Xbox Pro. Thanks to my sponsors Newegg.com and ExpressHD.com. Music by E-603 and Girl Talk. For more information about this build visit www.willudesign.com.

Found Via @TimCAD on Twitter.

Video: Social Bookmarking in Plain English | Common Craft - In Plain English

The Common Craft Show is about simple video tutorials in "plain english" that introduce consumers to new technology products. Common Craft is a small company run by a married couple who are passionate about explanation.

Our business is explanation. We are hired to take a fresh look at a situation, problem, product or service and create a video that explains the issue in plain English so that a maximum number of people can understand it.

On a recent update, they turned their unique style and technique to the task of explaining Social Bookmarking with services like del.icio.us.

We made this video because we want others to feel the power of social bookmarking and how it works to make web pages easier to remember, organize and share.

Tools like these make the whole internet much more useful. Introducing these tools to the uninitiated is made less daunting using these videos from the Common Craft Show. See their site and other videos at CommonCraft.com - In Plain English.

Zombies! How-to Special FX on the Cheap

Here is a good tutorial on creating movie studio quality makeup effects for zombies in your movie projects.

Photos That Pop Out of the Page, Literally!

This is a great photography project that can be done easily --even with supervised children. I want to get this done with my kids. Check out Photos That Pop Out of the Page, Literally!

BizIII Podcast - Video Tips - Lighting and Background

Here is a podcast from Wizard-Creek.com that covers some great tips on lighting and backgrounds for your video shots.

Tips on lighting and backgrounds when creating video.

• Duration: 3:55
• Monday, March 26th, 2007
• Download MP3
• Tags: video, tips

Source: BizIII - Play Podcast.

Tutorial: Create a Stop-Motion Animation Movie using Digital Camera or WebCam

Have you ever wanted to create a stop-motion video? You can create many effects with toys and stuffed animals. Kids love them because they are an easy way to tell imaginary stories. Here is a good tutorial on how to start creating stop animation short films.

Sometime back, I created a stop-motion animation film with the soft toys of my 2-year old son playing the lead roles. This 19 second movie was done using just a digital still camera (not video camcorder) and Windows Movie Maker

Read the full post at Digital Inspiration.

Use YouTube to Learn Photoshop

I've found a great directory of links to YouTube videos that can help you learn to use Adobe® Photoshop®.

Both YouTube and MetaCafe have a lot of photoshop video tutorials and while not all are the best quality video, the ability to see techniques in action with video is great for quick learning.

To sample a few of the links and to get started, visit etc - quick links to good stuff.

Why Videoblog?

The natural point of this site is video editing meets blogging. However, doesn't it make sense to also have some information on video-blogging? To start off with, we can at least point to a good reference on how to begin video blogging.

Comon' every web 2.0 geek has a videoblog - you should have one too! Seriously though, we know it's super simple to put videos up on YouTube and for many people (okay a kabillion people) that works just fine. The nice thing about a videoblog is it's like your own little corner of the Internet. You control how it looks, whether it has ads on it or not, what format(s) the videos are in and how long they are. Plus, because it's built on a blog it has all the advantages of a blog - it's easily found in search engines, it's automatically archived, and it's easy to subscribe to.

Do you have a blog and a webcam? Get started at Freevlog » Tutorial.

CGTalk - Organization and Naming Schemes

Handling video editing projects can become very confusing and difficult if the director does not plan how they are going to organize their project files. David Edmondson, a.k.a. ThreeHams, posted a detailed explanation of how he organizes his files on his computer as he's working on them.

I've noticed something isn't really talked about all that much - organization of files during a project. When you're struggling to meet a deadline at the eleventh hour, you'll realize just how worthwhile all the preparation really is - no overwriting vital files, no searching for files, no duplicate names in subfolders, no -FINAL04.max suffixes. Everything is exactly where you expect it to be, and everything (basically) works exactly the way you want.

Sounds like advice we could all use, right? He continues...

What I'd like to see is how other people organize their projects. My scheme started out much uglier and looser than this, and eventually developed over time as I learned how to fix problems I was having. It's very streamlined for the projects I do - about 14-15 minutes of rendered footage, quick rendering times on two computers, lots of external references, and 25-30 minutes with stillframes after editing. The destination is a run of CDs and DVDs.

Want more tips and discussion like this one? Visit CGTalk @ cgsociety.org.