It's Moving!

For years I've been trying to figure out a simple way to mix my art with some of the music I do in a music video. I didn't need to have people talking or running or playing instruments. I just wanted a few still images of my work moving across the screen in a simple way along to some music.

Friends suggested Flash, Adobe After-Effects, and Premiere. These programs were great but, honestly, seemed really complex to me with what I wanted to do. So, I never really sat down to learn them too well. There was always something else I had to or wanted to draw. Sitting at the computer all day figuring these programs out wasn't fun for me so I gave it up.

Then, last week, Jeff Lafferty suggested Windows Movie Maker. He had used it on one of his own trailers for Jack the Giant Killer a few years ago and, better yet, he said the program was probably already on my computer. So, I went home, searched around and, yes, there it was.

I'm sure it's not the BEST program to use but it's so stupid simple that it makes me think of creative ways I can use it. All I need to do now is download some plug-ins for it so I can custom zoom and pan my images and I'll be all set to go.

The video above is a test to see if I could do a lens flare transition using images manipulated in Photoshop and some fade effects in Movie Maker. Like I said, I love that it's a limited program because it makes me more creative. It's not as easy as pushing F12 and letting the computer make the decisions for you.

So, here's a start. I am on track. Soon, very soon, I'll have some custom OilCan Drive videos up on YouTube.

Now, I just need to figure out how to make them go viral!