"Video of the day" thread?

zCypher

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Aug 18, 2002
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Love the shot of the day thread for photography, but I didn't want to pollute it. Anyone makes videos of any kind here?

I've been into photography for the past 5+ years, and I only now finally decided to start learning a little about the basics of video. The thought has always been very daunting to me, but thankfully there's such an abundance of how-to and tutorials nowadays that every little thing I could get stuck on has an easy to find explanation somewhere, so it wasn't nearly as bad as I feared (in this case, in Premiere Pro).

Even though I can make a picture, I don't really have any skills when it comes to video, and this became even more evident when I tried to shoot some footage so I could practice with it in the software.. lol. With no ideas springing to mind, I decided to try getting a few sequences of the editing workspace I made, and even though it doesn't really show much of the space itself, I was still really stoked about it!

Here it is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=itg9xjzwmA8

Feel free to roast me, or share your own experiences in the video world!
 

Red Squirrel

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May 24, 2003
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Cool idea and neat video. I've been sorta getting into vlogging, not sure where I'm going to go with it, I'm kinda a shy guy so it takes a lot for me to even do it but I kinda like the idea of it anyway and I imagine I'll get more natural over time.

As far as more cinematic style videos, I made this one which I'm honestly proud of how it turned out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4WAehZuDFLw

That theme is so epic I actually want to make more of that style later on haha.
 
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CuriousMike

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Feb 22, 2001
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I barely "do" photography.

Videography --- that's a new and different skill. Both with the "filming" and also with the "editing."

Kudos to both of you for getting into it.
 
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zCypher

Diamond Member
Aug 18, 2002
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I barely "do" photography.

Videography --- that's a new and different skill. Both with the "filming" and also with the "editing."

Kudos to both of you for getting into it.
Thanks man. It's definitely a whole other world! I love the Nikon cameras for stills, and while the quality itself is definitely on point, I'm starting to see why most people prefer Canon, Sony, Panasonic etc for video - the lack of in-body image stabilization and poor video autofocus is really felt! That's ok though, just another reason to improve shooting techniques lol. Not about to dump my babies!

Was invited to a dinner party, so it was a good excuse to practice a bit. I tried a few different things, overall kinda meh about the clip but I don't mind sharing my trial and error, and I do like how a couple parts turned out.

https://youtu.be/N4YwZ7SBAEE

Finding the right music is hard!
 
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Red Squirrel

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I definitely want to look at a better video camera too if I want to get more into video. The main downsides of DSLR is lack of video time. Most are limited. Mine is limited to 20 minutes, so if you're sitting there doing something on video that you want to edit after it might stop and you have no idea then you lost footage. Already got burned by that a few times. I also noticed after a few 20 minute videos, it starts to limit to even less time. As little as 1 minute, until you put another SD card. (even if there's tons of room left)

That and lack of flippable LCD is an issue if you want to vlog. Did a couple videos where I go back to edit after only to realize half the top of my head is missing. Sometimes I do have to check in the mirror to confirm whether or not that's normal. :p

And yeah music is tricky for anything going on Youtube. Anything that even resembles copyrighted music will get the video banned. I found a few sites that have royalty free music. I've found that if you speed up or slow down a song by 5% or so you can usually skip the flagging, but for most videos I try to just avoid it altogether.
 
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CuriousMike

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Feb 22, 2001
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You guys inspired me. I just picked up a Panasonic G85 - and it actually hits a couple points that @Red Squirrel bring up - i.e., it doesn't limit video recording time ( in the USA ) and it has the flippy screen. For a beginner, it's supposed to be a good mix of photo and video. I'll be sure to post my Junior College efforts in the near future.
 

CuriousMike

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Feb 22, 2001
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Odd, why would they lift the limit but only for the USA?

I'm not sure - I know, historically, there's been the 29:59 limit due to trying to give stand-alone-camcorders a chance. But that's a bygone era.

I _think_ it's something where only Europe still enforces that limit - and generally, companies just create a single firmware for all locales and the USA typically gets burdened as well.

The G85 is the USA model, and (I think it's called) the G80 in Europe - which is PAL (instead of NTSC... i.e., 50fps v 60fps) and the 29:59 limit imposed.
 

CuriousMike

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Feb 22, 2001
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Windows users, what software do you use to edit movie clips?

I used iMovie on my work laptop because it was so flipping easy.

I look at a freeware or two on the PC and they look janky and just crap.

My first G85 video - which is less a video, and more me putting a couple clips together including way too long of the ocean.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUf3AxiJSiM
 

Red Squirrel

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Back when I was on windows I used to use Sony Vegas or Adobe Premiere. Back then video editing was super flaky though, like the programs would constantly crash for no reason. I imagine it's better now.

In Linux I use Kdenlive. It has it's quirks too though, really weird ones, like if you want to place an image of video on top of another, it only lets you put it in certain places, otherwise it gets cut off for no reason at the sides. Lot of weird stuff like that.
 

Red Squirrel

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Sound is tricky, like trying to get it at the right volume, and consistent between each clip too. Consistency is simple enough as you can compare with the other clips, but how do you really tell if it's loud enough, it might be loud enough for you, but is it just because of how your volume is turned up. It might be too loud or not loud enough, for whoever else is watching it. I guess one way to know is to play a bunch of other audio first to set your sound, then use that as a reference.

Then there's other aspects of sound like echo. A room may not feel echoy in person but on camera it does. I have not quite mastered that yet, I'm not a full time vlogger so don't have a proper setup. I guess the mic itself helps a lot for that too, most vloggers will have a professional shotgun mic rather than the built in one. When I build my shop most of my vlogs will be in there so ideally I'll want to try to make that environment as good as I can to avoid echo.