Tips for filming one's antics please...!

[Jamesey1981]

I think it was me that suggested using the mini speaker on your WS4 puck, so if that doesn't work then I don't know what to suggest, as I would have thought that would work, maybe it just needs powered speakers or a different one to what you're using, you could always have a remote connected and hung round your neck so it doesn't distract you, however that's a big expense if you're buying it just for the audio.

I'll give you a couple of general tips though, I've never made detecting videos but back when I had the time I used to make bushcraft videos which are also outside.

Whatever camera you use, whether it's a gopro, your phone, a DSLR or a purpose built camcorder, don't neglect your audio, filming outside is a challenge as wind noise can kill an otherwise brilliant video, you see so many that are shot in beautiful 4k but the wind noise is deafening and it makes it pretty much unwatchable, better to have a 480p video with good audio than a 4k one with deafening wind noise.

There's a few ways round it, either shielding the on camera mics from the wind using furry muffs, or using external mics if your camera will accept one, they can be bought pretty cheap, 50 quid will get you a good quality lapel mic.

If your camera won't take one you can use an external audio recorder, something like the Zoom H1, this is what I used to use, also meant that the mic stayed close to me but I could move the camera away for wide shots, it has good quality stereo mics on it and you can get wind muffs, but if you're moving around then a lapel mic with a small wind muff will sound better and be more practical, I used both the built in mics and a lapel mic if I was moving around, depending on what kind of video I was making and if I was alone or with my mate when we teamed up to do videos for both our channels, the built in one was great if we both needed to get good audio as I could drop it in the middle, I could even separate the stereo tracks as one of us would be picked up by the left mic and the other would be picked up by the right mic, so splitting it out to two mono tracks gave me volume and level control for each of us separately in the edit.

Syncing up the audio is important if you use a separate recorder, having it out of sync is annoying, but just clap three times loudly in view of your camera when you start filming, then line up the spikes in the audio track in your editing software, that will get it perfectly in sync and then you can mute your camera audio track, this also helps to sync up multiple cameras, this is by far the easiest way and replicates the clap board that they use in studios, takes seconds to line it up once you're used to it.

Beware of cheap action cameras if you're going to use separate audio, I have one and it will drop a frame every now and then, you wouldn't notice if you're just using everything on the camera, but if you're using a separate audio recorder or multiple cameras then the dropped frames will mean it gets more and more out of sync as you're filming and without the three claps it is very hard to get it back in sync.

[HolzHammer]

I think it was me that suggested using the mini speaker on your WS4 puck, so if that doesn't work then I don't know what to suggest, as I would have thought that would work, maybe it just needs powered speakers or a different one to what you're using, you could always have a remote connected and hung round your neck so it doesn't distract you, however that's a big expense if you're buying it just for the audio.

I'll give you a couple of general tips though, I've never made detecting videos but back when I had the time I used to make bushcraft videos which are also outside.

Whatever camera you use, whether it's a gopro, your phone, a DSLR or a purpose built camcorder, don't neglect your audio, filming outside is a challenge as wind noise can kill an otherwise brilliant video, you see so many that are shot in beautiful 4k but the wind noise is deafening and it makes it pretty much unwatchable, better to have a 480p video with good audio than a 4k one with deafening wind noise.

There's a few ways round it, either shielding the on camera mics from the wind using furry muffs, or using external mics if your camera will accept one, they can be bought pretty cheap, 50 quid will get you a good quality lapel mic.

If your camera won't take one you can use an external audio recorder, something like the Zoom H1, this is what I used to use, also meant that the mic stayed close to me but I could move the camera away for wide shots, it has good quality stereo mics on it and you can get wind muffs, but if you're moving around then a lapel mic with a small wind muff will sound better and be more practical, I used both the built in mics and a lapel mic if I was moving around, depending on what kind of video I was making and if I was alone or with my mate when we teamed up to do videos for both our channels, the built in one was great if we both needed to get good audio as I could drop it in the middle, I could even separate the stereo tracks as one of us would be picked up by the left mic and the other would be picked up by the right mic, so splitting it out to two mono tracks gave me volume and level control for each of us separately in the edit.

Syncing up the audio is important if you use a separate recorder, having it out of sync is annoying, but just clap three times loudly in view of your camera when you start filming, then line up the spikes in the audio track in your editing software, that will get it perfectly in sync and then you can mute your camera audio track, this also helps to sync up multiple cameras, this is by far the easiest way and replicates the clap board that they use in studios, takes seconds to line it up once you're used to it.

Beware of cheap action cameras if you're going to use separate audio, I have one and it will drop a frame every now and then, you wouldn't notice if you're just using everything on the camera, but if you're using a separate audio recorder or multiple cameras then the dropped frames will mean it gets more and more out of sync as you're filming and without the three claps it is very hard to get it back in sync.

Thanks Jamesey - good advice and tips!

[HolzHammer]

Just be yourself and the rest will develop over time.

What are you going to be editing your footage with, will it be a computer or would you be using a phone? If you'll be using a PC/Laptop/Mac, check out the free version of Davinci Resolve and have a play around with it. I've tried various Windows software and I think that Davinci Resolve is one of the best to use. There are plenty of tutorials on YouTube too.

Good luck and have fun.

Thanks very much for that I will try it now! I used you use something quite advanced when i did skiing videos a few years ago - i remember having to pay for the software i think it came on a disc! The secret with skiing videos was the less skiing the better - more shots of just messing around was more fun that watching endless rather samey looking bits of film of people skiing through a very samey looking landscape!

[TerraBritannia]

I don't know if you use Reddit at all, but there's a handy sub forum where you ask any questions if needed. It's populated by other Davinci Resolve users, rather than it being an official forum.
https://www.reddit.com/r/blackmagicdesign/

[HolzHammer]

I don't know if you use Reddit at all, but there's a handy sub forum where you ask any questions if needed. It's populated by other Davinci Resolve users, rather than it being an official forum.
https://www.reddit.com/r/blackmagicdesign/

Rats my operating system on my ancient Mac won't let me download Davinci..... is iMovie any good... seems simple enough just not very easy to navigate round...

[Jamesey1981]

Rats my operating system on my ancient Mac won't let me download Davinci..... is iMovie any good... seems simple enough just not very easy to navigate round...

imovie is fine, there are better programs out there but it does the job fine, unless you're planning on shooting a feature film then it'll cut and paste everything together without a problem, just make sure that your video files are in one of the supported codecs, one of my cameras shoots in a format that gives great video but imovie doesn't recognise the audio.

Do a test before spending a lot of time shooting to make sure it works ok.

[Kenleyboy]

Very best of luck with solving the issues and having a bash, A

Very much look forward to seeing the results of your efforts BUT if you include the words "OMG" or "EPIC" or "YOU WON'T BELIEVE WHAT I FOUND" in the title you're banned.

Don't forget to add the cringeworthy hammy dance !

[figgis]

Ho yus, another bannable offence

[HolzHammer]

I don't know if you use Reddit at all, but there's a handy sub forum where you ask any questions if needed. It's populated by other Davinci Resolve users, rather than it being an official forum.
https://www.reddit.com/r/blackmagicdesign/

I’ve just had a quick look at DaVinci review - it looks very advanced.... I have used editing software before but is this too professional? All the B, Alexander

[TerraBritannia]

It is advanced software, but you don't need to use all of the features until you feel that there's a need to (I don't so far). I only use the edit and deliver tabs to put together my videos.

[HolzHammer]

Cool thanks Andy