by mark wessels
Visually Challenged? Here Are Some Tips For Producing Great Video
November 17, 2009 1:42 pm in Concert, Drumset, Marching by mark wessels
I’ll admit it… I am, and have always been, a “hack” at video production. I never studied it in school – so I wouldn’t consider myself an expert.
But – as with most things that we do – we work at it, gradually get better, and eventually stumble upon little tricks that make what we do look as professional as possible (for those of you who may not know, I’m the “Director of Internet Activities” for Vic Firth, so a lot of the video that you see on the site, I film and/or edit… Along with Marco and my assistant Andy, of course).
Because video is such a compelling “calling card” for presenting your ideas, or marketing yourself, I’ve decided to spell out a few of the tricks-0f-the-trade that I’ve learned along the way. Hopefully these ideas can help you to produce great looking video for your projects.
MYTH #1:
I CAN’T DO GOOD VIDEO BECAUSE I CAN’T AFFORD A HIGH-END CAMERA
Believe it or not, good looking web video doesn’t require a $3,000 camera! Sure, the “prosumer” cameras have great optics (lenses), great chips for low-lighting situations, etc. — and are completely necessary for “Broadcast” or DVD quality productions — but having one is similar to having a Ferrari to go grocery shopping… it’s just not necessary.
A new camera that we’ve been experimenting with is the Kodak Zi8. It’s a pocket-sized high-def camcorder that can record in 720 or 1080p onto a SD card – plus has a mic input for external sound. Cost: $180. (It doesn’t come with a card, so factor in another $40-60 for a 16gig SD card).
In situations were lighting is good and the camera is mounted on a tripod, this cheap camera can deliver video quality that rivals my $2,500 GL2!
MYTH #2:
I NEED ACCESS TO A STUDIO OR A STAGE TO FILM
Maybe I’m in the minority here, but when I watch video, 99% of what makes it compelling is the CONTENT – not necessarily the video quality. I’ve seen $100,000 video productions that can’t hold a candle to blurry youtube quality videos BECAUSE OF THE CONTENT!
Sure — a clean, clutter-free, visually interesting setting is preferable to a dingy office with a filing cabinet and a ficus tree, but don’t let the perception that you have to have a stage or studio to film in deter you from making your own video! Take everything out of the background and hang up a few posters for accent color. As long as you have something compelling to contribute – you’ll be fine!
MYTH #3:
I NEED GREAT LIGHTING TO MAKE A VIDEO LOOK GOOD
Okay, this one is at least nearer to the truth than the others. From everything I’ve read, 80% of producing great looking video is from good lighting and 20% is the quality of the camera. I can take my $2,500 camera into the dark at DCI and it will produce crap video – or I can take my $170 camera into a well-lit room and produce ‘professional looking’ video.
The short answer to this problem is that you don’t have to have thousands of dollars worth of lighting gear to make your videos look good – but having some low budget lights will help tremendously. Search on YouTube for “video lighting techniques” and you can find a ton of great resources! Just a little attention to lighting your shot will go a LONG way to producing great looking video.
MYTH #4:
I NEED GREAT RECORDING MICS TO MAKE ME SOUND GOOD
This one is partially true. I can’t stand to watch videos, even if they have great content, if they sound like they were “recorded in a cave”. But the fact is that you don’t have to have crazy amounts of audio gear to make your videos sound good!
First (and foremost) – never, never, never use the camera’s built in mic for your audio. There’s a few exceptions, but even professionals with $10,000 cameras use external mics. The problem is that the camera’s built-in microphones are generally cheap – and you have very little control over the mic placement (in most cases, you’ll place the camera several feet away to get your whole setup in the frame – which is not where you would place a microphone to get the best sound). The new Zoom Q3 is the exception (but only has 640×480 standard def video).
So, which microphones should you use? It completely depends on your budget, your instrument(s) and your own taste. Here’s what I (generally) use on my shoots for the VF website:
Speech/Interviews: For most lesson series videos and interviews, I use a cheap ATR-35S lav mic. It’s small enough to be next to invisible – and the cable is long enough to run all the way to the camera (where it plugs into the mini-plug input). It has a great sound that rivals most “professional” lav mics with XLR inputs, battery packs and transmitters. No phantom power required.
For some situations where there are multiple people speaking – or if the camera must be placed far from the subject, I’ll use a more expensive “shotgun” mic. Without getting too technical, this kind of mic has a very narrow field, so it picks up very little ambient noise (Google “Shotgun Mic” to get more info). For VF, I invested in the AT897 and it works very well.
Playing: On almost all of my filming sessions, I use a AT-822 stereo mic. It’s pricey – and I guess has been discontinued – but it does an overall good job at handling all the various situations I’m in (from drumset to drum corps to solo marimba). I’m sure someone can suggest something specific to your needs that’d be more appropriate and probably less expensive. Another alternative I’ve used lately is the Zoom H2 digital audio recorder. It requires that I match the audio file to the video when editing, but it records well in a wide variety of settings.
Other recommendations: When I record a lesson, I generally have one mic for speech and one for the instrument. This gives me the best of both worlds – close up mic placement for speech and great mic placement for the instrument(s). And it allows you to set 2 different levels for each.
Depending on your situation though, this might not be an option. If you’re forced to use only one mic, my best recommendation would be that you set the level to “auto” and leave 3-4 seconds of silence AFTER YOU STOP PLAYING BEFORE YOU SPEAK. The most difficulty I have is when teachers either play while they speak, or speak immediately after they stop playing. Giving the mic level a few seconds to adjust will give you the best balanced sound.
