Some more YouTube from me

Bubbles, Thanks for the great invitation! I loved your bisque opening video! What a great way to share those precious moments in a clay artists life!

Can you tell me how you filmed and uploaded your film? Is there a specific camera that works better or do you have to have a specific program to edit your film in? I am very interested. The Clay Empire, my business places clay in the hands of kids of all ages 2-92 across Minnesota, USA and hopefully soon the world. I ignite imaginations with the wonders of clay! This format looks wonderful for me to reach out even more! I would love your imput!

Chad Evers> Hi everyone :-)

jk

Hi Chad!

I am so glad that you were glad to be invited! I would LOVE for more potters to open their kilns "live" on YouTube!!! I so agree that these are precious moments! I hope I kept the language simple enough that also non-potters can get into the mood.

Hopefully within the next week, I will be loading a glaze kiln. Then I will show both the loading and then the opening. Glaze kilns are the precioustest moments of all! WHAT A BUZZ seeing your colorful pieces all finished and bright and beautiful!

Personally, I have a Canon DV 10 video camera that records on little DVD-RW disks. I then have Adobe Premiere which is able to import MPEG2 (.VOB) files and has some good editing and exporting tools. I then export the video as Windows format (.WMV) at a size under 100 MB and upload that to the site. I am not even considering buying the full version of Premiere, as the LE version is plenty for me at my level of editing skills and the full version costs tooooooo much!

If you are lucky, you will find a good camera that has Adobe Premiere LE bundled with it.

Our camera is not the cheapest, by any means, but we are very faithful Canon users, mostly because all our cameras (digital photo of all levels) for the past 15 and more years have been utterly reliable and the optics are very good. The only thing I wish the DV 10 has that it doesn't, is a function to take just a few frames, with a mind to maybe making some animated things some time - the waltz of the clay balls, perhaps? ;-)

Now, as for marketing on YouTube, I think you should tread carefully. At this very moment, there is a discussion among the users about the site becoming commercialised. You can still "market" yourself, though, by taking movies of what goes on (since you are a business, a written release from anyone appearing in the videos would probably be a good idea) and the things that are made - or, if you stand in one end of the room showing how to do something, film you (I think you can get a release from that participant at least ;-)

Then, at the end of each video and also on your main youtube page, publish the links to your homepage and write that courses are available in the following cities.

Of course, you can also do a "whowho" video introducing yourself to the community. Reason it is called "whowho" is that that is part of the title of the original call for introductions posted by Renetto, and you should post your's as a reply to that video. There you can tell a bit about yourself and also about the business you have built and want to build further.

Or you can go whole hog commercial and make a super-duper presentation video that you can pay to have featured on the main page.

Up to you how you do it.

Personally, I am not on there for money or fame. I just really like to share the fun of pottery with anyone who will watch and I am into filming as well, so it is a nice match. Just today, though, I was asked in the comments to one of my videos whether I sold what I make. I don't know if this person wants to buy something, or is just curious, but I did reply that I do sell stuff now.

So - very long-winded answer. If you need more information about entering YouTube commercially, I suggest you contact the site itself.

Marianne

U¿ytkownik "Bubbles_" napisa³ w wiadomo¶ci news: snipped-for-privacy@individual.net...

hello Marianne, I watched all your pottery videos on Youtube and I really like them. Yours lidded balls are brilliant! I was a little surprise that your biscuit firing was so space wasting - I was told that during first firing I may put in kiln as much as I can, one in another etc. but maybe it's that here in Poland we're trying save electricity, time and the money at the same time/firing ;)).

I was studying pottery in my secondary school and now after ten years brake (and graduating archaeology) I decide return to pottery. This movies on Youtube are really usefull - thanks a lot. (sorry for my English, I'm good in reading and listening but my writing and speaking is really awful)

joanna

We used to stack our bisque kiln without shelves (I'm no longer that confident or talented at the puzzle). As long as feet were on feet, rims were on rims, heavy stuff on the bottom, etc. there was very seldom any problem. I still stack my bisque kiln and load it pretty tight. I just put in shelves to be able to get more in with less work.

