New Video Podcasts Now Up!

Hello All,

Just wanted to post a note that there are a couple of new video podcast episodes up on DiveFilm Podcast Video: "Sulawesi Cephalopods" by Kathy & Mike Schnetzer and "Life and Loves of the Opisthobranch" by Walter Marti. Both films were very positively received by the audience at the most recent San Diego UnderSea Film Exhibition, and we are honored to be able to share them via podcast. Thank you, Kathy, Mike and Walter!

You can get to the podcasts by clicking on the link in the righthand sidebar on this webpage!

Currently in production for future episodes: Sam Hinton, The Scripps Years. Sam is a renowned folksinger, now in his late 80s, who (I learned only recently) was also the curator of the Scripps Aquarium Museum from 1946 through 1964, and learned to dive one of the first Aqualungs in the U.S. with Conrad Limbaugh in 1949. Incredible man!

Also in production, a very recent video interview with none other than Eric Cheng about his first experiences with underwater video. I was particularly interested in finding out how his background as a still shooter affected his approach to video. A great interview and some really incredible images--stay tuned for this one!

Now in preproduction, "Eddie and the Hagfish." I say preproduction because just yesterday I had the opportunity to plunge my hand into a bucket of writhing Hagfish. Very cool! I believe that Hagfish have been given a bum rap, they're really trippy to touch--so long as you don't make them slime! Eddie Kisfaludy, the Marine Technician at Scripps, will tell us all about the lives of these unusual creatures.

Well, back to the editing suite--hope you all enjoy the podcasts!

i wish i could watch em...

sounds interesting! except that bit about Eric....

Well done Mary..you are the king of underwater video podcasts.

I'll go and download them.

Still have not sent you the DV tape yet. Will get onto it this week.

Poor Mike...I know how you feel...I'm only getting 150kbps download myself

Hey Wagsy, looking very much forward--your work is totally inspiring! Find myself constantly asking, "now, how did he get that shot!?" And remember well the first time I saw your entry a few years back in the SD Undersea Film EX, and thought how high the bar had just been raised.

And, sigh, I'm bummed, Mike, about the whole bandwidth thing. I get all thrilled about pod vids at 768 kbps (plus) and the improving quality of encoding programs and advances in codecs, and then smack right into the reality of today's internet connections. It's a real dilemma. For awhile, I'd offered 50 kbps versions of the web films on the website, but the quality was so diminished that some of the the images were little more than moving blobs, occasionally recognizable.

No easy solution here, but time may sort it all out? On the technical end, the most recent podcast ("Life and Loves") was encoded using the new Compressor H.264 setting in Final Cut Studio 5.1. "Cross-graded" recently just to be able to access that new Compressor encoder, and very pleased with the results.

And, as always, heartily welcome feedback, discussion and ideas on the podcasts! (And still bummed about the bandwidth thing....)

Mary I think ADSL 2 is just around the corner, but you know they like to make money out of the old tech before they introduce the new.

I would of thought the stuff you are putting out is rather good as well Mary. I enjoy watching them all.

I think that there needs to be wmv formats as well on your site Mary because there still is alot more people with Windows than what have a Ipod's even though Apple have sold millions of them. Also the new other brands coming out will play wmv. Then there is the fact the H.264 plays better on a MAC and wmv plays better on a PC and worse on each other <_< Crazy like the NTSC/PAL thing....

Cheers

Paul

The new DiveFilm video podcast is now up: Episode 22 - "Sam Hinton, The Scripps Years."

This latest episode features an interview with the legendary folk singer, 89 year old Sam Hinton. Many are familiar with Sam's music, but what is not as widely known is Sam's incredible history as the curator of the old Scripps Aquarium Museum from 1946 through 1964. Sam started out as a helmet diver for Scripps, then learned the Aqualung diving from the late Connie Limbaugh on one of the very first Aqualung units in the U.S. As curator of the Aquarium Museum, Sam inspired millions of people, young and old, in their love of the ocean. Artist, teacher, diver, curator and folk singer, Sam has led an amazing life.

You can get to the podcasts by clicking on the link for DiveFilm Podcast Video in the righthand column of this web page!

Most people watching podcasts (recent estimates are around 70%), watch them on their computers. Around 30% watch them on handhelds. And then there is the new trend of watching them on TVs, where they look surprisingly good for such highly compressed, small fame-sized videos.

While I realize that many folks would like the option of wmv versions of the little videos, for me at this time the QT files are all I do. One of my interests is in keeping my subscription numbers up enough on iTunes to continue being a "Featured Video Podcast" and a "Featured Education Podcast." The iTunes Music Store Podcast Directory is the #1 podcast directory in existence today, the by staying "Featured" I can reach an audience who otherwise might not look into underwater-related imaging. And there's a lot to be said for that level of exposure when it come to raising awareness about the ocean and marine life. That's my thinking, anyway.

Hope you enjoy the latest video podcast on Sam Hinton!

Mary Lynn

Mary Lynn,

Just finished watching the Sam Hinton show. Sam performed for my students in the 80's; just never knew he was involved with Scripps. Very interesting podcast.

Steve B)

Sam's Scripps connection came as a complete surprise to me also. I mean Sam is among the great American folksingers of our time. At the Scripps Archives I kept coming across the name, Sam Hinton, and kept thinking to myself, "That's interesting--that's the folksinger's name!" Then when I learned that it *was* the folksinger, well, realizing that connection was what motivated me to do the little podcast.

And it was only in the middle of the interview with Sam that I learned about his helmet diving with Frank Haymaker, and his Aqualung diving with Connie Limbaugh. Very little has been written about the helmet diving days at Scripps. Eric Hanauer is one of the very few dive historians who has written about it, and there's a pdf of his excellent "Scientific Diving at Scripps" available online, in which he writes about the hardhat diving at Scripps and Frank Haymaker. Learning about Sam's involvement in that history was just icing on the cake for me.

Anyway, thank you for the feedback!