Videography Help and Workshop Thread

[lachlan palmos]

Smoked by the trick question

[trevi]

hahahah yeah.. gotta be careful....

[julian89]

Hey guys i am in a bit of drama here. I am in the process of making a live album cd and on one of my cams (drum cam) i encounted the old date/time code left on.

I know it is physically recorded onto the video, and it would be really hard to erase, and would take a long time doing it frame by frame. but i know there are a few programs out there that blur the video, but are pc based and i have a mac.

my photoshop skills arent the greatest and i have already made a photoshop layer with black bars and tested it out in final cut express and it works, but as soon as a strobe light comes on or something it looks really unprofessional.

here is a sample so you understand





Does anyone know of a mac program that blurs an area of video, or had the same problem and made a photoshop psd, and can help me out?

Cheers

[bechou]

i would probably say After Effects but maybe adobe premier could do it as well.

[julian89]

i would probably say After Effects but maybe adobe premier could do it as well.

Yeah you can do it with after effects, but i dont have that. There are tutoriols on youtube. I just downloaded watermark master off demonoid torrent. Worked a treat!!! used my mates pc.

[southern_rewards]

Hey,

anybody know of an editing program that can edit HD 1280x720 MP4 files?

if so, is there a free trial I can doload somwhere?

Cheers.

[robbo911]

i bet sony vegas would. You can download the trial from their website
http://www.sonycreativesoftware.com/download/trials/Vegaspro
Hope this is what you were looking for

[Conjob v1.1]

Not sure if any of the filmer guys still check this ... but anyways.

Right now at tafe im doing alot of video / editing stuff. Pretty much using the obvious (final cut pro and after affects) with a crappy camera borrowed from tafe but im pretty keen to get my own.

First on the camera's... Am i better off going with the value of one of those no name HD $300 camera's or should i spend it on a bottom range HD cam but from a brand name. Also for lenses im pretty sure the cheap ones dont have any thread, is it hard to fix something up or is that alone a big enough reason to go the bottom of the range name brand?

As for software anyone who uses a PC and Mac, whats it like changing from Premier to Final Cut Pro? How is the formatting, i know with other stuff, mac to pc and the other way isnt exactly a walk in the park.

[meaksy]

Just wondering what video editing programs people are using. Ive only got Windows movie maker on my PC which looks pretty basic so was wondering what better programs there are and if there are any free ones or free trial ones.

[Conjob v1.1]

On PC the best is Adobe Premier Pro.

You can get a 30 day trial and keygens are not hard to find at all...

[lachlan palmos]

Hello all, I'm in the early stages of editing a vid I'm releasing in Western Australia this Summer. Thought I'd vent my frustration a little bit and share this wave of Brad Hughes I shot about 2 months back on a nice day at northpoint - he rode it for so long right from the peak and into the endbowl. Alas, a large water droplet also features heavily from start to finish. Think I can right it off an an artistic foreground?

[shanerielly]

Just wondering what video editing programs people are using. Ive only got Windows movie maker on my PC which looks pretty basic so was wondering what better programs there are and if there are any free ones or free trial ones.

I'm on PC at the moment and using Adobe Premiere Pro, but Sony Vegas is also really good on PC. If you want to do and motion graphics or visual effects then After Effects is the way to go. There are free trials for all of those. There is also a completelt free 3D program called Blender 3D (http://www.blender.org/download/get-blender/) and it can also be used to edit video and do compositing etc, but the learning curve is pretty steep and the interface is quite different so it takes a while to get into.

Any other questions just let me know and I'd be happy to help out wherever I can...

[shanerielly]

Not sure if any of the filmer guys still check this ... but anyways.

Right now at tafe im doing alot of video / editing stuff. Pretty much using the obvious (final cut pro and after affects) with a crappy camera borrowed from tafe but im pretty keen to get my own.

First on the camera's... Am i better off going with the value of one of those no name HD $300 camera's or should i spend it on a bottom range HD cam but from a brand name. Also for lenses im pretty sure the cheap ones dont have any thread, is it hard to fix something up or is that alone a big enough reason to go the bottom of the range name brand?

As for software anyone who uses a PC and Mac, whats it like changing from Premier to Final Cut Pro? How is the formatting, i know with other stuff, mac to pc and the other way isnt exactly a walk in the park.

Not sure if you've gotten yourself a camera yet, but a good way to go is the Canon HV40 - it's a consumer model and goes at a relitavely reasonable price, but it is great value for money. Right now there are some really good VDSLR's (Video Digital SLR) like the Canon 7D - It shoots HD video at various frame rates and is a Pro stills camera so you get 2 cams in one really. If you're shooting stuff other than BB then it's great because you can get really shallow depth of field and a very filmic look because it has a big sensor and you can put on any lens you want. The 7D is a lot of cash, but it's insane value for money. You do have to buy at least one lens for it though, but the kit lens you can get with it is pretty decent.

For the PC and Mac question I'm not sure if you're asking about changing which program you use and how different they are, or how it is using footage between the two?
If you asking about footage - Macs (FCP) use .mov files and PC's use .AVI mostly, but you can try a free converter called MPEG Streamclip - http://www.squared5.com/
In terms of changing the program you use it's not a huge change - the principles are all the same so it's just a case of learning where all the functions are really.

I hope that helps!

[Conjob v1.1]

Yeh got a new computer but i spent money on surf trips and other stuff. Now im buying a car so a camera's off limits again for a while. I need a real job

Some of the 7d footage is insane. One of my mates has one, took it to NZ and made a sick mini clip. Its somewhere on vimeo. So good.

[shanerielly]

Spending cash on surf trips sounds good man! A car is also good for surf trips so it seems your priorities are in check!
Yeah, I have a 7D and so far it's been really good... just nedd to get a housing for it now!