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Post by strippitman on Feb 18, 2015 10:06:38 GMT -5
Troy, I know you are the guru when it comes to making videos of your outdoor adventures. What would you recommend to a guy that wants to get started in it? I know this has probably been discussed several times on here but I can't seem to find the threads. Here are some of the issues that have prevented me from getting actively involved in it:
1) Editing. Is it hard to learn? What sites are FREE and the most user friendly? How long does it take you to edit video?
2) Storage. What do you do to archive all the years worth of video footage you have created? Video storage eats up a lot of hard drive space and can really bog down a CPU so I assume you must use and external hard drive to store footage?
4) Memory cards. What size memory card do you use in your cameras? I was using 4GB card but you can eat one of those up in no time. Obviously I need something much larger!
5) Filming. When you are filming a deer hunt do you record the entire time and edit out the dead time or do you just hit record when there is something worth filming?
6) Cameras. Is one camera enough? Or do I really need to use multiple cameras? What camera do you recommend?
1 & 2 have been major deterrents for me. If I could get past those 2 I think I could really get into the filming thing. Thanks for your help!
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Post by goosepondmonster on Feb 18, 2015 13:06:26 GMT -5
I'm not the guru that Greenedog is, but I've dabbled the last year in making videos. I have a MacBook which has iMovie on it. I have mostly done pretty basic stuff to this point. I haven't explored all the bells and whistles, but I think it works for what I'm doing. I can't speak for other software, but iMovie is fairly easy to use yet it is slightly tedious to edit footage. Going through and finding the footage you want to keep can take a while if there are gaps in the action. Depending on the length of the video, I'd say it takes a couple of hours to finalize/process the video and then another couple of hours, or longer, to upload it to YouTube.
As for storage, I edit my video, upload it to YouTube and then delete it. I personally don't have any reason to save the footage, but if there is a particular clip I want to keep I will. Ideally you would get an external hard drive to store everything. They make them up in the terabytes now and they are very reasonable.
I have two 32GB SDXC cards. With my camera I can get about ten hours of 720 HD footage on one card.
Depending on the action, I'll leave the camera rolling and edit out the junk or wait until there is action to hit record. This is where, in my opinion, battery life is key. I have three batteries for my JVC camera and I can get about two hours out of one battery. That's not bad, but it's not great either.
I have the one JVC action camera, and I really wish I had two. I think if you are filming yourself hunting you really need at least two cameras. Having a camera on you and a camera on your quarry make for a much better video than just a POV shot. I wish that I could set up a tripod when I'm creek fishing, but it is a pain to have to pack that around, so the head mount has to suffice in that instance. One of the smaller action cameras is good for a second shot, but I would like to have a nicer camera as the main shot...especially for hunting.
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Post by Greenedog on Feb 18, 2015 13:51:16 GMT -5
I'm no guru, Matt, but I'll answer your questions best I can.  1) Editing. Is it hard to learn? What sites are FREE and the most user friendly? How long does it take you to edit video? I wouldn't say it's hard, but it does take time. When I first got started back in '07 I would download random videos off the internet and practice editing them to music. A lot of my practice videos are still on youtube on the tkbell07 channel, although a lot have been removed because I used copyrighted music. There's lots of editing software that's free and you probably have some on your pc. I started out using windows movie maker and it works fine for just starting out. I think my current pc came with 3 different video editors preloaded. I currently use Sony Vegas Movie Studio 9 that cost about $100. I'd love to have the pro edition of the software, but then you're talking around $1,000. The how long question is hard to answer. A short fishing video might take 15 minutes, where the deer season video I just finished probably took around 10 hours, maybe longer. It would go a lot quicker if I had a pc set up for editing and I'm hoping to invest in one this year. 2) Storage. What do you do to archive all the years worth of video footage you have created? Video storage eats up a lot of hard drive space and can really bog down a CPU so I assume you must use and external hard drive to store footage? It's funny you mention an external hard drive, because Colt just give me his old 500gb one to use! He has a new 2tb that he uses for his gaming videos. What I've done in the past is burn videos to a dvd when I have a lot saved to the hard drive. I'm behind on doing that, and like you said, my pc is getting really bogged down. 4) Memory cards. What size memory card do you use in your cameras? I was using 4GB card but you can eat one of those up in no time. Obviously I need something much larger! We use 16gb in our cameras. You can get 2 off ebay for $17, while they're $12 for one at walsuck. I've already filled up 2 of them in the gopro already this year, so I might go with a 32gb for that camera. 5) Filming. When you are filming a deer hunt do you record the entire time and edit out the dead time or do you just hit record when there is something worth filming? Battery life is a big problem, so we only turn the cameras on when it looks like something is about to happen and only film when we're pretty sure something is about to happen or we see something interesting(like some wood ducks walking towards a pond. ) 6) Cameras. Is one camera enough? Or do I really need to use multiple cameras? What camera do you recommend? One is not enough for us, but it all depends on how far you want to take the videos. I'd recommend using what you already have, or get an "action" type camera like Goose uses. He put out some really good stuff using that camera and it will give you an idea if this is really something you want to pursue. You can find those on clearance a lot because they come out with new ones every year. If I was you, I'd just shoot some video with your phone or camera you already have and then get it on the computer and mess around with it on some free editing software to see if you like it or not. You might hate it.  1 & 2 have been major deterrents for me. If I could get past those 2 I think I could really get into the filming thing. Thanks for your help! Another thing you'll need is a camera support. Unsteady footage is usually worthless. We have 3 camera arms we use in tree stands, 3 tripods we use for what ever, and then a few different mounts we use for the gopro. No problem on the help, it's my pleasure. I will say that it has to be something you enjoy doing or you'll just think it's a pain in the ass! |
