Something funny about editing these videos. I shot them on my phone, on a special app that I bought before the fair that was supposed to be the best for it. But for any video longer than a few seconds it became clear that the audio and video was slowly getting out of sync, like the video was recorded at 29.9fps, but the audio at 30fps. Through trial and error I realized that if I slowed the video to 98.3% of it’s original speed that things stayed synced (mostly) til the end. Fortunately for this video, most of the clips were short and most of them had me behind the camera, narrating, where lip sync didn’t matter.
I thought about editing a “So cool” counter into the video but ultimately decided against it because I wanted the focus on the projects. And I just didn’t want to go through the trouble of editing another counter.
I promised in the video that I would tell you about the smallest maker project that I saw that got someone into maker faire for free. Here it is.
A buddy of mine rewired one of those touch lights to be a 15 second timer that blinked and had sounds. Then he walked around with a pad of paper and had people challenge him to do a 15 second drawing of whatever they came up with.
Timer.
Drawing pad.
15 second drawings.
It was a game he played with his kids many times before coming to the fair. And, yes, he did build the timer himself, and that probably played into it. But it wasn’t complex. It wasn’t hydraulics and micro controllers and things that make angels weep for joy upon seeing it. It’s a 15 second timer and a pad of paper that he carried around him at the fair and challenged people to give him things to draw. That was his free ticket to maker faire.
Now, there’s still a problem with lodging and transportation, and there’s 3 solutions, and unfortunately none of them are free. Option 1 is you get a room at one of the places within walking distance of the fair grounds. This is only possible if you book early, like the same day they announce dates for the fair. After that they raise the prices, and they still fill up. Option 2 is you get a rental car, and get a place a little further away. This is a good option if you don’t book it early enough that you can get the sweet deals, but it’s still a little expensive. And option 3 is you drive your own vehicle, and stay somewhere a little further away. This is only possible for those who don’t live too far away, but it can save you quite a bit of money. It can also cost you quite a bit of money and time depending on how far you live from the fair you’re attending. It’s not perfect, but it’s possible, especially if you get yourself a free ticket to show off your projects.
That’s it for the Bay Area Maker Fair 2018 content. And now back to my regularly scheduled videos. Feels weird to be going back to that. These videos haven’t gotten the views that my usual videos do. Maybe it’s because people are overloaded with Maker Fair content. Maybe it’s because my thumbnails aren’t the best in this series. Maybe it’s the shaky cam. But I enjoy the story these videos tell. And I am definitely investing in a steady cam, at least, for next time.
I’m not sure if next time will be Bay Area or World. I’d like to set my sights on the World Maker Faire next year. What do you think/?
