Video Tips ?

eddieo

Banned
Jul 7, 2008
5,070
6
I have got a contour roam recently and it is very east to use, but trying to sort out how to make short films a bit more demanding. The video I posted on here recently re Spain was done on my sons new mac pro which has a really good program on it. I got some Coral software from a mate and its far to complicated so now just using the "windows movie maker" that comes with 7? Seems simple enough,but haven't really got the time to get into it at the moment.

uploading to you tube takes forever unless I guess you have a firbre optic broadband
 

jazper53

Esteemed Pedelecer
Jan 20, 2012
890
18
Brighton
I have got a contour roam recently and it is very east to use, but trying to sort out how to make short films a bit more demanding. The video I posted on here recently re Spain was done on my sons new mac pro which has a really good program on it. I got some Coral software from a mate and its far to complicated so now just using the "windows movie maker" that comes with 7? Seems simple enough,but haven't really got the time to get into it at the moment.

uploading to you tube takes forever unless I guess you have a firbre optic broadband
I would be interested to see your Vid . do u have a link ?
 

Blew it

Esteemed Pedelecer
Jun 8, 2008
1,472
97
Swindon, Wiltshire
It's all about the editing

Over the past month or so, i've been recording bicycle routes around Swindon, and that's the easy bit.

Unless you want your videos to have the same effect as looking at other peoples holiday snaps, they need editing. There are dozens of editing applications around, varying in ease of use, but they all work in the same way.

The first problem I encountered, was the lack of help files or tutorials for the more sophisticated applications. For instance, Wondershare have on-line tutorials which show what can be done, but they don't tell me how to do it! I tried 'wingin it' with Power Director, and accidentally deleted some 15 gigs of footage.

The sound advice I was given, start off with a basic editor such as Windows Movie Maker or the Mac equivalent. These are the ones most likely to have plenty of help files and tutorials available. Once the basic editing skills have been aquired, then move up to an application with enhanced features.

Another tip, delegate the task to Nephews, Nieces or grand-children, they seem to find it very easy to do.

A good source for help with Windows Movie Maker can be found below:

Tutorials and Articles - Windows Movie Maker 2

A source for royalty free background music:

Rickvanman's FREE Royalty Free Music

Have fun
Bob
 

jazper53

Esteemed Pedelecer
Jan 20, 2012
890
18
Brighton
Over the past month or so, i've been recording bicycle routes around Swindon, and that's the easy bit.

Unless you want your videos to have the same effect as looking at other peoples holiday snaps, they need editing. There are dozens of editing applications around, varying in ease of use, but they all work in the same way.

The first problem I encountered, was the lack of help files or tutorials for the more sophisticated applications. For instance, Wondershare have on-line tutorials which show what can be done, but they don't tell me how to do it! I tried 'wingin it' with Power Director, and accidentally deleted some 15 gigs of footage.

The sound advice I was given, start off with a basic editor such as Windows Movie Maker or the Mac equivalent. These are the ones most likely to have plenty of help files and tutorials available. Once the basic editing skills have been aquired, then move up to an application with enhanced features.

Another tip, delegate the task to Nephews, Nieces or grand-children, they seem to find it very easy to do.

A good source for help with Windows Movie Maker can be found below:

Tutorials and Articles - Windows Movie Maker 2

A source for royalty free background music:

Rickvanman's FREE Royalty Free Music

Have fun
Bob
Thx for the links a lot of info to digest,
also the royalty free music link ,as I was concerned about posting copyright material.
 

eddieo

Banned
Jul 7, 2008
5,070
6
all they do is post a link to buy the track?lol
 

eddieo

Banned
Jul 7, 2008
5,070
6
No Edd, the link I provided is not a 'buy-out' facility, the guy writes and creates his own tracks. All he asks for is due accreditation
Sorry Bob,I was talking about the led zeppelin track that son put on my vid. I got a notification from youtube that it may be a problem, but they still ran the vid but it has a link to buying the track on it..so I was thinking this is what they must usually do...

Im using a small pocket size external drive now to save footage on and as a back up!

I can import different videos, edit them together and add titles etc....So getting there
 
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jazper53

Esteemed Pedelecer
Jan 20, 2012
890
18
Brighton
Last Sunday(11/11/12) was such a nice day I took the bike(kudos sport) out on a final run of the year, and decided to film and upload as a first time technical project and learn how to use the editing software. The results could have been better as I left the camera slightly loose on holder and left a rattling sound on audio and image a bit unstable, but it was a usefull learning process.

One Fine Day In November - YouTube
 
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morphix

Esteemed Pedelecer
Oct 24, 2010
2,163
119
Worcestershire
www.cyclecharge.org.uk
I have recently purchased a Kodak Ze1 with full Hd, and holder to fit on handle bar.

