Shooting Underwater Video
With the advent of completely portable video recording devices like smartphones and action cams like the the GoPro, the idea of only taking videos under a specific set of circumstances has well and truly gone out the window.
These days it is hard to think of any normal situation in life where taking a video would be beyond the capabilities of the equipment you have at hand.
In fact these days you can very affordably arm yourself with an action cam enclosed in a waterproof cases and underwater shooting enters the “no big deal” category!
So, in light of that I found an article this week that delves a little into the world of underwater photography.
Of course given that most of the shooting rules that are relevant to video actually come from photography it is no surprise that the article is also perfect for video shooting underwater.
The same considerations for shooting underwater come into play with regards to using available light, positioning the subject etc., but there are a few specific to the aquatic environment.
Probably the most important of these being white balance.
I know it sounds like a bit of a pain to do while at the same time flapping about in the water, but doing a manual white balance setting can make a world of difference to anything you shoot because of the (usually) predominant blues in the environment.
- Tips for Underwater Photography
How to Construct a Home 4K YouTube Studio w/ a Panasonic GH4
From the outset here let me just warn you that the video below is actually a paid advertisement for Panasonic which they did for VideoMaker Magazine as a kind of paid content promotion thingy.
You can tell because the opening shots of the video say that it is a paid advertisement!
However, having said that it really is an awesome advertisement!
Not that by watching it I wanted to go out an purchase a myriad of Panasonic products or anything, it’s awesome because of the content!
So, in an effort to get you to buy a Panny GH4 for your video shooting they have put together an entire “How to” video on setting up a home studio.
The advice, tips and tricks are great and the video itself covers just about everything you need to get set up with a fully functional studio.
So, if you want to buy a GH4 that’s your business but the video is well worth watching.
A $100 Cinema Camera?
It’s pretty easy these days to get caught up in the seemingly never ending evolution of video technology unfolding before us.
Almost every week (or even day) there is something new, something that is presented as better than everything so far.
In fact the reason this article caught my eye is because it made me realize that I have been doing the same thing, getting caught up in the “what’s new” cycle.
Every week I search for interesting things to put into the Friday Roundup and invariably a lot of those things end up being technological advances.
After a while it starts to have a kind of hypnotic effect on you and you get into a state of mind where you are just following along with the story on and on and on.
The problem with that is that the marketing of “the new” has to contain within it the suggestion that “the old” is somehow now completely useless and you wouldn’t be caught dead using it!
Somehow the release of this year’s Canon whatever has rendered all previous Canon whatever’s redundant and they just don’t work anymore.
Of course this idea is ridiculous but that’s the world we live in.
As impervious to the marketing hype as I like to think I am and as many times as I repeat the mantra that the best camera for video is the one you have… I still find myself falling for it!
The reality is that you can use this whole “new release” frenzy to your advantage and if you are not sure how, take a look at eBay for deals on last year’s “latest and greatest!”
There are some incredible things up for sale by people wanting to keep up with the Joneses or, take a look at the article linked below.
Yes, they managed to hobble together a pretty good setup for $100.
Tips for Mixing Better Audio – SFX, Compression, EQ and More!
OK, first up let’s establish a few rules regarding the video I have included below for this week.
I am by no means suggesting that your average run of the mill home video editor is going to be treating any project audio with this degree of effort!
In fact not only will the editing program the guy is using be unfamiliar to you but a lot of the tools and special effects he is using will also be unfamiliar.
Like many pro tips videos this one has a lot in it that you may never use or even understand in the first place.
However, what the video does lay out very clearly is a process sequence for dealing with audio especially in a project that has a range of assets added to it.
Often when you start to get a bunch of stuff on the timeline, when it comes to dealing with the audio it all gets a bit convoluted and before too long to begin to realize you are lost.
Usually the first indication of this is that you do one little thing and feel totally happy with the result only to then discover that the “one little thing” you did has just caused everything else to fall in a heap on the ground.
You then undo the one little thing and go back to to the things you should have done before that.
It doesn’t take long before the entire process becomes incredibly frustrating and seemingly impossible.
Actually that’s not true.
Just like anything else in life there is a sequence you should follow and a way of doing things that can take a lot of the pain out of the process.
So in watching the video below, don’t get too caught up in the technicalities, the equipment, the SFX he is using and the rest of it.
Just sit back and take an overview of the whole process and listen for those little explanations of what he is doing, why he is doing it and and what point in the whole series of events he does them.
CyberLink Learning Center
I just came across this yesterday and could not for the life of me remember if I had included it in a previous Roundup… so let’s just do it anyway.
So, the original story I found was a press release by CyberLink but forget that cos’ press releases are just a bunch of blah, blah usually.
The actual site they are referring to is a new one, or at least a new section of the old one completely devoted to tutorials on CyberLink products.
Now I must say that I think it is about time they and all the other editing software makers caught up on this because the reality is that they are selling products that many people would love to use if only they knew how!
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