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| Why are we standing still? More running, less talking... |
The girls have been enjoying our spring weather, and with it a new 'game'. Sadly I have no video that goes with it (more on that later), but it's a hoot to watch. My neighbors field is about 40 acres big and it has nothing in it but my agility equipment, a few trees, grass, weeds...and ground squirrels.
For those of you not familiar with ground squirrels, they look a lot like prairie dogs...and also like them, they live in large underground colonies. They are only above ground for a few months out of the year, and they started coming out a few weeks ago. While the many holes they make provide the dogs with an exciting array of new smells, the really exciting thing is the single sentries that "Peep" their warnings to other squirrels in the colony that danger is about. Each new "Peep" sends the dogs flying off in a new direction in the useless hope of catching one above ground. They are doing A LOT of running.
And Holly has rediscovered digging. She's dug multiple trenches in the hopes of getting closer to just one of those squirrels. There is no real chance of that, but she's getting some great exercise in the process. I pretty much just sit in the middle of the field and watch em go. They want no part of me while they are 'hunting'...aside from the yummy hunks of cheese I reward them with for checking in with me every so often.
Aside from all of this being great fun and awesome exercise, it's something I have to allow because the squirrel colonies surround my unfenced agility/treibball field. And if I want either of them to actually learn to pay attention to something other than squirrels while we are out there, I have to teach them when they are allowed to hunt, and when they are not. So the process of turning on and then turning off this game begins.
It gives a whole new meaning to the quote "Squirrel!" from the movie Up, doesn't it ;)
Meanwhile, I continue to fight with my camera, the crappy editing software it came with, and YouTube. I adore my point and shoot Cannon camera...it takes lovely pictures and really nice video. However, the video it takes is in MOV. format...which is a Mac product. I have a PC and use Windows. The version of Windows does not have a program that can edit MOV files. And the movie editing software that came with the camera really, really sucks. Editing is extremely limited, and compressing or creating smaller video files totally ruins the quality of the video. But large files take FOREVER to load on to YouTube...we are talking hours here, and my internet connection is not slow.
What I would like is to purchase software that will convert Quicktime (MOV.) video files to Microsoft friendly files (WMV.) so that I can use my regular Windows video editing program to edit and upload. My problem is that while I've looked for something to purchase, I don't understand the software program languages and options they talk about enough to make an informed purchase. Can any of you offer some suggestions for me?
And because no post is complete without pictures...here's some from the last 2 weeks of hiking and playing in the yard.
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| Badass Terrier pose |
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| Die squeaky toy, die! |
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| Totally Zen |
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| Two bumps on a log |
4 comments:
My camera uploads in .mov files too. For a long time, I used Windows Movie Maker. It ran perfectly fine and worked very well for many of my past videos. It also comes standard on any Windows PC. If you don't already have it installed, you can install it for free from microsoft.com
When I started editing on my laptop, however, WMM stopped working entirely. I broke down and bought VideoPad - it was pretty cheap and comes with the standard features. It works well and I actually like it much more than WMM just because it has some more advanced features, too. It does take some time to get acclimated to the new format, but their website was really helpful in getting me acquainted with how to edit down the videos.
I still will usually upload to Youtube in .mov format. Mainly because it defaults to hi-def for whatever reason.
Hope this helps!
Videopad can be somewhat expensive if you don't get it during one of their sales. The price I paid for mine was, I think, 50% off. You certainly pay for the workarounds, though -- there were a few hoops (passwords and encryption keys) to jump through, but it's totally worth it!
Hmmm...I must have an old enough version of Windows on my laptop that Windows Movie Maker won't open or recognize MOV. files. I have Windows XP. I won't bother upgrading unless I am forced to buy a new laptop altogether...this one is probably 8 yrs old and still running fine.
Thanks for the advice about Videopad...I'm going to take a peek at it.
It sounds like she's doing great!!!
I use Sony Vegas, the cheaper version, for my videos and love it. I used to have the same problem on my old camera and it was such a pain to do what you're dealing with right now!
It sounds like Holly is doing great. It must be wonderful to have reached the part of her recovery when she can be active and have so much fun! I like your approach to the squirrels!
I'm afraid that I have no video advice because I'm a Mac person... Good luck with that. I know how frustrating it can be.
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