I have a camcorder that we don't use much. I plan to change that. The idea is to use it enough and dump enough via video capture to the computer so that SWMBO will ok an upgrade to a camera with digital outputs. I know that it is easier to produce good movies if you shoot them correctly to start with so.... any tips/tricks/forums I should check out? I know some basics - stay away from the zoom button (it makes people dizzy), no herky-jerky moves. Any other tips?
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David
The chief cause of failure in this life is giving up what you want most for what you want at the moment. -
I have an old Panasonic camcorder that takes a full size VCR tape. I'm so used to the ease of just inserting the tape into the VCR, I hate to get rid of it. What I haven't done is learn all the features it has, like stamps, editing, modified lighting, fading, etc. It's a pretty big camera and fairly heavy, I look like a TV reporter with it. Anyway, I've been lurking around this website:
http://www.videocamera.com.au/bbs/
Thought I could pick up some tips and learn more about videography. I've learned that once you hit a button that you're not sure what it does, all heck can break loose, especially on a keyboard.
"I'M NEVER WRONG - BUT I'M NOT ALWAYS RIGHT" -
MiniDV technology is so cheap today that the sell should be pretty easy to your significant other. You are going to save a lot of money, TONS of hassle and get a better product with MiniDV versus using an analogue, buying analogue connectivity for your computer, etc.
Consumer level capture of video is so much easier, cheaper and better with digital versus trying to convert analog to digital. Synchronization of video to audio is so hard with analogue. Those cheap little sub $100 analogue capture units that you see at Circuit City and the like are pretty worthless. I use a high end Maxtor video capture card that has a breakout box containing both digital and analogue connections. Even on this PCI Card system digital is way easier and produces such superior results.
My suggestion:
$300 MiniDV - There are currently 8 selections at Circuit City under $300. The Canon ZR500 is $223.20 and a perfectly fine camera!
$20 1394 connection card (if your computer does not have FireWire, iLink, or IEEE-1394 connection - your computer may already have one of these connections. Usually near your USB ports but is smaller than USB)
$80 at Circuit City - Sony Movie Studio
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$70 Pinnacle Studio 10.5 at Circuit City
If your computer system has less than 2 GB of ram and less than a P4 processor then go with Sony Movie Studio. If you computer is less than 1 GB of ram and/or less than P3 you will not be able to run either of the programs very well. Video applications are one of the few programs that can actually utilize a lot of the power of a computer on a continuous basis. Movie rendering and burning to DVD can take hours of processing. Luckily it is a click the button and walk away deal.
So basically for $300 you can buy a decent camcorder and decent software capable of capturing and editing video with cute little titles, transitions and what not, as well as authoring and burning DVD's. If you system does not have a DVD I would think you would want one. Don't worry about burning speed as rendering and other aspects take all the time, actual burn time is minimal even with 4 x speed. Seems higher speeds tend to create disk errors (coasters) more often. Check your DVD player at http://www.videohelp.com/dvdplayers.php to see whether it plays DVD-R and/or DVD+R. Most burners will do both and you just choose which type of disk works with your home theaters DVD player.Comment
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"Stay away from the zoom" - Zoom is something that I would recommend that you spend 30 minutes to an hour getting used to. That feature hurts most home movies - only because it is not used correctly or with experience. A little practice time dedicated to that will enhance your movies immensely. The key beyond practice is to use it sparingly, but do use it.
Practice will give you a feel for the zoom in and out speed - where most people misuse it. Kind of like turning a steering wheel too fast or too slow when driving (only not as dangerous). With practice, you learn the right usage, which will enhance your videos. I would encourage you give this a try.
A second problem is the use of panning - turning, moving the camera - no "sudden" moves, gentle but deliberate moves. When correctly used, it greatly enhances the movie.
Something that everyone should look for in a camera is the Motion/Stabilizer. This is a HUGE plus for mildly shakey hands, but at your age, you are not there yet.
Last edited by leehljp; 10-15-2006, 06:59 PM.Hank Lee
Experience is what you get when you don't get what you wanted!
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Jeffrey
Thanks. Already had that discussion with SWMBO. I checked into this several months ago actually. She agrees we probably need a new camera but wants me to prove I will actually use the one we have now first. She is already talking about getting a new digital camera (ours I bought in 1999) for still pictures. So will probably get a camera that can do both. Not now though - been an $$$ year. I'd prefer a USB 2.0 one, only because I have a USB 2.0 card already but I can probably swing firewire. I know when we upgrade our current PC I will get firewire on the motherboard.
Mostly looking for forums, etc that can help with tips/tricks for shooting and editing.David
The chief cause of failure in this life is giving up what you want most for what you want at the moment.Comment
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If you want to minimize jerky motion and you don't have a Steadicam, just keep your elbow against your body and move your whole body as you pan, instead of just your arm or your hand.
