Recording Show

[ericg2000]

i have a question... how do you record your shoes???

 

i've been trying to record my halloween show this evening and cars keep driving by so i get engine noise.  i'll probably end up doing it super late one night before i have to start swapping out for christmas. 

 

another question, how do you get the music in the videos?  i am just tuned in to the radio station with my car doors open.  i'm no video editor, so if there's a way to sync the audio with an editiing program i don't know it.  i have both mac and pc if thats the case.  just looking or suggestions, thanks

[SteveMaris]

I bring/climb an 8 foot ladder across the street, and place my camera on the top of it.

 

This way I am above the traffic and it doesn't affect my video.

(I can sit out front for an hour without a single car, and as soon as I turn the camera on, a car is bound to show up)

 

As far as the music, I use Windows live movie maker and just add in the mp3 file.

 

Here is an example:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LntdEORlxAY

[George Simmons]

i have a question... how do you record your shoes???

 

 

I think the easiest way is to stand straight up and point the camera down...

 

 

+1 on Windows Movie Maker.  So simple even a Texan can do it...     

 

 

Angleton, eh... home of the Brazoria County Fair.  I carry fond memories...

[ericg2000]

i'll have to check out windows movie maker... i've seen it never used it. 

 

the fair is an instersting week... you seen all kinds of people lol

[Ace]

I use an audio cable plugged into a stereo's headphone jack and into the camera's microphone in. That way it only records the song audio (no background noise) and there's no need to resync the audio in with an editing program.

[ericg2000]

Plugging in to the mic port on the camera is a good idea.

[Max-Paul]

Dang, I was late and George got there first.

[Orville]

Plugging in to the mic port on the camera is a good idea.

 

Only one problem with this, NOT all cameras have an MIC IN jack.  So you're stuck with using the built in Mic on the camera.  None of my digital cameras have a separate audio in jack, the jack on my camera is for video and sound out to a TV with inputs from the cameras 1/4" jack output, which does support HD TV's as well as the older analog ones with RCA audio/video input jacks.

 

 

I do two things:

 

#1. I place a piece of electrical tape over the camera built in MIC, especially if that's all I have to use, what this does is it cuts down the wind noise in the video!   Try it, it does work!

 

#2. Since I am stuck with the built in camera Mic, I rely on a video editor and just resync the music.  It's not really all that difficult, but does at times take some patience to get it spot on.  If I'm off by a second or two, I will usually let it go.   But some will continue to get it to 100%, I try, but sometimes it just doesn't cooperate. LOL

[flyinverted]

The best thing about windows movie maker is that it's included for FREE with Windows XP and free to download as well.

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-live/movie-maker#t1=overview

[MikeA]

I record late at night with a bottle of Jameson.

 

I use Sony Vegas for editing.

[Push Eject]

I record it on a tripod then import the footage into Final Cut, replace all the audio with the source wavs, and save it out as an mp4 file.

[George Simmons]

... If I'm off by a second or two, I will usually let it go.   But some will continue to get it to 100%...

 

You can't be serious... a second or two? Why even bother to try to synchronize the lights?

Do you know how long the average person will watch a video with the sound off by that much? I'm guessing about as long as it took me to type that question.

Count me among those who won't even think of posting something that doesn't have the video right on the noogies.  I'm not going through the work of the precise sequencing to have it torpedoed by lousy editing.

[Santas Helper]

You can't be serious... a second or two? Why even bother to try to synchronize the lights?

Do you know how long the average person will watch a video with the sound off by that much? I'm guessing about as long as it took me to type that question.

Count me among those who won't even think of posting something that doesn't have the video right on the noogies.  I'm not going through the work of the precise sequencing to have it torpedoed by lousy editing.

 

I have to agree with George on this one.

Watching a video for me is the same as seeing it in person. it needs to be right on.

I have to agree with George on this one.

Watching a video for me is the same as seeing it in person. it needs to be right on.

 

And noogies is exactly what I was thinking.

[MikeA]

Remember, some don't sequence to the beat.  They don't even know what beat is.  So being off by a second or 2 or spot on probably won't make a difference.

[Orville]

Remember, some don't sequence to the beat.  They don't even know what beat is.  So being off by a second or 2 or spot on probably won't make a difference.

That was my point Mike, you get it, they did not.  It doesn't make much difference because even digital cameras have LAG time, I can record a show, download it to my computer, view it and guess what the music and lights were not the same as I watched in person!  They could be off by quite a few secomds!   So when I edit my vids, I remove the original audio track, save it out without the track, re-import and then add audio, then skew the audio so it fits as precisely as possible, even then it can still get off in some segments of the video.

 

So to those that want perfection, I try to get it as spot on as possible, sometime it just isn't going to happen.

