gogrimm_vlog

Migration Route & Spring Chinook Salmon Jumping Dagger Falls in Idaho

2010-09-16T09:34:00.000-06:00

Several years ago I tried to create a fly in from the Pacific Ocean to the mountains of Idaho showing the difficult migration route salmon have to navigate to get to spawning grounds in Idaho. Finally I have a better version of this Google Earth Fly in to Dagger Falls on the Middle Fork of the Salmon River. On July 4, 2010 Spring Chinook Salmon were jumping up the waterfalls and I was able capture this rare event on video. This journey to this point is about 700 miles and over 6000 feet in elevation gain and they go on to the spawning grounds several miles and more elevation gain

This year more Sockeye Salmon migrated to Redfish Lake at the base of the Sawtooth Mountains than have for several years. This journey is about 900 miles from the Pacific Ocean and about 7000 feet in elevation gain. If I can find some footage or still photos of this event I could make another fly in to end at Redfish Lake.

Google Earth tour of Proposed and existing Molybdenum Mine Sites in Idaho

2010-07-19T14:30:00.008-06:00

This is a Third experimental (draft) Google Earth Tour of the proposed open pit CUMO Molybdenum mine in the Mountains North East of Idaho City, close to the Payette River. The tour also flies around the Thompson Creek Molybdenum Mine near Stanley to show the landscape effects of this type of open pit mining.

Note! This tour does not start until you click the > (play) button in the Controller Bar. You can stop the tour at any time and examine the terrain for yourself. When you want to start again click the play button and the tour will resume from where you stopped it.

Idaho Rivers United has a web page with more information about the CUMO Mine project. IRU also provides
a Fact Sheet with more details.

Proposed CUMO Mine & Other Mine footprints in Idaho visible in Google Earth

2010-07-14T17:56:00.003-06:00

This is an experimental draft Google Earth Tour showing the location of the proposed CUMO Molybdenum mine north on a forested ridge in the Boise Watershed North West of Idaho City.

Note! This tour does not start until you click the > (play) button in the Controller Bar. You can stop the tour at any time and examine the terrain for yourself. When you want to start again click the play button and the tour will resume from where you stopped it.

Idaho Rivers United has a web page with more information about the CUMO Mine project

This tour flies to the site of the proposed CUMO mine and continues on to a few other big mine sites in Idaho that have a visible footprint in Google Earth & Maps. The CUMO mine will potentially be larger than any of these other mines. Note that 1900's Dredge Mining Tailings are still visible on Grimes Creek downstream of the CUMO mine. (I placed a tan shaded overlay on these tailings, to highlight them as I started the project, but they are visible without the shading in Google Earth.)

2nd Draft Google Earth Tour of Potential Dam Sites on Boise river

2010-06-24T09:49:00.002-06:00

This newly revised version of the Google Earth tour of potential dam sites on the Boise River includes elevation level lines depicting water levels of each dam. The tour also includes one photo representative of the dam site area. In a next draft version of this tour we may also try to add narration and music.

Idaho Rivers United Boise River Web site is providing more information related to these potential dams and public meetings that are being held.

Rough Draft Tour of Potential Dam Sites on Boise River in Idaho

2010-06-08T18:50:00.006-06:00

Six sites for a new water storage dam are being studied by the Army Corps of Engineers and Idaho Water Resources Board. We helped Idaho Rivers United create a 2D Google Map showing these sites. They are initiating a campaign to prevent any of these dams being built. Here is a link to the IRU web page where information is available about this project.

This is just a first concept draft of this Google Earth Tour to demonstrate the 3D Guided tour possibilities to IRU and the ability to embed the tour to run on a Blog site.

Please note the "Controller Bar" in the bottom left of the tour window. You can pause, the tour at any time. Also note the Google Earth navigation tools in the upper right corner of the window. When paused you can zoom in and out and move around the map at your leisure. When you start to play the tour again it will return to the place where it was paused. (You can also move the controller bar slider back and forward when paused)

Salmon migration from Sawtooth Mountains in Idaho to Pacific Ocean

2010-06-06T15:19:00.000-06:00

Anadromous Salmon smolts born in the Salmon River high in the Sawtooth Mountains in Idaho have to navigate the warm slack water and several Hydroelectric Dams on the Snake and Columbia Rivers. This tour travels the route they have to travel to the mouth of the Columbia and the Pacific Ocean, an elevation loss of 7000 feet and more than 900 river miles.

