So, way back before I started off on my miniature adventure, I was a computer geek. To be specific, I fixed computers. It's something I enjoyed a lot because, well, I'm a Virgo and fixing things is something that we Virgos just loooooooove to do. I spent a few years working for one of those major cable ISP's when broadband was new (Yes Children, that was back when the earth was cooling and none of the dinosaurs had a laptop) Working for the ISP was interesting because I was one of the pioneer members of their corporate escalations/customer retention department. On one hand that was kind of cool because we had all the fun tools and complete liberty to fix anything that came across our desk. Not only did I have access to things in the network that most people didn't know existed but I could tell customers, "Okay, grab that screwdriver and let's pop open that computer case and see what we've got in there". On the other hand, I never got to talk to anyone who wasn't seriously pissed off so that part sort of dulled the luster on my crown of geekiness.
Anyway, before that gig with the ISP, I worked for a huge tech support company. I won't name names, but in the 90's they provided all the tech support for Apple Computers. I loved every second of it! Apple is such a cool company to work for. I was the technical training manager so I got to be in on all the new products and worked with Apple's research and development department. (now there are some true geeks!)
One of the really cool applications that came around in the 90's was a little bit of software called Avid Cinema. It was bundled on the Performa 6400 and turned the video world around. All the Apple Masters (a huge collection of celebrity musicians, artists and authors) were twitterpated and with good reason. This wonderous new technology had timelines and storyboards where you could drag and drop music and pictures to make movies. It was simple to use and opened up a whole new world for a lot of people. It was a little before it's time since digital cameras had yet to become household items, but oh, it was still glorious!
Storyboard video software is nothing new anymore since Windows grabbed the idea from Apple and started bundling something like it on all their computers. Now it's common technology and readily available to everyone.
You're probably yawning by now and wondering where my rambling is leading and how this relates to miniatures. In a way it does because slideshows and movies are a fun way to get our miniatures out there for the rest of the world to see. Our little miniature world doesn't get a lot of recognition in the mainstream world because people don't even know it exists or they think dollhouses and miniatures are toys for children. As miniaturists, we need to take every avenue available to us to share the joy of minatures with everyone we can. The internet has caused a resurgence of popularity because it made it possible for us to network with each other and even bring new miniaturists into the hobby. What better use for technology than to reach out to a younger generation?
Flashing pictures, special effects, and music make any content more appealing and storyboard software makes it easy to do. I spent yesterday playing around with some storyboard software and created some video slideshows set to music, then posted them to You Tube. I've seen all my pictures before but seeing them in that context made them all new and exciting. I hope that it has the same effect on others when they see them and maybe inspire a few to take up minatures as a way of life.
No comments:
Post a Comment