This image was generated using AI

As usual, the workshop has been busy since my last newsletter with new subjects to learn, projects to complete, and visits to host as well as a health problem to contend with when I suffered a minor stroke … which sadly led to the cancelation of our Christmas/New Years Eve party.  However, after a week in the Chinese hospital in Luangprabang … not a nice place but the doctors were competent … I am now fit and well and the Workshop is once again fully functional.

Bill Feltz and Dee DeSpain both gave generous donations for the festive season which would normally have been used to offset the cost of a Christmas Party but due to my minor health issue at that time, a party did not happen. Thank you both for your kind and most thoughtful donations and rest assured that the money is in the Workshop account and will be put towards the cost of new computers ... which renders you exempt from the appeal below!!!

As reported in the last newsletter, we have now moved onto the exciting new subject of A.I.  This was a challenging subject for several reasons but mainly due to language difficulties because all the prompts to generate AI images or video, have to be in English, and although there are now several programs that can translate from dozens of languages, the “Free” version of these programs does not offer that facility.

Despite the language difficulty, the students enjoyed this exciting new addition to the program and found their own ways of translating prompts.  Some used Google Translate while others used Chat GBT which does translate from Lao to English but like Google, is a bit iffy!  A few of the more enterprising students used a combination of Google Translate and Chat GBT which worked well as a cross-check for the translation and tended to give a better overall result.  However, whichever method they used, their imaginations were most definitely stimulated and it was gratifying to see their ideas come to life when they made their final movies during the project phase.

With the free AI programs, there is a limit to how many video clips you can create in one day and these are measured in Credits which are deducted every time you use the program and, on top of that, each video generated is limited to a 5-second duration.  Add to that the fact that it can take 3 to 4 attempts before you get your prompt accurate enough to produce the video clip you want, then you begin to realize just how time-consuming it is to produce an AI Video.

In order to teach the subject of AI it was necessary for me to learn how to use the different programs ... and believe me, it was a very steep learning curve indeed! However, I managed to produce a number of short videos which I used as demonstrations while teaching the subject and so I do know how difficult it is and I am extremely impressed with the way the students managed to master it. Below is one of the videos I made as a demonstration.

To ensure that the students had understood the concept of producing AI videos, I set them a project to make a 30 to 40-second video on any subject they chose complete with a soundtrack and either voice-over or subtitles (both generated using AI tools) to complete their movie.  Some of the results were amazingly good, others not brilliant but nevertheless, a good effort was made by everyone.  Unfortunately, one of my new students quit the workshop in the middle of the project because he found it all too difficult. A shame because he did have potential but everyone knows that they must work hard and keep up if they want to remain in the workshop and sadly, he couldn’t.

This AI video was made by 16-year-old Bounxai and although the continuity of his characters was not perfect, it shows his active imagination as well as his ability, despite speaking no English, to write good enough prompts to generate the movie.

16-year-old Tou Lee speaks reasonable English, and as a result, he was able to maintain the consistency of his characters by refining his prompts. Unfortunately, he ran out of Free Credits and had to finish his video rather abruptly. However, it was a nice little story that had been well thought out.

During the Christmas period, which also coincides with the Hmong New Year, many of my students returned to their villages for the celebrations and I took that opportunity to fit a suspended ceiling in the main classroom, which until then, had only been covered with Garden netting to help keep down the dust.  Henry David, the owner of the “On the Mekong Resort" who has been supporting the workshop in many ways for the last year, donated the funds to pay for the ceiling, and what a huge difference it has made.  The amount of dust, damp and insects that found their way into the computers from the open ceiling was amazing and these conditions caused lots of damage to the equipment that often led to expensive repairs. 

Those students who had not gone home had to move all the computers into the back classroom while the project was underway but that gave them the chance to practice disconnecting and reconnecting the computers, which for the newer boys, was a good experience.

Thank you, Henry, it was an expensive project but has made a world of difference to the main classroom and we are all grateful for your help and continued support.

Henry has also brought several guests from his resort to look at the workshop and chat with the students and just a couple of weeks ago one of those visitors … Birney Imes … having looked at the equipment and the classroom setup, asked me for a wish list and I explained that our first batch of 8 computers needed replacing as they were 4 years old and no longer had the speed or processing power to work efficiently with the latest video editing and A.I. software.  A couple of days later he sent me the money to purchase 3 New Computers complete with 24” monitors fast processors and high-end graphics cards that are fully compatible with the powerful software we are now using.

And, as if that was not enough, Birney also donated enough funds to purchase a new Overhead Projector.  My present projector is 6 years old and was the cheapest I could find at the time.  It was also … like the computers … outdated and sadly lacking in screen resolution which blurred text and rendered photographs and videos colorless and flat.  As I deliver all my lessons/presentations in PowerPoint using this OHP it is essential, especially when critiquing Video or Photographic work submitted by the students, that I can see their work in the best resolution possible and this new OHP, with Full HD display is brilliant in comparison. 

Thank you Birney,  these computers and the OHP were not cheap and your contribution was above and beyond the call of duty, for which I am truly grateful.

Those 3 new computers have now replaced the 3 most problematic machines and have been allocated to the top 3 students in the workshop, but it goes without saying, that I need to replace the other 5, older machines, as soon as possible to level the playing field and to that end, I would ask you all to consider a donation.  It does not matter how small the amount because it all adds up and with close to 30 people on this mailing list, we could raise the funds very quickly if everyone chipped in.

I cover the workshops day to day running costs and any repairs that crop up and try hard to get by without asking for money but this is a once every 3 to 4 years, major upgrade of equipment that is an absolute necessity if the students are to keep pace with the fast-changing world of computer technology. 

For details on how to donate, please contact me by email and I will send you the Bank information.

This newsletter brings you right up to date as to the present state of the workshop ... and I can assure you that we have never been in better shape. The present students are a great bunch of young men and they have eagerly absorbed everything I have been teaching them over the last few months. If we could just raise the funds to buy the 5 computers needed to replace the last of the old ones, everything would be perfect.

Thank you all for your continued support ... which makes us what we are ... and which makes the students feel useful and wanted because they are fully aware of your contributions and support and know full well there wouldn't be a WORKSHOP without your help.

With my very best wishes to you all,

Philip