Video Trip Report- April 27-May 4

[Spectro is #1]

Glad to hear it you will enjoy that CD.
I should be getting my spiff from Amazon any day now.

 

[KatyTheFairyPrincess]

Ok I was on the fence about getting a video camera, but seeing your trip report just definately sealed the decision for me! So much better than still pictures!

 

[Spectro is #1]

Ok I was on the fence about getting a video camera, but seeing your trip report just definately sealed the decision for me! So much better than still pictures!

Great make sure you read my thread about practicing and help with picking one out.

Fess-up where do we find the live feed you have in you signature of SE

 

[dburg30]

Great make sure you read my thread about practicing and help with picking one out.

Fess-up where do we find the live feed you have in you signature of SE

http://www.carouselofmagic.com/epcotwand/epcotwand.php ?? maybe

Where is your thread about practicing? I used mine the first time over the weekend and phew.. That smell over the weekend wasnt from trash or anything, it was from my video taking skills..

 

[Spectro is #1]

OK I rounded up a couple and added what I couldn't find. It may seem a little out of context because I could not include the question.
its kind of long

I disagree with you.
You don't have to be a professional to get great results. I learned by doing and watching movies and TV with a more critical eye than just watching it for the entertainment.
Observe how fast past shows cut from one shot to the next, ask yourself what kind of music are they using to set the mood, pace and flavor of the scene. Watch a drama and notice how many shots cut off the tops of the actors heads. We tend to feel we need to get the whole person in the frame and that isn't always the case.
That is one thing I need to be more aware of I often feel I have too much headroom. This is often a problem when I look at still pictures. It is one of my pet peeves. My family will show me a picture they took and I start ragging on them about all head room at the top of the photo. They get so mad at me LOL.
I think anyone could at the least be taught some of these techniques and with some patients and practice can turn out some great family videos.
Just copy what you see and like. You will find yourself putting your own personal touches on it and before you know you have a great unique video everybody will love.

Here are some rules I use in editing.
Don't use gimmicky transitions. Page turns, in and out boxes, most programs come with a ton of them. Fades and cuts are all you want to use. Quick cuts to change scenes and locations for example. I open the video by telling the audience the day and where we are going. Cut to the car of us pulling into the parking lot. Fades are used to stretch time. Take for example the time we were in restaurants. I fade from order taking to the food being delivered fade to the eaten food etc...

Ask yourself "do I need this to tell the story" I shot about 10 hours of video that trip. I used about an hour and a half.

Try to plan out what you want to do before you leave, set up a format. It's OK to adjust as you go along but knowing what you want will save you tape and editing time.
Try to have a rough idea of what you want to end up with. You may not want on ride video like I have. It may be more important for you to get peoples reaction after the ride. If that is the case only a few outside shots are needed to set up the story. Do you see what I mean?
Still tape all you feel you need. I often have enough video to do multiple shows. For example you only saw a small part of the new MK parade. I only needed a little to tell the story. I did tape the whole parade and may edit up a movie just of that parade.
Remember it is better to over shoot and buy more tape than to under shoot and not have what you need. (It costs more to go back)

If you get stuck on a particular segment skip it and go past it. Lets say you are working on day one and you went to the parade and you are having trouble with editing it together. Move on to the next part. I often find away around obstacles when I continue to work not by staring at the screen trying to think "how am I going to make this work?" Keep moving forward. Remember the words of Willy Wonka. "You must go forward to go back."

If you have a photo editing program like photoshop elements you can easily make title shots that are more interesting than just using the title editor in the video program.
Here is some info I posted earlier.

For great backgrounds start taking digital pictures of textures. I must look like an imbecile to most people because I am always taking pictures of walls, tree bark, palm fronds, pavement and other textures. The backdrop for the Thunder Mt graphic was from a rock wall in AK. Goofy looks painted on a wooden fence in the Stormalong Bay panel. That is actually a large wooden door in the rear of the Morocco Pavilion at Epcot. Those same techniques are great for scrapbooking too. Textured pictures can be printed out and cut into frames or used as an embellishment under a photo to create a boarder.

The size of your project needs to be 640x480 pixels.