Note! Using the controller bar in the left bottom of the tour window you can pause the Tour at any time and explore photos and text related to each of the dams (Click once on any Dam Icon). You can click twice on a Dam Icon to fly down to a close 3D view of the Dam site &/or use the Google Earth navigation tools to zoom in, move around or tilt the view. When you want to return to the programmed tour click the play button in the controller bar again.

Google Earth Tour Mouth of Columbia River to Sawtooth Mountains

2010-06-06T15:10:00.003-06:00

This is an experimental demonstration of a Google Earth Tour embedded in my Video Blog. This is the long route that some anadromous salmon swim from the Pacific Ocean, up the Columbia, Snake and Salmon Rivers to the Sawtooth mountains in Idaho. The elevation gain is about 7000 feet and the river distance is over 900 miles.

Northwest Environmental Data Base video ( 1993 )

2010-05-14T14:10:00.002-06:00

1993 Northwest Environmental Data Base - The Rivers Information Systems of Idaho, Montana, Oregon, & Washington from Gary O. Grimm on Vimeo.
This archival 17.5 minute multimedia production was originally created by Mountain Visions in 1993 and transferred to video tape. Now we have recovered it from the archives, digitized and uploaded as a historical record of one of many similar productions we produced in the late 1980's and early 90s, before we started producing CD-ROMs and web sites.

NED was a result of the Northwest Power Planning Council started in 1980 and the Pacific Northwest River Study in 1984. More than ten years of valuable data was gathered by agencies, tribes, communities, businesses and individuals and put into this Data Base that provided detailed information about 34,000 distinct river segments in 135,000 miles of streams in the Columbia River System and four Northwest States.

Categories of Data included Anadromous Fish, Resident Fish, Wildlife, Natural Features, Cultural Resources, Recreation, Institutional Constraints, Hydrosite Data Base, River Reach File, and Protected Areas.

This outreach educational multimedia project was used in Town Hall and other meetings throughout the Northwest to describe the Data Base, GIS technology and how to use the Rivers Information Systems. These presentations encouraged and invited everyone to use NED and to continue to participate in its future development.

The data contained in NED still exists in various data bases and has been improved over the years. I believe that the current trend toward Open.Gov, making data more available to the public and inviting participation in gathering and analyzing data, and being more involved in decision making is the wave of the future, promised by NED even in 1993.

Heart Of Idaho - The Wild White Clouds

2010-02-07T13:54:00.001-07:00

Uploaded repurposed 1991 multimedia show "Heart of Idaho - The Wild White Clouds"

Produced for the Boulder-White Clouds Council in 1991, originally as an 18 + minute 3 projector multi-image traveling road show, then transferred to video in 1992. Produced by Katy Flanagan and Gary O. Grimm Mountain Visions, Boise, Idaho. Digitized for archival and historical purposes for the Internet in 2010. Script by Pat Ford. Music courtesy of Steve Eaton and Wayne Millward, Seagate Productions. Photography and narration credits at the end of the program.

Visions of Wilderness - 1994 National Wilderness Conference

2010-02-06T08:36:00.001-07:00

Click to Play

Mountain Visions (Katy Flanagan & Gary O. Grimm) produced and presented this repurposed version of "Visions of Wilderness" at the 1994 National Wilderness Conference in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Produced originally as a 3 projector multi-image show, with music, but no narration, we also transferred it to video. Only a few copies were made and it has not been available for viewing for many years. This is a digital copy of the entire show. Another version has been uploaded to YouTube divided into 2 parts both about 9 minutes long to fit the uploading requirements for YouTube. Production Credits are available in Part 2. Music provided by Bill Miller, Steve Eaton, and Walkin' Jim Stoltz.

