While i am still in the midst of exploring the wonders of the Sony Nex5 camera, i decided to have a little shoot with my girlfriend. Played a little bit with the diafragma and shutter made sure she sat in front of a window with bright light coming out of it and this is how it turned out:

Two things, the praying picture I KNOW lol! But i still like it very much, hence the reason putting this online. And i know the pictures a little bit blurry, did not have the opportunity to buy a decent tripod but that will come in the near future.

So just one quick update, still working with the Sony Nex 5 enjoying it every day. Probably going for the 16 mm Pancake lens since the 18-55mm is a little bit limited when i am photographing bigger sceneries. Here my latest picture from my cat, she knows how to model a true Zoolander in the house! Here is the pic:

And here is a new one for ya! So when Tron came out i was astunned by the graphics but dissappointed in the storyline. So i decided i could do better, want to make a cool Tron short in a present urban setting. I started think how to create some cool costumes, and the most important thing are glowing lines on the clothes that have the sexy glow added to it. Ofcourse i started thinking how i can realize that effect, so i bought some white tape got me some fluorescent paint and sprayed it over the white tape. Once it was dry i just stuck it up a t-shirt. I wanted the green part to be keyed out, create a solid behind it luma invert the layer added the glow effect and i got this effect:

This enables me to create some cool effects, also bought other colors for the paint so i can actually isolate separate all different colors once i’ve added this movie to the composition. Will update once i have more news.

One of the things i like to excercise with photography is shooting portrait photos. With my new Nex 5 it is a lot easier than using a big bulky DLSR. Yesterday we went out for Queens day and afterwards i shot a few pictures from my little brother Nicky. This is how it turned out:

Yes i have been using my new gadget a lot. Not only for pictures but also for video making. As i am preparing for my short movie and aiming for this summer to shoot most of the footage, i still have to do with some freestyle filming. That is what i am doing, still exploring the Sony Nex 5 and realising i need to make a rig for this thing. I am looking for some good DIY tutorials, so if you have any feel free to contact me through Twitter. Here is the little video i made about my cats, just to get used to the Nex 5 and exploring many other options.

So the Sony Nex  series are pretty unique. My brother is a Sony fanatic and when this device became available on the market he suggested to have a look. I laughed at him because digital camera’s can’t do the same like DLSR’s are doing. Not image wise nor video wise.

A few months later we went to a electronical store, and there it was: The Nex 5. I had it my hand and i liked the design and the big LCD screen. Went home and started doing some research on Youtube and Vimeo resulting me falling in love with this camera everytime when i saw new pictures or videos. I picked up some pen and paper and wrote down some pro’s and cons. The biggest pro for me was that it is not that big like a bulky DSLR, and the fact that it is filming in full hd 108oi or 1080p. Besides the video part it also creates good pictures. The cons about the device starts with the mount. Because only e-mount lenses are compatible and Sony only has 3 available at the moment. And not an integrated flasher, a screw on flash is included with the standard package but i really wished Sony put something integrated on the body.

Because i already checked a lot of footage, i did not hesitate and bought the device one day after i did the research work and i must say up until today i do not regret it. It is so easy to use, crisp images, do not have to worry about diafragma and iso settings everything will be done automatically and that saves me a lot of time when i just want to shoot video or photo’s. I also got a few photo examples, and a video:

If you would like to hook up with me leave a comment or add me through Flickr, would like to share some experiences and thoughts about the Nex 5!

The USB connection of my phone got defect somehow. Probably spilled some fluids in it, and it caused some kind of circuit not working properly anymore. So i was afraid that i couldn’t update my phone in the future.

So i started searching on the internet for other solutions, and i stumbled upon Samba File Sharing. Just to give you a quick explaination how this works:

You turn on the app, and the app makes sure that your phone will be setup so you have the ability to reach the SD card through Windows. Enabling the user to add files to the internal sd card or external.

So my problem basically got fixed, because i am now able to put files on my SD card through the WiFi connection. That put a smile back on my face because i don’t have a problem anymore. A real life saver.

I will break this review down in three sections:

1. Usability:

Rating: ★★★★★ 

The app speaks for it self, for using it the first time you will be reminded to fill in some details about your home network. In order for Windows to recognize your phone, it needs to be put in the same workgroup. Once you open up the options, you will have the opportunity to Disable or Enable the sharing part, you can acces the settings but also to scan for media. The last option might come in handy after you put files on your phone and you need to re-scan the whole thing in order for android to recognize or see the new files.

2. Design

Rating: ★★★★☆ 

The layout of the design is simple, abstract and does not tell you much about the app it self. You would think that design needs to be telling you alot, but this app doesn’t need it. The simplicity of it affects the usability, i am not happy about the fact i need to touch my “option” button on the phone before i can enable or disable the app. They could also tried to put one some buttons on the homescreen of the app itself.

3. Functionality 2. Design

Rating: ★★★★★ 

I already gave you some background information in how i stumbled upon this app. The functionality is great when it works, please make sure some technical knowledge is required to setup the app, but when it works it is an app to die for, and it is free!

Conclusion:

A side from the fact that i really miss some easy buttons on the homescreen of the app, it is an must have app. So i will give it a 4,5 out of 5 stars.

