Video shoots - share info on cameras, mounts, editing software, tips & tricks

[ciburri]

OK guys we more or less figured out Fit photo shoots and how to share them with other FitFreak members, but what about video?

I would like to change that! You are getting great with photos, so why not try videos?!

Most of you have digital photo cameras capable of shooting video at 640x480 pixels of resolution (standard definition) at up to 30 frames per second, but never tried it! At least not for car action videos. Well those cameras can do it guys. And do it very well!

Allow me to get you "hooked"!
Honda Fit(s) Mt.Diablo Sunday Cruise on Vimeo

Like it? It was shot with this:


A Canon SD630 pocket camera mounted on the passenger door pointing forward!

Lets keep uniform format for everybody's benefit of comparison:
CAMERA: Canon SD630 pocket digital camera
RESOLUTION: 640X480
FRAME RATE: 30 frames per second
EDITING: Windows Movie Maker (comes standard with most Windows)
WEB HOSTING: Vimeo (Vimeo, Video Sharing For You)
CAMERA MOUNT: $2 Harbor Freight (Harbor Freight Tools - Quality Tools at the Lowest Prices) single suction cup glass carrying handle rated at 15 lbs.
TIPS: You can secure camera with straps for safety, but 15lbs rated suction cup can hold a camera that weight just ounces!

Thinking about going HD(high definition)?!
Let me get you "hooked" again:
Honda Fit(s) Calaveras Rd. Cruise on Vimeo

It was shot with this:



CAMERA: Aiptek Action HD (AIPTEK USA) in Walmart for $200!
RESOLUTION: 1280x720, it is at 720P
FRAME RATE: 30fs
EDITING: ArcSoft Total Media Extreme (came with the camera)
WEB HOSTING: Vimeo (Vimeo, Video Sharing For You)
CAMERA MOUNT: $5 Harbor Freight (Harbor Freight Tools - Quality Tools at the Lowest Prices) dual suction cup glass carrying handle rated at 200lbs! If you are concerned about your $1200 camera use two of these (400lbs clamping strength!!!) and build a platform as well as an enclosure to protect it from flying rocks!
TIPS: use scotch tape to cover holes for the microphone to reduce wind noise!

Now about this camera. It is dirt cheap ($200) and available in Walmart!
It can shoot up to 1440x1080P at 30fs - that is 1080P guys!
It can also do 1280x720P at awesome 60fs!
Full specs:
Specifications
Image Sensor
5 Mega-Pixel CMOS (2592 x 1944)Lens
3x Optical Zoom lens
(7.5mm ~ 21.5mm, F 3.6 ~ 6.7)Still Image
3200 x 2400 Pixels (8 Mega Pixel)
2560 x 1920 Pixels (5 Mega Pixel)
2048 x 1536 Pixels (3 Mega Pixel)Movie Mode
1440 x 1080 Pixels (H.264) up to 30 fps
1280 x 720 Pixels (H.264) up to 60 fps
720 x 480 Pixels (D1) up to 60 fps
352 x 240 Pixels (CIF) up to 30 fpsVideo Format
.MOVMacro Mode
5 ~ 30cm (at 1x fixed zoom)
Normal Mode: 30cm ~ infinityLCD Display
2.4” TFT Panel with 270° RotationInternal Memory
128MB built-in; 90MB for StorageExternal Memory
SD Card Slot (Max. 32GB SDHC)AV-IN
YES, Record at 640 x 480 (VGA)TV Out
HDTV (Component Out)
NTSC/PAL Color System SupportedInterface
USB2.0Battery
NP-60 Li-Ion battery

Lets get it straight right away. This camera CAN'T beat $1000-1500 Canon or Sony HD, but it will give them pretty good run for their money!
This little guy is limited by a pin hole lens and inferior CMOS chip, electronics are a bit slow and it tends to "hunt" trying to focus on a fast moving object. There is no input jack for microphone either.
You can get magnetic mount type universal wide angle as well as tele-photo lens for less than $35/ea. Polarizing filter could reduce hunting and extreme white balance transitions (yet to experiment with this!)
Good points of this cam: it is cheap! Yet it can deliver 720P (HD TV broadcast are at 720P) and even 1080p. It can shoot at up to 60fs (unfortunately web hosting sites require no higher than 30fs)! You can connect it directly to your HD TV with included composite cables and use remote to watch your videos! It stores video on SD card and electronics are set to accept SD cards at up to 32GB! With 2GB card set at 720P and 30fs I can store 66 minutes of video! Battery can last for about 70 minutes of continuous use and you can get spare ones for about $35 in stores or $10 on line. It recharges through USB cable or wall charger (both supplied with the camera).

Editing HD video is a pain. Files are too big. PC requires powerful processor and lots of RAM. The more the better. 2GB is good. Forget about running other applications at the same time either. Go to task Manager and end task as many applications as you can.
I set up my spare PC on my home network so I am not going nuts waiting for hours it requires for conversion without being able to use a PC or the internet.
Another option is to let it run overnight! Same for upload to Vimeo!

Here is the comprehensive review:
http://www.stevesforums.com/forums/v...66&forum_id=92

I just started scratching a surface of this cameras convenience (it fits in my pocket BTW!), but some people already put it through it's paces. Even mounting it on an RC plane for aerial videos and photography.
Browse these on Vimeo:
Search videos for aiptek on Vimeo

I plan on keep shooting during different cruises and meets with NorCal FitFreak and creating a cool colage with Bay Area landmarks as background. Heck, we should just shoot a Honda Fit or FitFreak commercial!