Image Dance

2010-02-01T17:11:00.001-07:00

Click to Play

Produced in 1987 as a 3 projector multi-image show transferred to video, by Mountain Visions (Katy Flanagan & Gary O. Grimm). Music by Steve Eaton

Visions Of Wilderness - Ecosystem Protection in the Northern Rockies

2010-01-30T15:20:00.001-07:00

Click to Play

Originally produced in 1993 by Gary O. Grimm and Katy Flanagan, this 3 projector multi-image/video presents slowly dissolving natural images shapes and colors in a "painting with light" format. Produced by Mountain Visions with support from the Idaho Conservation League, Recreational Equipment Inc., The Wilderness Society. Music by Bill Miller, Steve Eaton and Walkin' Jim Stoltz.

Experimental Gigapan interactive photo of Downtown Boise, Idaho

2009-04-25T11:28:00.000-06:00

I have created an experimental Gigapan photo comprised of approximately 200 telephoto images stitched together. This single photo allows you to zoom in to see magniified close up images that are not evident in the original view. The snapshot thumbnail images are examples of details that can be found.

The same image is also available on my gigapan site, where you can add thumbnails of your own, and also view the panorama in Google Earth.

You can also view a 3D Photo Tour kmz file of several buildings I photogaphed in March 2009, in downtown Boise that can be viewed in Google Earth.

Hint! Turn on the 3D buildings layer in Google Earth to see several downtown Boise 3D buildings while you view the photos. These 3D buildings and the foothills skyline are also aligned almost perfectly with the Gigapan image when viewed in Google Earth.

HD Google Earth 3D Fly-in to Moapa Valley, Nevada

2009-01-25T00:47:00.001-07:00

Note that the video above uses the "embed code" provided by YouTube. There is a little difference in quality between the normal and HD views. The HD view does not play as smoothly as the normal view.

The video below includes a third party code that provides the High Definition video in the provided window size. This video provides a much higher visual quality, but stutters more on older slower computers and slower download speeds.

YouTube High Definition Video

HD Google Earth Fly-in to Sal Creek Restoration, Tongass National Forest Alaska

2008-12-20T11:28:00.000-07:00

On my You Tube page you can play this video in a much larger "High Definition" window. (You also want to select the High Quality option.) The video below will play in high quality in the window size you see.

This is another High Definition video I recently posted to You Tube. It is a
Google Earth Fly-in to Sal Creek, Tongass National Forest, Prince of Wales Island where river restoration work is being planned. Aaron Prussion narrates the video showing one location on Sal Creek.

You can find a Google Earth KMZ file showing several High definition 360 degree panorama views and videos from this same area on our Mountain Visions Google Earth Tour Gallery page.

Mule Deer Browsing / YouTube HiDefinition test

2008-11-21T21:00:00.000-07:00

I just discovered that my YouTube videos can now be see in a much higher resolution when embedded on an external site or blog. This is a test to try this out. Note! the video looks very good, but a newer faster computer is useful to see the video play in near real time. (I will continue to test this out and report my findings as they become available.)

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All of my YouTube videos are also showing up on the Google Earth YouTube layer. Because of this and the new Hi Definition capability I plan to start uploading more videos in the future and will post embed them on this blog as well.

Killdeer - Broken-Wing Display

2007-07-23T17:20:00.000-06:00

This is one of the most dramatic broken-wing displays I have seen exhibited by a Killdeer.

Click on the image to the right to see a HD QuickTime Video in a 720p format.

This video (and others) are hosted on my blip.tv space where you can see it also in a Flash format.

I was riding my bike in an industrial area on the outskirts of Boise when a family of Killdeer, including a few chicks ran out in the road. There was grass nearby and I tried to herd them that towards it to prevent the chicks from getting run over by trucks and cars passing by. I had my HDV camcorder available so I captured a little hand held footage of one of the adults displaying the "broken-wing" behavior and a chick running on the road. The chicks were eventually led to the grass where they were quite well hidden and safer unless they run out into the road again.

Birdwatching.com has a good description of Killdeer behavior and the ability of the chicks to start running as soon as their feathers dry after hatching.

HDVideo - Song Sparrow

2007-07-21T12:23:00.000-06:00

Click on the Image to the right to hear and see a Song Sparrow in a High Definition 720p window using the QuickTime player.

The video is being hosted on my space on blip.tv and you can see both a flash and quicktime version.

I used a telephoto lens attachment and a shotgun mic to capture this bird near the Boise River.

