Video Bloggin'

So as you've noticed I haven't really done a lot of written blogs recently because my focus has shifted in a new direction: video bloggin'. I am really enjoying the process and doing 100% of the editing myself. Everything about this is a one man show and I enjoy the process and am learning a lot as I think my vlogs will show. If you compare the first one I ever shot "Closet" to my latest, each week I think they've gotten better and I hope to keep them up every week, releasing one every Wednesday.

What will become of the "written blog" I'm not quite sure yet, but I think I'll likely write one occasionally, possibly even talk about poker in them! Who knows...

I started a YouTube channel and you can subscribe here

I'm calling the show the "Weekly Rant" and my YouTube username is DNegreanu so they shouldn't be too hard to find. If you subscribe, then you'll know when a new video is posted. The target goal is always Wednesdays, but as my schedule gets busier at some points that could change slightly depending.

If I was going to describe the show, I guess I'd say it's a little bit rant, a little bit poker news, a little bit of fun, with sprinkles of my interests along the way.

I started out with just an iPhone and downloaded clips straight to YouTube. Then I discovered iMovie and instantly fell in love. I'd never edited before, but I consider it a passion at this point, I absolutely love creating.

Each week I've learned a little more and added some wrinkles to the show, some of which work, and some of which didn't. It's a learning process, and eventually I'll have the recipe just right. I was very happy with the one I shot for March 14th. It was a bit long at 20 minutes, but so far, I haven't heard any complaints about that.

As I said, I edit myself, but I also set the background, light it, and do the audio myself. I have studio lights already at the house since I shoot PokerVT videos here, but still don't have that down quite yet. I shot using green screen in one show, but the process is way too lengthy to continue doing that since I also want to add picture in picture, cutaways, music, sound effects, etc. With iMovie, when you use green screen you first have to export what you shot after adding a green screen pic, then import it back from your desktop into iMovie, and then repeat for all the clips. It's a real hassle, especially when you are editing really short clips with picture in picture but still have to do that.

For audio, I've just been using the mic on my new Mac (I bought a new one with an HD camera) and I'm not satisfied with the sound quality. I plan on picking up a mic this week sometime that should help with that.

Lighting and background is something I'll just have to study cause I feel it leaves a lot to be desired at this point.

Anyway, hope you guys enjoy the new format and I'll try to keep it entertaining and look for fun content, but mainly it's a poker related show about hot poker topics of the week.

Daniel Negreanu is the 2004 CardPlayer Magazine and World Poker Tour Player of the Year. He presents his poker strategies in one-on-one virtual training at pokervt.com and writes a weekly syndicated newspaper column.
Read all of Daniel Negreanu's poker blog and poker articles at Full Contact Poker.