 

I wonder how many of these folks have really watched a movie very closely on TV, and yes, even in a theatre, if you watch closely many times the people mouth movements DO NOT match what they are saying, it's off by a second or two, but I don't see anyone b**ching and moaning about those edits.  And that's surely supposed to be much more professional than our light displays!

[George Simmons]

Remember, some don't sequence to the beat.  They don't even know what beat is.  So being off by a second or 2 or spot on probably won't make a difference.

 

If a person isn't sequencing to the beat then what would they be sequencing to?  Isn't that kind of included in the definition of "synchronized to music"?

 

 

I wonder how many of these folks have really watched a movie very closely on TV, and yes, even in a theatre, if you watch closely many times the people mouth movements DO NOT match what they are saying, it's off by a second or two, but I don't see anyone b**ching and moaning about those edits.  And that's surely supposed to be much more professional than our light displays!

 

Orv, I think you're exaggerating a bit.  Either that or you don't really know a lot about the speed difference between light and sound, or the miniscule variances the human brain is capable of detecting.  I can absolutely 100% guarantee you that a studio would NEVER EVER UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES release a film  with video and audio off by a second or two.  Nor would a theatre operator show such a film.  It's not even debatable.

 

If a couple of seconds is close enough for you, your display, and/or your editing that's fine.  Same for anyone else.  If a person can't (or doesn't care to) do any better than that it doesn't matter to me.  It's your display.  It's your video.  But I take issue with your definition of "good enough".  For me, and I dare say most of the folks I know personally in this hobby, a second or two is nowhere near good enough.  Not even close.  I couldn't do better than that, I'd be collecting stamps or something.  

[Orville]

Say what you want George, I know the truth because I have been involved in the TV and film industry from time to time and stll am on rare occasion, I know that edits do not always work out and todays "commercial editing" is not, and nowhere like it used to be, no pride in it,

 

I said I try to do it, but after hours on hours of attempting to get it 100% perfect, then I've had enough and it goes as is.   Most are where they should be, but there are some that just don't work out, and after far too many hours of trying, well I'm done.

 

Better to have something to show than nothing in my opinion.     And everyone that knows me personally will tell you "I'm a perfectionist", but sometimes we can't all be perfect in everything, just not in the cards, and we have to face the imperfections, and that includes our light displays, whether folks like that or not.

 

I'm not going to persue this any further with you or anyone else on editing videos, but I know what I know from "my personal experiences", and that is what I have to go on. 

 

If folks don't like the way I do things, then they don't need to watch my videos, and they don't need to download my sequences I make available to help them see how it works.  And I know many folks here have downloaded my sequences and teaked them to their display.    So I must be doing something right, somewhere, as I've heard no complaints from anyone that has downloaded my sequences.

Thdey may sequence to the words in a song, and that IS NOT a beat!

[viennaxmas]

Usually we record late at night in multiple sessions to avoid traffic. Last year we also did aerial shots from a quad copter which gave an additional nice touch to be cut into the video. For all static recordings I try to capture the audio since it is easier to sync in an editor. Too bad LOR cannot put out Time Code...

On all videos I try to replace the audio for better quality in post.. Since we have a few TV / Film people here... It get's fixed in Post... Now someone just has to show me how to fix the little oddities in my sequence in post...

[jonsimp911]

I don't think Orville realizes how long a second or two really is when it comes to syncing A/V.  Maybe he meant a FRAME or two.

 

The average person speaks about 150 words per minute.  That's 2 1/2 words per second.  Orville, for those "commercial" movies to be off by a second or two would mean that the speech would behind or ahead anywhere from 2.5 to 5 words.  That's worse than those Japanese movies that were overdubbed in English... LOL

 

I'm in the mass communication industry (specifically the audio engineering side, though), so if I have time, I'll truly skew a video by "a second or two" and show you how bad is really is.  It's worse than you think.  I guarantee that you'll realize your videos, while they may be off a bit, are not even off a full second or two.

 

-J

[Greg Young]

To get things back on track, as I don't want anyone to have a stroke over this, the easiest thing to do is to film from a location that is clear of vehicles and foot traffic, that allows a good view of your display.

Then edit the video, using any one of a number of programs. You don't need to delete, save, and re-edit. Even the simplest of video editing software will allow you to either drop the mp3/wav audio files you use for your sequence onto the audio track, replacing the underlying audio, or add it to another track if you have more than one audio track capability in your editing program.

You can then skew it so it lines up very closely with your lights. If you are shooting from a distance there will be a lag on the primary audio anyway, so you really should re-sync.

Try it, it really is very easy. 

I had to smile as I thought about this a bit, because when I produced the Holiday Lights DVD series for our community back in the last decade, I wound up  ( in the case of a few displays) given their segment a better sync than the display originally had. You can do the same!