---
layout: post
title: "I should have started with audiobooks"
date: 2019-02-21 14:48:27
categories: misc
---

Now that i'm adding final touches to my first "videobook" (calling it a book is
not quite correct, but i'm not aware of better terms and audiobooks seem to
refer to small forms sometimes), it becomes painfully obvious that decision to
start with video was a bit too ambitious. Even beyond all the technical issues,
as well as "waiting for the render" (which supposedly account for me being
unenthusiastic to the point where four minutes almost took me a year) the
process of polishing videos takes quite some time.

<cut/>

If i had started with "just" audio, i simply wouldn't be stuck with just one
short project and could get to polishing actual performance. Transition to video
(if i then decided that it's indeed a good idea) would still require some
experimenting in the mean time, but perhaps doing something like recent "wave
one" could work better for that (in reality it was reverse: i did wave
relatively fast because of previous experience with "river" among others).

Another lesson learned: non-separation of production stages is indeed
important. If i would be able to do that, i could easily fill in the missing
shots. As it were, i had to find whatever was most fitting and add various
effects to cover up the lack of proper footage; effects by themselves aren't bad
(except for destructive zoom, of course), but it's not nice when they are
forced.

The question still remains, though: should i start doing non-video audiobooks?
We'll see. I have a few videos definitely planned, but when i have time i might
also start an audio one. The main reason i'm hesitant is that i personally don't
find flash fiction (and that's what i write mostly) audio books especially
appealing. So the solution might be to unbury scandia letters, which would be
way easier to adapt than hbs.

And if you're wondering why not narrate something existing, the tricky part is
finding appropriate material: one that would be either open culture or public
domain and be interesting to read and listen to. And while i don't mind
classics, i just don't seem to be invested enough in anything in particular.
