LONGECITY

I’m slowly working to compile the things I've learned over the last eight years, years spent focused on a long and difficult upward battle to achieve just basic health. I’m doing much better, but basic functionality still seems to elude me. I've been on 40+ prescriptions (both psychiatric and not), 100+ Supplements, ‘illicit drugs’ including psychedelics. I've done years of meditation, yoga, acupuncture and other non-pharmaceutical approaches. It’s been a long and painful road, but perhaps what I've learned could be of some value to someone.

First thing’s first, the whole thing should be considered beta. My camera is old and low-res, and I desperately need an HD camera. I’m still practicing my presentation and style, and being comfortable in front of a camera, something just a year ago I could never do. When I get the HD camera, every video will be redone.

Here's the channel:

https://www.youtube....KTdmiFZBwbAMPMQ

I do everything in one take. A few videos have some small cuts. Other than that, it’s one continuous presentation.

I want any constructive feedback you might be willing to give, no matter how small. Anything having to do with: presentation, speech, gestures, content, approach, eye contact, video framing and style, etc…Anything at all would be appreciated.

I am not looking to do anything fancy, I only plan on talking. This channel is geared towards people like you, people who have a basic knowledge of psychopharmacology and want to expand, want a reference, or simply something easy to share with friends who don’t know any of this and might benefit.

Here’s some videos that are particularly relevant to this forum:
Cannabidiol for Pain, Neuropathy, Fibromyalgia and More.
Supplements Aren't Woo
Supplements and Regulation: An Alternative Approach

The next two videos are more or less, at this point, my life’s work. They are big claims, and I will put supporting data forward soon. However, I want to know what you think of the cohesion of the hypothesis, whether or not it makes sense, and if you find it probable:
The Role of Neurosteroids: Termination of the Sensitive Period and Maintenance of the Adult Mind
The Neurosteroid Hypothesis Part 2: The Drastic Consequences of Lowered Sensory Gating In Adults

Thanks for taking a look and any feedback you may have. I have one last thing to mention, are there any topics you’d like to see covered?

 

P.S. If this is the wrong forum for this, let me know.

Edited by OneScrewLoose, 03 May 2015 - 05:38 AM.

You might want to put some links for further reading, references, or citations in the video description area. I think there are a few words that you might want to practice saying before the video so they sound more natural when you say them. All in all they are interesting videos. It would be easier to give better a critique if you used a better camera.

Any specific words?

I think I'm gonna get an HD cam before I make more videos. It seems to be a big deal.

Any topics you might like to see?

Thanks.

"Monoamine oxidase inhibitor". Listening again, you might have been purposefully saying it slowly so it is easier to understand. The volume on your videos is also really low, I have to turn my volume way up to hear well.

Topics people might find interesting and seem to fit in somewhat with your theme: Lithium oronate, selegiline, beta blockers for anxiety, inositol, recovering from alcoholism.

 

Thanks for the input, it's all appreciated. I do sometimes slow down on a few phrases to make them clear. I plan to get an HD camera with a better mic within a week. I'm a definite n00b at making videos, and this is a big learning process for me.

For alcoholism, check this out:

Any feedback on the video and presentation would help a good deal. Don't be afraid to be as critical as you want, as long as it's constructive.

Question, do you feel 1080p is necessary these days? I'm looking at this camcorder and it only does 720p. But for Youtube, that seems to be enough, especially if all I am doing is talking in front of a camera. I've seen it for as low as $110, and I've always had great results with Samsung. Opinions?
Edited by OneScrewLoose, 07 May 2015 - 08:17 AM.

720 is fine. Look on youtube for videos with similar lighting conditions to where you'll be shooting. You probably want to watch indoor videos. Saw some nice vids it took outdoor and some good indoor videos shot with daylight. I'm not all that familiar with camera though.

 

Ther content was good, and I'm sure the performance will get better as you keep talking. Don't forget LongeCity has an XML-RPC interface, so if you blog off site and post your vids, they can automatically be published on your LongeCity blog. Blogs IIRC are a feature of membership. Check the top right of the page for some good info about blogging here.

Thanks, and thanks for the blog info. Any vids stand out to you above the others?

Well there's one of a dog in  a hallway, that one suggests this camera would be bad for low light applications, but the one with the takeout chicken looks pretty good. It's indoor during daylight hours. Of course you could get some construction lights to go with it. That would give you more useful hours. Other users have mentioned smart phones having better pictures, specifically the Galaxy S series. You could just get a tripod head made for phones and use that if you don't need to actually hold the camera for anything. That would be the benefit of using a camcorder. Camcorders also have a few other features though, zoom is helpful for right sizing the composition. The F90 has a nice time lapse feature too that you could use to shoot some creative openings. I guess it depends on how involved you want to get with shooting. Every feature you want to use takes time. How much time do you want to spend on each video?

The videos vary. The shortest I have is two minutes, the longest I have is fifteen: It complete varies by topic. I am looking to spend 1-$200. Used is fine. I want the best camera for what I am trying to do. There's actually a huge amount of lighting in those videos, a 260 watt lamp. plus another 40 watt bulb on the other side of me. It's just that this camera sucks so hard it doesn't show. I'm just talking, and I"ll also have a whiteboard on a tripod soon. What would be my ideal camera. Can you educate me on some of these features?

Nice info, OSL!  I never knew about baclofen & EtOH.  I'm not so sure the camera is the problem; I think it's lighting and framing.  Try a less busy background, without things that will cast shadows, maybe lower the camera and zoom in more.  720p is fine for this kind of stuff.