Donna

It wasn't so much that, as me being afraid the weight of things might break what was underneath, and that I didn't have more stuff that would fit.

Thanks for watching my videos. If you go to my main page

That's a nice combination of archeology and pottery. If I were 18 again (HA!) I might pursue the same courses.

Your English is great! You should hear my Polish!

Stauwnsj de bishmiii w'stetchinje........ :-D

Since I hand-build so much, my pieces are pretty irregular. I worry about the weight of one ruining the one underneath and so on. Am back on the wheel now, and then I can probably stack better in bisque. Also, I think it takes practice to know how to best fill it up.

Another thing, though.... Isn't it important to get air circulation, even in bisque firing?

Marianne

Not if you have dried your pieces properly. One way to tell if your piece is dry is to put it against your cheek. If it feels cold, it is still holding water. You can candle your kiln overnight - sorry - term from days when everything was done with flame... don't have another word for it. Run the kiln at a low temperature (below boiling) overnight if you are unsure of your pieces being bone dry. Handbuilding should follow the same rules as wheel thrown pieces (other than you would not put rim to rim if you didn't have a good match). Lighter pieces on top of heavier ones, foot over foot, some room for expansion and shrinking. I would not go hog wild. Get comfortable with the choices you are making. It really isn't hard, just a bit scary when you start out. As I said, I'm not longer as bold as I once was with my stacking (age...).

That's my problem, as my pieces are not any uniform shape, or they have lids. I do have a half-shelf I sometimes use, though.

My teacher taught me to run a "candling" at over boiling point - 120 C - though you build up to it very slowly. That has worked nicely for me a few times now. This summer has been rather humid, with around 60% or more humidity, so I have "candled" a couple of batches just to be on the safe side.

Marianne

Sounds fine to me - better than mine most of the time and my first language is English :) Writing to this room would be good practice for you so I look forward to hearing more. Donna

Marianne:

Thanks for your videos. I stumbled across this group accidently because I am a "newbie" that purchased a used electric Skutt kiln and a new wheel. I have always wanted to learn how to "pot" and finally took the plunge. Your videos, plus the other videos that are linked from your site have been wonderful. Thank you again. I have a question: The kiln I purchased has been great, but came with problems. I have three sections to this very old Model 818 kiln and the bottom ring switch burned out a month ago. I replaced it and then when I was running a cone 6 glaze load over the weekend, I noticed that the center ring wasn't firing. I suspected the switch, which turned out to be bad. I have replaced it and the top switch last night. The question is: My pottery underfired. Have I lost the entire load or can I refire it? Plus, on one of the pots, the glaze actually lifted off the pot (peeled) away. The other glazes are either dull or crept a bit, but none fired to cone or close to cone. I would hate to lose the entire load, but if I can refire, how do I go about doing that? Thanks for your knowledge and your willingness to share it. I cannot find a community of potters here in New Mexico who are willing to share their experiences. Wish I could, but so far, no luck.

Jan - Namaste

Hi Jan!

I am THRILLED that you have enjoyed my videos and gotten inspiration from them! Did you find the Ceramics group as well? There are a couple of comedy skits there (Ellen DeGeneres and MadTV) that had me crying, I was laughing so hard! HEhe!

My first question is if you have any warranty on the kiln. In which case, I would get them to go over the rest of the kiln to eliminate any future chances of blow-out.

I have also changed the topic line, in order to attract more folk with better knowledge of these things, though I will try to give you some advice as far as my knowledge goes. I am sure someone will correct me if I am wrong.

I have refired things before, and it has worked OK. You might not get exactly the results that you are hoping for, but it is definitely worth a try.

The glaze peeling off. I would suspect that you didn't clean your piece of dust before glazing. I sometimes actually rinse my pieces in water or even scrub them a bit with a brush, then set them to dry out for a couple of days - then glaze.

