What a crazy week its been. First off, thanks to everyone who sent in links for creative commons music. Second, we’ve put a lot of work into Ep 2 and I’m sure you’ll all really enjoy it. I’m wrapping up the editing and leaving for Alaska on Tuesday.

I’m a little upset for a few reasons. First one segment had to be shelved for another episode. Second another segment had to be re-shot due to low light. Third, the most recent segment may not even air due to legal reasons. It’s a cool hack that’s a little shady, but at this point a run in with a legal department could put a premature end to Hak.5. I’m still thinking of a workaround because I really want to include it in the release. Grr.

I’m also having a ton of problems encoding h.264 in Vegas 4.0. I know, I need to upgrade to Vegas 6, Get Premier, or get a Mac and Final Cut but it’s just not in the non-existant budget right now. Remember, Hak.5 is free with no sponsors. We’ll be getting a bigger hard drive, a couple wireless mics and a lighting kit soon but it’s starting to add up. Anyway, if you have any suggestions on encoding h.264 in Vegas 4.0 please drop me a line. I’ve tried x264 and MainConcept H.264 Encoder but neither integrate with Vegas.

On a lighter note, we should have a trailer of Ep 2 out tomorrow that I just know you’ll get a kick out of.

Thanks for seeding the torrents and voting in the poll. That information really helps out.

We got a lot done today, but also ran into some problems with lighting. More specifically, the sun went down. What a punk. I ended up finishing the segment we were shooting back home on the couch, but I’ll never be as happy with it after seeing what we got on location. It’s a shame we can’t use it.

Also, polls are finally up and more changes to the site are on their way. Wess and I are geared up to lay down some tracks this week, but again if you’re willing to donate music we’re all ears. No pun was intended there. Honest.

TMNT Rules!

It’s a shame this will be cut, I liked the composition

Again big thanks for everyone who is supporting Hak.5 by listing the show, seeding the torrents, giving us feedback, or watching. We can’t wait to release again.

–Darren

We’re wrapping up Episode 2. Today Wess and I have our “Power Sunday” where we wake up early and work on the show all day long. Hopefully we’ll be able to knock out the last two segments and do the “glue” throughout the week. I’ve managed to edit each segment on the days we shoot them so next week’s post-production marathon should be no sweat. Wess and I are going to spend next week working on loops and original music for the show so we don’t get a C&D from the RIAA (wouldn’t that be fun ). If you’ve got some creative commons music you would be willing to donate to the cause drop us a line.

The images below are from the last three days of shooting:

Wess and I back at the lab ready to take on another homebrew hack

I’ll just let you guess on this one. Might not make the final cut.

Trying not to overuse the desk & backdrop set, Alli comfortably gives us a spiffy tip

That’s all for now. It’s creeping up on 5am so I had better get sleep before we start our “Power Sunday” (Sunday, Sunday, Sunday, at the Megaplex! Iron Raptor takes on the Graaaaaave digger!!! Kids 6 and under FIVE DOLLARS!) Sorry, just had to.

–Darren

Last nights shooting went really well. We spent about 2 hours filming and ended up with a 3 minute segment. I’m sure in time we’ll be able to get faster at these. We’re still working with our temporary set which is getting better each day. On Monday we got three 36″x60″ Hak.5 posters made which look really nice. We’re technically behind schedule by one day, but it’s a very ambitious production schedule for the second episode. I’ve left a whole week of leeway just incase a camera dies, computer crashes, or Wess joins an actors guild and starts demanding pay.

Can’t wait to get black wireless lapel mics.

Beth researching on the editing box

Shooting a Random Bit; Beth on Cam1

We’ll hopefully pick up some speed on these next two segments, then glue it up on the weekend. Then I pack up and head to Alaska for a week.

Thanks for the continued feedback on Ep1, I can’t wait to finish up Ep2 and get it out to you guys. We’ve taken all of the feedback and used it to make this next release a ton better.

–Darren

PS: 1 GB != 1,000,000,000 bytes. No matter what your HDD manufacturer says

Our servers didn’t explode over the weekend and we’ve compiled a list of all the great feedback so we’re ready to do it again.

Saturday was the pre-shoot meeting where we kicked around ideas, finalized the segments list, and wrote up the production schedule. There are so many great ideas it’s hard to choose which ones to do first.

Today we put together the set, acquired more lighting gear, and shot a mod with Wess. I even learned a very important lesson about not touching soldering irons!

Behind the scenes at Hak.5. We still need to get a pro lighting set and replace the aging mixer.

Wess got down and dirty with his next mod, nailing almost everything on the first take.

I got a little friendly with the soldering iron. Mental note, no touchy!

We’re going to try to finish one segment a day this week. The production schedule for this episode is really tight as I’ll be in Alaska by the end of the month. If all goes well I’ll have all next week to edit and encode. If you’ve got some links that would help me get the Xvid looking better, or the Quicktime in H.264 to share it would save me some googling next week.

–Darren