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Best wishes to everyone, and best wishes for the New Year. Love from Liv, Kit, and Nathan, our tech guru! ×
Best wishes to everyone, and best wishes for the New Year. Love from Liv, Kit, and Nathan, our tech guru!

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Posted

Geotris. wrote:

The only reason is because i love it, i love the movements, the grace, beauty, elegance, perfection, mastery of the human body, and to me it looks almost superhuman/demigod/spiritual like

Reason enough right there! I definitely encourage you to try it (all kids can do it, after all) but only after some prep. poses are mastered. The ones that I have already got up on YT that MUST be mastered first are the P. poses (including the advanced one!!!) and the Tailor pose; here they are:

and

And I will be demoing this myself as part of the 'How to sit for Meditation' program (and I have reasonably bulky thighs as you can see in the T. pose video above), and will be advising the same caution there!

Reason is that IF you do not have enough external rotation in the hip joints to do the full bottom position of the tailor pose AND the final position of the adv. P. pose, then the lateral ligaments of the knee loosen to allow the movement, over time. You definitely do not want that, if you are doing anything athletic. You want ligaments to be just loose enough to permit the desired movement patterns, and no more.

Posted

Hi All,

I'm really interested in purchasing these programs as well. I've been lurking here and on Kit's old website for a few years now (after purchasing Overcome Neck Pain and S&F in that order) and have also being doing the GB F1 and H1 for 8-12 months.

These stretch therapy programs for GST sound just like the prescription I need. Any firm idea on when they will be available?

Posted

As soon as we can humanly do them: we start shooting the Thursday before Easter.

I have a editor lined up, and my super Graphic Designer is getting up to speed on the ePub front by creating an embedded video version of one of my books, Stretching & Pregnancy. Completely OT, but I am hugely excited about re-releasing this publication.

  • 1 month later...
Posted

For you, Geotrismegistos

And the studio is ready:

post-2-0-20920900-1397352938_thumb.jpg

God I hate this interface; if it were not the best forum software available I would have set fire to it years ago.

For some reason upload file size is Limited to 317.46Kb files size. What genius chose that limit, I wonder? I had to resize that studio image six times until it fit. I will ask out tech guru how to change this.

Posted

And I will be uploading the "How to prepare for meditation" mobility program this week. Is 650Mb too large? There is a 250Mb version too, but it's lo-resolution. Or should I upload both and make them both available for the same price??

This is an hour long program, and follow along.

Posted

I love your cinematographer commitment to quality, but I'll put my usability hat on...

I think 650MB is overkill. Most TV show episodes are available to download at 480p (160MB per hour) and movies at 720p (430MB per hour).

I predict many will want these videos on their phones, tablets etc. to follow along on their floorspace, and suddenly disk space becomes a premium. For example, eight of these programs in the current high res would take up half the memory in a Samsung Galaxy S4.

You can test this to know for sure by uploading both options for this one program, and comparing number of downloads each resolution gets. If one is significantly more popular than the other, you have a definite picture of what kind of resolution people want. Then you can use this resolution for the other programs.

Re: 317KB image limit. This was a great idea 5-7 years ago. Forums full of >1MB images were a usability nightmare for people on below-average connections like me. Topics would take 30-60 seconds to render. Although this limit is a little outdated today...

Posted

I'd suggest uploading both and allowing both downloads for the same price.

My suggestion is entirely selfish though as I would personally use the smaller one for my mobile devices and the larger on for my laptop/PC.

And I will be uploading the "How to prepare for meditation" mobility program this week. Is 650Mb too large? There is a 250Mb version too, but it's lo-respoution. Or should I upload both and make them both available for the same price??

This is an hour long program, and follow along.

Posted

Either make both available or only the larger version - I suspect that most tech litterate people can find a way to compress and encode larger video file to a mobile format, there are dozen and dozen of tools available for the job - the other way: Not so much. It would be a shame not to make the best quality available. Just my take, anyway.

Posted

Both versions it is then. Thanks everyone!

@ Tris: I am using FCPX and Compressor, latest versions; can you make recommendations re. frame size and compressions, please; I want to perfect this delivery mechanism, because this is the way we are going. And I can re-compress the program we are talking about too; I will check and send the details of the two versions I have presently.

Cheers all, K

Posted

I think vimeo recommends h.264 as a codec. Really good file size and quality. It can also help to compress the audio, some software packages leave it as a lossless format which can really inflate the final file size.

Posted

I think most people will be most happy with Quicktime's MOV. MOV tends to avoid the codec issues that AVI and MPG/MP4 often attract.

Mac users can play MOV files natively through Quicktime Player, Windows 7 & 8 users can play MOV files natively through RTM Media Player, and Win XP and other users can play it by downloading Quicktime Player (free) or downloading a package of video codecs (also free).

If you give people a simple guide to download a player on your download page, all will be catered for. (I can give you a hand with this when the time comes.)

I would recommend Quicktime MOV compressed with H.264 (most efficient) with an 800kbit/sec data rate (seems to be the sweet spot for minimising motion pixelation while keeping file size manageable). 720x480 should capture all the detail comfortably, provided that you don't use long shots (if everything is in your studio, it will be fine). I'm pretty sure these settings will add up to about 360-380MB per hour.

You could blow it up to 960x540 if you felt it necessary, but I think the benefit of saving disc space with 720x480 far outweighs anything gained by the bigger size.

(Adjust the above frame sizes depending on if shooting 4:3 or 16:9...)

It's definitely worth putting the spoon in and having a taste. If you encode some high-motion footage with these settings, and you are happy with the sharpness and smoothness, you have yourself a good template for the program series.