Piece of advice on video shooting in general:
-one guy drives while other one shoots - no exceptions!
-you need a spotter for traffic and safety as well!
-use 2 way radios for communication (cell phone service is non existent in most canyons!
-use common sense and do not endanger yourself and others doing something stupid!

Get your creative juices flowing guys! Let's see some videos!
__________________________________________________ ___________________________
Mods, please leave this post in Photo and video section and make it a sticky. Hopefully we can get some quality videos from everybody.


Ivan

[JDMchris.com]

I'm going to be ordering one of these shortly. Skunk2 uses them for their car footage and found out about it from them.

Motorsports HERO information page

[fitinfit]

awesome! great review/info!

[Fitcapo]

Sounds like a great idea I could get hold of a couple different cameras that could do video would just have to but the camera mount and the glass carrying handles and get a video editing program.... Mabey if I get my act together before the next Il/WI meet we can get a video of us cruising or something.

[Kyle is raaddd]

^^
thats really cool

[ciburri]

Here is a few mounting location ideas, but really sky is the limit!

Picasa Web Albums - Ciburri - camera mount

[alexfree05]

This Thread Is Awesome!

[SpoonSportFit]

Nice vids, i am going to have to make me a mount now haha, I also vote this should be a sticky, and I think we should have two stickies one with video and editing tips and one with picture and picture editing tips

[TOOL]

Stickied for you Ciburri!

Tyler

[goodyonsen]

Those videos are great!

[eTiMaGo]

great thread!

but just a question, the suction cup things don't come with the articulated threaded arm for the camera, do they? where can you obtain those? take apart a cheap tripod?

[koolkevin1107]

sweet!! i think ima pick me up one of these HD cameras. I finally found some good use out of my 6gb of ram and 1 terabyte hdd!! =]

[sam21]

good stuff OP!!

I like your video but the wind noise ruined it for me.I'm more interested on in-car video,best-motoring style.Any idea where/what i can use for an in-car camera mount?

[ciburri]

Originally Posted by eTiMaGo

great thread!

but just a question, the suction cup things don't come with the articulated threaded arm for the camera, do they? where can you obtain those? take apart a cheap tripod?

You are correct! I got a cheap tripod, the one that does not have quick removable camera mount. This one is cheaper because you need to screw it in the camera to mount it. Reason being is that dedicated mounting heads are pricey. Just make sure you do not pick one of those miniature tripods, 5" or so because the screw that holds it to the tripod is ridiculously small. Pick something in 10 to 15" range and up to $20-25!

Sam21, the first pic of the $2 mount and Canon SD630 passed the test on Infineon Raceway in an Audi R8 at full speed! I mounted it on glass window that separates passenger compartment from the engine, between driver and passenger headrest! Unfortunately camera's automatic white balance could not deal with super bright light through the windshield and darker interior! I ended up with overexposed windshield and properly exposed interior with awesome engine sound out of that V8! That is why I never posted it. My point is that these mounts can handle it!

You are also correct about the noise, but believe it or not this was quiet for wind noise! Normally it is more than twice as bad, but I used clear scotch tape to cover holes for microphone pick up! As I stated earlier, this camera does not have microphone input jack! Maybe I can just take it apart and solder one on. Some guy on Vimeo site actually mentioned he did it.
My greatest problem is that editing software that comes with this camera does not allow adding audio tracks (music, sound effects,.....)! I just had to keep audio as is!


Chris, I like that small action camera you provided us a link for. It is awesome small which makes it easy to mount anywhere!
Only drawback is that it does not shoot in HD (high def)! Aiptek A-HD is also an 8 megapixel digital still camera which makes it convenient as all-in-one camera for me. Sure beats lugging my Canon 20D all the time.
I became such an HD whore! It makes a huge difference to me personally.
I can watch videos with greater detail and in larger window!
Guys, if HD and or 8 megapixel still camera is not a priority for you, it is a great little camera, get it.

Thanks Tyler! I hope it produces ton of cool videos!

[ciburri]

OK guys, this thread is working great. It created quite a buzz in my email in box. Looks like we can expect some exciting videos!

I got some PM's inquiring about the mounts from Harbor Freight, so instead of individually answering here it is for everybody's benefit.

Yes, price is more or less $5! It varies from store to store and source of their supply (different vendors at different delivery times). It only varies $1-2!

Rated carrying capacity varies due to supplier as well. For example my dual cup handle has a sticker rating of 200 lbs, but the one below from the web site is at 125lbs. READ THE LABELS.

Dual and quadruple handles, BEWARE that surfaces on your car are not 100% flat as glass these handless were created for! Make sure your car is free of dust and dirt before attaching these and that you press firmly on each individual cup while clamping it before proceeding to the next! Carry microfiber towel, glass cleaner and spray detailer for painted body surfaces. It helps a lot! Handless are barely flexible enough (at least dual one is, I have no experience with quadruple one!) to attach securely to the hood and some more curvy areas. Doors are no problem at all.
I am planing on cutting a handle from my dual one and add pivoting joint of some sort to make it more articulate for curvy surfaces. Look into it yourself! It will make it possible to mount them anywhere.

Beware of the aluminum handle! It might be more durable (not necessarily stronger-suction depends on rubber diaphragm!), but it will be more rigid which will transfer more vibration to the camera and your video! Plastic handles and tripod ball mounts have some flex that actually works in your favor giving you more steady video. Crazy to some of you, but it is true.

Suction cups in general: stay away from simple suction cups that you just press on and pull off. They are not safe! Only go for press on & lever clamp down type which have much better clamping power!

Here are pics from the web: