1. First, you’ll want to have your clip in the appropriate track and everything ready to go (trimmed and such.)

Overview of the Vegas work space

2. Once you’re ready to begin, click the Go To Beginning arrow, which looks like this: |<. That will take you to the front of the track. Once there, use the right arrow on your keyboard (by holding it in) to advance frame by frame through your video track. Once you get to the spot you want to start the Slow-Mo at, release your finger. You can fine tune it by just single pressing the arrows left or right.

This image shows where I am choosing to make my selection

3. Now we will split the clips to begin the slow-mo. Hit the “s” key on the keyboard to split the track. Now, use the right arrow button on your keyboard and press it twice. Then split the track again. Do this 5 or 7 times, depending on how long the trick is. The reason I do it 5 or 7, instead of 6 or 8, is because you want to have an odd number of splits. By having an odd number of splits, this insures that your slow-mo peaks on the even clip, then goes back down. It’s sort of confusing, but just trust me.

A picture showing the splits I made

4. After making your splits, move the back part of your clip over to the right to allow yourself room to edit. Spread your split clips out, too.

The above picture shows the splits and how I moved them to allow space to edit

5. Now, this is the fun part, and the most crucial part of the procedure. Place your cursor over the end of the first split. You will see that it turns into an arrow inside of a box. Hold down Ctrl (control button), then click on the end of that clip and drag it to the right. You’ll see up top an arrow similar to ->| with a time behind it. Drag that until it says +0;02, or two tenths of a second.

View of the clip dragging procedure, you can see the +0;02 at the top

6. Move your next clip over to the one you just edited, and do the same procedure as Step 5, but take it up to +0;03. Then. move the next over, and take it to +0;04. Then work on the descent.****Note.

*Note: If you split the original clip 5 times, after you do +0;04, go back to +0;03, then +0;02. If you split the original clip 7 times, your peak will be +0;05, instead of +0;04. Ya dig?

View of the splits being connected

7. Now, move your last part of your clip back and attach it. Like all the other times you re-attached clips, the little blue line will appear in between them.

Illustration of a basic connection between clips

8. Now we must sync the sound with the slowed down clip. If you forget this part, your final clip will sound really retarded. To avoid confusion, I’ll show you how to do it one by one instead of grouping them and doing it in one step.

The sound bar is where your sound for each clip is located. Right click on each little sound clip under the video clip, then go to “properties” on the drop down menu.

This picture illustrates the sound bar and where it is, along with the sound clip (highlighted in red) accompanied by the pull down menu.

9. After clicking on “properties” from the previous step, a box will come up with many options. Find the option for “Lock To Stretch” and tick that. By ticking that, it ensures that your audio is stretched with your video and becomes deeper. This is the famous noise you hear in slow-mo clips.

***If you can’t find the Lock To Stretch option, make sure your “Method” in the box is on “Classic.”

***Never click the “Lock” box towards the top under “Switches,” that will just lock your audio from being moved. It has no effect on the slow-mo at all.

After ticking the “Lock to Stretch” box, click “OK,” then do that for all the clips you split.

Here I’m displaying what to tick in the Properties box.

Once you’re done doing that, you can render your clip and bask in the glory of the fake ramped slow-mo!

Example from the clip I was using in the guide:

http://blip.tv/file/756966?filename=…Example232.mov

If anyone wants things explained more in depth or anything, just ask, and I’ll be happy to help.

The Basics

What is SLR?

SLR means “single lens reflex.” The main thing to understand here is that whatever you are seeing through the viewfinder is how it will appear on your prints/negs/etc. There is no shutter delay, as one may find in digital P&S (point and shoot).

What is DSLR?

DSLR simply stands for “digital single lens reflex.” Same principle as SLR.

What is ISO?

ISO is your film speed. ISO is the measurement of your image sensor’s sensitivity. The higher the ISO, the more sensitive the sensor becomes to light. The higher your ISO goes, more light is exposed to the film or digital sensor. You may also find this listed as DIN or ASA.

What is shutter speed?

Shutter speed is the speed that your camera’s shutter opens and closes. The higher the shutter speed is (ex: 1/500th) gives you a better chance of capturing faster moving subjects better. In lower shutter speeds (ex: 1/30th) you’ll have more motion blur from faster moving subjects.

What is aperture?

Aperture controls how much light is available to your sensor. The lower the aperture, the more light. Most cameras/lenses can go down to around f1.7. Shooting at your lowest aperture is also known as shooting “wide open.” The higher the aperture (ex: f22), less light is admitted to the sensor. You have to balance the aperture and the shutter speed to get a well balanced exposure.

Simple Techniques

Rule of Thirds:

The rule of thirds is a simple “rule” of photography to follow for better pictures. You don’t have to use it but keep it in mind when shooting. Imagine your VF (view finder) is split into a grid with three rows and three columns of white lines. It is your job, as a good photographer, to make sure your most interesting subject is where the lines intersect. For a portrait, its the eyes, for a skate shot, its the skater, for a bowl of fruit, its the paticular fruit you want to catch peoples eyes.

ex:

Notice how the skater is framed in the top left instead of in the middle. It makes it more interesting, but that doesn’t mean you can’t shoot centered. This is just a tip to follow.

Leading Lines:

Placing natural lines in your picture coming from the sides or corners of your photo lets the viewer’s eyes move along the lines to your main subject. It makes your pictures a whole lot easier to look at and makes your viewer more interested in your photograph.

ex:

In my shot here, most people’s eyes will follow the road from the corner to the middle of the image, where they are left to explore the sky and mountains.

Contrast:

Playing with shadows and the contrast between light and dark in an image can make it better. Play heavy on shadows or dark objects to accentuate a properly lit subject.

ex:

As you see here, I totally used the sun in the back as backlight, used a higher aperture (f8), and a high shutter speed (1/640th) to eliminate definition in the people and make them silhouettes.

Off Camera Lighting

What is a hot shoe?

No, it’s not warm Nike’s! A hot shoe is a mount on top of most SLR and DSLR cameras that gives you an electrical connection between the shoe and your shutter. This can be used for external flashes and slaves.

What is a slave?

A slave is a transmitter and receiver unit that allows you to use your flashes off camera. You will see this in many skate shots. The transmitter goes into your shoe, and the receiver plugs into your flash. Cheaper slaves (eBay or Cactus Slaves) go for around 30 dollars for the whole setup, whereas Pocket Wizards go for around $200. Why so high you ask? Pocket Wizards never fail to transmit, unlike cheaper ones that will missfire every 35 shots or so.

ex:

The photographer here placed a flash unit on a slave on the right side of the image (you can’t see the flash) to illuminate that side of the image, or where the skater is tricking to.

credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/era145/1358264512/

That is it for now, if you have any questions I’ll be glad to help you and add to the guide.

Happy photographing!

-Lee

Well this Deck i was amazingly surprised with.

Durability Well let’s say that i’ve skated for an average of 10 hours a week and after 12 weeks it had no cracks, no chips, nothing wrong at all with this deck. The Paint Came of quite easily but it didn’t really matter all it was a black/white stripes across it. 10/10

Pop This deck has yet to lose it’s pop. It’s still got all the pop it originally came with and just doesn’t seem to go away. I still pop the same height ollies as when I first got it. 9/10

Weight It’s a tad bit on the light side but not to much so it’s not making the whole setup really heavy or really light. It’s just about right. 8/10

Construction It’s a standard 7-ply nothing special about it. But it seems indestructible. 8/10

Shape This shape is awesome. Perfect Nose, perfect tail, and, a nice medium concave. Really nice nothing wrong here. 9/10

Overall I recommend this deck to everybody. If your a little short on cash or you want to buy two decks at once. It’s well worth it. Awesome deck and skates great. It gets a 9/10

Here is a picture of the design they always use, by they change the colors on everything, twice a season.

The exact price of these(with tax) are 43.49

Shape:I dont know about you, but im not a huge fan of concave, and thats one of the main reasons i love these boards so much. In my expierences, when you first get em, they have a lil bit of concave, but flatten out more over time which i love, but when i say flat i dont mean completely flat. Ive so far ridden their 7.75s,8s and 8.125s. The length of the 7.75 is the same as 8.125, but the 8 is shorter then both. Dont ask why because i dont know. The tail and nose are fairly the same, but like most boards the nose is a bit bigger. Over all, IMO i give the shape a 9/10

Look:Fucking sick dude, but its all opinion. 20/10

Durability:This one really depends on the person riding it. Most of my friends arent huge fans of the durability of these, but i personally realllllly love it. Normally they dont chip for me until atleast 2 months in, but by then its time for a new board anyway. The pop stays fairly well i think, and they are pretty damn strong. Ive only broken 2 of these before, which was from stomping the middle(would of broke on any board), doing a gap. I give this a 9/10 also

Pop:Not much to say really i guess. All opinion on this, but i think its great. I dont notice pop that much in boards, because i have normally high tricks regardless

Weight:Personal opinion on this too. I dont know the standard skateboard weight, but these dont seem to be heavy, nor light. Just right for me. They dont use no bullshit special techniques in them, just good ole standard ply.

Overall:Id give these boards a personal 9/10. Im going on my 6th one soon, and i still love them equally each time. They should last you a long time and give you numerous good sessions.

While your at buying one, pick up a copy of their video from last summer “ViceVersa”. Jake Donnelly, the slap one in a million winner is in it along with other sick team riders. Filmed by one of the best filmers ive ever seen, Bill Bottriell.

-Founded in 1999 in San Clemente, California

-It was started by Four Star Distribution (not 4star) and was actually intended to be casual snowboarding shoes!

-Chad Muska also had a hand in creating C1RCA

Now onto my review…

I bought these shoes last September for school shoes, and decided to start skating them in April. So far, if I had to estimate, I have been skating them for about 40 days. This is why in my pics they aren’t very worn down yet.

Price:

I bought mine from Action Village for 60$. If you want these cheaper, go to www.evileds.com and get them there for 30$.

Material:

The sole is fusion grip rubber. It has a mesh tounge and a gel insert where the arch is. I’m 90% sure that all of the colorways come in suede. I haven’t heard of any leather. A downside, like most black shoes, is the blue color that shows through when you wear them down.

Look:

This shoe is a bit more bulky than others. I like it though. The CC2’s have a VERY fat tounge and I love fat tounges, so this shoe suited me well. It had surprising flexibility, though, for its size. I would compare the size of this to the Arto 2’s or Nike Zoom Tre’s.

Performance:

There is nothing bad I can say about these shoes performance wise. They have excellent boardfeel and I would compare them to my Globe Focus’s. The sole looks thick but feels thin and you can get a good feel for the board. The grip on these shoes are also very good. The grip pattern is a bunch of rounded of triangles that go up and down. I find this to be similar to the honeycomb pattern, which, in my opinion, is the best pattern for grip. There is optional lace protection on the first to lace holes and that helps for a while to prevent snapped laces.

Comfort:

Th CC2’s feel amazing on the feet. There is a TON of padding on the inside that helps to “hug” your feet and keep them secure but comfy. I could walk/skate all day in these and have no complaints. The shock absorber helps with heel support while the gel arch helps to keep your arch in line and provide comfort.

Bottom Line:

This is an excellent skate shoe. I haven’t hard core skated it yet, so I’ll post back when I start to beat it to hell. It is a solid shoe, and for the price at Evil Ed’s, you can’t go wrong.

Post any questions or comments and I’ll be sure to help!

~ Started by Jamie Thomas to explore new art ideas

~ Zero and Mystery are both housed under Black Box Distribution, meaning same board design (shape wise)

~ The Mystery logo was taken from the 1999 film “Detroit Rock City,” in which the main character’s band was titled Mystery and they had the same logo.

~ Black Box Dist. makes two deck concaves, Afterlife (deep) and Shallow Grave (moderate). Mystery uses just the Shallow Grave.

~ Mystery uses black deck colors with white graphics, with the exception of one, where the colors are reversed.

