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You are here: Home / DIY Video Editor Blog / The Friday Roundup – Computer Resources, Choosing a Camera and Masks

The Friday Roundup – Computer Resources, Choosing a Camera and Masks

Image of a complex computer needed to edit H.264 codec video footage.

How To Build Your Own Video Editing PC

One of the most common causes of problems with any video editing regardless of the software being used is a lack of computer resources being available.

In probably 90% of the cases where readers have contacted me with editing problems the culprit turns out to be the computer and not the software.

Editing with the H.264 codec (which is what most of us do) in high definition is a royal PITA.

The amount of loading it puts on to your computer at any given time is enormous and which is why having a well endowed computer makes life so much better.

In the video below they go through the process of creating a purpose built computer for editing.

Now don’t get the idea that you are going to have to build something like this for your own editing!

That’s not the reason I am posting it.

The reason I have added it is because it gives great information on why each component is important and how each one individually contributes to the overall.

How to Choose the Right Camera for You

If you are at a point of looking around for a new camera or even your first one for capturing video then I really think you should watch this video.

The very first thing you need to get clear in your mind is that if you are trying to find the perfect camera the result will be that after a seemingly endless search you wont find it.

In fact even if you adjust that target to finding the perfect camera for your needs, you will still probably fail!

What will happen is that you will find a camera that has everything you need except one or two things.

The next one will probably have those one or two things but is lacking something else and this process will go on and on until you have entirely lost track of where you started, where you have been and where you are now!

One of the best pieces of advice I can give (and it’s in the video as well!) is that you have to cut down your wish-list into what you NEED and not what you WANT.

If you can isolate only those cameras that satisfy your needs you MAY score a bonus of something you want but don’t count on it!

And while we are at it here’s my own take on Choosing a Video Camera.

Easy Editing Trick for Better Videos (Mask effect)

The effect shown in the video below can be done in any video editor that handles masks, moving paths and keyframes.

Although this one is done in Premiere Pro the steps are not only quite simple but can be done very quickly to achieve a pretty awesome effect.

First Footage From the Huawei P30 Pro

Last week I came across the teaser video for the new Huawei P30 Pro phone camera and although I suspected that was the product in question I didn’t know for sure.

For that reason I didn’t really want to post anything until it was actually official.

So this week the phone was revealed and I have to say this one is quite a jump forward in the kind of quality you can expect to get from a phone camera.

Check out the video and you will see what I mean.

Some 4K H.265 Video to Play With

So we are still waiting for the onset of the promised H.265 codec as being the standard for capturing and editing HD video.

There are a bunch of reasons why this replacement for the H.264 codec we all use at the moment has yet to be broadly released.

I could go on and on about that for a while but the real answer at the bottom of it all is money, plain and simple.

However in the meantime if you were wondering how your own computer and editing software might handle footage from this newer codec then click the link below!

Within that article there is a free download of some 4K H.265 video files you can have a play with.

  • Download 4K HDR 10bit H.265 videos shot with the Panasonic S1 firmware V1.0 – EOSHD

7 Must Know Tricks To Crush Your Cellphone Cinematography

Although smart phones are certainly getting better as alternatives for capturing good quality video they still require that you follow some rules to do that.

The limitations of these devices means that they will perform at their best if you understand them.

Check out the video below for some great tips on getting the most out of your mobile device as a video camera.

Those Crazy Kids!

Just in case any of you guys are beginning to get a little cocky about your shooting and editing skills check this out!

Just a bunch of high school kids doing their annual school play production which this year was Alien!

Too much awesome not to be included for this week.

  • Some High Schoolers Created “Alien: The Play” and it is DIY Awesome

4 Easy Steps to Film a Short Documentary

OK so on the surface most of us are making various types home movie or video projects and to categorize them all would seem a bit difficult.

However in reality the vast majority of us are actually making documentaries!

A wedding video, a kids birthday party, a trip to the zoo or whatever are all in a sense documentaries based on those activities.

So in light of that check out the video below for some great insights into the factors that make a documentary watchable and serve the purpose of “documenting” whatever the subject matter is.

Another Editing Workflow

I came across another editing workflow article this week linked below.

I have posted a few of these over the past year but this one differs like most of them… just a little.

In fact this one is probably the closest I have seen to a true pro workflow and is worth taking a look at to see if you are not adding unnecessary pain to your own!

As always the very first step is getting organized and this one cannot be stressed enough.

You may have the best plan in the world when you set off but as soon as you start to endlessly search around for what you need, that plan quickly goes out the window!

  • Video Editing Workflow: How To Do It Properly

4 Little Editing Tricks You Should Know

Not all video editing software can necessarily do all of these little tricks but they are worth checking out to see if yours can.

The first tips on copying and pasting the attributes of clips is quite a common and a lot of software offers this choice.

The final tip on displaying footage on a phone is quite a good effect and relatively easy to do.

Beginner Videography and What Mistakes to Avoid!

This just a quick little video covering a few of the things that most people invariably get wrong when they start capturing footage in the wild.

In order to be present and able to grab those shots when they happen you have to get your ducks lined up in a row before you start.

Batteries charged, SD cards formatted and a bunch of other stuff like that can take a bunch of pressure off of you to free you up for the real business of getting that great footage.

How To Make Drawings On Videos – Powerdirector 17

This is a simple run-through of using the Paint feature in PowerDirector 17 to create an animated travel route on a map background.

PowerDirector – Tips on Pan and Zoom (Ken Burns effect) – Part 2

Last week I posted the first in a two part series on using the Pan and Zoom feature in video editing software to create what is called the Ken Burns effect.

Simply put it is a way of adding faux movement to a project that has to have a lot of still images in it.

The key to using the effect in a way that actually adds to the viewing experience is to look at each image individually and decide on the best way to pan or zoom or both.

Original Image: Closeup Inside Desktop PC By FeelGoodLuck/Shutterstock

Previous Post: « The Friday Roundup – Travel Video Cliches, Camera Shootouts and Ken Burns
Next Post: The Friday Roundup – Rack Focusing, Webcam Videos and Art Direction »

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