At first I thought this mighe be a White Crowned Sparrow, but I posted a low resolution version on YouTube and someone identified it correctly.

Step It Up 2007 - Concert for Climate Change

2007-04-15T12:09:00.000-06:00

Click on the image to view a 3 1/2 minute QuickTime video documenting just a few of the activities during the "Concert for Climate Action" in Boise, Idaho.

This video is being hosted on my Blip.tv page where you can also look at it in a "Flash" format that downloads faster but with a lower playback quality.

On March 14, 2007 communities across the U.S. held Climate Action demonstrations as a part of the Step It Up 2007 National Day of Climate Action project. Several Bands, including a good friend, Steve Eaton, played. Boise Mayor David Bieter talked and everyone had a good time.

The video was shot with a Sony HDV camcorder and shotgun microphone.

I used Final Cut Pro to create an original High Definition (1920x1080) movie sequence and also added a Google Earth Fly in movie in the same size. For this blog entry I compressed the movie with the .H264 video codec and the AAC audio codec and the QuickTime window size is 720x405.

Music for the video soundtrack is live from Steve Eaton during the concert. Thanks to Eric Sandmeyer for gratiously allowing me to use his music piece called Highways for the Google Earth Fly -in.

Google Earth Fly in to Ranch Area

2007-04-04T21:29:00.000-06:00

Click on the image to view the QuickTime movie described below.
I created a High Definition 720p animated fly in with the Movie Maker module of Google Earth and brought this into the Apple iMovie program where I also created a dissolving slide show program using the Ken Burns effect. The movie is posted on my Blip.tv page in a window size of 960 x 540 and compressed with the H.264 codec.

Images supplied by the Flying D Ranch.

Idaho Anadromous Fish migration test movie

2007-01-18T14:24:00.000-07:00

I am starting to experiment with a complicated Google Earth Tour showing the river passages Anadromous fish have to swim to get to the mountains of Idaho to spawn. Click on the image to see the first rough draft, which is hosted on my Blip.tv Show page. This is a QuickTime file with a window size of 848 x 480. I have also created a version with a High Definition size of 1280x 720p that is not uploaded yet.

In the Google Earth Community, Environment and Conservation topic area I have posted a message and link on January 19, 1:PM to Download a Google Earth KMZ file with dozens of additional placemarks you can tour using the Google Earth Browser.
The direct link to the message and file is here.

At this stage, for this movie I have produced three rough drafts of movie segments which include: 1. flying from space to the mouth of the Columbia River on the Pacific Ocean; 2. from the Columbia River outlet to the Bonneville Dam; and 3. a quick flight to the mouth of the Snake River over the controversial dams to Lewiston, Idaho.

The KMZ file you can download from the Google Earth Community provides many more specific locations. Playing the tour will allow you to fly along in the canyons of the Snake and Main Salmon Rivers.

Eric Sandmeyer has gratiously allowed me to use a sound file titled "Soaring" he has composed.

This is a work in progress and comments and suggestions are welcome.

Mountain Visions (a short experiment)

2006-12-21T20:32:00.000-07:00

Click on the image to view a QuickTime movie in a 1280 x 720 window size.

For more than 3 decades we (Mountain Visions) have been creating multimedia sequences, often using still images and music. Now, for 12 years since 1995 we have been creating multimedia for web sites.

This short 720p sequence is an experimental project I started to work with in an attempt to create a "trailer" for Blip.tv. It is not finished yet, but I decided to upload it to see how it looks. The images are 1. Total Solar Eclipse, 2. Climbers on Denali, and 3. Woman holding the Sun. I shot all of the images originally in the 1970s. Photo to Movie was used to create the motion and dissolves. iMovieHD was used to create the titles and to add the music track.

Eric Sandmeyer has gratiously allowed me to use a sound file titled "Microscope" he has composed.

720p Google Earth fly in to River Menders project with music

2006-12-10T00:04:00.000-07:00

Click on the image at the left to view a High Definition 720p video I created using Google Earth Pro and Final Cut Pro with a video I shot at a River Menders restoration location on the Little Salmon River in Idaho. Mary Dudley, Idaho Fish and Game Volunteer Coordinator, narrates the movie. Eric Sandmeyer created a music background bed for the whole video.

