Nick, looks good! Can't check out all the video right now because if my wife sees the great diving videos, we'll be flying to Bali or to some underwater wreck!

Nick -
Great stuff - great opportunity (for you).
Is Bali expensive to hang in?
Footage itself is wonderful - steady and clear.

I wonder if you'd answer a non-video question?
I notice that all the divers are wearing full body suits. Is the water cold there? I assumed that the south Pacific would be warm, like the Caribbean.

Nick,

I sent you an e-mail regarding your footage. It may be appropriate for one of my clients to use to demonstrator a projector at a trade show (if we can purchase one of your clips with the rights to show it in public (unlike regular DVD's)).

Well OK, you did say 'brutally frank'!

Actually, more of a question.

I watch the Beebs Blue Planet a lot off DigiBeta and I do appreciate it was shot with the best gear plus I'm told a lot of it wasn't actual underwater, more like 'in a tank' with lots of light and very clear water.

Just that the colors in their footage really leaps out of the screen. I've only watched your footage on YouTube so that could be the total explaination however I've tried to pop the color up on some underwater footage a client gave me and found it just couldn't get it to look as captivating as the Beebs footage. I suspect the water clarity is the big factor causing the colors to look muted and any attempt at pushing them up makes it look worse.

Maybe Glenn has some comments, maybe I don't know what I'm talking about and maybe the YouTube encode is the problem.

Bob.

Thanks for the feedback.

Grazie yes the USAT LIberty video has just gone online but so have the other 8 videos on my Bali page. More of the same as before really, just a different place. None of it is on the AquaMarine site yet. So feel free to comment on (or totally ignore) any of those Bali videos.

Vic, the water in Bali was pretty warm. Something like 28 C I think. But after a long dive it can get cold anyway. I wear the full suit for protection from coral, jellyfish etc. as much as for the cold.

Bali's pretty cheap to stay in unless you want a fancy hotel. The biggest problem is the street sellers who have just become unbearable now.

Ted I'll get back to you shortly.

Bob, I use a UR-Pro pinkish orange filter in front of the lens and I white balance on white (or very pale pink) tape on the top of one of my fins to bring out the reds and oranges and avoid the horrible washed-out greenish-blue of footage shot with cheap cameras that can't be manually white balanced. Most people comment on how rich the colours look. However perhaps the blues get a little muted during the white balance. Or maybe it's just a contrast thing?

If you look at Blue Planet type footage they usually don't boost the red end of the spectrum as much as I do and their blues and greens are more saturated.

The quality of the cameras makes a difference of course, and the YouTube encode is not as good as the Google Videos or the WMV versions.

Will be getting a Z1 underwater in November so this is almost the last hurrah for my SD setup.

Nick

Hey Nick! Cliff from UWDV.COM Glad to see another diver using Vegas.. ;)

Nice work on the footage - what are you using for soundtrack material? You using Cinescore yet, Acid Pro or???

Hope to see more of your work in the near future :-)

Cliff Etzel - Publisher
UWDV.COM

Nick, I just saw the USAT Liberty wreck video and feel that you have done an exceptional job portraying what we see below the waves. As I diver, I feel that the breathing audio was especially effective in making me feel like I was under water. Did you specifically edit that sound because I did not hear the bubble echoes that follow the exhalation?

I also like your choice of music. It is serene but still has a quality of liveliness that urges you onward. Your transitions were nice and slow and reflected the characteristic of how divers and large fish move in the water. You also captured some scenes that an aquarist would really enjoy like the mating dance of several fish and symbiotic relationship between a blenny and its shrimp companion.

Keep up the awesome work!
Peter

Thanks again guys.

Hi Cliff, I'm using buy-out music. It's very difficult to find high quality tracks that are appropriate for this kind of video. I'm using tracks from a variety of sources. AKM, Twisted Tracks, Partners in Rhyme. Took a lot of auditioning and investment to end up with just a handful of good tracks. I had a look at Cinescore but the 2 packs included in the trial are way off the mark for underwater videos. Would love to get into Acid (and Reason) but I just don't have the time at the moment.

Peter, the breathing comes from a 100m+ dive on HMHS Britannic in 1998. I was using a Poseidon regulator then and housing with a microphone. The sound is cleaner than the mess my current regulator and housing pick up.

Nick

Gotta love those swedish regs - I have 3 of them.. (looking for #4 as my backup alternate)

Nick,

If you ever get the chance, you should do a dive on the USS Oriskany that was recently sunk off the coast of Pensacola, Fla. The Oriskany is the largest ship sunk to be used as an artificial reef for the local marine life. I'm not a diver but was a crewmember in 1966, the year we had the big fire. Here's a link for more diving info, photos and videos of the ship. MTB Divers

And, a link to my web page where you can read the Life Magazine article about the fire: USS Oriskany Fire
Doc

Doc, Nick,

All the local (Pensacola/Mobile) diving tours are booked well into next year for the Oriskany. Plan on renting/bringing your own boat/equipment.

It's now the world's largest artificial reef.