Go to my youtube page (user name...chr3000) and watch 2 pugs and a bulldog.
This is what I mean by practice. Tape your dogs or kids playing in the yard for a few minutes and make a short movie.
I will give out one big secret of mine. This took several hours of Internet searching to find this resource.
For free music that is divided into 10, 20, 30, 40, 60, second clips go to
http://www.freeplaymusic.com/

This is were all that nondescript music that I used came from. It is intended for use in commercials but they will let you download tracks for free if you are just using it for yourself. It is the only site I found that has royalty free music and doesn't charge you. All other sites charge a lot for this type of stuff. sometimes well over $100.00 for a 10 track CD.


MOST IMPORTANT Label you tapes so when you want a shot you know where to find it after the vacation.

One more thing. Get a wide angle conversion lens. Get the one for your camera meaning the one built by the manufacturer of the camera. You can get some good deals on ebay if you have to time. After market lenses may distort the picture and give a fish eye effect. A wide angle lens is important! It will make you camera much more versatile.

You can PM if you have problems while practicing

The wide angle lens will screw to the end of you camcorder. Look on the inside of the lip that surrounds the lens you will see that it is threaded. You will need to know what mm your lens is. It is in your manual. That is the book that came with the camera that if you are like me, only open when you have a problem .

Without the WA lens you will be unable to get shots in tight places. For example:
Restaurants; Used it to get a more natural view of the table. In Sci-Fi I wouldn't be able to tape Kim and include the food. At shutters I was able to fit almost the whole table in one frame.
The entrance way in Whispering Canyon. If you have ever been there you will remember that it is a tight area.
Without it you will have to scan and pan. This makes some people motion sick.

Taping indoors:
The tour of our room and the tour of the DVC AK rooms was done with a wide angle. without it you would have to do a lot of panning and scanning around the room to film a bathroom. Even the main bedroom area would not fit into the frame well. If you remember the shot of me in the mirror before we go to shutters I don't have the WA on. Look how small the room looks. Kim looks like she is standing on top of me as she enters the area with the sink and mirror. That is at full out.

On the plane:
on day one look to see how much room is in the shot when Kim is loading her DVD player. Anyone who has been on a Southwest Airline flight knows how tight that area is.

Rides and shows:
If you want to take shots on rides be it people next to you or show sets like those in Spaceship Earth. Like the plane, Omni-movers are tight and with a wide angle lens you will get the whole gang in the shot. Also when shooting loved ones in cramped areas like the stadium seating for Fantasmic.

For close-ups.
wide angle will allow you to have a larger field even when zooming in. Like you said great for shots at the parade. the field will narrow as you tighten up but the wide angle is still doing its job.

Has you use it like anything you will learn when you need it and when you don't. I use it all the time. There are 2 draw backs to it.
1. Size, it will add about an inch and a half to 2 inches in length to your camera

2. Halos and added lens flair: Light will often get trapped in the lens and cause streaks of light depending of the angle the light enters the lens. There was a nasty one in Whispering Canyon from the chandelier near the front desk.

For me it is a must. Now keep in mind the rest of the wold is not using them. iIdon't think i saw one all trip. But a WA lens is like high speed internet or a microwave oven. Once you use one you will say "how did I get along without it".

the purpose is to give you more flexibility with the camera. You be able to increase the cameras use and your creativity.

plus

Advice for camcorder buyers

Don't take choosing a camcorder lightly they are expensive. I won't get into brands because each has their own pros and cons. Internet research will help you out there.

The first thing you need to do is choose a format. I will not use price as a determiner in choosing a format but there are some exceptions where price is relevant. For example some models will look the same and have a huge price difference. That is because manufactures are making high-def (HD) versions and non HD versions of the same model. The only thing that will look different is the LCD screen ratio. If you have a HD format TV than buy the HD model. My feeling is that with all TVs going digital in 09 HD will be the standard for all camcorders in the near future. But if you think you may buy another camera in a few years consider the fact that HD camera prices are going to drop like a rock in the coming years.

Formats:

HDD is the latest. It stores mpeg format on a built in hard disk. These are typically made to be shown on the newer wide screen TVs but still can be set to the old TV size.
Pros:
Small size and convenient because you don't need to carry recording media. Latest technology and formatted for wide screen TVs. Wont be as obsolete in the coming years as more and more people change over to the wide screen format.
Uninterrupted recording. you wont have to stop to change out full media.