This High Definition 720p movie (Screen Size 1280 x 720)
is hosted on my Blip.tv space where you can also watch it in a flash format and an interesting new "full screen" format.

Web sites are available for the River Menders Project, and samples of Eric Sandmeyer's music.

Google Earth fly in to an Idaho Noxious Weed-Dyers Woad

2006-11-28T18:08:00.000-07:00

Click on the image to the left to watch a QuickTime Google Earth Fly in above Idaho to a location in Bannock County where there is an infestation of Dyers Woad. The fly in dissolves to a video narration with Dave Hallinan, Bannock County Weed Supervisor, explaining to Roger Batt, Idaho Weed Awareness Campaign Coordinator, how a fungus called rust acts as a bio control agent.

This High Definition 720p movie (Screen Size 1280 x 720)
is hosted on my Blip.tv space where you can also watch it in a flash format and an interesting new "full screen" format. Also note that I created the original Google Earth Fly in movie was in a true High Definition window size (1920 x 1080) and the HDV video content was edited in Final Cut Pro in the same size.

Eric Sandmeyer has gratiously allowed me to attach a portion of his "Soaring" sound file to this movie. This music really adds to the fly in.

We (Mountain Visions) are creating a web site for the Idaho Weed Awareness Campaign. A full screen 360 degree panorama and additional video sequences describing Dyers Woad are available to view if you click here.

Google Earth Fly in to Owyhee Canyonlands - 45 Ranch

2006-11-10T14:09:00.000-07:00

Click on the image to the left to watch a QuickTime Google Earth Fly in above Idaho to the 45 Ranch in the Owyhee Canyonlands area. This movie (Screen Size 848 x 480)
is hosted on my Blip.tv space where you can also watch it in a flash format.
Eric Sandmeyer has gratiously allowed me to attach his "Idaho Song" sound file to this movie.

We (Mountain Visions) have also published a series of full screen 360 degree interactive panorama views from many places in the Owyhee Canyonlands.

In the Google Earth browser we have produced a KMZ file that will let you fly around the Owyhee Canyonlands area and see these full screen panoramas in the geographic location where they were photographed. I can't find how to load this file onto this page for people to download. However, I have posted two Owyhee Canyonlands KMZ files on the River Menders Wiki Google Earth page. You can download them there.

Another Source of information and panoramas taken in 1997 at the 45 Ranch can be found on the Aurora Project section of our web site.

Link to Owyhee Initiative web site.

River Menders Volunteers in Idaho

2006-11-01T14:26:00.000-07:00

I have uploaded this video to You Tube to determine the quality compared to Google Video and BlipTv. I have uploaded videos to YouTube and Google Video in the past, but have not been satisfied with the play back quality.

This is the YouTube address for my videos. (This is the only one, for now)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JOj1KvNpmEs

Google Earth Movie (848 x 480) dissolves to volunteer workers

2006-10-16T21:31:00.000-06:00

Click on the image to the left to view the movie. The original was produced in HDV 720P . This movie has been reduced in Window size to 848 x 480. It is an experimental movie to create a dissolve transistion between a Google Earth movie and a HDV sequence taken on the ground at the same spot where the fly in ends. The video was taken on September 30, 2006. You can also see this video at my Blip.tv space.

It starts with a view high above idaho and flys down toward the Little Salmon River, near New Meadows Idaho. A group of "River Mender" volunteers have been engaged for several years in rehabilitating the vegetation along the river bank. An audio track is provided to explain some details of the project.

An interactive web site is "under construction" for the River Menders project.

Google Earth pro movie to Idaho's Little Salmon River restoration workers

2006-10-10T13:36:00.000-06:00

Click on the image on the left or this link to view a High Definition Google Earth Pro movie in a 1280x720 window size. This video is being stored on blip.tv at my blog - gogrimm.blip.tv.

Note that on October 1, I posted an earlier video showing the eroded river bank in this area, before restoration work. This one shows workers creating a "willow weaving net" to stablize the bank.

Also the Google Earth maps for Idaho have been updated with higher resolution throughout the state. This video shows the higher resolution that is available now.

We are currently producing a River Menders interactive web site that is "under construction" to describe the restoration work in Idaho, including the Little Salmon River area.

