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Post by jackorion on Oct 1, 2019 10:24:37 GMT
Hey, In this world where, increasingly, artists have to be 'content providers' I've decided to take the leap into youtube videos. I have an audio interface and a Rode NT1a mic but I don't have any filming equipment. I want to be able to record things like performances of songs, gear reviews, and general 'vlog' style content - so stories behind the songs, snippets of new music etc etc I assume I need: a camera a tripod a label mic some form of lighting some software to edit (I have iMovie but I find it really clunky) Ideally I don't want to spend a fortune but I also don't want to buy cheap and end up buying twice... anyone able to help? Cams andyhowell  |
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Post by Cams on Oct 1, 2019 11:43:22 GMT
I went through this very transition, starting from March 2018. I do hybrid shooting, but I'll leave out the lenses that I got mainly for photos:
Sony a7iii
-- Tamron 28-75mm f/2.8 lens
Sony a6400
-- Sigma 16mm f/1.4 lens
Rode Stereo Mic
Rode Video Micro
Moza Aircross gimbal
The mics are for run-and-gun and for syncing. The a7iii is a terrific full-frame camera with mic input and headphone out for monitoring. The a6400 does NOT have a headphone jack and it's a pain. It also takes smaller batteries and they run out quick, so I'm considering trading that body in for the later a6600, which does have headphone jack and takes the same batteries as the a7iii. As a gimbal rig, the 6400/6600 with Sigma 16mm is a great combo, but if you're at home doing tripod only filming, you probably won't need to think about that.
The biggest downside of the a7iii is that it cuts out after 30 minutes. I overcame that by throwing money at it in the form of a Ninja V external recorder and, together, it's a fantastic combo, but expensive. The a6400/a6600 do NOT cut out after 30 mins' recording time. As I record interviews, the 30 min limit just doesn't work for me. The external recorder also 'unlocks' some of the higher bit-depth features of the camera that you can't use going straight to internal SD.
I already had a Manfrotto tripod but also bought a Benro carbon fibre for its lightness. If it's for home use, go for an aluminium one as the weight won't matter so much.
I spent hours looking at lighting on YouTube and settled on:
Aputure Amaran 672w.
Aputure F7 desktop LED
Sokani x21 LED.
I will add another Aputure 672 at some point - not the w model. The w has a wider spread. The non w is more of a spotlight, but at the time I found a deal on a w, so got that. I put it on a Bowen lightstand.
I guess you'll have some experience from shooting your review videos. Don't skimp on lighting. It's as, if not more important than your camera and lens.
Just a few thoughts as I've grown into my business. Feel free to give me a call if you like and we can talk more that way. I'm on 07885 257409.
Cheers
Cams
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Post by Cams on Oct 1, 2019 11:45:56 GMT
Oh yes, lapel mic - I use a Tascam device - the DR10L. It records straight to micro SD and I love these devices. I bought 3 for interviews and just sync it up in post.
I use Premiere Pro and find it good but with a steep curve. I use my daughter's school status to get the student price. Not sure I would pay full price for it. DaVinci Resolve by Blackmagic is a superb editor and free for the basic package, which is not actually basic at all. I used that for a while before going with Premiere. I might even go back to it, except that I'm trying a captioning plug in for Premiere right now.
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Post by jackorion on Oct 1, 2019 12:51:53 GMT
I went through this very transition, starting from March 2018. I do hybrid shooting, but I'll leave out the lenses that I got mainly for photos: Sony a7iii -- Tamron 28-75mm f/2.8 lens Sony a6400 -- Sigma 16mm f/1.4 lens Rode Stereo Mic Rode Video Micro Moza Aircross gimbal The mics are for run-and-gun and for syncing. The a7iii is a terrific full-frame camera with mic input and headphone out for monitoring. The a6400 does NOT have a headphone jack and it's a pain. It also takes smaller batteries and they run out quick, so I'm considering trading that body in for the later a6600, which does have headphone jack and takes the same batteries as the a7iii. As a gimbal rig, the 6400/6600 with Sigma 16mm is a great combo, but if you're at home doing tripod only filming, you probably won't need to think about that. The biggest downside of the a7iii is that it cuts out after 30 minutes. I overcame that by throwing money at it in the form of a Ninja V external recorder and, together, it's a fantastic combo, but expensive. The a6400/a6600 do NOT cut out after 30 mins' recording time. As I record interviews, the 30 min limit just doesn't work for me. The external recorder also 'unlocks' some of the higher bit-depth features of the camera that you can't use going straight to internal SD. I already had a Manfrotto tripod but also bought a Benro carbon fibre for its lightness. If it's for home use, go for an aluminium one as the weight won't matter so much. I spent hours looking at lighting on YouTube and settled on: Aputure Amaran 672w. Aputure F7 desktop LED Sokani x21 LED. I will add another Aputure 672 at some point - not the w model. The w has a wider spread. The non w is more of a spotlight, but at the time I found a deal on a w, so got that. I put it on a Bowen lightstand. I guess you'll have some experience from shooting your review videos. Don't skimp on lighting. It's as, if not more important than your camera and lens. Just a few thoughts as I've grown into my business. Feel free to give me a call if you like and we can talk more that way. I'm on 07885 257409. Cheers Cams Cheers Cams - to be honest both of those cameras are WAY over my budget! Realistically I have £500 tops to spend (and that'll be if I sell a guitar) - I know that gets me nowhere near pro level, but I just need to be somewhere above using my iPhone at the moment... I actually have nothing to do with the technical side of Acoustic Review - I literally do the presenting and nothing else. All the sound and video is handled by the rest of the team. I'm not looking to jump straight into 'That Pedal Show' but just to get something that can allow me to create vids for my social media... |
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Post by andyhowell on Oct 1, 2019 15:01:44 GMT
You might not need lighting depending on the room you are working with.
