Portfolio

I thought I should write a brief entry on my portfolio while I'm waiting for the files to upload to the server.

For the theme, I chose to make it like a music dvd, thus my group projects are called bonus tracks. The beginning and end of each "making of" process also starts with a crowd cheering, and the background image is like a concert stage. The silouettes are from NM2208 Asn1 ;) The lights I added in After Effects. As for the design, I chose to use a montage of screenshots of my assignments. I then did a black and white and inverse-colored version for the back and the inside. I also added a scotch tape behind some text to make it more interesting. I was inspired by the CD design of "My Life Will" by Desert Zhang.

I had some trouble with camstudio though, as it can't work on a mac and I don't have time to learn/download the alternative softwares. Hence I transferred my stuff to my PC and recorded there. However, the AVI files I recorded can't be read on my mac (maybe I didn't check properly, but I couldn't edit them in video softwares, the audio is gone), so I had to convert them to .mov in PC first. Then I realised that the .mov versions from PC don't have visuals in mac. In the end, I exported only the audio from PC and matched them together in AE. Then I exported these and compressed them. Finally, I edited the videos (with the correct audio) and added the background. That is why there are SO many videos in my portfolio folder.

I also had trouble with the DVD menu as there is no trial version of Adobe Encore. I couldn't find alternatives, so in the end I had to use iDVD. Although the software is aesthetically nice, there is less flexibility in creating the menu. Hence my menu is not as user-friendly as I would like it to be. Basically, it doesn't have a "play all" function, and after each video, it will bring the viewer back to the menu. I looked on online forums, they say you'll have to string all the videos together and export that in order to have a "play all" function. However, that will take up too much space if I were to have the individual videos as well. Chapter markers don't work as they mark at a fixed period of time, but my videos are all of different lengths. Maybe I could have explored more and compress the video, but there isn't time. Sorry for the unfriendly interface :(

I tried to keep the theme of my portfolio for the menu though, so I used them same fonts and the highlight button is similar to scotch tape.