Fireworks show for 2011

This is my rather limited and short fireworks show for 2011. It's short for 5 reasons. 1. The ongoing filming giving me little available time to do any converting. 2. M2TS files are completely unusable, forcing me to have to convert them before I can even start doing anything. 3. The processing speed is excrutiatingly slow (2 to 3 fps on average for the M2TS conversion. 4. My memory card apparently isn't big enough (and extraction takes a while, a good half hour even, otherwise too long (I'll miss out on a lot of things if I went off and did that, considering the time of day I was running low.)). 5. All of the nighttime footage was severely out of focus making it look extremely blurred, and otherwise unusable (this took another another 15 minutes from the show).

For only 30 minutes of video, I have to wait roughly 6 to 9 hours just to convert the M2TS files to something I can use. This is because I average a 2 to 3 frames per second conversion rate, excruciatingly slow. Then there's the extraction of the audio in the M2TS files in a separate process, another 2- to 3-hour task for that same 30 minutes of video. Without this audio extraction step, the audio is completely unusable (probably due to some weird audio codec being used that I don't have). Once this is finally done, the processing of the MPG files can begin, done the usual way I do with all my other videos. Unfortunately, it's not as easy because I can't play 1920x1080 video files without repeated skipping (MPG plays at 85% true speed - H.264 plays at a horrible 20% true speed). This makes editting more difficult and slower, especially to figure out where to crop out the lead-ins, lead-outs, and other such things. My still camera is not an option as it has problems with bright areas, causing everything to look pink. Given all this trouble and mayhem that my camcorder is causing me, I'm highly considering selling it and getting a new one that uses a more useful file format, one that I can work with (MPG and AVI are the main ones I know of). Anything else will have to get converted before I can use it.

With the filming stuff going on, I haven't had much time to work on this, of which is the primary cause for the 9-day delay. Even without the filming, it would have still taken 2 or 3 days due to the mayhem of the M2TS file conversion and the super slow speeds that come with it.

I'll also need to upgrade my computer so that video processing is significantly faster, but I only have $300 available. It appears that the CPU is solely responsible for video processing (strange as I thought the video card was), but to upgrade that, the motherboard and almost certainly the RAM will also have to be upgraded. I can only take 3 GB of RAM - any more than that is pointless due to the 32-bit OS limitation. At least RAM is cheap and motherboards can be fairly cheap. I would like to get the fastest possible processor for video processing with this. It seems like the Intel i5 or something is what I'm leaning toward. My SATA hard drives, CD/DVD writer, sound card, monitor, video card, pretty much everything else can be reused.

Category:

Travel & Events

Tags:

• Fireworks
• show
• 2011
• ulillillia

[TheExiledGolem]

I saw that you are afraid of mirrors. SO AM I! They freak me out. When I walk by one I usually try my best not to look into it.

[ulillillia]

You're actually still in better shape than I am with mirrors. While you can otherwise go in front of one, I can't. Video games are an exception.

[TheExiledGolem]

@ulillillia Ah man that's rough. It really depends on the day and mood i'm in though. Sometimes i'm just fine with mirrors and others I can't even walk in front of one. I feel like the image in the mirror will show me something that isn't happening in real life. For example I walk in front of a mirror but my reflection doesn't do what I am doing or I will see somebody in the mirror that isn't there. I guess that what I am afraid of... I believe my fear began when I was younger from a nightmare..

[ulillillia]

Hmm. In that case, you're about the same as me though in a different way. I don't have problems with seeing ghosts, etc. in the mirror when you otherwise can't. Regardless, no matter what mood I'm in, what time of day it is, etc, I cannot go in front of a mirror. I often get stuck taking long detours around areas with lots of mirrors or even having to wait in the vehicle (and yes, even then, I'm still very evasive with car mirrors).

[TamesGames]

Hi ulillillia,

What are you using to heat your punk? No fire or heat implement is visible in the video, just curious. Thanks for showing your cool fireworks to us!

[ulillillia]

A simple lighter is used for that.

[itsreimur]

@FooledToaster he's ulillillia, you plebeian; don't you dare question his presence on the internet.

[Maldunn]

My July just isn't complete without the traditional 4th of July fireworks display from Ulillillia

[RealStarHusky]

Wow you actually managed to make smoke balls interesting again! If you want something WEIRD try tossing one, lit in a bucket of water. Beware of clean up though, it makes a bit of a slimy film on the surface. Nice vids, though! Jumping jacks are my favorite of the ground type fireworks as well!

[noptic]

Do you pay money for these fireworks?

[stueyyladd]

i had to make it 100 likes :P

[Eminem94111]

dude next year get jumbo jumping jacks or zippers they rock.

[ms290guy1999]

did u back up far enough for those crackler balls