I Make Things Videos
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This weekend, take some time to escape from the business and stress of your daily grind and make a hammock and lay around in it. MP4 | Blip.tv | Youtube | iTunes | PDF Watch the video and print out this snazzy PDF. Now get to it! You re going to need a few other materials to create this project: 3 1/2 Yards of durable fabric. (less if you re shorter than me - I m 6 1 ) Rope that is rated to hold humans. Climbing rope or that kind of strapping that s used to tie down stuff on the back of pickup trucks. Use better judgment than I did. Clothesline is not an option! (My butt still hurts!) Sewing machine and thread. Make a double folded hem for the sides and a tube at the top and the bottom. Go ahead and customize it if you like. On one of the hammocks I made for a friend, I added pockets! Make sure to take photos and upload them to flickr and put them in the Etsy in Action flickr pool. Safety: As you can see in the video, you do this project at your own risk. In retrospect, I wish I had used better rope rated for holding up humans and also had my hammock closer to the ground so I wouldn t have fallen so far! I m going to go get some climbing rope or strapping to avoid hurting myself again. (I bruised my butt!) If you enjoyed this video, you can get all of our videos automatically by subscribing in iTunes!

This is the last video in my Getting Started in Video series that I ve been doing at Etsy. The easiest way to edit video is to shoot it in one take. Here on the Etsy Video Awesomeness Team, we call those videos One-Take-Wonders. But you can t always get it in one take, or maybe your take is too long. That s when you need to learn how to edit. MP4 | Blip.tv | Youtube | Subscribe in iTunes In this video you ll learn five things. Cut Get rid of that awkward moment when you spaced out on camera. Titles Add text to your videos. Music Add Creative Commons music to your video. Exporting The setting you should use before uploading to the internet. I m showing you how to edit in iMovie. It s an editing platform that I love. They changed iMovie a lot in version 8 and they made it a lot less awesome. Luckily, if you ve got iMovie8, you can actually download iMovie HD for free. I recommend doing this if you re on a Mac. If you re on a PC, Windows Media Maker is already on your computer and it s a completely functional platform. Combine that with Quicktime Pro for compressing the avi formatted videos that it outputs and you ve got a decent system for editing videos. All the stuff I show in iMovie will work in a similar fashion in Windows Media Maker too. When adding music to your videos, don t use music without permission. It s copyrighted, and having copyrighted music in your video means that you won t be able to screen it at a film festival (and in a worst case scenario, the music industry could sue you). A strategy for adding music to your videos is to have musician friends hook you up. We use music from our friends Barry London, Jukeboxer, Alice Cohen, and Lineland with their permission and we also have Matt and Eric, as in-house musicians. No matter what music you use, make sure to credit it in your video credits and link to them in your blog posts. Another way to get music for your videos is make it yourself. I ve made a lot of music with Garageband and it s fun! I put out my own album of music that you are welcome to use in your videos. I released it under a Creative Commons license so all you have to do is credit me in your video and you re good to go. You can also add music to your videos with Creative Commons music. I ve used music from this album that Wired put out, and if you search for Creative Commons music, there is a lot out there. Even if it s Creative Commons, it s always a good idea to ask permission for music, if for no other reason than to let your favorite musicians know how awesome they are. I ve also had good luck with the internet archive s open source audio collection. I particularly like old 78 recordings. Once your video is all done, you re going to want to compress it so that the file is small enough to upload to video sharing sites. Here are the settings I use in Quicktime Pro for export. I m always experimenting and trying new settings, so if you ve got a different way of doing this, take a screenshot of your settings and post them to the handmade video flickr pool. If you re making videos and you make things, join the handmade video google group (which we wrote about here) where creative media-makers chit chat about how we do things. You can always shoot me an email with a question, but the handmade video google group is a great place to tap into a community of video folks to ask questions if you get stuck or need help. Looking for more video tips? Check out the rest of the Getting Started in Video series! And let us know if you re making videos!

Lotta Jansdotter just came out with a book about printing called Lotta Prints. I caught up with her at her Brooklyn studio and she showed me some tips and tricks for using stencils and yams to make prints! MP4 | Blip.tv | Youtube | Howcast | Subscribe in iTunes Lotta has created a bunch of stencils that you can rip out of her book and use right away or you can make up your own! If you ve got any yams or potatoes around, you can use them to make prints, too! Upload photos to flickr and post the links in the comments below. Lotta is having a printmaking workshop this Friday, June 13. If you re in the NYC area, check it out! Get to know Lotta better with this video we made with her last fall.

