LegendaryLife Blog

I had the idea for HowToChinese.com mulling in my head for a while but finally the circumstances were right to give it a real go. I just did some major software upgrades for my other site, WoodMarvels.com and really wanted to put it through its paces and get into green screening. 3D is great fun, but doing only one thing over and over again doesn’t lead to much growth over the long term, you need to infuse some new knowledge into the fold.

How it began

I bought a camera a little over a year ago for the sole purpose of doing some video, so I made damn sure it was able to film at 720p. The camera cost me about 300$US – for a point-and-shoot, on the high-end but I really needed something very compact yet able to take both pictures and video at the highest quality. I did have a DSLR camera, Nikon D-40 which took AMAZING pictures but I also missed a lot of pictures due to its bulk and inability to do video.

300$US point-and-shoot camera… check!

I already love photography after working on a large body of work for another site, DreamClue.com – yes, I took ALL those pictures along with the description. Over 1200 before I needed a break… taught me about SEO and how to take a decent picture through trial and error.

Photographic knowledge and portfolio to dip into for the video… check!

Music production is something I added to my WoodMarvels.com videos for fun and really enjoy it, so I made sure to write a little tune for this video series, not only to break-up the teaching segments into manageable bites but to also allow me to show-off some photography! The “picture breaks” idea was born.

Music production… check!

The gf was a bonus, I never planned on doing the videos myself, I’m a more “behind the scenes” kind of guy but when I approached my gf about this idea… she jumped on it and I’m very happy she did! She was a teacher as was/am/was I so lesson planning and making classes fun came second nature to the two of us. She writes the script, I edit and then we review one last time.

Superstar to head the videos… check!

Using a green screen is great fun, but up until a week ago, I spent about 50 cents (Yes, China is that cheap to live in) and glued some green “paper” to the wall. That was the greenscreen! Headaches with lights, reflections and size… only 2 meters wide, about a meter high.

Suffice it to say, that was upgraded big time about a week ago… the number one headache gone! You can REALLY see the difference in production quality, just compare the videos BEFORE #10 to the current crop. Incredible! New screen is 3 meters x 3 meters (yes, it’s HUGE, folded in two the picture below) but now we have the flexibility to do whatever we want. Total cost about 35$US but well worth it.

The importance of a greenscreen can’t be overly emphasized… it’s what allows Lucky to have any background (static and animated) behind her… far more interesting than just a wall.

That’s all folks!

Other than teaching myself for many years about various production methods, softwares and visiting lots of studios, that is basically how to launch a start-up with little to no investment other than time and passion.

What’s in store in the future?

A lot, suffice it to say, like WoodMarvels.com is bringing woodcrafts into the 21st century, HowToChinese.com plans on doing the same with language learning methods. Most teachers are boring, as are their course material… something that HowToChinese.com never plans to be.

Looking back, it seems like every 6 months or so, I begin a new company in one way or another. I think the lessons learned by DOING something are far more valuable than not doing something or endlessly planning. One thing I have gotten better at with time though is seeing the long term opportunity of a project so that, from the get go… I have an exit or way of generating revenue from my time. This is something I never really cared about in the past but as life goes on, this kind of thinking is helping me hone my skills to waste as little time as possible.

Each new business bring with it new headaches but also great opportunities for both personal and professional learning. As long as you are having fun, the endeavor is worth it in my eyes, even if the financial payback (if there is one) is miles away.

WoodMarvels.com / 3DMarvels.com – learned about distributed manufacturing and international business. 3D practice is a bonus!

HowToChinese.com – learning about post-production, green screening and script writing

i3DS – learned about international manufacturing industry as well as product development with a minor in marketing

Dreamclue.com – learned about photography, search engine optimization and a heck of a lot of writing which allowed me to work on my subsequent books

Just keep plugging away and with time, things will work themselves out in the end.

A few weeks ago, I started on a new venture, HowToChinese.com.

Background

One reason why I started WoodMarvels.com was to keep my 3D skills on an upward improvement trajectory and the same goes with HowToChinese.com except in this case, it’s teaching myself about editing, green screening and general everyday VIDEO work. I’m always doing 3D, it’s a nice change of pace to switch to video work with all its associated challenges. I also have more than a passive interest in learning and doing business in Chinese… this is a natural fit!

What is HowToChinese.com?

I’ve gone through the tapes, books, videos etc… and although they did teach me a lot of Chinese, the material is rather dry and uninteresting. I believe I can do better! Learning a language involves learning about historical, cultural and a bit of a “travel guide” type approach is needed as well… something I saw lacking in other “learning Chinese” programs.

Why start a new business

Yes, WoodMarvels.com, 3DMarvels.com and a bunch of other sites keep me more than busy as it is, but I believe every little bit you learn in one business can be applied to improve the other. HowToChinese.com is no different. The post-production, videographing and photography involved with that business will soon pay dividends in my other businesses as I learn how to improve the quality and production streams in this new venture.

So far, the production quality has improved dramatically from the first to (now uploading) the third video. It’s rather enjoyable to take a small break while 3D stuff is rendering and dealing with the real world for a change. I look forward to the neverending challenges!

Be sure to visit http://HowToChinese.com for more information… or if you have a budding interest in Chinese, I hope these videos help!

I just realized something interesting… I always knew I was born in the same city as the famous director, James Cameron (Kapuskasing, an EXTREMELY small northern Ontario town) but now I discovered that I happen to also share the same birthday as George Lucas (May 14th). Does it mean anything? We’ll see

I find the more I progress in life, the more knowledge and passions I accumulate in it. I completely by far the most ambitious book I ever did about 6 months ago and after countless rewrites, edits and getting all that stuff out of my head… I’ve acquired the writing bug again.

It’s hard to describe, try to imagine growing a tree within a small greenhouse. Each day, it grows a little taller, stronger and begins to expand to fill its enclosed environment. Sure, you can prune the tree, give it less water and do other things to slow its growth down but it doesn’t take away from the fact that the tree is still there, slowly expanding and filling the empty space within the greenhouse. Eventually, one way or another, the tree becomes tall, strong and dense enough that it begins to exert increasing pressure on the greenhouse. Slowly but surely, the pressure builds then, all of a sudden, a panel pops, followed by a few more… until the greenhouse can no longer maintain its form, haven been conquered by what began as a small, inconspicuous seed.

I began on a sequel to my original science fiction story after I finished the first but then needed a mental break… focusing on WoodMarvels.com instead to satisfy my desire to “create” but much like the Ying/Yang Chinese symbol of balance and unity, I’m starting to produce a little too much Ying (design) and an adjustment is needed in the Yang (writing).

I learned a TREMENDOUS amount writing my first novel, so much so… that it gives me the urge to apply it, learning from my mistakes and doing something even more unfathomable. Bigger, Better and Uncut. I have this movie in my head that keeps replying, each time, with a little more detail, ideas all the more fleshed-out and if you read the book… a few major plot lines that need to be closed with others created.

Although writing and design may seem like world’s apart, they are actually very similar. In design, you start with an idea… and with time and passion, transform it into a real product. Writing is the same way except the only limitation is your own creative thinking… unlike design where it’s still limited by the tools you have at hand.

The amount of time required for a book is tremendous compared to the design of a product, but the sense of accomplishment grows in proportion as well. I really enjoy design and I see one field of endeavor helping the other. My ability to design improved dramatically as writing exercised my mental muscles in a different direction than how it was use to working.

So many passions, so little time. The story of my life