If we're being honest, the tech upgrade bug is the bug you can't get rid of. It didn't bite again in the sense that it happens occasionally or rarely. It's a nagging bite, like a mosquito at a cookout that won't leave you alone. This one was a relatively long time coming, but wasn't really planned.

A couple of volleyball seasons ago, I started making highlight clips for my daughter Fiona. It started pretty basic. I used iMovie a fair amount previously, editing videos for the Calm Cool and Collected blog that I used to write for when I was with AT&T. I made some videos for the family of science projects and other fun things the kids created. It was an easy piece of software to pick up for simple editing.

The Early Days of Streaming

In those early days of highlight reels, I streamed the games with an iPhone. I scored and created the clips with SidelineHD. I also use soundraw.io to create original background music. I eventually purchased a Mevo Start camera and used that to stream volleyball and baseball games. In fact, I was using that until early last season when I learned of Balltime.ai. That's when I changed how I was recording volleyball.

The First Upgrade

It was at this point I stopped using the Mevo Start to stream and switched back to streaming with my iPhone, this time using the SidelineHD app. At the same time, I record all the matches on the Mevo Start to a microsSD card. I upload them afterward to Balltime.ai and let it do the heavy lifting of building the clips. It saves so much time from downloading individual highlights from SidelineHD and stitching the together into a reel.

What Changed this Season?

Fiona made it a goal to play volleyball in college. Because of that, we started working with NCSA before the high school seasons started because we have no experience with athletic recruiting in this day and age. Her club, Rockwood Thunder VBC, provided a really thorough recruiting overview that included guidance on highlight reels, game footage, and the like. Between NCSA and Rockwood Thunder VBC, it changed how I plan to help with game footage.

I'm still using SidelineHD to stream. I'm still using the Mevo Start to record raw game footage. The hardware and software at home needed to be updated. The old 2018 MacBook Pro I was running iMovie on was really starting to struggle with movie editing and my browser tab hoarding. I decided it was time to replace it with a 2024 Mac Mini Pro. This thing is a beast in a small form factor. I love it.

I also decided it was time to replace iMovie with Final Cut Pro, and start learning a new piece of software. I have lots to learn about Final Cut Pro. One of the first things I learned is that if I want to have more control over effects, I should also learn Motion. The video above is the first attempt using both. It turned out ok - better than the iMovie videos I was creating - with LOTS of room for improvement.

What Other Upgrades Did This Prompt?

The first was an easy and at least temporarily inexpensive one. I signed up for iDrive for larger cloud storage where I could both backup our machines and upload volleyball footage so I could share it with the team. I still need to upload all of the footage from the high school season, but I'm on track for the club season.

Next up is something I've been planning on for a long time, but until I had our home network set up the way I wanted it, it didn't make sense. Over the 3-day MLK weekend, I finally set up a NAS. Because I've gone down the Unifi rabbit hole, I decided to go with the UNAS Pro. I wanted something that was rack-mountable, and while I appreciate all of the VMs and docks Synology allows, I wanted to use this as a pure NAS.

Ubiquiti once again blew me away with their customer service. I received the item the day after I ordered it, with standard shipping mind you. It took me longer to get 7 HDDs. I ordered 7 WD Red Pro 14 TB drives. The install and setup was a piece of cake. I slightly reconfigured my rack to add the UNAS Pro. Here's a few photos. I'll share more in a follow up post.

What's Next?

At this point, I'm not sure. I'll continue to refine my storage solution and will likely provide sharing to our volleyball parents so I can use iDrive as an offsite backup solution. As far as the network, the rack, and the constant tweaking, I should be set for a bit. Near-term follow up posts will discuss the glut of items I've already purchased but just need time to set up and integrate into our smart home.