And if you're in the DIY mode, try this http://www.makezine.com/01/stabilizer/. There are other DIY versions on the net. The real Steadicam costs hundreds and sometimes thousands of dollars.
Anna
Edit: Sorry, didn't realize that the Make article is for subscribers only (we subscribe to the magazine, and it's awesome). If you're interested in the article, I'm sure I can dig up the issue and scan it. But there are other versions I've seen online that are as cheap. Just too tired to dig up old links right now.Last edited by Anna; 10-15-2006, 07:23 PM.Comment
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Your first few tapings, go home and watch your video that evening or within a few days. Watch it on your tv, not on the camera monitor. You will learn a lot!!
Remember you are taking a picture, so think about framing and background. Background includes background noises as well. Of course framing with a moving picture means you must be prepared to lead the action somewhat. Leave your shot just a little wider than normal to give the action room to move. Your camcorder will work with a basic tripod that works for 35mm cameras.
It helps in many instances to be a narrator of what is happening. Don't be scared to use the date stamp for a few seconds at the beginning of each shooting day- most cameras have them.
Hook your camera up to your TV and play with the features/options so you can see what they look like.
Have fun. And remember there will be times when it is better to put the camera down and be apart of the action, not just recording it.Comment
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Cabinetman - if you like something you can pop straight in and watch, might be time to take a good hard look at DVD camcorders. Pretty much any DVD player will accept a small DVD. A lot of convenience oriented folks I know are moving to DVD cameras.
I am not a fan of DVD cameras cause they already compress the video. A mini-DV tape holds more than 10x data than a small DVD, so it stores an hour of video, uncompressed.
For transferring stuff to PC, get Firewire. Many cameras got USB, but Firewire is a lot more 'native' and hassle free. At Newegg, you can get a card for around $10. (pick a cable there as well, cable prices at stores are outrageous). And I never had luck with 4-pin to 4-pin cables. Use a 6pin to 4pin.
For editing,I use Adobe Premiere 6.5, but there are lots of less expensive options. Seaking of editing - you want a capable PC. A decent CPU, at least 1GB of RAM, and lots of free hard drive space. In fact, you might want to get a whole new HDD just for that - a single miniDV tape dumped to PC eats up about 17GB. If you are assembling a single DVD from about four tapes of footage, you want more than 100GB of space free.
I generally use Premiere to edit my video, apply transitions, titles, overlay music if I want, clean up audio, enhance video where needed. Then, I dump it out uncompressed to single movie file. Them I use Roxio DVD creator to lay out the DVD menu, break the video into chapters, compress, and burn the DVD.
Tips with miniDV:
1. Buy lots. I buy Sony tapes on Amazon for about $20 per 10-pack. Do not re-use. Shoot them, label them, turn on write-protect, store them. A good idea to number the tapes, and keep some kind of database or spreadsheet listing which tape has what. This way, you never end up missing original footage.
2. Resist urge to review the tape before it is full. Or at least make darn sure you don't leave a gap. A lot of people will rewind a partially shot tape, review, then fast forward to blank, and shoot from there. This creates a gap. And gaps are EVIL:
a. If you are missing a fresh tape, and looking for a partially shot tape, you might get to the gap, and thinking this is it, overwrite the rest of your tape.
b. miniDV tapes go by timecode. If timecode is contiguous, you can reference it in your spreadsheet, and then wind directly to it when needed. If you have gaps, you might have a timecode '00:08:34:00' four-five times in a single tape. Confusing.
c. editing software ALSO goes by timecode. In Premiere, I can hook a camera to PC, tell it all the sections by timecode to capture, and it will do it with no further input from me. A timecode with gaps means I have to do it all manually.
3. Shoot a LOT, cut a lot. We usually bring 7-8 hours of footage from vacations. Noone, including ourselves, will watch it all. But extracting an hour-long movie from it makes for something a lot more watchable. Tape is cheap, memories are priceless. Shoot everything remotely interesting. Never know exactly what piece will fit 'just right' with the main theme.
Zoom button - yes, a zoom (or a pan) you want in the movie should be slow and gradual. However, don't be afraid to quickly zoom in on an interesting detail or swing a camera over if you think going slow will cause you to miss it. You can always cut the rapid zoom/pan out and replace it with a transition.
Know your camera's light sensitivity. Shooting in low light is no good. You can enhance dark video during edit, but it will generally be grainy and in washed-out color. It will help if you get a 3-CCD camera (like a Panasonic PV-GS180 - $420 at B&H Photo/Video) - they have a much better shooting range.
While steadyshot is good, and most cameras today have it, buy a tripod, and use it whenever possible. Shooting and panning from tripod is a lot smoother and steadier. And shooting an event like your kid's stage performance in a school play - a tripod is plain necessary.
When editing, make use of the fact that it will be a DVD!!! For example, alternate audio tracks. I like to create a 'director's comment' while the memory is still fressh, and include it as alternate audio. This way, when I show it to a visiting relative two years later, I switch it to comment, so I can enjoy my beer instead of commenting.
