Ryan Colucci's Blog, page 9
August 27, 2013
Day 6 of ‘R.E.M.’ Kickstarter
Today marks the sixth day of the Kickstarter campaign for my graphic novel R.E.M. I woke up today and we were sitting at $4,957.
I have to say, I’m completely overwhelmed with the support the book has received from the Kickstarter community. We currently have 144 backers, and I’d say roughly 85% of them are Kickstarter driven. Only three of my family members have pledged so far (you bastards), and a handful of my friends. That is something you hope for, but don’t really expect. There’s a reason it is the brand that is synonymous with crowdfunding, and that is because they have built an amazing community within their electronic walls. I guess, to some extent, I am part of that and didn’t even realize it. I’ve backed over a dozen projects – and trust me, if I had the money I would back so many more. There is some crazy and cool stuff being done on there every day. It’s a place I go to and marvel at people’s creativity – but, unlike most of the time, these creatives are coupled with ambition. I work in a creative field, and most of the people I meet that I consider creative think the world owes them something. It’s draining, and somewhat sad. Kickstarter is the opposite of that. And I have grown to love it.
Filed under: Uncategorized
August 26, 2013
Galileo: Motion control for iPhone
Well over two years ago, I backed a project on Kickstarter called ‘Galileo’ from Motrr. In essence, it is a docking station that acts a motion control rig for the iPhone. Being interested in photography and filmmaking, I thought this was a pretty awesome piece of technology. In theory, you can control the Galileo from your iPad, moving it in a circle (or tilting up and down).
Yesterday, it finally arrived (I know there was some serious hatred being spewed at these guys for taking so long to deliver, but I rather a complete product that works than cry over it – and also, that’s the risk with Kickstarter).
It looks great, and feels solid. However, after an hour of toying around with it, I started to worry that I bought a solidly built docking station. Because the great secret is that Galileo doesn’t create software, only hardware. And they are relying on third party developers to enable the devices to talk to each other. So, I had to download an app to even test the thing out for $5 bucks. And the app was shit. In fact, all of their third party apps are shit. The one standout is DMB Panorama, which stitches together photos to create 360 degree panoramas. But you have to rig it up in the iPhone direct – you don’t control it from the iPad. So that is lame.
Word is that FilmicPro is working on compatibility. I hope that is the case and it comes soon. I also hope that it works with the iPad.
If you have kids – there is a surveillance app. It is probably cool, but I’m not sure of the range and if you have to be on the same network as the iPhone you’re using to watch things.
In closing, it’s a cool device with almost no software to support it. So, I’m somewhat disappointed.
Filed under: Filmmaking, Movies