FINAL THOUGHTS
This is by no means “the final word” on producing great video. It’s taken me years of trial and error to get what I consider “decent” looking and sounding video for the VF website. But, the one thing I have learned in the process is that you should NEVER BE INTIMIDATED into not trying!
In today’s multi-media world, to get noticed – video is almost REQUIRED, whether you’re a teacher or a performer. You can count on the fact that today’s web audience simply won’t read or listen anymore – they want to WATCH you teach or perform.
Don’t be left on the side of the road – jump in head first! It’s not as difficult as you might think – and you might even have some fun in the process.
Please post your questions and comments! I’m sure a great discussion about this can help us all get better at producing videos!
Hey Mark, thanks for the great information. Ive been wondering if I can somehow integrate my recording kit in protools with video. I am using a digtal preamp into protools, and I dont know how to add video in protools or if I can record audio and video simultaneously. The only camera that I own is a small canon digital handycam with no external mic input. (but it has a usb port)
Thanks Jim
I have a question more than a comment. Is there a way to use normal mics and xlr cables with a camcorder type camera? Because of marchcing band we have a tone of good quality microphones and a pretty pricey mixing board and it would b awesome if we could utilize some of the equipment we already have. This forum is great and thanks for creating it!
Hi Jason. Thanks for the great question! Yes, you can absolutely use your existing equipment. There are a couple of things you can try, depending on the microphones you are working with.
The first thing you need to find out is how your microphone is getting power. If your microphone takes a battery (like the mics Mark mentioned) then you’re all set! All you should need is an audio cable that connects your microphone to your camera. Something like this one.
If your microphones require phantom power, you can still use them, but you will have to run them through your mixing board in order to power them. You can then link the out from your board to the input on your camera. Some common microphones that require phantom power are the Sure SM58 and SM57. Hope this helps.
Glad you’re digging The Exchange!
SM57 and 58 do not require phantom power.
What a great topic Mark, and very timely. I think a lot of us are probably somewhat intimidated by the concept of self-producing video for promotional or educational purposes—I know I am. Maybe even in some small way from viewing so many of the videos that you and your team have done for VF! It’s comforting to know that you’re able to get such consistently professional results with modest means.
One question I have concerns the use of a dual mic system—lavalier and stereo instrument mic, for instance. Do some cameras have more than one mic input? Or are you recording sound into the camera through a mixer?
Thanks again for illuminating this topic!
“Modest means”… a very polite way of saying we’re cheap! :0) Hey, without it being cheap, we’d never have been able to do what we do!
I did keep it pretty simplistic in the article – but you’re right, I do use two mics – because I almost always record with two cameras. One camera has the lav (vocal) mic and the other runs the instrument mic. Then I go back and forth when mixing it down.
If you don’t have that option, there are a couple things you can do.
The easiest would be to record all the speaking parts at one time, then the playing examples separately. Then you can edit those together using basic tools (iMovie). I did this with Zoro on the new “We Want the Funk” videos (though we used drum mics into a mixer into my laptop instead of a single instrument mic).
Another option would be to record the audio for one or the other to your laptop or other source (often I use the Zoom H2 for my instrument mic – then dump the raw audio to my computer). Most computers these days have a mini input for basic mics and simple recording software that you can download for free. Remember, though – you have to record at 48 kHz in order for your audio to sync properly with the video (44.1 or “CD quality) isn’t the same rate as video – so the audio will gradually get out of sync over time – like windshield wipers with your car radio).
In my experience – if you’re recording to pad or marching snare – you can get away with just using a lav mic (also some brands of tenors which lack resonance too. :0) ). You might have to do some audio editing to adjust for volume differences – or leave at least 2 seconds of silence between playing and talking.
I very rarely use a mixer. From my experience, the sound bleed from the lav mic while you’re playing completely destroys what you gain by having an instrument mic.
If none of the above work in your (or others’) situation, the best advice is to use a decent quality mic, but get it up close to the performer so you don’t have the “recorded in a cave” audio quality!
Thank you Mark for this very useful article. I’m about to shoot some video today, so perfect timing! I’m very grateful for all this great insight! I’ll get much better results with these tips AND you’ve saved me a bunch of time and money as well! I’m curious… what editing software do you use?
I use Final Cut Pro for editing (and Logic for audio)… but I could easily accomplish most of what I do with iMovie and Garage band or Soundtrack. I’m sure there are similar cheap software options for Windoze – I’m just not very familiar with it.
Mark,
I’m teaching percussion lit and ped next semester and intend to add an instructional video component. Your above info looks very useful so thanks for posting this timely article/blog. I was intending to use a Zoom H3 to keep the technological aspects at a minimum, but after reading the above, I’m concerned the video quality will be a bit weak. It only makes sense that my students and I post the projects online, so I ask if you’d recommend moving away from the H3? Any other tips/suggestions for this project?
Thanks a lot!
James
I’d bet that if all you’re doing is posting online video that the H3 would be fine. We still record in standard definition on most of our projects – and since it’ll be compressed anyway, there’s no reason to move to HD (it just slows down the process and takes up a huge amount of disc space).
The key is always lighting. Great lighting will produce great video – even if the camera isn’t great. And getting the mics as close as you can to the subject.