A 3 Dimensional Toy

A couple of years back, I treated myself to a pocket video camera – a Kodak Zi8. I had big plans to do various things with it – including some music videos and perhaps some cooking demos on YouTube.

My first outing was to the Gadget show, where I filmed as much as the SD card would take; subsequently I filmed some other local events, just to get a feel for it.

But I was greatly disappointed, as almost everything I filmed had audio sync problems. I spent a long time online, and discovered this was not an isolated problem. The Zi8 saves to a MOV file, and uses a fairly obscure codec, little used by anyone else. As a result, films worked with the Kodak software, but loading it anywhere else (or exporting it), I found I had syncronisation problems.

I should have really returned it for a refund, but I was hoping to find a solution. In the end, the camera got put away, and my dreams of video editing were forgotten.

Then the other day, I saw that Amazon had the Bloggie 3D camera reduced to 89 quid. Last time I looked at this, it was over 200 pounds. So even though I have bought too many toys lately, I decided I had to have one.

I’ve had it only 4 days, and it is a joy to play with. No sync problems, and it is so easy to use. Also, the 3D is surprisingly good. So perhaps I will get those music videos recorded after all.

The really funny thing is that the Bloggle doesn’t come with anything but the most basic software, so I went online to download some packages to try. One of these is MAGIX Movie Edit Pro, which I have a 30 day trial for. What I’ve found is that the latest version of this seems to load in my Kodak videos correctly, and export them to an AVI or MP4 without sync problems.

So I now have two working pocket cameras.

A very brief example of some footage I have shot with the Bloggie 3D. Lots of camera shake, but it was one of my first tries.

[Note for those unfamiliar with YouTube 3D: By default, the video will normally show in side-by-side mode, unless you have already configured another preference. Once video has loaded, a 3D icon will appear on the video lower bar, from which you can configure how you want the 3D to be displayed – you can select sepia/cyan glasses, or 2D, or many other choices.]