Windows Movie Maker Woes

I've been experimenting with Windows Movie Maker recently. It's not a bad piece of software for something that's absolutely free if you are running a recent version of Windows. However it has a couple of major flaws that you need to be aware of concerning memory requirements and file paths.

First the memory problem. MovieMaker runs quite happily on a 32 bit system with 2GB of memory, until that is you get to the point of trying to publish a video in high definition. It simply runs out of memory. Increasing virtual memory seemed like it should solve the problem, but no, it had no effect. There seemed to be no other option for an immediate solution than moving the project to another machine with more memory. However that revealed another truth about Movie Maker. Its project file stores links to the various clips using absolute not relative paths.

Experimentation revealed that the  paths weren't even stored relative to  user home so for a truly portable project that would work on any PC, at least one that had a C drive, the only solution seemed to be to store the project in a folder with a fixed location that could easily be copied to another C drive on a different computer - unless anyone knows better!

Having finally fixed the problem, at least for a small test project, I could at last publish the video using the more capable computer. The spec was very similar apart from the fact that it has 4GB of memory. It's still running Win 7 32 bit so I'm reluctant to believe that the problem is anything other than that.

Problems solved or circumvented? Definitely circumvented.  Let's hope Microsoft fix them in some future update and  for now at least, advertise the fact that more than 2GB is required to run.

Looking back at London2012

Imagine is a song that evokes many memories of the past but after tonight's closing ceremony it will also be associated forever with London2012.

My best memories of the Olympics however include the amazement on Kate Copeland's face as it dawned on her that she and Sophie Hosking had won the gold medal in the lightweight double skulls,  the sheer joy of Laura Trott on winning gold in the women's Omnium at the velodrome and Bradley Wiggins riding a lap of honour outside Hampton Court palace after the men's time trials as he sought out his family in the crowd.

By tomorrow no doubt the Olympic park will be all but deserted, but what a Games to look back on.

Congratulations to everyone who brought the dream to life and may the legacy live on!

Hats wigs and facepaint

The fact that Germany beat Netherlands 2-1 in the Men's Olympic Hockey final yesterday has completely defeated my theory that the result was predetermined by the proportion of spectators turning out in national colours. Take the preliminary match I watched last week when Netherlands beat New Zealand. The stands were a sea of orange. Synthetic orange wigs and brightly coloured jackets were everywhere.

Supporters from the first match were still shouting Ozzie Ozzie Ozzie but black was nowhere to be seen other than on the pitch. The result? 5-1 to Netherlands. I was hopeful then when I saw plenty of red white and blue wigs as well as masses of facepaint in the union flag colours amongst the bronze medal match spectators yesterday. Sadly a result for TeamGB was not to be. Australia were the better team on the day winning 3-1. The green and gold hats, though definitely in the minority, were jubilant!

Netherlands 5 New Zealand 1

When I applied for tickets to the Olympics over a year ago it never occurred to me what an early start would be needed to get to the stadium by 8:30am. However the one pair of tickets I managed to get out of the ballot was to see the morning session of Hockey in the Olympic park itself and I wasn't about to turn down the opportunity. The feared security queues didn't materialize but it still took over 2 hours door to door from Surrey having left home a little before 6am. 

Bakker scores to make it 3:1

 By lunchtime we'd sat through 3 seasons of English weather, getting frozen, sunburnt and finally drenched, but we'd seen some superb hockey: Australia versus Argentina and New Zealand versus Netherlands.

Wiggins Wins Gold

Can there ever have been so many people lining the streets of Surrey as for this week's Olympic cycling events?

Bradley Wiggins (Gold)

Chris Froome and Bradley Wiggins were amongst the last few riders today and you could hear each of them approach by the roar going up from the crowd.

Chris Froome (Bronze)

Today's cycling time trials  had  brought out the crowds in their thousands at Hampton Court, and where I watched the race, teamGB's supporters were stretched along both sides of the road as far as the eye could see. There were flags being waved everywhere and a general mood of anticipation for Bradley's success, fed by onlookers with smartphones keeping us up to date with the unfolding action further on up the course.

After the last competitor had passed I  squeezed through the throng making their way on foot or by bike back home or to cars parked all along the road leading up to the A307. This quiet leafy lane was unrecognizable from its usual mostly tranquil self. I made it  in time to see the finish and  see Bradley Wiggins and Chris Froome collect their gold and bronze medals respectively.  What a day!

The dash home to see the finish

40 seconds from Gold

I watched the men's Olympic road race today and briefly glimpsed team GB as they raced through Oxshott, still leading the peloton.

They were still around 50 seconds behind the leaders at that point and the riders were all going so fast that it seemed an impossible dream that they could catch up in the remaining distance. The eventual 40 seconds between  Mark Cavendish and  the winner,  Kazakhstan's Alexander Vinokourov, sounds like nothing until you've stood on the street and experienced just how far they ride in that short space of time. I'm truly in awe!

Following the Torch

I've often whistled through the various stops en-route to Waterloo but  on day 66 of the torch relay  I found myself standing on the pavement not far from Earlsfield station, mingling with young families eagerly awaiting the torch's arrival. There was a carnival atmosphere as a steady procession of Samsung quad bikes, police motorcycles, the torch relay bus itself and a variety of open top buses belonging to various sponsors made its way South. There was waving of flags by those taking part in the procession, both in the street   and on top of the buses.

Onlookers waved miniature flags and photographers from the world's TV channels attempted to capture the sights with enormous camera equipment. Their efforts may have been more professional but the pictures from the onlookers will hold lasting memories.