shooting HD vid on a TIGHT budget... need clues

[ginormous]

I'm making plans to film my solo gig for YouTube (hustling for local work) and I need to shoot in HD.
I don't want to look like I've been filmed through a really bad Instagram filter...

What's a decent cam to score, perhaps second-hand? Keep in mind that I'm the broke musician yo' mama warned you about.

[Progbusters]

Re: shooting HD vid on a TIGHT budget... need clues

just find something that shoots 60 fps instead of 30 fps. Make sure it can take lots of memory and lots of battery power. GoPro?

[zenmindbeginner]

Re: shooting HD vid on a TIGHT budget... need clues

If you can get your stage area to be well lit, you will have better results... a dark stage setting is a nightmare in cinematography.

GoPros are fine but they have MAD barrel lens distortion which is usually corrected in post in the best GoPro videos. I've been a longtime user of their Cineform codec and I really like what GoPro does.
60fps is only really useful for slowing down footage in 30fps or for 60fps output. The best thing GoPro has is the ability to shoot in 2K resolution with a REALLY wide angle... the cropped medium and narrow settings don't quite have the resolution of the wide settings. There's no ability to use any manual settings like shutter speed, aperture and ISO (film speed) with the GoPro... this is typical of sub $500 cameras.

I've been pleased with my cheapo Canon Powershot ELPH 330HS which shoots in full 1080 HD and has decent audio. It has some limited manual settings like shutter speed and ISO but has no aperture control. Focus is automatic so there can be some issues of blurriness or being slightly out of focus. Getting good automatic focus depends on proper exposure (which depends on lighting), centering the subject in the frame and making sure there are no objects with which the camera can focus on in the foreground instead of the subject. Over or under exposure will throw off the automatic focus... with over exposure creating the most blur.

A wide aperture is usually called for when shooting dark scenes... but the problem with that is twofold. People usually pick the lowest (widest) aperture setting that their lens can go... this setting is usually really hard to get in crisp focus. Don't open the aperture all the way... stay one stop back from the lowest setting the lens can go. This will result in better focus. The second problem with opening the aperture to let in more light is that the depth of field increases, making precise focusing much more difficult.

You'll have to record the audio separate and sync it in post... or you could gamble and use an audio "in" jack on whatever camera you get your hands on and hope you get good levels (level monitoring is difficult on most sub $1,000 cameras).

So, the most important part is that you are well lit without any visible overexposure to the naked eye. The camera will calibrate itself perfectly in "AUTO" mode by tipping just a couple of areas into full overexposure (GOOD) which gives you dark and better resolution blacks. your camera will constantly be trying to turn the black areas into dark grey areas if there isn't at least one point it can see as pure white. A small amount of overexposure is not a problem at all and is actually desirable since crushing the blacks in post is a normal thing to do when processing cheaper cameras.

I am DEAD serious about spending more time on the lighting and audio than anything else. I have no doubt you will record stellar audio so my advice is video only.

[jon the art guy]

Re: shooting HD vid on a TIGHT budget... need clues

Find a craigslist ad. Leave it to some sort of professional college kids or something. Make them bring two cameras but use their skills to make it turn out. They'll get a portfolio piece and some money for weed and you'll have a film you can edit yourself with some audio recorded at the booth.

off u see did MRSAge, I m on tapa talk and auto correct is hating on me

[zenmindbeginner]

Re: shooting HD vid on a TIGHT budget... need clues

Find a craigslist ad. Leave it to some sort of professional college kids or something. Make them bring two cameras but use their skills to make it turn out. They'll get a portfolio piece and some money for weed and you'll have a film you can edit yourself with some audio recorded at the booth.

Not a bad idea since editing skills will be necessary for even a one camera video.

Lots of services promising two camera music videos for $250 these days... times are hard and the days of the "unpaid intern" are still in fill swing.

You can usually get someone to work for very little these days in the realm of small time video... everyone has a DSLR now and the market for small business videographers has just plain collapsed.

[jon the art guy]

Re: shooting HD vid on a TIGHT budget... need clues

oof, ya got that right. When I was doing indie movies we marveled at the Canon XL2 we got a hold of. 720P and 60FPS WOOOOOO! Also had a 24fps that looked pretty good.

Then...Canon released that DSLR with full 1080p HD filming that took every professional shoulder-mounted camera, lined them up in front of a deep ditch and shot them in the back of the head. Combine that with a 24 bit field recorder from someone like Zoom and you have a rig that, while not pro, could be confused for looking and sounding like pro. Got a friend with a field recorder and one of those Canons? BOOM 2 camera short films/commercials/music videos.

[ginormous]

Re: shooting HD vid on a TIGHT budget... need clues

I learned basic video production a LONG time ago in junior high.

(1/2" open reel B&W analog -- before VHS or Beta.
Some sad-looking Panasonics on tripods. Sony B&W switcher. Empty classroom with bedsheets on the walls.
Student productions, reading essays for class, etc.
Record a TV show? Camera at the screen, lights out, earphone jack alligator clipped to 1/4", converted to XLR ---> mixer,
stay home and wait for the show. Timer? HA!!)

I have a Zoom R24, so I'm going to record my live performance (playalongs of my originals), mix with my homemade backing tracks at home with Reaper, and sync to video.

I will need to do some basic graphics (titles, crossfades, cuts, etc). Maybe the local community college can help.

Also, does YouTube take MP4 format for HD, or will I have to convert? IMO, the less processing, the better.

[ginormous]

Re: shooting HD vid on a TIGHT budget... need clues

Bump... I found out YouTube takes mp4, but as always, it compresses the living poop out of the audio.

[Progbusters]

Re: shooting HD vid on a TIGHT budget... need clues

without getting all techy, just get a used camcorder or cheap one at walmart. that works for the video part. For audio, whatever you can afford. Then put them together on iMovie on your computer, assuming you have a Mac.

[zenmindbeginner]

Re: shooting HD vid on a TIGHT budget... need clues

Youtube takes a lot of different formats... my favorites are mp4 and mpeg2.

mp4 is a wrapper or a container and usually used the h264 codec to actually compress the video. AVI is also a wrapper or container.

Since youtube compresses everything make sure you are starting at the highest resolution when you record... same rules as audio.

Computer graphics generation at a community college done for free by a student? That's a long shot but good luck.

[ginormous]

Re: shooting HD vid on a TIGHT budget... need clues

Youtube takes a lot of different formats... my favorites are mp4 and mpeg2.

mp4 is a wrapper or a container and usually used the h264 codec to actually compress the video. AVI is also a wrapper or container.

Since youtube compresses everything make sure you are starting at the highest resolution when you record... same rules as audio.

Computer graphics generation at a community college done for free by a student? That's a long shot but good luck.

Yeah, that is a long shot, especially a 2-year college halfway out in the boonies...

I've done better @ home with Windows Dookie Maker.

I'll consider that thing you PM'ed me.