Kodak PlayFull ZE1 Full HD 1080P, Image Stabilisation: Amazon.co.uk: Electronics

I would like to video my leisure trips along the Brighton seafront and maybe post them to Youtube if anyone has any advice on this matter, and editing software etc ? :confused:
Assuming you're a Windows user (there's hardly any decent software available in Linux which is RELIABLE) I can highly recommend the AVS video suite. It is commercial software though, but you can get a trial version and there are..*cough* cracks available for it on the torrents..if you're too tight to register :p It really does make video editing and production simple, you can cut out scenes you don't want, drop in transitions and music or add titles and text effects etc..best of all it comes with an uploader interface to YouTube (and a host of other video sharing sites) which uses FTP so is more reliable and a bit quicker I find than uploading via the websites. Also supports just about very video format there is and allows easier conversion between them, it also optimises the formats for different sites, like there's a YouTube standard format and a YouTube HD format you can select when you save your video production.

If you're using Linux, OpenShot is about the best, but it's not very stable or reliable (at least not for me) and crashes a lot.

Last tip, unless your camera is ok as it is for filming rides, get the highest class SD card you can, it makes a big difference with some cameras (especially in HD) to how smooth the video is and you can avoid dropped frames which sometimes happens when you're moving quick or filming fast moving traffic... class 10 or higher works fine.
 
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jazper53

Esteemed Pedelecer
Jan 20, 2012
890
18
Brighton
I have the class 10 sd 8gb card a lot of the quality was lost in the editing transcoding, the orignal copy off the cam was smooth and in high def 720p mp4 The camera was a bit loose and displayed more vibration than it normaly does but it was a usefull learning process will check out AVS VIDEO SUITE as I would like to be able leave the end project in Mp4 HD264 720p
 

Jimod

Esteemed Pedelecer
Aug 9, 2010
1,065
634
Polmont
Last Sunday(11/11/12) was such a nice day I took the bike(kudos spot) out on a final run of the year,
I like how you ignored the big no cycling sign and the 3 times you went over the words 'no cycling' in big letters. :)

I have one of those cameras somewhere in the house and you've prompted me to buy a mount and try it on my bike.

BTW I live way to the North of you and I'm a fairweather cyclist but I haven't had my last ride of the year. There's plenty of dry sunny days left up here yet. ;)
 

morphix

Esteemed Pedelecer
Oct 24, 2010
2,163
119
Worcestershire
www.cyclecharge.org.uk
I have the class 10 sd 8gb card a lot of the quality was lost in the editing transcoding, the orignal copy off the cam was smooth and in high def 720p mp4 The camera was a bit loose and displayed more vibration than it normaly does but it was a usefull learning process will check out AVS VIDEO SUITE as I would like to be able leave the end project in Mp4 HD264 720p
Here's another tip seen as you have a flip-style camera like my Vado HD... I've tested loads of ways of mounting to avoid camera shake and movement.. and the best way I've come up with is to mount it on the strap of a rucksack/back bag.. if you can find a little cheap binocular/camera case with a zip and a belt clip on the back that is ideal... you just cut a little hole in the front for your camera lens (you can pad it out a bit if necessary to keep the camera steady in right position)...here's one I made earlier ;-)



I didn't need to do anything to fix it to my bag strap as the belt clip on the camera case is so tight on that bag strap and with the weight of the bag pulling backwards it holds the camera in place nicely..but you could always just safety pin/sew it in place or find some other way perhaps to secure it on.

Another benefit of this approach is that you get better audio pick up (unless you're in a headwind!) when speaking, and also you can keep filming when you get off the bike!
 
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morphix

Esteemed Pedelecer
Oct 24, 2010
2,163
119
Worcestershire
www.cyclecharge.org.uk
A great little camera for mounting on bike is the MD80 too.. you can pick them up on eBay for about £7-£10.. it's only the size of a thumb and weighs about 45g so you can mount it just about anywhere (rear view for example) and get some unusual angle shots... it's not true HD but it's better than 640x480 and pretty decent video and sound quality (see my thread "solutions to camera shake" for some more info and sample video links..
 

jazper53

Esteemed Pedelecer
Jan 20, 2012
890
18
Brighton
@Jimod
The weather down here has been either windy or wet or both most of the summer so last sunday was a pleasant day off from the norm

@Morphix
I am looking into alternative holders for different perspectives, and for rougher terrain, but I know my camera/handlebar holder is not that unstable normally.
 

morphix

Esteemed Pedelecer
Oct 24, 2010
2,163
119
Worcestershire
www.cyclecharge.org.uk
@Jimod
The weather down here has been either windy or wet or both most of the summer so last sunday was a pleasant day off from the norm

@Morphix
I am looking into alternative holders for different perspectives, and for rougher terrain, but I know my camera/handlebar holder is not that unstable normally.
Ahh I see.. probably the shoulder mount approach wouldn't be great then for off-roading and such like.