What equipment do I need to post decent quality 'you tube' style videos?

Dingwall

I am a simple guitarist in the sense that I like equipment that is easy to use like having primarily 'on' and 'off' switches. Whenever there is too many instructions, paramaters or buttons I get put off.

Now with this in mind can anyone help suggest what equipment I need to make decent quality internet videos in the 'youtube' or doing 'online lessons' context, i.e. sound is as important as picture, possibly more so!

I have a cheap digital camera that can take clips but this is not good enough for what I have in mind. I know you get better quality handheld video recorders (some with good sound recording) but I have also read about people recording the sound seperately and then marrying up the two using software.

So can anyone talk me through (or draw pictures!) a simple solution of what hardware and software I need to get up and running, considering my simple head!

Finally what video format would you recommend best (once I have mastered the fine art)?

sjk

I'm not an expert on the subject but this seems like a good all in one compromise.

http://www.zoom.co.jp/products/q3hd

DonovanB

I use the SANYO Xacti HD. Cheap, decent quality and easy to use.

Then I try record as much audio onto the computer and I make us of Magix Movie Edit Pro that I bought for relatively cheap from their site to edit what I need to.

Just remember, with Youtube it's quality of content that matters more than quality of video.

Dingwall

Donovan Banks wrote:

Just remember, with Youtube it's quality of content that matters more than quality of video.

I know what you are saying but I find that I tend to skip over the you tube videos where the sound is rubbish - even if good guitarist or band (unless extremely rare obviously). So in this context it needs to be of a certain standard in quality.

nicovlogg

Best thing to do is just record video and audio separately. Recording the audio should just be a normal into an interface connected to your computer. For video, even most new cellphones take good enough quality. It''ll be more about the audio anyway.

Dingwall

nicovlogg wrote: Best thing to do is just record video and audio separately. Recording the audio should just be a normal into an interface connected to your computer. For video, even most new cellphones take good enough quality. It''ll be more about the audio anyway.

Thanks nico - but what software do you use to marry it all up and what format do you tend to go for?

nicovlogg

Windows movie maker than comes with every windows PC is easy to use and will do it just fine. Then you save it as an .avi or a .mp4 or even .wmv

Keira-WitherKay

I post a lot on youtube and all i use is the zoom q3 hd camera it has onboard stereo condenser mics and is small and light and has high quality sound options and is designed specifically for youtube and uses quicktime as its basic format so an apple product but you can convert it to lower quality file types too,

it is as simple as point and shoot, i love mine , to see how it looks just go to you tube and search for keira witherkay and you can see results ,

if you in pretoria area you welcome to pop over and check it out ,

it is a product that does what it says it does and is easy to use and edit

sharonzaz

iphone and the imovie app ?

NorioDS

In terms of the video quality, make sure you're getting good lighting on yourself. Generally, shooting in front of a sunny window will get you good results. Just point the camera away from the light (ie: you face the light and the camera faces you).

Get that right and the video will look really good, even on a cellphone!

As for the audio, I'm no good at that but based on stuff I've read from other folk on this forum, a good quality mic will do the job, or record directly (DI) from your guitar into your PC and then match the video and audio up using just about any video editing software.

singemonkey

Ok. I'm going to support what's been said and use this as an opportunity to voice my reaction to some of the horrors regularly seen on youtube:

Yeah. Do not use the on-camera mic. Drives me batsh!^ when people demo R45,000 of gear, carefully chosen for tone, with an on-camera mic that is miles from the sound and distorting like crazy. Get a simple Shure SM57 and figure out how to marry the audio and video.

Norio's point about lighting is key. Usually it's not the equipment that makes youtube vids suck. It's the basic failure to consider the final picture. Remove clutter from the shot (elevating you above gazillions of vids of the bedroom scattered with discarded clothes and coffee mugs). Don't shoot into a window in which either you're a silhouette and you can see the garden nicely, or you're fine and the window is a huge, distracting white glow. Don't post vids in your bumming around the house clothes - your fuzzy slippers and your old school sweatshirt. Potentially far more people will see this than at a gig, so it's a performance. Try to grab people straight off. Don't spend the first 3 mins of a vid, introducing stuff. Give people something to see and listen too.

Finally - and this may not apply to you but it's a huge pet hate - do not apologise for your playing or any mistakes! Just like in performance, it only draws attention to issues that people would otherwise not have noticed.

Keira's vids are a good reference for what you can do with just a little bit of planning.

DonovanB

yip, planning is key.

NorioDS

singemonkey wrote: Ok. I'm going to support what's been said and use this as an opportunity to voice my reaction to some of the horrors regularly seen on youtube:

Yeah. Do not use the on-camera mic. Drives me batsh!^ when people demo R45,000 of gear, carefully chosen for tone, with an on-camera mic that is miles from the sound and distorting like crazy. Get a simple Shure SM57 and figure out how to marry the audio and video.

Norio's point about lighting is key. Usually it's not the equipment that makes youtube vids suck. It's the basic failure to consider the final picture. Remove clutter from the shot (elevating you above gazillions of vids of the bedroom scattered with discarded clothes and coffee mugs). Don't shoot into a window in which either you're a silhouette and you can see the garden nicely, or you're fine and the window is a huge, distracting white glow. Don't post vids in your bumming around the house clothes - your fuzzy slippers and your old school sweatshirt. Potentially far more people will see this than at a gig, so it's a performance. Try to grab people straight off. Don't spend the first 3 mins of a vid, introducing stuff. Give people something to see and listen too.

Finally - and this may not apply to you but it's a huge pet hate - do not apologise for your playing or any mistakes! Just like in performance, it only draws attention to issues that people would otherwise not have noticed.

Keira's vids are a good reference for what you can do with just a little bit of planning.

+1 +1 and + a bunch more ?

Dingwall

Cheers guys, all points being considered