On to the review, you eager beavers…

My Deck: Mystery Team Logo Deck - 7.75″

Shape: If you’ve ever ridden a Zero board, it’s basically the same exact thing. I for one like them quite a bit. The board is not too round, but not too straight.

Concave/Pop: As I mentioned before, Mystery uses the Shallow Grave concave design. It’s a pretty mellow concave, not too steep but not too flat. The board has a pretty decent pop to it. It didn’t seem to wear away with use.

Slides: Mystery boards use a couple different kinds of paint on their boards, and they make them pretty slick. When I switched from my Flip board to my Mystery deck, I noticed increased sliding distances and also the ease of sliding.

Paint: Once again, Mystery uses a couple different kinds of paint. The paint lasts a decent amount of time. I noticed that the nose and tail paint seem to wear away faster than the midsection paint on the deck. As you can see in the full deck picture above, the white paint in the middle of the board kind of smears and looks weird. I’m all for it though, because the paint stays longer and slides longer.

Razor Tail: One of the downfalls of this deck was the amount of time it took to start to produce a razor tail. After about 1 1/2 months, I started to get a noticeable razor on the back, and right now, the tail is pretty thin.

Durability: Unlike a lot of users, I’ve had no durability issue whatsoever. It is a durable board that has a little bit of give to it. It’s not really flexible, nor is it stiff. People always complain about snapping. My board hasn’t shown any signs of snapping. Keep in mind though, that a couple months ago, I’ve strayed away from the “tricks down 8 sets” and “huge gaps” cult that quite a bit of skaters are in. I still skate my local 5 & 6 sets, but I haven’t really thrown the board down any huge gaps and whatnot.

Overall: I would give this board an 8/10

Pros:

-Good paint

-Nice shape

-Good pop

Cons:

-Fast razor tail

We’ll address this in an FAQ format.

What is a bearing?

A bearing is the circular component that fits into your wheel and lets the wheel spin properly and efficiently on the truck’s axel. Included inside the bearing are the balls which help the actual bearing spin. There are between 4-8 balls inside your bearing, depending on what kind you buy.

What are the different sizes?

There is only one universal size for skateboard bearings. The ONLY exception to the size is Element’s Micro Bearings, which are intended to fit in their micro-core wheels, but not many people know about that.

What does ABEC mean?

ABEC is an acronym for Annular Bearing and Engineering Council. This basically means that the higher the ABEC rating, the faster the bearing is overall. On contrary to popular belief, ABEC does not measure the performance of a skate bearing. Bearings were intended for use in machinery, not skateboard wheels. ABEC slighty matters in the speed, but you can get away with a lower ABEC rating.

What is “skate rated?”

Skate rated is a term that some bearing manufacturers use to rate their bearings instead of using the ABEC scale. These bearings are more or less of better quality, being that they are specifically designed for the rigors that the bearing has to put up with in skateboarding. Bones is the most popular skate rated company.

What should I look for when buying my bearings?

It’s pretty much your decision. If you like them, good. Get them. The only piece of advice that I can give you is to buy name brand bearings.

Well what are some good name brand bearings?

The most popular bearing companies out there right now are Bones, Lucky, and Black Panther (made by Shorty’s).

I got my bearings, now how to I put them onto my setup?

People go about doing this is many different ways, and I’ve seen some pretty gnarly ways to stick em’ in the wheel. The most basic way is to put a bearing onto the axel and then push your wheel down onto it until it pops in the core of the wheel. Reverse the wheel and repeat.

Oh no, what are these silver circular things?

Those are more than likely bearing spacers. They aren’t required, but I like to have them. Better bearing manufacturers will include these in your purchase (see Black Panther’s pic above). They go on the inside of the wheel and help keep the bearings aligned properly on the axel.

Why aren’t my bearings very fast/feel sluggish?

They take a while to break in, so don’t worry. Usually about a week or two of casual skating will take care of this break in period.

How do I remove bearings from my wheels?

Unscrew the axel nut and remove the wheel. You can then proceed to pop the bearings off by angleling them on the axel. It is kinda hard to explain so I will provide a picture:

How do I clean my bearings?

