Recording your display

[redsea300]

I am in the market for a new camcorder. I was wondering what everyonre is using and what works. i want to be able to record my christmas display this year and put on my website. Also what is the best way to get the audio in. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. Thanks don

[Tim Dorr]

Don, recommend you search the PlanetChristmas forums for good advice. Just search for video editing and sound in video or similar phrases. You'll get a lot you don't want, but some you will want.

Also check out Greg Young's thread at http://planetchristmas.mywowbb.com/forum13/16095.html. Great advice there.

Personally I use a Panasonic SD with 3CCD and the results were satisfying. Some will boost the saturation in the editing phase, but for me it blew out the lights so just left the finish product as shot.

Good luck with your first year of animation. With 156 channels, you have your work cut our for you.

Tim

[Brad]

You should be able to find 3ccd camera for $300-600 (check Cnet.com). The 3ccd is the tri color (RGB) processor which gives overall better color. Some cameras list that they mimic the 3ccd, but it is a single processor that makes multiple passes to try and do what the 3ccd processor does naturally.

For best recording, tape early when the sun has set but it is still somewhat light out. If you wait until it gets very dark it does not look as good in the videos (IMHO).

If you broadcast the music with an FM transmitter and you can plug the radio right into the audio input you will get good audio and will have less editing to do latter. If not, place a radio near the camera. When you edit your tape you can use Window Movie maker, or as I prefer, Easy Media Creator 10 ($50 at Costco) and drop your MP3 or wav file into the track and line it up with the original audio track. Then mute the original audio so all you will be left with is the clean audio without any of the back ground noise the camera will pick up at the time of recording.

[Cdshakes]

what brad has suggested i think works best. Just put a radio next to your video camera so the tape has an audio track on it. When you edit the video, put the original wav or mp3 file in an audio track in the editing program. Sync it up with the audio track from the video tape. Once it's sync'ed, mute the original track and you'll have a clean, noise free audio track.

I think that's the one thing that drives me nutz about watching people's videos-- when the pic is great, but the audio sounds terrible.

Colin

[redsea300]

i have seen lots of videos online and the audio is not synced or is poor. That is why i am researching the best way to do it. Also what is the best type of media to record on for the video, Tape,cd or flash card or hard drive. thanks again

[iresq]

A 3CCD system is three Charged Coupled Devices (three sensors - one for red, green, and blue.) This gives much more accurate colors. This does not, however, mean that 3CCD cameras do better in low light. In fact, many single CCD cameras have superious low light performance because they use a bigger sensor.

The next question is what medium (digital tape, DVD, flash memory). Each has its advantages and disadvantages. I prefer mini DV.

Another question is the level of manual control. This is important when filming in low light as you want to keep the aperature open and turn off the auto focus (otherwise the blinky blink will make the camera do funny things.

Yet another consideration is inputs.

I have the Panasonic GS250 and absolutely love it. 3ccd, minidv, full manual control, aux. inputs. Unfortunately, it's discontinued.

Some great sources of information about all things camcorders are camcorderinfo.com and pana3ccduser.com/

[iresq]

redsea300 wrote:

i have seen lots of videos online and the audio is not synced or is poor. That is why i am researching the best way to do it. Also what is the best type of media to record on for the video, Tape,cd or flash card or hard drive. thanks again

Audio not properly synced is a function of editing. This is not terrible hard but takes some practice. Poor sound quality usually comes from using the on camera mic to pick up the audio. Unless you have an audio input (and a cable long enough to reach your camera) the best way is to record your audio live, then replace it in you editing software.

Media:

MiniDV - majority of camcorders use this cassette that records a digital signal. The tapes are inexpensive and hold about 60 minutes (standard definiation. I am not too familiar with HD - yet). This format is compatible with most editing software.

MicroVM - Sony tape that is smaller than MiniDV. These store compressed MPEG-2. Works ok if you do not want to do a lot of editing. Most editing software would require conversion from MPEG-2.

Mini DVD and DVD-Ram - some camcorders actually record MPEG-2 directly onto a disk. This is great if you want to shot and play. Not a great format for heavy editing as most editors do not handle MPEG-2 directly and would require conversion. DVD-R discs can be reused but are more expensive the minidv tapes and have to be 'locked' by the camcorder before it can be played back on a home player. No more info can be added to the stored on them without a reformat.

Digital8 - analog tape used to store digital information. Older but good technology. Won't usually find this on a consumer camcorder.

[jnealand]

Check the video link below and the other related videos. I think these are some of the better ones I have seen. It was done on a JVC Everio High Def Hard drive camcorder. This led me to buy the JVC GZ-HD7. Too early to tell yet whether or not I will be any good at using it, but it had everything I wanted, 3ccd, external mic jack, high def, etc. and I got it with a price under $700.

If I remember right the above was shot with a JVC GZ-HD5.

