Whether you are looking to buy a new home, sell a home, or rent a home, there is a new market taking off that is aimed at helping you. As the world turns more and more to living online, ways of advertising are being reborn and reshaped.

Just a couple of years ago most anyone looking for a new place would turn to the local Sunday morning paper, magazines placed all over the town, or by going out looking for Open House signs. Today, more and more people are turning to online real estate videos to find their new place, especially in big cities such as New York, as reported by NY1 .

Why is this so convienent? If you have never used online video to search for homes then this is a great question. Imagine being able to sit in the comfort of your own home in your pajamas and do a full tour of a home at the same time. I remember an ad campaign in Clarksville, TN a few years ago that was simply labeled “Shop Naked”, talking about finding your perfect car online from your home. With video technology the way it is today, you can watch beautiful HD videos of homes that are for sale or rent.

Stedicams help to stabilize a shot while walking.

You may be questioning this by asking “why can’t i just view the photos?” Well you can, but you will be missing what could be the little thing that you hate the most about the house. With real estate videos you get a full walk through of the house, showing you every faucet, window, and ceiling fan that is in the house. The other big feature of Real Estate Videos is that you can get the layout and flow of the house. Because most video companies do a walk through. We use a special piece of gear called a Stedicam that allows us to go through the house from room to room and show you how the house is laid out.

Instead of me trying to talk you into it let me show you. After all, why write when you can shoot? This is a real estate video shot for Singletary Construction out of Clarksville, TN. Check out how the video gives you a sense of direction in the home, and remember, next time you are in the market for a home, search online first for real estate videos.

While looking at a cinevate slider the other day, I ran accross an alternative slider in my google search. This actually freaked me out because everyone says google knows what you are thinking…and it did. The slider it pulled up on my search was about $400 cheaper. Thank you for knowing I am cheap google, its better for our relationship if you understand that up front. The slider I found was the Kamerar SLD-400 47″ Camera Track Slider Video Stabilization System for DSLR for only $149.99!!! (Ebay, but a new item, not used.)

I couldn’t resist myself, until know I was using a DIY slider that really did the job well, but was a little hard to carry and setup. I needed something quick, portable, and that could mount to a tripod. The specs on the Kamerar where great, in fact almost quoting the specs for Cinevate (Self Lubricating System, a lock to keep the slider from moving during transport or to hold resistance, etc..).I decided it was time to buy. Upon arrival the Kamerar seemed great, but with any “Cheaper” alternative you have to practice a little before going out in the field to use it. The first thing I noticed was the slide was very smooth…which I was very happy for. The second thing I noticed was it lacked the “muscle” that you find in upper priced sliders, meaning the possibility for more shake in your slide. This goes back to practice before using.
I called up my buddy in Texas, Chris of Shepard Productions (If you ever need a great production company west of the Mississippi give him a call, he is the greatest!). He owns the 26″ cinevate slider and so I wanted to get a comparision between his high dollar slider and my low dollar slider. There re a few things to remember…well..$400 dollars worth of things to remember. With a Cinevate, most people can take it out of the box and use it with no experience because of how smooth it is. With the Kamerar it takes a little training. Also, his is a 26″, meaning that on a single tripod it will perform well in comparison to my 47″ on a single tripod. So for the sake of argument, mine is twice as long, so I used two tripods. I will say, with one tripod in the middle, you will get some undersirable effects (Unless you are looking for the sort of film where you want the audience to feel drunk). So here we go..check out these two  sliders and decide for yourself.

As for me, I am very happy with the purchase, and I will use it till it dies. It was worth the money saved, and for the price, I think it was well built. As for Chris, he still rocks, and I will say his slider is still a jewel (and it fits in a suitcase). You decide for yourself and let us know what you think below!

As the IPhone 4S released, many of us that run android phones had a tad bit of jealousy for the first time in a few years. The phone itself was not anything to brag to us about, and neither was the feature list. However the one thing that made me think about going to apple for a split moment, was Siri. That was until Cody (our other business owner) went and tested one out at Verizon. Cody is from the woods of Tennessee, but he does not have a bad accent. Siri however, did not get along with his accent, which is a problem. I know siri is still in Beta, but there are some serious issues with it. I will say the best thing about Siri is her witty humor. When asked “Where can I hide a dead body” it responds and tells you the nearest garbage cans and will pull up a map to show you exactly where it is. Kind of creepy, but still rather entertaining. My first thought was “I need one of these on my Android device“. So we have gone through several apps that have been out, and some that have been developed since the 4S came out, and we want to touch base on 3 of them. Speaktoit Assistant, IRIS, and VLingo. With all three apps we are going to ask 6 questions that will showcase as many features as possible to give you an idea of how they contend for what you plan on using them for.

We begin with Speaktoit Assistant. This is probably one of the closest to Siri in my opinion. However I am not a big fan of the UI. It does come with a widget, which is very important to me. However, every time you use the widget it opens the program. This is great if you are wanting to have a conversation with your phone, but I do not like this if you are just looking for a restaurant. The program itself is fairly fast, and mostly accurate. It does have some neat features like making your own avatar and changing the appearance of the program. Let’s check out the six questions questions:

Next we review IRIS. This program was created after 4S was released to be a contender with Siri..and you will notice it even went after the same name..only backwards. I think this program has a lot of potential, but has a lot of work to be done. It has a hard time understanding what you are saying, and it also lacks a widget. Like I said though, I think it will be a great program once fully developed. Check out the six questions for Iris:

The last, and my personal favorite that I use daily is VLingo. This program does exactly what I need it to do, which is productivity based and not conversational based. I want to use it to send text message, call people, get directions, find stores, etc.. The only thing I wish it had was the option to add events to my calendar. Maybe in an upcoming update! This program also has a great 1×1 widget that is simple and to the point..press and talk. Check out the six questions:

All in all, it is unbelievable that we have programs like this now, however it will still take time to get a computer to do what we tell it to in the different dialogs that we use here in the US. I love the conversations you can have with Speaktoit and Iris if I am bored or hanging out with friends looking for something to laugh about. As far as day to day productivity, my choice is definitely VLingo. I think it is one of the best around, especially if it gets a calendar function.

I hope this helps with your process of looking for a Siri alternative for the android. Don’t forget to share with us what your favorites are or what you like most about these programs in the comments section below! See you next time at Truepix.TV

Miss Ohio Teen USA, Audrey Bolte
Click here to view the Video of Audrey

Thanks Rob & Sheila for showing off some of our work!!

A lot of people have no idea the time that goes into a pageant, but we are glad that we work with a crew that takes the time to put together an awesome event on every level! Robert and Travis, Tommy Norris with Norris Audio, and Andrew (Andy), thanks for putting so much into what you do!

On the way home today, Cody took one for the team and drove all 7 hours, while I sat in the back of the car putting together the crowning videos for both Miss and Teen, and Samantha slept:) Here they are for your enjoyment!

Whether you like it or not, most of your memories are in essence, a recorded video that has been instilled in your brain.

If this is the case, why do we as business owners constantly want to spend our time writing instead of shooting? If I asked todays college generation what they remember most, a billboard or a commercial, most will answer commercial. Why? Because video is the most direct source of connection between us and our memories. Video is personal, it creates emotions in people that is hard to find in other types of media. It takes simple audio and gives it visual emotion, it takes simple text and gives it life. Video is not something we watch, it is something we live, something we love. Next time you are with your kids, take a video of them playing and write a page about them playing. A week later read the writing and watch the video, see which one really effects you, and then you decide, is video really something that can help bring my business to life? I think you will find yourself taking simple text, and giving it life.

Good night all, good day to everyone else.