Cams suggestions are very sensible though you can probably be more conservative with gear :-)
Most decent compact cameras now shoot 4K video and below. I’d buy two lesser ones rather than one more expensive ones as it gives you two camera angles - which now seems to becoming the norm!
Just be aware that camera video cuts out over 30 mins. You can edit sections together but keep session/takes to less than 25 mins!
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leoroberts
C.O.G. 
Posts: 26,112 
My main instrument is: probably needing new strings
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Post by leoroberts on Oct 1, 2019 16:10:59 GMT
Would something like the Zoom Q8 give you enough quality, Ben?
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Post by andyhowell on Oct 1, 2019 16:12:12 GMT
Would something like the Zoom Q8 give you enough quality, Ben? It's not bad but more limited. |
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Post by martinrowe on Oct 1, 2019 17:56:53 GMT
I'm a bit out of my depth here, but I tried Screenflow for a while - it's professional, dunno if that helps.
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Post by andyhowell on Oct 3, 2019 9:00:38 GMT
I use Screenflow a lot for a number of things. It works for annotating video but as a basic video editor it can be a memory hog and complicated. As it develops it seems to add functions that just make this worse!
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Post by jackorion on Oct 7, 2019 9:20:53 GMT
Would something like the Zoom Q8 give you enough quality, Ben? Just been looking at this - it kind of ticks the boxes for me - relatively cheap, easy to use, XLR for mics and built in mic as well, flip screen so I can see that I'm in shot... Hmmm... I wonder if it might be a good place to start? Would definitely be enough for me to make some simple recordings of playing and chatting... probably not 'pro' level but I guess I just want something to get going with at the moment before maybe moving up to fancier dual angles etc... |
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leoroberts
C.O.G.
Posts: 26,112
My main instrument is: probably needing new strings
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Post by leoroberts on Oct 7, 2019 14:53:20 GMT
£271 on Amazon... decent price  |
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Post by andyhowell on Oct 7, 2019 16:04:09 GMT
Depends what you have already I guess. For example, I have a Zoom recorder, a number of mics and two cameras and two tripods. I could almost become Cams with all of that. But then I tend to think bollocks. Life is too short ;-) |
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Post by Matt Milton on Oct 9, 2019 10:20:27 GMT
I'm more interested in audio quality than video quality to be honest when I look at online videos. I tend to listen on headphones, so if the sounds coming off the guitar are good - a stereo pair of decent quality mics positioned sensibly - I'm happy. I think picture quality can be perfectly OK with the cheapest of set ups (eg iPhone), so long as it's a reasonably well-lit, or atmospherically lit, room. At the end of the day, it's the content itself. There are plenty of YouTube guitar vloggers out there with thousands of followers whose video quality is rudimentary, even quite shoddy, and nobody cares. Here are a few examples: www.youtube.com/channel/UC07MnWDDnmKkawYUUty0Zaw www.youtube.com/channel/UCtXjGVMsZWy24DilJNTT-UwI bought one of these recently, which is a very cheap portable solution when you're on the move and can't take a laptop, tripod, soundcard etc. www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00NB42FTG/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1I make no big claims for it, it's essentially a stereo-mic marginal improvment on theiPHone's built in mic, which also puts your iPhone's camera at a roughly appropriate angle. So not the set-up you're after, just a guerrilla, side-pocket-of-your-gig-bag back-up for spontaneous videos. But well worth 25 quid. EDIT: woah,wasn't expecting a big preview of the Adam Levy link! it's a nice video though... |
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Jo whoever he is.
