Episode 2 of the Reflex video tips series is done!

http://www.reflexfilmsaustralia.com.au/Reflex_Films_Australia/REFLEX_FILM_SCHOOL.html

The most common question i get asked about video production is - which bloody camera to get ? The choice is huge!

I compare the various types of cameras out there and talk about their strengths and weaknesses. I will also share a few of my favourite shots and techniques to get those shots on these various cameras.

The pros and cons of :

"professional" 3 chip cameras,
DSLRs ,
"Prosumer" HD cams
and Go Pros

All get a mention

Some great info in there mate, good stuff.

Are you going to do an episode on video editing? The reason I ask is, some of the video you see shot on a GoPro is often far better than have have been able to achieve. Obviously this comes down to a lot of factors like available light etc but I think a great deal of it is post processed, would be good to see some tips and tricks on that

Editing will definitely be a topic i cover

Color correction is another one - you can easily tweak flat looking footage by bumping up saturation and playing with highlight , mid and shadow levels

From there you can get stuck into plug ins like colorista, magic bullet looks etc etc

But you can get 80% of the result usually with the free tools onboard

Many people also come unstuck in the process of getting footage into the edit - by converting (sometimes the software does this on its own due to a rogue checked box somewhere) to a format that is nowhere near as good as the original

i had heaps of issues with this when i started - so thats another source of problems.

and once you've picked your cam and lens, here's a toy u can stick it on

Some great tips in that last vid. Really enjoying this series

Those helis are great but the vibrations introduce jellocam on the sensors of small cameras that will actually fit on those things

so the cheap microcopters are good for a bit of fun

- but you need to seriously spend up to get a vibration free flying set up that produces watchable footage.

The technology is awesome though.

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divaldo said...

Some great tips in that last vid. Really enjoying this series

I'm enjoying your series as well. Thanks for sharing.

Some great info there Matt. Was surprised to see you start with the same Sony products i have. One question for you; i have huge trouble with fogging using the Sony housing and I ended up wrapping al foil on the inside to try and reduce the internal temp when exposed to sunlight, do you have any tips on reducing fogging when using this gear?

Thanks Matt,
Great tips and info

Many people also come unstuck in the process of getting footage into the edit - by converting (sometimes the software does this on its own due to a rogue checked box somewhere) to a format that is nowhere near as good as the original

i had heaps of issues with this when i started - so thats another source of problems.


Thanks Mat
I have this exact issue, the footage I get on imovie is no where near as good as what my camcorder is producing. Got to the point where I may just go buy another camcorder better suited for a mac.
Its a 6yr old Cannon DC10 and I import via USB direct to imovie (I think it is a MPEG2 format?) The camcorder also records direct onto a miniDVD . Maybe I need to videoconvert it before I import to imovie?
thanks

Those mini DVDs camcorders were a crime against movie making - very few people that had them could successfully get the footage into an edit suite to be able to tell a story with the footage

which made them virtually pointless (no one wants to watch raw footage)

This didnt stop the sales people in the shops from selling truckloads of them though.. have had so many clients proudly showing me these cameras that they were told to buy by the shop staff - only to find out that we would never be able to edit the footage.

Alot of windsurf team riders had them in 2006 and would shoot themselves sailing - and then hand the cameras / discs to me - it was a nightmare getting the footage to a workable state.

You could try mpegsteamclip - a free download - which may do a better job of seeing the files - from there you convert to apple intermediate codec - and imovie SHOULD be able to work with those files

it definitely sounds like you have got a downconversion in bitrate / quality going on somewhere

you will have to experiment i am afraid..

or failing that - bin the camera and get a new one - All the avchd / Hard drive / Sd card cameras these days work pretty well with imovie

Stick with panasonic ,Canon, Sony and you should be ok.

thanks
just the incentive I need to buy a new one

Here's about the best remote control quadcopter/helicopter type unit designed for aerial photography/surveillance ... awesome if you've got a spare $20 000!



This is a cheaper alternative... a great video from a remote control plane taken over Bells Beach!



Awesome... I love this video!!!

Great work on the video series Matt, looking forward to the next one.