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Post by Greenedog on Feb 18, 2015 13:57:47 GMT -5
Here's some Video Tips I posted a few years ago. Just some things to think about when you're making a video. |
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Post by strippitman on Feb 18, 2015 15:39:41 GMT -5
I see I forgot how to count and skipped #3  Eli, thanks for chiming in. My wife has a Mac as well. The only problem is that with all the pictures she has from her photography business on it, it is not operating very well anymore. A couple of years ago I filmed myself ice fishing a few times and tried using iMovie to edit it. I was very disappointed with it but I think I may try it again. I think I was just expecting it to be a lot easier. I imagine if I spend some time to familiarize myself with iMovie it will probably work for me. My current camera setup only offers me about one hour of battery life when fully charged. One of my first purchases I probably need to make is to buy additional batteries for it. I do have a decent, albeit not great, camera support for deer hunting. It is a gorilla gear mount that is pretty sturdy. The only thing I don't like about it is that it isn't long enough. If I have it mounted to one side of me and the deer go to the other side it is hard to shoot around me to film the deer. I would think for use in my boat I could get one of those clamp on styles with the flexible arm...or does the flexible arm not give enough stability for the camera? I will have to put an action cam at the top of my list of future big purchases to make. Although I was really wanting to purchase a crossbow this year  |
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Post by hilly on Feb 18, 2015 16:35:57 GMT -5
I've had the Sony Action Cam for a little over a year now. It came with basic editing software that you download to the computer. It links up with Youtube and uploads with just a couple clicks. It was fairly easy to figure out, even for an non-savvy computer guy like me.
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Post by goosepondmonster on Feb 18, 2015 20:28:21 GMT -5
I have found the flexible arm mount to be pretty steady as long as it is clamped solid. If you watch my trout fishing videos I actually had mine clamped to a scrub tree/bush along the bank of Midland Lake.
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Post by goosepondmonster on Feb 18, 2015 20:31:22 GMT -5
One other thing, and Greenedog can definitely relate, be prepared to get some idiotic comments if you post videos to YouTube.
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Post by Greenedog on Feb 18, 2015 22:36:53 GMT -5
One other thing, and Greenedog can definitely relate, be prepared to get some idiotic comments if you post videos to YouTube. So true! They bothered me for a while, but now I just laugh. The "antis" can also drive up your views...my silly little "Grilled Squirrel" video has 35,000+ thanks to the tree huggers. Here's my latest favorite on my Silver Springs video...  |
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Post by strippitman on Feb 19, 2015 7:54:53 GMT -5
One other thing, and Greenedog can definitely relate, be prepared to get some idiotic comments if you post videos to YouTube. I've read through the comments section on Greenie's channel many times. I'm well aware of the comments. I find them quite funny and could care less what the anti's have to say about any of my outdoor adventures. I assume to post videos to this site that I first have to upload it to a site like youtube first and then paste the url to here? Kind of like doing pictures  Another thing I was thinking about as far as editing goes, have any of you tried using the video editing apps for iPads and similar devices. I see there are countless ones out there. iMovie has an app for $4.99 that looks to be pretty decent but I'm just not sure what makes one editing software better than another. |
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Post by goosepondmonster on Feb 19, 2015 8:46:06 GMT -5
Embedding videos is pretty much like posting a picture.
I'm not sure how well an iPad or tablet would work for editing. You'd need one that could accept an SD card and then I'm guessing you would run into space issues on the device.
I"m sure they work well for video shot with the tablet.
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Post by Greenedog on Feb 19, 2015 11:46:21 GMT -5
Posting youtube videos is really simple on both here and IA. All you do is post the url and the site will automatically embed the video. You just need to make sure you get the actual video url and not the "youtu.be" url that yt gives you to share. I go to my "video manager" yt page and then when you click on a video it will take you to the actual video page where you can copy the url. At least that's the way it is right now. Ever since google bought youtube they like to change things up once in a while and usually not for the better, but as long as google keeps sending checks, I'm not gonna complain too much. |
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Post by goosepondmonster on Feb 19, 2015 12:23:21 GMT -5
Checks from Google? I need some of those.
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Post by Greenedog on Feb 19, 2015 12:39:26 GMT -5
Checks from Google? I need some of those. Keep making videos then. |
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Post by strippitman on Feb 19, 2015 12:59:19 GMT -5
Thanks for all the info fellas! A lot of useful information in this thread.
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Just another night at work for me and Monty will be back here again bright and early. 
