However they don’t have a reset button, and I have a broken one! It’s stuck on the ‘Flip Video Press for Setup’ screen – which is the first screen you get when you turn it on.

The model I have is the Flip Ultra HD 8Gb, model: U2120B, I suspect these steps would work for other cameras in the range (that don’t have a reset button!)

Here are the steps I took, with the help of Cisco support to resolve this…

So, I tried the usual things myself to fix this:

• Changing battery
• Taking battery out for a few days
• Plugging in to the USB ports of a few computers

I couldn’t fix it myself, so I contacted Flip Support by email. Here is what they suggested to try – I add this info in the hope that it may help you too!

First set of steps to fix a broken Flip video camera:

1. Leave the batteries out of the camera for 48-72 hours
2. Insert brand new batteries
3. See if it works now!

This didn’t work for me though.

Second set of steps to fix the broken flip:

1. remove the battery pack from the camcorder
2. connect the camcorder to a powered USB port on your computer
3. when the “Connected” indicator comes on, insert the battery pack into the camcorder
4. safe eject your camcorder from your computer
5. reconnect your camcorder to your computer
6. the battery pack should now begin to charge within the camcorder. Leave the camcorder plugged into your computer for 24 hours.
7. after 24 hours, does the camcorder turn on?

This too didn’t work for me!

Then what?

Then I was asked to post the camera back to them – the the Czech Republic!

Zachs website is redferriswheel.com and these videos are 720p High definition .mov files – all available to download for free.

The videos are great for day to day use – where you want some color and a little movement happening in your backgrounds but don’t want to be distracting to the congregation.

Zach seems like a top bloke – more in his website.

Feel free to add a comment with your favourites!

These programs are all free to download and use, there are no spyware or adverts – just great software – some using the best open source video libararies available.

DVD to H264: HandBrake

DVD Ripping – convert DVD to H264 – of course, this would be for making mpeg 4 version of DVD’s that you’re legally allowed to do – such as DVDs you’ve created yourself.

http://handbrake.fr/

(Also versions for Windows and Linux, as well as Mac OSX)

Quicktime Alternative: QT Amateur

Great for batch exporting and re-encoding tasks – a free alternative to get the extra features that Quicktime Pro gives you.

http://www.mikeash.com/software/qtamateur/

Extra Codec Support for Quicktime: Perian

Allows Quicktime to play back extra video types, such as .avi, .divx, .flv, mpeg1 and mpeg2 (also makes these available to Quicktime Amateur)

http://perian.org/

Video Format Converter: ffmpegX

Another video format converter – If you’ve been using other free video converter programs, then it’s very likely that they are based on ffmpeg. ffmpegX is an apple GUI for ffmpeg, and makes converting from one video type to another a breeze!

(This is actually shareware, $15 to register, but free to try)

CD and DVD Burner: Burn

http://burn-osx.sourceforge.net

As a result, there are people making video loops for this purpose. They tend to be in HD resolutions and an wmv format. It occurred to me that these may be useful for use in Church settings… and it seems many are!

Google search for something like ‘dreamscene video’  and you’ll find websites with these videos to download. Most of the time they are free and the license is quite open, and just limited to ‘non-commercial’

I’ll be adding some of these sites to the MotionShare.com resources page.

For more info about DreamScene, visit Microsoft’s page: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-vista/About-Windows-DreamScene

View from Below (click for larger view)

View from Above (click for larger view)

I’ll post again later on with more info on how I got on with the software and hardware – but overall it was very good, having 8 channels of video to mix with is great, and the ease of use makes selecting videos quick… during one song I did have 7 layers of video in use at the same time!

Here I have a folder with a wmv file, which Explorer will display thumbnails for automatically, I also have some .mov and /mp4 files, and as you can see, thumbnails are displayed! -very useful for finding the right clip

.mov and .mp4 thumbnails in Windows Explorer

Enabling .mp4 and .flv Thumbnails

As long as you have mp4 codec on your machine, which you probably do, then this registry tweak should enable thumbnail generation when you go to Thumbnail view in Windows Explorer:

Open notepad, and paste the following registry entry in to it:

REGEDIT4
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT.flvShellEx{BB2E617C-0920-11d1-9A0B-00C04FC2D6C1}]
@=”{c5a40261-cd64-4ccf-84cb-c394da41d590}”
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT.movShellEx{BB2E617C-0920-11d1-9A0B-00C04FC2D6C1}]
@=”{c5a40261-cd64-4ccf-84cb-c394da41d590}”

Save the file as ‘mp4.reg’

Double click on the file, and it will import it in to your registry.

You may need to restart windows for the change to be made.

Enabling .mp4 Thumbnails

By using a free program by Mike Barrientos Quicktime thumbnails can be enabled…

1. Download the DLL and save in to  /Windows/System32: QuickThumb (342)
2. (As an Administrator) go to: Start, Run. And enter in: regsvr32 QuickThumb.dll
3. You should then see thumbnails!

(To uninstall, run regsvr32 /u QuickThumb.dll)

(more info on Mikes page)

Notes!

Run the above at your own risk! I add the info here as it worked well for me, your mileage may vary, so don’t blame me!)

Feel free to comment if you have any other ways or tips in thumbnail generation…

I started mixing VHS tapes (eg the original Images for Worship VHS tapes from onbd.org), with a Panasonic MX50 mixer connected to a couple VHS players. This was great with lyrics keyed in over the top…. I started doing this about 12 years or so ago…

Now I have a growing collection of video files and have been looking for the best way to locate, mix and control video mixing of these files – mpgs, movs etc…

I have recently been using 2 laptops with their SVIDEO output connected to an Edirol video mixer, and then connect the output of the edirol to a projector.

However, I’ve been looking for a better solution, and I’ve decided on this:

Software Mixer: Arkaos Grand VJ

MIDI Controller: Livid Instruments Ohm64

They are currently on order, but the idea is, that the software can mix 8 channels of videos, and apply effects etc and more, and using the MIDI controller will make make the physical mixing/settings etc quick and easy…

I’ll post back with how it goes, I have an event on March 28 at which I’ll be using this…

MotionShare.com is a website where people can share videos that they have created – video loops, motion backgrounds, VJ video, countdowns etc can be uploaded and shared – the kind of videos that churches use and create. The other side, of course, is that it’s a place do download free media, without license and copyright problems… more is explained on the site.

Most things are working, eg Video uploads, Forum etc… We hope to launch mid/late January – in the mean time, you are able to register, upload and download videos…

Happy exploring!

Anyway, this is what I did at our carol services this year…

As you can see in the images, our front wall has 5 arches (one with a wooden cross infront)- they actually used to be windows, but years ago we built behind the wall, and they are now filled in.

I created a mask, and edited some videos using the mask, so as to only project video in the arches, it was a great effect and people loved it!

I projected with a 5000 lumen Christie projector from the back of the room, the mask was actually made in OpenOffice Impress (the PowerPoint equivalent), only because I thought it was the quickest and easiest way to draw arches – I created the mask whilst at the church with the projector connected. I then exported the file as a jpeg and used it in Premiere and Photoshop to create the images and videos.

The photos show our usual projection which displayed lyrics, camera and other media during the services.

Click the photos below for a larger version – sorry for the poor quality, they were taken on my phone.

Snow falling

Stained Glass Nativity

Angels - during Hark the herald angel...

Animated star of Bethlehem

Candles flickering in the arches

Post a reply below if you have any questions or have done something similar yourself!