LIke I said, there are 280 watts of lighting there. The camera is the problem. Any topics you'd like to see niner?

Thanks for the complement. I really hope these videos can help a lot of people gain new knowledge, without all the woo that entails a lot of supplemental discussion.

Edited by OneScrewLoose, 07 May 2015 - 08:01 PM.

The best I'm seeing for under $200 is this one. But it'll be over 200 in two days. There isn't much that I'm seeing from brands that I like below $200, it's pretty much the Samsung F90 and this Sony. 

 

What I like about this Sony is the compression codecs. The Sony goes up to 50MB/sec (though it won't use nearly that much on average) and that's one of the big things for picture quality. The other is the image sensor. Samsung hasn't provided alot of information about their technology to compare, but as the information is pretty basic, I don't think it's going to be as good as the Sony.

 

I have an older version of that Sony and it works decently. The picture can be a little gainy/noisy indoors, even with alot of light, but I've generally seen the best performance with Sony. That doesn't mean however that Sony is still top dog, I don't buy alot of this stuff these days, but of the $500-1000  cameras I've bought, Sony was the best value. I think I spend $350 on the earlier version of this camera and was a little disappointed with the noise on indoor video shot at night with 500 watts of halogen light, but, I'm not sure if there's anything in that range that would do much better. Natural sunlight is almost always brighter than it looks. You'll notice the indoor lights are off in most of the youtube demo videos, so the people recording them might be shutting them off cuz it doesn't handle mixed lighting conditions well or might look awful under fluorescents (though that would seem to apply to both). I think the Sony definitely has a better chance of giving you a good picture and does much better under very low light conditions with the gain all the way up, but the skyrocket phones from Samsung have really surprised me, I just don't see as many good examples of the Samsung.

 

Here's some good examples of video from the Sony:

 

I'm not seeing alot of videos using indoor lighting on this one either though... So what it will look like at the time of day you appear to be shooting during is unknown. CFLs and those types are a beast of their own. Personally, I'd still go with the Sony and make sure you get some good high speed SD cards to go with it based on brand experience. You can do time lapse in editing if you really want to and the longer optical zoom on the Samsung is more of a liability as it's image sensor won't allow for as much stabilization. Excessive zoom probably won't be much of a benefit to you though. 

 

Either way, try shooting while your at home on weekends around noon with the windows open and the lights off.

How does that compare to the JVC GZ-R10?

Also, for those who have been watching, what video has been the more interesting, helpful or informative, and why?

The best I'm seeing for under $200 is this one. But it'll be over 200 in two days. There isn't much that I'm seeing from brands that I like below $200, it's pretty much the Samsung F90 and this Sony. 

Just quoting you so it pops up in your alerts. I'm looking to get the camcorder ASAP.

I'm liking the quad proof camera, underwater features are cool, especially if you can do something sciency with it. I like the outdoor shots, probably richer colour than the previous two. Didn't see much in the way of indoor, but some darker underwater shots were probably a good indicator of what this will look like. Looks fairly comparable to either of the others on that front.

 

Of course if you have an underwater camera.... you're going to need to get a remote control submarine to go with it

LIke I said, there are 280 watts of lighting there. The camera is the problem. Any topics you'd like to see niner?

Thanks for the complement. I really hope these videos can help a lot of people gain new knowledge, without all the woo that entails a lot of supplemental discussion.

 

The camera is A problem, (not that bad, imho) but I find the lighting to be very distracting.  You have enough light, but it's pointed in the wrong direction.  I just looked at the first neurosteroid vid, and the framing is definitely better.  The background is better too.  The main problem is that your face is in shadow.  I've only watched two videos so far, so maybe you've dealt with this in later vids, I don't know.  The torchiere lamp is bright, and it reflects off the white ceiling.  This is putting too much light on your forehead, and not enough on your face.  You might get a better look if you move the floor lamp so that it's in front of you, maybe around where the camera is or a little behind it.  That should get you a more even illumination of your face.  You'll probably want a spot or two to light the background.  These can be behind you, aimed toward the wall.  You might want 1 or 2 hundred watt bulbs for that.  It's a lot of watts, but it won't be on for all that long.  You might want them on a dimmer so you can adjust it easily.  I think the background is still too busy.  The picture kind of intersects your head...  It might work better to be sitting in front of a pure white wall, with the wall lit from below and the floor lamp bounced off the ceiling in front of you.  A foreground object like a desk or table is a possibility; I don't know if it would be better or worse necessarily, but it's something you could play with. 

 

I don't have any specific requests, but there seems to be a lot of need for anxiolytic strategies in general.

Which camcorder is better overall?

Well I like the Sony and JVC... If they're both in your budget, I'd get the JVC in case you want to get into videos on outdoor hobbies. It's always nice to have features like that. 

 

I actually have a bunch of ideas for discussion topics, more personal interests though. Sent you a pm.

Turned out, despite being more expensive, the JVC had inferior video quality to the Sony. It retails for $400 but there's a groupon for it for $179. However I just found and ordered a refurb Sony PJ350 for only $200. 

Looks like a nice camera.

 

I was just checking out some of the Sony's at a retail store. They didn't have the JVC, but the Sonys all looked great in the viewfinders even under somewhat dim fluorescent lighting. I doubt the lights where I was were even T5s. Should have brought some memory cards with me... anyways, the Samsung was there and it didn't work... probably would have been a bad idea Were you able to compare the JVC and Sony? What did you wind up basing your decision on?

Get one of those backgrounds that absorb the white light that emanates from the screen while in a dark room for face cam . 

Edited by kurdishfella, 10 June 2022 - 01:37 AM.