I got into this video thing after a bit of encouragement from some good friends. I resisted video at first because I thought it was silly (I considered myself a still photo purist). I always sort of felt that you could convey a lot of cool information with a still image, and I’m a photography nut, so the whole video idea was lost on me.
That changed big time when we did the Baja trip last September. My good buddies John and Jay both had video camera capabilities built into their digital cameras. When we got home and they downloaded their videos to my computer, I was blown away. This was cool stuff.
The next day, I made a beeline to Costco and found a kid working there who seemed to know what he was talking about. He steered me to the Flip video camera, and I bought one based on his advice. The Flip was only $170 or so, it was compact, and I figured if I didn’t like it, Costco is cool about returns (they really are a high quality outfit).
To make a long story short, I am hooked on video and it’s capabilities. It’s not immediately easy to use, and the game doesn’t end with just the purchase of the video camera. If you want editing capabilities, you need to buy software (I bought Pinnacle’s Studio for about $90), and there’s a learning curve associated with that (but it’s fun). You can add music, insert still photos, make a video comprised entirely of still photos, string video segments together, change how the video transitions from one part to the next, and do all kinds of neat things. When you finish making your movie, the next step is uploading it to YouTube (there are other online services like YouTube, but YouTube seems to be 800-lb gorilla in this game). I’m just starting to scratch the surface of this video technology, and I’m having a lot of fun in the process. My objective has been to learn one or two new things with each movie, and that approach seems to be working well.
So, what’s the call to action? Here it is…post a YouTube with your CSC motorcycle, send the link to me (jberk@californiascooterco.com), and we’ll send you a CSC T-shirt when we post it here on the blog! We really want to see what you are doing with your California Scooter!
In the meantime, I went through some of the videos we’ve seen with California Scooters, and I thought I’d post my favorites here for you!
SG250 San Gabriel Cafe Racer
TT250 Enduro
RX4 450cc Adventure