Posted

The "Setup exercises, how to sit for meditation" program is a lovely lower body mobility sequence suitable for everyone. It is primarily a hip loosening, lower back stretching, hip opening sequence—because unless a meditator can get the pelvis into the right position, too much tension is needed to maintain the upright posture recommended by all teachers.

Now that we have the studio set up, we are going to make quite a few download programs (not related specifically to the "Mastery" series). For example, because ankles and calf muscles have been a topic here so often, Miss O and I are planning on shooting a 'single-leg dog pose' sequence this morning. This sequence has unlocked calf muscles for many people (its emphasis is fascial/neural) and it's extremely effective. This will be part of the "Mastering the Pike" program, but we will put this part up on YT free, so people can get a feel for the space and how we will be putting the Mastery series together.

For Forum users, what's the best way to let you know when a new program is ready for download? Making a new topic with the program name in the title? This Forum's inbuilt group email facility? Posting a part on YT, so all subscribers see it? FB pages? Other? TIA, Kit

Posted

@ Wheezer; who wrote:

I would recommend Quicktime MOV compressed with H.264 (most efficient) with an 800kbit/sec data rate (seems to be the sweet spot for minimising motion pixelation while keeping file size manageable). 720x480 should capture all the detail comfortably, provided that you don't use long shots (if everything is in your studio, it will be fine). I'm pretty sure these settings will add up to about 360-380MB per hour.

You could blow it up to 960x540 if you felt it necessary, but I think the benefit of saving disc space with 720x480 far outweighs anything gained by the bigger size.

All very helpful. 720 x 480 is not 16:9, though (960 x 540 is), and all native HD footage is 16:9; I will have to get the calculator out.

720 x 405?

Cheers, K

Posted

For Forum users, what's the best way to let you know when a new program is ready for download? Making a new topic with the program name in the title? This Forum's inbuilt group email facility? Posting a part on YT, so all subscribers see it? FB pages? Other? TIA, Kit

I would like an email notification but don't mind which method is chosen. Looking forward to them :-) Thank you.

Posted
For Forum users, what's the best way to let you know when a new program is ready for download? Making a new topic with the program name in the title? This Forum's inbuilt group email facility? Posting a part on YT, so all subscribers see it? FB pages? Other? TIA, Kit

Since some are active on Youtube, some here, some on Facebook... Sending it out in all places would be the best chance of reaching as many of ST enthusiasts as possible.

Posted
720 x 480 is not 16:9, though (960 x 540 is), and all native HD footage is 16:9. 720 x 405?

Oops. Yes, for 16:9, 720 x 405 is a pretty common output - and it's been my favourite recently. Aspect ratio dimensions always do my head in. I'll stick with 720 by whatever and 960 by whatever. :P

Re: download notifications, I agree with Joakim that many people will be on only one media platform, so you want to hit every one. It doesn't have to be much, a quick intro and a link to the download page.

There is software that can automate sending one announcement onto each platform. It can be clunky but it can work with some testing.

Posted

Hey there, Tris,

Try THIS little utility; very helpful.

And thanks for the comments re. notification; I will use them all. Thanks all.

Posted

Hi Kit,

I noticed the ST for GST workshops this year in Canberra and Adelaide. Any thoughts on doing one of these in Brisbane as well?

I'm eagerly awaiting the release of this material :)

Posted

even though it's not geared for GST specifically, i am personally looking forward to "how to sit for meditation". I'm not a meditator, (I do that on really long runs), but i believe this will help me tremendously with my hips and just with more general comfort sitting on the floor and trying not to use chairs so often.

Posted

Hello everyone; we have shot the first three days; one more to go (this Friday) and the footage for the first three programs will be complete. They are:

Master the full squat, and hip mobility, Master the pancake, and Master the Pike

@MTNordic: you will love the follow-along "How to sit for meditation" program; it is uploaded already to this Forum, but the admin interface is, frankly, impenetrable (and I have higher degrees in logic). An IT guru and I sat for three hours and could not get that download live. An open plea:

If you are, or know, anyone who is an expert user of this software (IP.Board [invisionPower]) and would like to help me, I shall be eternally grateful.

But see below (my next post).

Posted

@Kit: Sorry, I cannot help much so here are just a few common-sense troubleshooting questions. Maybe you also need InvisionPower's app "IP.Downloads" for managing downloads? Do you use "licensed software" (your own server hardware) or "Managed Platform (SaaS)" (their cloud service)? Have you asked for help in the tech support forums at http://community.inv...suite-support/?

Edit: The tech support forums are unofficial peer-support. For official staff-support, submit a support ticket in the client area. What steps did you and yout IT guru try? Do you get an error message?

Edit2: Yes, you will need the separate app "IP.Downloads" to manage IP downloads. See http://www.invisionpower.com/apps/downloads/. The tech support forums seem to have tutorials for the app but you can only see the IP forum postings with a client username and password.

Posted

Hello Anders,

Yes, we have the right apps (IP.Downloads, and the Nexus package). The difficulty is that I an a writer, not a sysadmin; so I get help where I can. The IT guy who has been helping me is a genuine guru in this area 9and an expert in IP.Board), but even he was stumped when we spent a few hours trying to get the parts to talk to each other. The reason I asked whether there was someone here who knows this package well is that the process of what we want to do (which in the big picture is not particularly complicated) is just so much faster.

And yes to al the steps you suggest this is where we will go next (we try to solve things by ourselves, because this is how we learn. Thank you!

Posted

@Ray; there will not be an ST for GST in Brisbane this year; the schedule is jammed already. The two you note will be the only two in Australia this year.

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