Rating: ★★★★½ 

If i would have a religion, it would be the one where people believe that Android has endless possibilities. Lot’s of folks i know own the iPhone are convinced that iOs brings everything that the smart phone market has to offer. I disagree.

Yes i said it ( a nicer way to say: BOOM IN YO FACE! ), i got my phone in december, and i noticed that the thing was lagging all the time. I was sick and tired of it, everytime when i tried to Whatsapp with one of my contacts the phone just froze for about 20 seconds and suddenly showed the received message. So everytime when i was playing a game, and the phone crashed, i knew someone was trying to talk to me. Pretty annoying when you are trying to break you Bejewellust record.

When my older brother showed me his HTC Desire, i got to see his custom rom ( until this day i have no clue which one he is using ), and  he was suprised about the fact that the SGS was so slow. He advised me to root the whole thing and install a custom rom, so i was like, been there done that.  As it turns out rooting your phone is not without risk, because if you flash the device in a wrong way you will brick it ( bricking is a term for devices that do not show any signs of life anymore after a software/firmware update ). Even when you are rooting the phone, warranty expires so if you do not know what you are doing, think twice before you do it AND READ WITH YOUR EYES, BEFORE YOU UNDERTAKE ANY ACTIONS MAKE SURE YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU ARE READING!!

So i went on to the web, stumbled upon the XDA developers website ( kick ass website props to all the amazing people over there ) and i saw many users getting in touch with Darky’s Rom. It was supposed to be quick, lag fix was in it, so i got pretty hyped because i realized i could achieve amazing heights in Bejewellust without lagging all the time.  I started to search the web for all the information with regards to rooting, flashing, odin, stock firmware etc. At the end of the day i had information overload so i decided to stop with it and proceed with the steps the following day.

So after reading, i managed to to flash the whole device, install stock software, installing clockwork mod recovery, and finally installing the Rom. I was ready and good to go.

First impressions were good, phone booted quickly, i synced up my Google account got all my phone numbers back ( also a friggin awesome feature of Google, THANKS! ), and i started installing all the apps. So here is the bad thing in my opinion, as a semi graphic designer the menu of this mod is ugly as hell. It has that strange ugly scroll square thing going on. It is just hideous. I liked the standard way of swiping through the menu. When i opened up the menu i could see different applications installed like Fasterfix, Circular Battery, SGS info, SGS Toolbox, SGS Tools, BLN control and Darky Rom. I am probably missing a few but these apps are included with the rom, and i must say these are useful. Most of them are giving you more info about the phone and you have the option to adjust a few sections of the phone.

There were a few users complaining about the GPS fix, somehow it looks like this mod repaired some of it, because it seems a lot more accurate. It could use some improvement though, but that is an issue Samsung oughta fix. So i have been using this mod for over a month now, and i am not dissappointed at all, i couldn’t say the same of Samsung. Because this proves that their own released Android software is faulty, and makes the device a lot slower. Too bad especially since i expected them as a good manufacturer on hardware and software, but i am not any confident anymore about the latter.

So here are a few points for you to consider:

Pros:

- It is fast
- It is even faster than the Millenium Falcon on a good day
- GPS is more accurate
- It is free!!

Cons:
- Stock theme is uglier than Amy Winehouse on a good day
- Even though this is a Samsung phone, you will be dissappointed that they sold you an excellent piece of hardware but released a friggin crappy software release of Android

So if i pulled you over that line to root your phone and install the rom, make sure you check out Darky’s website

I have been busy editing again, but also messing with After Effects. For this new creation i took a song from this amazing artist called Dub FX, he is a beatboxer with some kind of loopbox. So he creates a beat, records it into his loopbox, and replays that beat constantly. With some good vocals and lyrics, i found myself being hooked on it right away. The effects were done in After Effects, getting the lyrics and positioning them in After Effects takes a lot of time, the camera movement is a piece of cake!

I am now accepting that 24 hours in a day is not long enough. My full time job is taking most of the day, and i try to do a few things with Your Game News.  This week the website got a paint job and looks a lot better right now. You can check it out now at http://www.yourgamenews.nl. Realizing that working at my full time job and for YGN, is not work feeling like work at all but doing something i like. That is a HUGE difference and enabling me to be motivated and inspired all the time. Perhaps some food for thought for all you folks out there experiencing it in a different way.

I also managed to create the logo from 2d to 3d allowing me to have more freedom when it comes to video editing. I can animate the 3d logo in 3dsmax and render + import it to After Effects to create some good effects. Created a render of the logo which you can see right here:

Thanks for checking out the post again, and see you soon!

While the winter and its snow just arrived in holland, i am desperately trying to get my plans to work out. unfortunately my first short film got delayed due to lack of time, and i am still working on Your Game News. Mostly making video items and news concerning games has my highest priority, but i will start creating tutorials about premiere pro next year.

Besides al the other activities i managed to get a new smart phone. The iphone is still overhyped, so i got the Samsung Galaxy S. It has the OS of Android fully functioning , 1 GHZ cpu, 16  gb internal storage and an 8 megapixel camera. The app support is great and makes it the best phone i have ever had. here are a few pictures i took with the fxCamera app.

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