Video camera and editing ....complete novice

[Jamster123]

Wondering if anyone can offer some advice


I'm hoping to start making some videos for my website ( tutorial type etc) ..would be pretty basic , for example my company logo fading in and out , with me doing some speech and then showing me carrying out tasks along with background music fading in and out .

I'm also going abroad to get married in October so I need to buy a video camera budget, £100-300 , that will handle both tasks .

So....I've collected my footage on my new camera how hard is it to edit etc ? I have a windows laptop and Ipad . Will I need to pay someone to edit my videos or is this something I could manage on my own , preferably on Ipad ?

Cheers

[jurbie]

I make similar videos so I'm probably around the same level of experience as yourself. My first suggestion would be to have a look at Windows Movie Maker which should be on your laptop. It used to be great but now not so much but should be enough to get you going.

If you find you want a bit more control then I use http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sony-Vegas-Movie-Studio-Pl...

It's not a bad price and I probably haven't even scratched the surface of what it can do but it works for me and there are plenty of tutorials on You tube.

[Jamster123]

Thanks mate ill look into hat , what did you buy equipment wise ?

[Jamster123]

I've been searching online but can't find much info , would there be any camcorders on the market that would allow playback on my iPad ? Via Bluetooth/streaming/camera connection kit ?

[jurbie]

I can't really help you with equipment as I just wanted to play around with the video mode on my DSLR.

[Craikeybaby]

There is iMovie for the iPad, but video editing is pretty heavy duty work, so you would be best of doing it on a proper PC, rather than a tablet, especially as you will need to leave it doing other things in the background.

With regards to cameras I have no idea, I just use a GoPro.

[mojitomax]

If you just want to edit the basic videos on your iPad then perhaps set it up on a tripod and use it o video the tutorials and use iMovie to edit them.

Off the wall suggestion but it could work

[Jamster123]

Coming back to this ,

Our new website is almost finished , I'm still undecided on what to do about a company video.

I'm considering buying a go pro 3 black edition , collecting footage using the head band attachment ( me carrying our jobs etc) and usual company marketing etc. and trying to make a short professional clip around 1:30 on my own .

I'll be buying a new MacBook Pro soon ( hopefully new version if announced ) and can download some software that's been recommended.

Other option is to pay professionals to do the editing , assuming my footage will be decent enough.

Thoughts on this ? Any idea of professionals cost? Is it too much for a complete beginner ? Will I end up with something a bit naff doing in myself ?

Cheers

[mojitomax]

Jamster123 said:

I'm considering buying a go pro 3 black edition , collecting footage using the head band attachment ( me carrying our jobs etc) and usual company marketing etc. and trying to make a short professional clip around 1:30 on my own .

Depends on what the tasks are but a head mounted camera may be awful unless you're able to keep your head PERFECTLY still.

You're best off putting the camera on a tripod Nd pointing it at the work. It will look infinitely better. Or put your head in a vice type device to keep it still.

There is nothing worse than shaky, out of focus instructional videos. Also when you have your cam set up on a tripod and Focussed, as long as there is sufficient depth of field, switch it to manual focus or focus lock to stop it randomly hunting for focus every now and then. Again, that's really annoying and looks shoddy.

[mrdemon]

I stopped reading after the words "go pro" and "Mac Book"

[Jamster123]

soooo... I know its not great but made something on iMovies , using only my iPhone.

Its wrong size of frame etc but kinda does the job I need it too for now , its a base and Ill work on it over time when time/budget allows.

http://youtu.be/ISej6YRluGU

[chris.mapey]

mrdemon said:

I stopped reading after the words "go pro" and "Mac Book"

Why? I did this video with one GoPro and a MacBook Pro....

http://vimeo.com/79504999

[Fubles]

Jamster123 said:

soooo... I know its not great but made something on iMovies , using only my iPhone.

Its wrong size of frame etc but kinda does the job I need it too for now , its a base and Ill work on it over time when time/budget allows.

http://youtu.be/ISej6YRluGU

with respect, simply turning your iPhone 90 degrees would have improved the video ten fold.

[Jamster123]

yeah , I know pretty gutted about that didn't realise till half way through shooting it . Will likely do another pretty soon when I have time ..

Other tips to get the very best out iPhone and iMovies would be appreciated , I think I could probably get a decent enough standard from this set up that will do for a year or so.

edit - should I get much better reukts from buying a go pro ? although my iPhone video is decent quality , youtube never shows it on 720p

Edited by Jamster123 on Thursday 28th November 21:17