First Attempt at Video

[craig_s]

I was never really fussed about having a video capable camera when I was looking to upgrade because I never thought I'd use it. However, I thought I'd give the D7000 a try to see what I could produce with what very little knowledge of video that I've got.

I have to say, I quite enjoyed filming and putting it all together and the quality of the final video is pretty good I'd say. There's two things that have struck me right away though, 25fps isn't enough for picking out the detail in faster moving scenes. Canon seem to be managing more than double this in their cameras. Also, anything with side on movement is pretty blurry. I'm not sure how this could be resolved though since it's due to the way the sensor scans the frame. Perhaps I'll pick up more faults if I take it a bit more seriously, but I'll always be more interested in stills, which the D7000 is rather good at!

Anyway, have a look at the finished video here: link All comments and criticism are welcome as I'd like to try again at some point.

[Simpo Two]

My 4p:

First appearance very good, but 4 mins of bikes in trees is too long.

Would like to see a shorter programme with snappier editing and ambient sound as well as just music. And all the camera angles look the same; I'd like see something in closer, more whizzy here and there. So as it was a first attempt maybe you got carried away with sticking pretty pictures together and neglected the 'flow'.

[craig_s]

Simpo Two said:

My 4p:

First appearance very good, but 4 mins of bikes in trees is too long.

Would like to see a shorter programme with snappier editing and ambient sound as well as just music. And all the camera angles look the same; I'd like see something in closer, more whizzy here and there. So as it was a first attempt maybe you got carried away with sticking pretty pictures together and neglected the 'flow'.

Agree with both points there, and there's excuses for both!

I was riding as well as trying to film so was choosing safe angles and each angle was taking nearly 5 minutes to set up and shoot so that's why there's not very much close up and variation. Next time I'll be prepared for how long it will take to do, we were hoping to do it all in 2 hours so rushed it a bit.

As for the soundtrack, Youtube forced me to use it's Audioswap feature which takes over all sound, not just music. There's a version that does have more ambient sound but also uses commercial music. I will need to find some better music that's legal to use and upload it again.

For some reason, I thought Youtube helped with using commercial music by providing a link to buy the song. Now I realise how wrong I was!

Thanks for the feedback!

Edited by craig_s on Saturday 10th September 12:17

[Simpo Two]

craig_s said:

As for the soundtrack, Youtube forced me to use it's Audioswap feature which takes over all sound, not just music. There's a version that does have more ambient sound but also uses commercial music. I will need to find some better music that's legal to use and upload it again.

'Ambient' means sound that you record at the time of filming, ie bikes going 'whoosh clatter pedal pedal grunt'. You then mix this soundtrack with the music in the edit, fading it up and down as appropriate. As for music, a faster tempo lends itself to faster editing (if the footage is up to it - so when you shoot you need to be mindful of how it will be used in the final programme). When I produced corporate videos we'd lay the sound down first then edit the pictures, with or without ambient, to it. Sounds odd but it works better because you can edit in sympathy with the music.

With something fast-paced you can hand-hold and pan; the action is fast enough to disguise any wobble and can add to the 'effect' (but not too much!)

[R4NDY]

Not voice of an expert but looks good to the naked eye.
Swayed by mountain bikes though.
Good work

[craig_s]

Simpo Two said:

'Ambient' means sound that you record at the time of filming, ie bikes going 'whoosh clatter pedal pedal grunt'.

Sorry that's what I meant, there was lots of that mixed in with the original music but Youtube's new music has replaced all of my original audio which is a bit annoying.

[Simpo Two]

craig_s said:

Sorry that's what I meant, there was lots of that mixed in with the original music but Youtube's new music has replaced all of my original audio which is a bit annoying.

Hmm. Sounds like you need to get some decent editing software, make the programme just how you like it, and then to keep it legal buy some suitable royalty-free music.

[nessiemac]

craig_s said:

Agree with both points there, and there's excuses for both!

I was riding as well as trying to film so was choosing safe angles and each angle was taking nearly 5 minutes to set up and shoot so that's why there's not very much close up and variation. Next time I'll be prepared for how long it will take to do, we were hoping to do it all in 2 hours so rushed it a bit.

As for the soundtrack, Youtube forced me to use it's Audioswap feature which takes over all sound, not just music. There's a version that does have more ambient sound but also uses commercial music. I will need to find some better music that's legal to use and upload it again.

For some reason, I thought Youtube helped with using commercial music by providing a link to buy the song. Now I realise how wrong I was!

Thanks for the feedback!

Edited by craig_s on Saturday 10th September 12:17

Hi, great to see another biker and photographer on here! Your video was actually filmed very well but as others have said it needs a bit more variety to keep the viewer interested. Maybe some on board shots as well?

Oh and you can use your own music on your personal video's and Youtube will not change it to something different. As to the legalities i'm not so sure but it can be done.

See here....................

http://www.youtube.com/user/bfbjock?feature=mhum#p...

This was a self filmed video shot on my Canon 550D earlier in the year and quite happy with it but learned a lot about different angles and close ups which i'm using in my current filming!!