03/31/2016: Storytime Pup: - How it all started (Part V). Sounds Good To Me.

     With the video and lighting equipment received and tested, it was time to move on to the last important piece for successful videos.  We needed to create high quality audio.  So, I started to research what microphones were being used by some of the top Youtube channel creators.  There are many different microphones used.  But one seemed to stand out as one of the top choices, that being the Blue Yeti microphone by Blue Microphones.  It is a professional grade USB microphone giving studio-quality results.  And it was priced well for the quality.  So, I ordered the Blue Yet Blackout.
     I received the microphone about a week later.  I was extremely pleased with the quality of the microphone.  I downloaded the Audacity audio recording and editing suite.  It is open source software and comes highly recommended as well.  I ran some tests and everything worked and sounded just great.  That is until I upgraded to Windows 10.  Suddenly Windows wasn't recognizing the Yeti microphone any longer.  I Googled the problem and sure enough, it is a common issue. There are some fixes, but I have yet to get one to work and stay working.  I am still working this issue.  If worse comes to worse, I will do the audio recording on an alternate computer.  We have three computers for the Storytime Pup Channel.

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(Next - Part VI - Silly Voices)

03/30/2016: Storytime Pup: - How it all started (Part IV). Shedding Some Light on the Subject.

     Elin stressed the importance of both lighting and audio in creation of our videos.  So, I spent the next couple of days looking into green screen lighting.  I figured out that based on the type of videos we would be shooting with a fixed camera on a tripod, that 3 point lighting would be the best.  I then looked into the different kind of lighting and green screen packages that were available online without breaking the bank.  I ended up ordering a three light, with green screen background kit as shown. I ordered it off of eBay and got a really great price on everything.  We are trying to keep the costs low on the project, so it was a nice find.

     The lighting and green screen equipment arrived in less than a week.  I was very impressed with the quality when I opened it.  I un-boxed everything and set it up in my office.  My office is pretty decent size, but was very cramped once I got everything set up.  I just wanted to do some testing.  I spent most of the weekend playing with different lighting set-ups and playing with green screen in Sony Vegas Studio.  By the end of the weekend I had video of myself in the woods, at the beach and even Disney World.  All without leaving my office :-)  The magic of technology.  I was very happy that I had learned how to create seamless green screen video.

     So, I had the equipment and know how for lighting and video.  I planned to move the lighting and green screens into the basement and create a make-shift studio for now.  My son is moving out in August for college.  He has a nice big bedroom in the basement that will be perfect for a permanent studio.  We will make do with the make shift area until July.

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(Next - Part V - Sounds Good To Me)

03/29/2016: Storytime Pup: - How it all started (Part III). Finding a Puppy.

   So, I had the concept,  a cute character that will read Children;s books to kids.  Now to decide on a character.  I thought about what animals kids love.  I first thought about a big Teddy bear.  Then I made a list of all kids favorite animals: cats, dogs, bunnies, horses, bears etc.  I am a dog lover and who doesn't love cuddly puppies.  So, I decided on a puppy dog as the character,  I also immediately thought of the name Storytime Pup.  Kids love Storytime and they also love puppies.  I thought it had a great ring to it.  I had a mental picture of what I was thinking about, so I went on a quest to find a character.  After several days searching online, I found a company that I thought could make what I wanted.  After some back and forth with the company, I placed an order for Storytime Pup on Jan 31st, 2016.
     With the suit ordered, I next had to focus on the equipment I needed.  I began my research on how to use green screen.  Luckily I already had purchased Sony Vegas Movie Studio HD 11 several months ago.  I also already had a high definition video camera I could use.  I am also lucky to have a good friend who runs a video production company.  I met with my friend Elin of White Knight Productions.  I told her about my channel idea and she was intrigued and encouraged me to move forward with it.  She told me about the importance of lighting in green screen to get the best results and that it can be tricky and would take some experimentation.  She gave me some other advice and I left her office determined to give Storytime Pup my best effort.

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(Next - Part IV - Shedding Some Light On the Subject)

3/28/2016: Storytime Pup - How it all started (Part II). Youtube, the Land of Opportunity?

While I was pondering a way to promote children's books to the masses, I was also exploring Youtube.  Being that we are living in the video age, and with Youtube growing at an exponential rate, I thought I might want to explore doing something on Youtube. I had started a video blog a couple of years ago, but really didn't have much direction for it and it fizzled away.  But, the desire to do something in that arena was still there.  My wife and I are both looking for something we could do as we near retirement and we thought a Youtube Channel could be fun
    My wife Diane, was the one who really sparked the idea for Storytime Pup.  One night she said, "you like to act, Maybe you could read kids books on Youtube".  I did a lot of acting in college and recently started again at a local community theatre.  I pictured myself sitting in front of a camera reading books.  Sounded kind of boring to me and I didn't think the kids would embrace it.  I told her I wasn't too sure about that, but I would think about it more.  .
     I put the idea in the back of my mind, and occasionally I would ponder on it.  The concept of reading books to children was great.  I was pretty active in my kid's school when they were growing up.  I used to help with all the parties and many times I read to their classes.  I really enjoyed it.  So, I loved the idea, but I wasn't thrilled with the delivery method.  First I thought maybe I could dress up like an old man and be "Grampa Bill the Storyteller".  But that still didn't seem right.  Then I thought that maybe I could use a ventriloquist dummy or puppets to read the stories.  Nope, not yet.  But, I was on the right track.  Then I began to think back as to what my kids liked when they were little.  Immediately I thought of Barney the dinosaur.  My son Ryan just loved Barney when he was little.  He would have watched him all day if I let him.  Hmm I thought.  What if we had a character like Barney who read books to children?  BINGO, that's it!  Kid's love books and characters.  I knew we had the recipe for something good.  It was January 18th, the beginning of what I hoped to be an interesting and fun project.

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(Next - Part III - Finding A Puppy)

3/26/2016: Storytime Pup - How it all started (Part I). Lost in the land of Kindle.

     So, how did the concept for Storytime Pup come about?  Well, a few months ago I wrote my first children's book, Doran's Doorway Adventures - Saving Jinx.

 (http://www.doransdoorwayadventures.com)

     It was something that has been on my bucket list for years.  It is the first in what I planned to be a series I was going to write when I retired.  I decided that time was precious and why wait until I retire.  When I completed the book, I uploaded it to Kindle and hoped for the sales of my wonderful book new book series to begin (haha)  Well, I had posted on Facebook and family and friends downloaded my book, but that was about it.  I did a little bit of advertising, but in the end only had about 200 downloads.  I started to look into book promotion.  I was surprised to find out how many authors were facing the same dilemma.  I looked at the numbers and there were literally tens of thousands of just children's books out on Kindle.  I started downloading and reading them.  Some were ok, some were good and some were just great.  Then I looked at the rankings on some of the really great books.  Sadly, the sales of many of these great books were minimal.  I said to myself, there are so many wonderful books out here that just aren't being read and may never be seen by children.  They are lost in the sea of children's books on Kindle.  I wanted to discover a new way to expose these great books to parents and their children.

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(Next - Part II - The Land of Youtube)

03/25/2016: Storytime Pup, a new online children's channel, to launch May 1st 2016.

Storytime Pup, a new online Children's Channel, is in the works and is scheduled to launch on May 1st, 2016.     We decided to start a blog to capture the project as it progresses, as well as keep people up to date.  Over the next few days I will tell how the project was conceived, what steps have taken place so far and what is left to do before we can launch this great new channel for kids.  So sit back, follow along and enjoy!

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