High Definition Google Earth Fly in to a Real photograph on the Carmel River, CA

2006-10-10T01:05:00.001-06:00

Click on the image or this link to view this High Definition video with a window size of 1280 x 720 from Blip.tv This is the same video I posted yesterday that was viewable in a 720x405 window size. It is a Google Earth Fly in to a simple verticle billboard photograph recently taken showing a downstream view from the Schulte Bridge on the Carmel River. Successful riparian restoration efforts starting in the 1980s are very visibile in the plush tree growth on both sides of the river in the photograph.

We have started a Carmel River Wiki Spaces project where people can discuss issues and submit stories and photographs representing restoration efforts on the river.

Google Earth fly in to Carmel River photo

2006-10-09T16:51:00.000-06:00

Click on the image at the left to view a 720x 405 QuickTime video that flys down to a simple vertical 3D billboard I created with Google Sketchup that shows a September 2006 photograph of view downstream of the Shulte Bridge on the Carmel River, in California. The same file can be found at my upload space on Blip.tv.

The original video was produced in a High Definition screen size of 1280 x 720 and I may add it to the Vlog too.

We have started a Carmel River Restoration Wiki Spaces project to encourage people to submit photographs and stories related to changes and restoration efforts that have taken place on the river.

Google Earth Pro Movie fly in to real photograph

2006-10-01T14:14:00.000-06:00

Click the image to the left to see a High Definition video clip produced in a 1280 x 720 window size with the QuickTime .H264 codec.

Click here to view the Google Earth Fly in to a real photograph on the Little Salmon River. This will present a Blip.tv page with a smaller window and an option to view in Flash or QuickTime.

I think I have found that Blip.tv, one of the Internet video servers, can play High Definition Video close to the same quality that I see them when I compress them for the web. Click on the graphic image of the video above above to see the video in a large window.

This video is being hosted at Blip.tv. If you click on the Text link above it can be viewed in Flash or in QuickTime in a smaller window. Quicktime provides better quality.

High Definition video / Deer Walking

2006-09-17T12:23:00.000-06:00

Click here for a short 1280 x 720 video of this deer walking and eating.

Since the fall of 2004, I have been shooting HDV video and have accumulated about 100 hours of personal and project footage.

On the High Definition Digital Video page our Mountain Visions web site we have made several short HDV progressive demonstration files available for viewing in window sizes ranging from 1920 x 1080, 1280 x 720, 960 x 540, and 852 x 480. We have also compressed the video in smaller sizes 720 x 405, 480 x 270 (Sony PSP) and 320 x 180 (Apple Video iPod)

Upper Sevier River Watershed videos (1 of many)

2006-09-16T15:21:00.000-06:00

Click here to view this video from the Upper Sevier River Community Watershed Project web site.

There are dozens of interactive 360 degree panoramas and video sequences in the "Interactive Journey" and "Resource Issues" sections of this web site.

Between 2000 and 2003, Mountain Visions produced five similar Interactive Watersheds web sites across the U.S. In total these sites contain hundreds of 360 degree panoramas and videos.

A representative sampling of 20 of these videos can be found on our Digital Video >Watershed Restoration Gallery.

Dyers Woad and Fungus Biocontrol

2006-09-16T14:21:00.000-06:00

(Click here to see the Dyers Woad Video describing a fungus biocontrol)
This video is from the Idaho Weed Awareness Campaign web site where a description is available. The page will also present an opportunity to view a full screen interactive 360 degree panorama and two additional videos describing the Dyers Woad noxious weed.

Google Earth Hammer Flat tour video

2006-09-16T13:33:00.000-06:00

Click here to see the Video on Mountain Visions web site. (QuickTime = Higher Quality)

Click Here to see the video from Google Video.

Using the Google Earth Pro Movie Maker module, I created this fly-in to a proposed housing development in an established wildlife area near Boise, Idaho. The fly-in dissolves to a video where Tony Jones, Save the Plateau Coordinator, and a group of interested people are discussing the negative consequences of the proposed development.

My first VLOG entry

2006-09-16T12:45:00.000-06:00

I am trying to post my first Video, but I do not have this one posted on an Internet video server. I do have some videos posted on Google video, so I will try another one in the next post.