When I was in my 20 s, I daydreamed about getting a job making musical instruments and I came this close to getting a job at Dusty Strings, a musical instrument making shop in Seattle. This video that Tara made here at Etsy pulls on my heart strings. Part of me wonders what my life would be like now if instead of teaching and making videos, I had become a musical instrument maker. If you ever dreamed of making your own guitar or just would like to see behind the scenes into the workshop of a Luthier, then this video is for you. It s all about James Peters, his family, and his business, armor guitars, making custom guitars. - MP4 Link While there, Tara shot a bunch of footage and put together a bunch of little videos and we decided to put them all out in one blogpost. I love this format. It s like having a bunch of windows to look through to see a story. James whole family makes a living on Etsy. Which is awesome. I love the idea that you can live wherever you want in the country and still make a living selling things on the internet. He s not only a musical instrument builder, but he s also a musician. Check out these two videos of him playing and singing. Great stuff. - Link

I just published a video with a sweet dog. Dogs are hard to shoot on video. They wiggle, squirm, look around at everything and in general don t do what you tell them to do. Last week I had a chance Kate Moss (the dog) about a dinner party she was planning. It turns out that she loves to search the Vintage section of Etsy to find fabulous items. In this video she shows some of the items she s thinking about buying and then gives a short video tutorial to help you shop for Etsy Vintage. She was a champion among dogs. She would run around and then sit for a little bit so I could get a shot in. MP4 | Youtube | Blip.tv | HD | Subscribe in iTunes This is the second video that focuses on the styles of our furry friends. The first one was with Dottie. Even though it was a pretty simple video to shoot, it s now the 4th most popular video on our page. I m going to probably schedule a cute dog video every once in a while as a treat for myself and dog lovers. Feel free to leave a comment and tell me what you think!

You ve got a camera, you ve got some shooting know-how, and your audio is sounding sweet. Now, what about lighting? This video shows you three options for lighting your video. The free option is to shoot in front of a window. The cheap option is to use clip lights and the pro option is to get a lowel light kit. MP4 | Subscribe in iTunes | Youtube | Blip.tv The most important thing about lighting for video is that you ve got light. Without enough light, your camera s autofocus will be grumpy and the picture, while it may look ok in the camera viewer as you shoot, will look all grainy when you transfer the video. Also, in the video I mention diffusion filters. There is a lot to learn about lighting for video. If you get into it, you can spend years learning about lighting. I took a 16 hour intro class once that really gave me some ideas to play around with. The goal with this video is to get you started and get the lighting in your next video better than the lighting in your last video. I went looking for resources to learn more about lighting on the internet, but didn t find much, so if you ve got a resource for more information about lighting or if you have your own tips and tricks, leave a note in the comments!

Last weekend as I was making the roof of my apartment into a squirrel-proof fortress, I ripped the knees of my jeans. After wearing the shredded dungarees around for the rest of the day, I decided I wasn t the type of guy who can rock the ripped denim. The jeans fit me perfect and it seemed such a waste to let them go, so I decided to fix them up. After some research I came up with this solution to my ripped jean dilemma. MP4 | Subscribe in iTunes | Blip.tv | Youtube | HD If you have a different way of reparing your jeans, leave a comment or even better, make a video about it, upload it to Youtube and post a link in the comments! Do you like Etsy videos? Show your love and be the first ones to see them by becoming a youtube subscriber and setting up your iTunes to automagically download the latest videos.

Gabe Molnar of 1AEON says his designs often come from his dreams. The fantastical imagery includes lions, dragons, skulls and owls. Working non-stop in his small kitchen in Brooklyn, this Hungarian-born artist is driven to be the best at whatever he does and to push the boundaries. But his passion and ambition hasn t made Gabe lose sight of his humble beginnings. We were very inspired to meet the maker behind 1AEON and hear his story. MP4 | Youtube | Blip.tv | Subscribe in iTunes I love this video. This shoot really came together magically. Shooting at Coney Island was surreal. Watch our other Handmade Video Portraits and make sure to subscribe to our Youtube Channel and Subscribe in iTunes. If you re interested in all things Hungarian, check out this post on traditional and contemporary Hungarian crafts.