Home video is a time-consuming but fun thing to do, and readily available to about anyone at a real moderate expense.
Me, I am considering making the jump to HD. THAT's gonna be expensive...Comment
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One camera for both is never going to be a great solution. Sure, all of the new camera do both, but they will always be much better at one than the other. The digital still cameras have decent video now, but there are always issues. Memory storage is too small, possibly restrictions on the zoom in video mode, length restrictions due to buffering, things like that. Video camera will never take as good stills, their sensors have many fewer pixels than a still camera. Of course, the reports are that the newer still cameras have good video modes (haven't tried it out on mine yet).
There is a good forum on some of the Panasonic camcorders, http://www.pana3ccduser.com/ that I have browsed a few times. It seems to have good information on their products, which seem to be the cheapest 3ccd (better color) digitals currently on the market.
JimComment
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The up and coming thing is solid state storage, rather than using DVD or tape. Secure Digital cards are coming down in price enough that you can get 30-60 minutes of good quality video on them, in MPEG4 format. With the right editing software, you can move your files directly from the card into your computer without the hassles of rewinding and real-time transfers. Plus some come with adequate still image capture. Sanyo makes one (VPC-HD1)for about $800 that does 720p HD video. The random access is not so important if you don't plan on doing much shooting, and have plenty of time to do your rewinding and transfering.- David
“Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.” -- Oscar WildeComment
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these are for us amateurs, so professionals and experts please look away :
a. have light source behind the camera. always. trying to shoot somebody with the sun / window / lamp etc behind them only makes them look gloomy or worse.
b. the subject can move, the camera should not. shooting while walking or moving always gives you bad output. if you need to get closer or different angle, pause the recording and restart from the new position.
c. always give vocal context (place,date,what's happening) during each shoot, preferably at the beginning. (eg, Diane's back yard, todaysdate, young timmy trying to catch a snowflake...). Invariably you'd find yourself wishing for these when you start mixing up different shoots
d. if you are shooting young kids, have patience. at first, they want the camera; then they don't want to pose; or they want to pose excessively; then finally, they forget about it, and that's when you get precious moments. and these are the times when the zoom is your friend. stay far, and slowly creep the zoom to their faces and body language.
e. the difference between still camera and video is that your memory gets better help remembering things as they were. keep that in mind : no point shooting the swimming pool unless it has a kid who would not come out, or the one that would not go in. (or of course, your s-i-l in swimwear that you dare not ogle in person
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f. and yes, transfer / view on larger screen same day. nothing makes you better the next day than looking at what you did wrong today.
hope that helps.
have fun.It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.
- AristotleComment
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Thans for the tips fellas. A more technical question - what file format should I be looking at? I was playing and captured about 25 seconds of (analog) video as a .avi file from my video camera. Took just over 6MB. The finished product in Windows Movie Maker was a .wmv file of about a third that. Is that about the best I am going to do? If I eventually want this to go to DVD, should I be looking at other formats? Any other forums I should ask this on?David
The chief cause of failure in this life is giving up what you want most for what you want at the moment.Comment
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6MB for 25 seconds is way small - it definitely captures at low quality.
Standard miniDV format is 720x480, A raw full-quality capture from miniDV will take about 115MB for 25 seconds. (about 4.7MB/sec). I believe that Windows MovieMaker is set by default to lower quality to produce videos for sending over email. It also could be that whatever connection you use is not fast enoug for anything better.
A standard 4.7GB DVD can hold about an hour of good quality video - around 1.3MB/sec, or 32.5MB for the 25sec file. If you want it to look decent on a 30+ inch HDTV, you better not go lower than that.
Solid storage might be the future, but until ~20GB SD cards are $2 or so each, I'll stick to tapes. With my preference to shoot and store, tapes are one of the cheapest options at about 12 cents/GB. Even hard drive space is like 30cents/GB. DVDs are cheapest at only 5-6cents/GB, but it takes time moving data to them.
For shooting kids, tripod is best, along with a camera remote to start shooting. Camera on a tripod attracts a lot less attention than when you are holding it.Comment
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Hrrmm.... well I told Movie Maker to go with good quality, not 'best' quality. I am capturing with an ATI All in Wonder. will try playing with the settings some. Haven't tried watching it on a TV yet.David
The chief cause of failure in this life is giving up what you want most for what you want at the moment.Comment
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You mean you connected your camera to AIW via either composite or S-Video? Then yeah, standard TV resolution is all you can get, which is fairly low. Try using 'best' quality instead. But really, if you want to do video, you want to go digital ASAP. It's night and day in both convenience and quality.
P.S. While movie maker is fine for 'getting the feel of it', you really want to upgrade to a more capable software package. Roxio Easy Media Creator is a good package that does it all. The version 8.0 OEM can be found for around $30.Last edited by scorrpio; 10-18-2006, 06:39 AM.Comment
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