Cons:
Quality suffers as the video is stored in a compressed format. The quality you would get with a $1,000 hard-drive camcorder is equivalent to what you'd get with a $600 mini-DV model. If quality is important only buy a high end model only. Price is set by the sensor used to pick up the picture. I can't stress how important price is in this category.
If you can adjust the quality you will lose HD capacity. Space may be an issue if you record a lot. A high end 30G adjusted to best quality will get you about 5 hours of video. Lowest quality 7 hours. Every time you use the camera you must download your video to store it and to clear the camera. Then you have to put it on some sort of media to archive it. This can be a huge pain in the butt. With a tape or DVD you just pull out the media put it on the desk and deal with it whenever. The unedited tape is your archived piece. Think about this, you just came back from vacation in May. Your camera has less than an hour of record time left on it. you unpack, and put the camera by the computer knowing you have to transfer the video to store it and put it on a DVD. A week goes by and you have to go to a graduation party. Now your camera is still on the desk and it is full. Bummer
If you want to watch a video without taking the time to transfer it you must hook the camera up to the TV.
*JVC store files in MOD format you must change it to mpg if you want to play it with Windows Media Player.

DVD format: These cameras record directly onto a mini DVD. These will fit in all DVD players despite the small size of the disk. All PCs, CD and DVD players have a smaller inner ring depressed into the tray. That is to accommodate mini-discs. The size of these cameras have come down but are still a little on the large size if compared to today's mini-DV and HD cameras. Disks can be bought almost anywhere. If you have no desire to ever use the computer to edit this is a good choice.

Pros:
the huge plus is that you can go strait from camera to TV with a DVD player. No computer needed. No changing format to VHS or burning to DVD. No need to hook the camera up to the TV.
Recorded video can easily be imported to computer without hooking the camera up to the computer. just pop in the DVD and start to drag and drop your footage.

Cons:
I said I wouldn't get into prices of cameras but as far as media goes min DVDs can be pricey. Look around for the best deals, always by in bulk and get a good quality disc.
This format also uses MPEG compression so quality suffers a bit. I should mention that for most people the quality isn't so bad that you would notice. I am just pointing out that side by side with DV-tape you will see a difference especial in low light.
Disks can only record continuously for 30 minutes and then you have to flip the disc over and you get 30 more minutes. (If this has improved somebody correct me. It has been a while since I have dealt with mini-DVD and I thought I had heard they were trying to increase the capacity of the disc).
Most of today's DVD players are cross compatible and will play both + and -R and RW discs. Older machines may only be able to play one format. If that is the case you would have to buy a new DVD player to get the best pro out of this format.

Next is my preference mini-DV. These cameras use small tapes.

Pros:
Great video quality even on a cheep cam!
Small. these are the most compact of the bunch. Just be aware that the smaller the lens the smaller the sensor the worse it will perform in low light.
My camera was the most expensive and largest in the DCR family but it has the best picture quality and out performs the others in the line-up in low light. Has you progressed from the cheapest to the model just under mine price was for added features not better video. Tapes are inexpensive if you look around.
60min uninterrupted recording time and up to 120 if you don't mind a lose of quality.
Don't need to have a DVD burner to watch edited videos. If you want you can upload your video into the computer, put a new tape in and then after you edit your master piece you cam export it back to the blank tape in your camera. Now you can use the camera as a player and take it to grandma's house and hook it up to her TV. (that can be a con con if Grandmas TV only has hookups in the back)

Cons:
Must connect camera to a TV to watch direct from tape video.
Older technology. I don't know how long this format will be around. most manufactures are drifting away from this and making more DVD and HDD cameras. The market will likely determine the fate of DV but it will still be around for a while longer.
Unlike DVD and like the HD cameras they require a computer with the right card installed to import video to burn to a DVD.
Please note that once the mini-DV tape is loaded into the computer it is uncompressed and takes a massive amount of space. You need a huge hard drive for DV.
I kept telling you how great the quality is but if you plan on burning to DVD it may be worthless. Your great video will be compressed to MPEG 2 when you burn it on DVD. You can make some adjustments but for the most part your great video will only remain great when it is on the tape or uncompressed on the hard drive. Some programs will capture the video from your camera in a compressed format if you want to save disc space. Again quality will suffer.


