I was talking with a techy friend of mine, reciting all the happenings about my most current technical struggles. We were keeping it light-hearted in this frustrating situation, laughing to the point of tears in our eyes when I exclaimed, “and to think, all I wanted to do is art!”  That’s how this blog series was born. So let me tell you the story.

I’m making teacher examples of art and think to myself, wouldn’t it be nice to have this on video so I could use it for teaching in the classroom. It would allow me to spend more time circulating and giving one on one assistance. Hmmm, I could also film Bible Art Journaling and share that on UTube. I can make art and be able to share it. Brilliant idea. (and so unique, right?) I bought a webcam. Ready? Set. GO!

What do you mean I can’t use the lights over my art table because they make a bright hot spot on the video and you can’t see anything? Lighting is another adventure for another time.

So how do I fix my bloopers?  I can’t be perfect on or off-camera. Editing video is another adventure for another time. For this article, you need to know I had to buy a new computer that could handle rendering videos.

You mean I have to talk when I make art? Another adventure for another time.

I got my new computer; I’ve successfully edited my first video. Now to address the voiceover before rendering the video. I watch tutorials to learn how to do voice-overs. I plug in the mic and hit the mic button to record…no sound. It acts like it is recording, but there is no sound. I test mic on my laptop; it works fine. I try a different mic on the new desktop computer…no sound. Techy friend, please help! Techy friend spends the rest of the day on it, which spills into the next day because we’ve now enlisted customer support. Customer support is baffled. Tick tock, tick tock, and all I wanted to do is art. The last word from customer support is…return the machine to the store.

The newest new computer is all hooked up and ready to go. I pull up the project file, and it tells me the media is not found.  Another adventure for another time.  I quickly pull up the original raw video to test the voice-over options. And we have…Silence. Tecky friend and customer support continue to work out the problem in their techy ease speech. What are they talking about now? Is that really English?

Tecky friend and customer support decide it is a cable issue. I purchase a $3.50 adaptor cable, hook it up, and we have, wait for it…sound. Glorious sound! Let me see if I can explain their tech ease correctly.  The mic jack is universal, which means it can be used on my laptop and phone in the same receptacle the headphones use.  The desktop could not read that connection because the receptacle on the computer is not universal. The adaptor cable allows the computer to connect to the universal mic jack.

A week or so after starting this new computer endeavor, and the nonexistent computer issue resolved. I can begin again, from scratch (because the media is not found), my very first video.  And to think, all I wanted to do is Art!