I'm sure that there are a number of good choices, you just have to decide what features are important to you and what price level is the best for you. I've been taking practice videos and trying to learn how to edit the results. Next I'm going to try learning the best way to edit for posting on the web.

[zman]

I have the JVC GZ-HD7. I had issues with getting good video this year. Not due to the camera, due to the operator, visitors, weather and a host of other issues. If you decide to go HD, you will need to consider your editing software, as you will start to limit youself. DV is still the mainstream, and you can still get good video quality and it is very transportable. You did not mention budget, but going with the 3CCD units mentioned will give you a good system today and give you potential for years to come.

Get your camera early, which ever one you chose. Going manual as has been suggested here is going to improve things a lot. Get used to the camera functions before you attempt to get video of your display. Test, play, review as much as possible. Brad mentioned doing it at dusk. Great time. You get some ambient light. One minor twist on this, you may want to consider taping in the morning, just before sunrise. When I attempted to get any photos or videos, when the lights were flashing, people were stopping and I could not get anything done. The final stuff I did shoot, was on the morning of the day I started teardown.

Getting good audio. Get yourself a small FM reciever, one in a handheld, MP3 player, whatever. Get an audio dubbing cord plug it into the audio out, (Speaker or Headset). Plug that into the audio or Mic in on your camera. You will not use that audio track you record, what that is going to do, is give your timing queues. You will overlay your song in your video editing software, line it up using that recorded audio track, and then ignore the recorded audio track on the video when you compile.

[redsea300]

I haven't decided on a budget. I figure I will get whatever work the best for my application. I have a zen w player that has fm on it, so I can run a cord from the headphjone jack to camcorder. Is this the best way or should I just run a cord from the showtime mp3 director direct to the camcorder? I really want good pixs and sound to post on my website. This is my first year and trying to get everything figured out early. Thanks again everyone for the help!!!

[zman]

redsea300, after I posted that, I had to go check out your webiste to ensure you were broadcasting in FM. OK so that is in place, your Zen will be much better for this application. The simple reason is, if it is small, you can carry it in your pocket, or on a lanyard and then keep the dubbing cord to a managable length, like 6ft. Radio Shack has these but I believe in 9ft.

You will want a tripod and you WONT be close to your Show Director, guaranteed. Remember your not looking for top quality, just a legible audio track to get your overlay points in your editing software. Having a small unit allow you to walk around your display if that is one aspect of filming.

[iresq]

The tripod...

A most important tool for camcorder operation. You have not mentioned budget. I started using a regular camera tripod for my camcorder with bad results. After some research, I came to purchase the Videomate 607 tripod. This tripod has a heavy duty base and a 2 way fluid head. The head is key for getting smooth tilts and pans. You may not need to tilt and pan for your Christmas display, but if you plan on using beyond that, it's a valuable tool.

[melwelch]

iresq suggested to turn your gain up..... This is not correct.... I use to shoot (as in igniting the fuse) fireworks displays and learned how to do this.... Your camera will have the gain turned up on its own.... When you look at the scene you are going to video tape most of it is black.... Then you have small colored lights that are a bright source of light added to this.... Unlike our eyes a camera has to "average" the entire picture.... When you play back the video all your lights will be washed out to white because the gain is up to try to compensate for the darkness and this is too much to get the color of the lights....

Check your camera.. My Sony camera has some pre-programmed settings.. One is for Fireworks.... If you do not have this feature here is what you do.... Lower your gain by about -2 or -3... This will help bring the color back.

Here a video of mine.... http://youtube.com/watch?v=5tpNIPAtWAA

You will be able to see what I mean... Up close shots I had the gain adjusted down... The shots from far away I did not have the gain down enough and you will see the lights on the small trees turn white when the levels are up all the way...

I hope this helps....

[iresq]

melwelch wrote:

iresq suggested to turn your gain up..... This is not correct.... I use to shoot (as in igniting the fuse) fireworks displays and learned how to do this.... Your camera will have the gain turned up on its own.... When you look at the scene you are going to video tape most of it is black.... Then you have small colored lights that are a bright source of light added to this.... Unlike our eyes a camera has to "average" the entire picture.... When you play back the video all your lights will be washed out to white because the gain is up to try to compensate for the darkness and this is too much to get the color of the lights....

Close.
I said to open up the aperture (iris), not turn up the gain (this is a different function in my camcorder and controlled separately). You should not up the gain as this will introduce noise to the shot.

However, there is a benefit for not opening up the aperture, depth of field. The larger the f stop, the smaller the aperture, the greater the depth of field.

Definitely something to play with. Take shots at different settings and see what works best for your display. Every camcorder is different.
Ideally, you want a balanced video were you can see the house and decorations and the activity of the lights. That is why is generally a good idea to shot at dawn or dusk.

[melwelch]

Sorry iresq my bad...