Could that be your problem?

Another thing it might be, is that the temperature variations haven't agreed with the glaze. Was that your only piece with that particular glaze in that kiln load?

And lastly, maybe the glaze just isn't good? Before using it on something important, fire a test piece with that glaze, to see if it is working OK.

I am so glad I have been helpful!!

You HAVE found a community now! The gang here on RCP are just a great bunch of people. They are knowledgable and helpful. No matter how "dumb" the question, you always get a serious and helpful reply.

When you add YouTube to that, with videos showing techniques and such, you have a LOT of community at your fingertips.

Glad to see you, and thanks so much for the positive feedback!

Marianne

PS - I am working on making a Pottery 101 video series for people who want to start out with pottery. My editing program is mucking up on me, though, so I am fed up with editing for today and will do a reboot and try again later on. But do watch for it if you are interested in hand-building :-)

Sorry top posting -

You can always refire pots. In fact, some will do a bisque fire on glazed pots (that is fire to bisque temp) to get brighter colors on some glazes. On of my favorite plates is one in which the glaze pulled away in the first firing. I painted in glaze to the unglazed parts and refired. This was a reduction high fire (cone 10) and it worked but it was a plate so the glaze sat where I put it and I could get it thicker than had it been on the sides (the body becomes vitrified the higher the piece is fired to and will not absorb liquids there by pulling and holding onto the glaze). Did you have the same problem with the glaze popping off with the same glaze? Some glazes will do that if they are put on too thick. Or it can happen when your pot was dirty (dust, grease from fingers, etc.) when it was glazed.

Since you have an old kiln, you are not going to have a warrantee but often the manufactures are very helpful. You might give them a call.

The clayart room has a larger population and might be able to direct you to potters in New Mexico. Go here to join the list

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Thanks, I've been reading this group since a few months because I want learn as much as it is possible about pottery. In Poland we have only three (!!!!) books about pottery so web is for me a really blessing. I've already bought two book on Amazon (about Raku and throwing) but the more information the better ;) best regards, joanna

Thanks to Bubble and DKat for the responses. DKat: I took a look at the UNM site and will see what I can do to get inside of that arena! I have taken a couple of classes through UNM, at another studio, but not directly at the school. Might try that next time. Thanks!! I forged ahead and fired the underfired load night before last. I got mixed results. The pot that had the peeled glaze came out beautiful on the outside, but many of the pieces bubbled on the inside. My guess is that the center core wasn't firing when the bisque load fired and I had underfired bisque that I tried to glaze fire the next time. That is what logic is telling me. Aside from the bubbles, the glazes were gorgeous. I am guessing that I am not firing to a true Cone 6 before. These glazes came out stunning in color, not like the other firings I have done. I have never put in a witness cone, always relied on my sitter to tell me when it was done, but will try a witness cone this firing. I want so much to learn all there is to learn. I know that is impossible, but I am having an absolutely fun time at it. By the way, I replaced the switch in both sections, center and top, since the bottom was replaced last month. Didn't want to take a chance at another underfired load, if possible. Thanks again for the responses.................. Jan Namaste

Do you have a means of regulating the temperature? That is for each ring firing on LOW for x amount of time , MED, and then HIGH? What you might want to do in following firings is to put a series of cones in the kiln and try to keep the kiln slow at certain temperatures so the gas released from the clay and glaze does so slowly and so that the glaze can heal over. Also crystals develop at a certain temperature and if this is what you are looking for then you want to go slowly at that temperature. My kiln has a computer so I have forgotten the manual firing schedule. I will track it down. My rough memory of it is on ring LOW overnight, then one ring up all on LOW each hour, then to Medium each hour, followed by one ring up to HIGH each hour.. soaking for 15 minutes at peak temperature... I'm probably mixing bisque and glaze so let me get back to you on that. The overnight thing doesn't make sense for glaze.

You really should have a witness cone for every firing you do (and on every ring level) especially since your kiln is an older one.