So you ve got your camera and you re shooting some special footage. How can you make it sound good? MP4 | Youtube | Blip.tv | Subscribe in iTunes If you keep your subject within arm s length, you can use the onboard (built in) mic to get passable audio. If you re recording to tape, you ll get some tape sound, but it s likely that it will be usable audio. Photograpy cameras in movie mode sometimes have decent audio. Test what you ve got and see how it sounds! If your camera has audio monitoring levels, you ll want to watch those as you record, too. Improving your audio is as easy as getting a microphone. Even a $10 computer condenser microphone will improve your audio. A small mic gets closer to the subject and that s always good. As far as sources for audio options, I shop at B ve got another spot you like to shop, leave a note in the comments. Here s the breakdown of some of the microphones we use for the Storque. Lavaliers: Here on the Etsy Media Awesome Team, we use a wired Audio Technica Pro 70 and a wireless Sony mic and they both work well. They are XLR, so if your camera doesn t have an XLR input you re going to have to get a converter cord or a Beachtek adapter. XLR is a way of hooking up mics that gives better quality sound than 1/8 inch jacks. Shotgun: We use two Sennheissers. One is tiny and one is big. They both work great. (The price I quoted for the big Sennheiser in the video is wrong. It s more like $450. If you need a cheaper shotgun, I ve shot with the Azden, and it s fine, too.) To learn more about shotgun mics, check out this article. Although it s not in this video, if you re looking for a basic old-skool handheld mic, I ve had a good experience with this Shure. If you ve got a mic you re happy with, make sure to leave a note in the comments! For more videos about making videos, keep reading our Getting Started in Video series!

You ve got a video camera what next? The basic idea is to put something in front of the camera and push the red button, but there s a lot more. This video is just a few tips and tricks to get you on your way. The main thing is to just start making videos and then each one will get better and better. If you re going to go handheld, you can improve your stability by holding your elbows in. A tripod will keep the camera steady. If possible have the camera at eyeline or above because people just look more beautiful from above. You don t need to see up my nose. Jump cuts are when you see lots of cuts without a change in camera position. I use these a lot. It also helps to plan some things out. I make a bullet list of things that I want to make sure I say. When working with other people, I find it s easier to ask them to talk about a list of topics rather than memorize things. Don t be afraid to shoot it again and again and again. A few people called in today and I m going to respond to their questions in future videos. If you ve got tips for shooting video, leave a note in the comments or leave me a voicemail at 917-720-4197 and I might post your message in a future post! MP4 Link

Today I m on Blip on Blip which is Blip.tv s video program about the creative folks who publish videos there. We were going to shoot it in a white room, but decided instead to keep it fresh and show you NYC! Thanks to Justin for the interview and Bill for the awesome shooting and editing! MP4 Link

While Etsy engineer Jorge Lopez coded Alchemy, he was daydreaming of the his ultimate Alchemy request. As soon as we released the new site feature on Etsy, he was the first one to post a request! He ended up choosing artist Emily Balivet s bid and getting the most amazing painting. Watch the video to learn more

This week, Christine (aka iheartmoustaches) breaks it on down and shows us how to use #6 plastic to create miniature moustaches! (Christine has made a bunch of these in the past, as she is a lover of the moustache in all its various forms.) #6 plastic is not recyclable in New York and so this is a great way to upcycle those strawberry containers and Chinese take out containers and keep them out of the landfill. This project is awesome for people who need a moustache on the go. MP4 | Youtube | Blip.tv | Subscribe in iTunes She s also open sourcing two of her moustache designs. You can download The Professor and The Lady s Man in this pdf We did some measuring and the moustaches started out 6 inches wide and ended up 2 1/4 inches wide. That means it shrunk to almost 1/3 its original size! Music by Barry London

If you need to get some junk, treasures from the past, some handmade goods, or waffles, then check out the Brooklyn Flea. Etsy folks will be on hand selling Etsy stuff and spreading the love. If you went last weekend, tell us what you got in the comments! Did you eat waffles? MP4 | Youtube | Blip.tv | Subscribe in iTunes When: Sunday 10AM to 5PM not 6PM which is what I said in the video. OK? Where: 176 Lafayette Ave - Fort Greene, Brooklyn (map) Related: Last week was the opening weekend. - Link Also, check out how awesome Anda made our youtube channel! Click on subscribe once you check out its awesomeness. - Link (Psst. There is a secret in this video but it is easier to read in the MP4.)