Digital 8 and other 8 formats:
I don't know if hi8 is even available in most stores. I think discounters like Wal-mart still carry 8mm Hi-8 and maybe one compact VHS model.

Pros: Can't ignore price when talking about this line of cameras, that is their market.

Cons: Old technology.
8mm tapes are larger than mini-DVs some of the cameras are quite large by today's standards.
8mm tapes can still be found but are becoming harder to find. Like mini-DVs you may only find 1 or 2 brands being offered for sale in a given store.
With the exception of Digital-8 quality is noticeably poor. the reason is lees lines of resolution. Digital 8 is the best out of the bunch but still well below the newer formats.

If you are considering these it should be for price only. I would stay away from them at this time as these are really dated now. My last camera was a D-8 and it served me well. I can't believe it was over 400 bucs but it was the shizzal back in the day. (1997)
Before that hi-8 (1994) which at the time blew standard 8mm out of the water with more lines of resolution.

I have to say though that of all the cameras I have (yes I still have all of them even the old huge VHS camera I got from my mother that was bought in 1989) the Hi-8 does the best in low light. All the digital cameras stink in low light because of the way they record. Infrared assistance (Sony calls theirs Night Shot) gives the picture a green coloring that is not very desirable. My non digital, or analog, cameras can tape in candle light. i wish my digital could.

Anyway, I have typed way too much and I am going to leave now. If I am missing any info please ask, I will answer it if I can. Hope you get a camera just don't wait to close to your trip to get it. You will need to practice with it. Often times when I get a new camera I will inadvertently and unknowingly hit a button that will turn something on or off that will effect the picture and I will have to get out the book to help me figure out what is going on with it. You don't want that to happen to you as you are about to film your kids who got picked to do the Legend Of The Loin King over at AK. So practice tapping before you go, it is important.
__________________

 

[dburg30]

Thanks Spec. I guess I have seen that

I just need to practice, practice, practice!! I was shocked at how badly I was bobbing and weaving while taping..

I have an HV20 camera. I reallly, really like the video it takes, when I hold steady +

I'll get there Maybe I should cut back on the caffine

 

[Spectro is #1]

As long as you aren't making people sick don't be to concerned with shacking. fortunately most police dramas use a shaky camera to build suspense so most people are now programed to accept it. My camera is so small i have a hard time keeping it steady. One thing that might help is not using the flip screen. By looking through the eye piece you will find that your arm will be in tight and that will steady the camera. Also by resting it on you cheek you video will be more steady. I know that it is not always an option for some shots but I use the eye piece about 90%of the time. Having your arm close to your body is more steady than holding it away from your body.

For parades and fireworks I use a video prop. Keeps the camera steady when my arm would normally get tired. Ritz camera has them on their web site

http://www.ritzcamera.com/product/592040612.htm

 

[KatyTheFairyPrincess]

Dburg was right with the SE link before, sorry I didn't post it myself, was away from the laptop. (silly DISser! )

Been out looking at v-cameras this afternoon, and have given myself a real head-ache from it all, we were thinking a DVD one might be best for us, but on closer inspection maybe a mini-DV would be best, I know you only just posted a huge thing about it all, but I've only had chance to glace, with a mini-DV can you link it straight to your PC, then burn it onto DVD from there once edited? The guy in the local electrical store was convinced you could only place the tapes inside video tapes for viewing through a video player, which would be no good for us, since we have no intention of buying a new video player after our (very old) one breaks down.

Sorry, thats a bit of a long question really, but any help is really appreiciated.

 

[KatyTheFairyPrincess]

Oh sorry, just answered my own question by reading the last page. Thought I had it all sussed out until I read all that, I think a HDD might be best now, they're doing a great deal on them at the moment.

Oh well, any more help would be appriciated

 

[Spectro is #1]

Dburg was right with the SE link before, sorry I didn't post it myself, was away from the laptop. (silly DISser! )

Been out looking at v-cameras this afternoon, and have given myself a real head-ache from it all, we were thinking a DVD one might be best for us, but on closer inspection maybe a mini-DV would be best, I know you only just posted a huge thing about it all, but I've only had chance to glace, with a mini-DV can you link it straight to your PC, then burn it onto DVD from there once edited? The guy in the local electrical store was convinced you could only place the tapes inside video tapes for viewing through a video player, which would be no good for us, since we have no intention of buying a new video player after our (very old) one breaks down.

Sorry, that's a bit of a long question really, but any help is really appreciated.

The guy in the local electrical store was convinced you could only place the tapes inside video tapes for viewing through a video player, which would be no good for us

No, that is CVHS Very old technology. JVC make only 2 models of those.
Very few lines of resolution. There only advantage is price. They are around or under $200.
Ther may be an aftermarket adapter to fit DV but it is not needed.

Mini DV. You have 2 options with a combo of both.
First, the computer and your software determines how you want to view the movie. If you want to watch unedited raw video you just connect the camera to the TV. Most TVs have a front hook up for this. You will see 3 RCA connections, 1 red, 1 white, 1 yellow. Yellow is always video, Red and white are your audio. Red is right white is left. The camera will come with this cable.
Choice 2 is to capture the video from the camera into you computer and burn it to a DVD. Now some programs will take your video, compress it and burn it. It is the software not the camera.
I don't do it that way. I import uncompressed video, edit, render, compress, burn. You may not have a hard drive large enough to do this but for a $100 you can get an external hard drive. I have 2 of them and they a relatively cheep and work great. But most software will compress it when you capture so it will save a lot of hard drive space.
Now those are the 2 ways but there is the combo way. If you didn't want to burn to DVD, you can send your edited movie back to your camera and have it record onto a new tape. This is how us old timers did it old school when DVD burners were way too expensive for married people and the authoring programs were over $100. You then again hook up the camera to the TV and watch.
This is not a huge deal, your software will do this after you render your movie.
The cable you use to hook up to the computer you will have to buy because there are 2 sizes and you need to know what it is. That hook up is an in and an out. Info travels both ways, it is not like recording with a stereo. I hope I did not give too much info, I don't want it to appear difficult because it is not. It is simple once you start playing around with it. That is why I say practice.

 

[KatyTheFairyPrincess]

Thanks for all that, think I'm going to go gather some more info tomorrow, prices etc.

But the internet is a wonderful thing, so I think I'll spend most of tonight searching, this thread has been a great help and a real insperation, thank you.

 

[Spectro is #1]

If you need more info just ask

 

[KatyTheFairyPrincess]

Sorry to bother you again, but I just found yet another format, external memory SD card. Our camera uses an SD card so we know how it works and stuff, its just the quality really, we'd want to convert it too dvd eventually, so would the quality be lost? or would the quality not even be that good to begin with?

Thanks for all the info, its really really helpful.

 

[Spectro is #1]

I would suspect anything that stores video on removable media would have to be highly compressed and would be more in the range of cell phone quality.

My Sony Mini-DV has a card slot and aside from photos it will store video but it stores the video in mpeg4, not a very desirable format.

 

[STEAMBOAT209]

Really loved your vacation videos, thanks for posting and sharing them, so much work on your part, thanks again.

 

[Camilo]

Amazing videos, great editing.

 

[Spectro is #1]

Sorry to bother you again, but I just found yet another format, external memory SD card. Our camera uses an SD card so we know how it works and stuff, its just the quality really, we'd want to convert it too dvd eventually, so would the quality be lost? or would the quality not even be that good to begin with?

Thanks for all the info, its really really helpful.

Sony does offer a HD camera that can store video on their removable media Memorystik Duo.
The problem is at the best quality a 4G stik (almost $70) holds 30min.


HDR-CX7

• When using 4GB Memory Stick PRO Duo™ Media (sold separately): High Definition: XP = up to 30 min., HQ = up to 55 min., SP = up to 65 min., LP = up to 85 min. Standard Definition: HQ = up to 55 min., SP = up to 80 min., LP = up to 160 min.

 

[KatyTheFairyPrincess]

Hi, got my video camera today as a present and its a mini-dv. It's sony I think, but don't have it infront of me too check, anyway its been charging all day so gets its test run tonight at my birthday goodvibes

Thanks for all the great advice though, no doubt I'll be back on tomorrow asking silly questions about editing lol

 

[Spectro is #1]

Congratulation

 

[ClaraBug]

Hey, Spectro, I almost forgot to tell you!! I bought my twinkling mickey ears when I went!! I dont have a picture!! I love'em!!