Thank god you asked, because this is one of the most overlooked parts of having a skateboard. You can get away without cleaning them, but it will eventually bite you in the ass in the long run. To clean the shields, I just wet a q-tip and wipe off the shields. If you want to actually clean the bearings, or re-lubricate them, you will need to go an extra step. My best advice is to buy Bones Speed Cream and inject it as the instructions state.

My friend said to use WD40, will that work?

Dear god NO! This is a ridiculous urban legend. WD40 will actually remove the grease that helps your ball bearings run fast. Avoid WD40!

Can I remove the shields?

Shields are there to help protect your bearings. You can remove them if you want. It makes the bearing louder, which some people are into, but certainly not me. Remember: If you like to have your shields off, clean your bearings more frequently.

Any random tips?

Swiss bearings are generally faster, but you WILL pay for that. They are more expensive, but if you keep them out of water and clean them regularly, there is no reason that they won’t last you upwards of 3 years. Also, try to replace a bearing as soon as possible if one falls out or breaks. One side of the wheel could potentially cave in towards the core if skated with no bearing support.

I hope this guide helped anyone who wanted to know anything about bearings. If you have anything to add, please don’t hesitate to tell me. If you have any questions, feel free to ask, I’m pretty knowledgable in this area.

-Lee (hanyo66)

10/10

Setup your feet as if you were in Ollie stance. Maybe your front foot a little bit further up the board. These tricks are like 1, 2, 3.
1. Setup
2. Start spinning and when your arms go all the way back to normal pop and keep spinning. (Regular stance is spinning toward the left Goofy stance is spinning toward the right)
3. Land them.

You probably won’t do the 180 first try but do about 90 degrees well all you have to do is practice or add more spin and it should fix that.
These are really fun to do off banks and stuff and being that they are easy, it’s all that more enjoyable…

I recommend you learn some variations to them, F/S 180 to 180 pivot out, F/S Kickflip, F/S Heelflip..Theres plenty more tricks you will find this useful in the future with.

Kickflips are a considered a basic trick, it may sound easy by that but let me start off by stating learning this trick is no picnic. It’s a difficult trick to learn but it’s easy to do as soon as you get it down. Basically what the trick is, is that you drag your foot of the corner to make the board flip all the way around.

Tricks to learn first: Ok before you try and learn Kickflips have the tricks down really good. Make sure you land them 90% of the time: Ollie (About 1 deck high) Shove it both ways, pop shove it both ways. I would also recommend learning 180’s both ways before the kickflip although you don’t need to.

Setup: Setup your back foot on the corner of the tail. Put your front foot around where you do an Ollie but have your heel hanging off. 

Performing the Kickflip: Start off with a few pushes to get going a decent speed, not too fast, add more speed as you get better. Pick a spot that you want to kickflip over. Once you almost get to the spot your going to Kickflip, pop the tail with your back foot and suck up your back foot, as soon as you pop the tail with your back foot start sliding your foot up the board and to the corner and the board will begin to flip. Wait until you see the grip tape, once you see the grip make your back foot stop the rotation and immediately put your front foot on. Land and roll away…

I know you won’t land this first try, it takes a ton of practice.

Common Problems: You come down before the board flips all the way: You need to bend your knees lower before you pop the tail and jump high when your feet leave the board. 

The board flips too slow: You just need to flip the board faster, slide your foot up the board and off the corner as fast as you can. Also try putting your foot at more of an angle. 

The board goes behind you: This seems to occur quite a bit, it can be fixed pretty easy, it’s just a problem of how you flip the board, you need to practice and get good control of the board. Try adjusting your feet until you find a spot that the board flips well and you have control of it.

You land in Manual: This is pretty easy to fix, the problem is that you are coming down with your weight balance bad, you need to lean more on your front foot so this won’t happen, make sure your front foots on the bolts otherwise your board may snap.

Another major problem people have is just a problem committing, you have to try and land on the board, you may get hurt but you have to learn to land on the board.

Good Luck!