pyro
09-08-2008, 05:40 PM
Here's how to put your boating videos online without spending any money:
This assumes you have a newer digital camera or video camera and Windows XP or better.
If you're using a video camera:
Let me get this off my chest first: STOP zooming the hell out of everything. It amplifies small vibrations into intoxicating camera shake. It's a camera, not a telescope. Remember the final output will be on a bigger screen, not a little viewfinder. Leave some negative space around your subject. You'll see more detail in the final video than you can see in the viewfinder, se use zoom in moderation. Don't let the camera exceed its optical zoom capability with "digital zoom", it looks really bad, and you NEVER need to zoom in that far with a hand-held camera. Turn off digital zoom if possible. Your camera's zoom buttons may be progressive, allowing you to pull in or out slightly on the button for a slow zoom action. Try it and see. When you plug in your camera, you can use Windows Movie Maker's "capture" utility to grab clips of video from the camera.
If you're using a digital pocket camera:
Set the video to the highest size, highest frame rate, and best quality. Get a big high-speed memory chip for it. 2 GB will get you around 15-20 minutes. Almost every pocket camera will now shoot 640x480 video at 30 frames per second, which is TV-broadcast quality. When you initially press the shutter button halfway, it will likely fix the autofocus on whatever is in the viewfinder, so aim before you start shooting, otherwise you'll get blurry videos. Many cameras do not allow any optical zooming while shooting video. Don't allow it to use digital zoom, it sucks. Get closer to your subject to frame it better if possible. Boats will tend to look like ants with the wide angle. This is the limitation of the small cameras. Each time you hit the shutter button to stop, it will end the clip and save it as its own file. When you plug in your camera, use the "scanner/camera wizard" to copy the clips onto the computer's desktop. You can import them into video editing software later. Many cameras won't let you import the clips directly from the camera, so use the wizard to copy them to the computer first.
Every Windows XP machine has a program called Windows Movie Maker. It's fun and easy to use. You can import clips into the program, then split, trim and re-assemble clips, add captions or credits, change the sound, add transitions, etc. Try it, it's easy! Don't go crazy with the transitions. Just take a bunch of 2 to 5 second long action video clips and butt them together. Add some ending credits. Save the final output as "2.1mbps video for LAN"
A YouTube account is free. Get one. After making your edited video, you can upload it to youtube. Add some search word "tags" so people can find your video in searches, along with a good title and description.
I hope this helps some of you to share your boating experiences with the rest of the world. :D
-Chad
This assumes you have a newer digital camera or video camera and Windows XP or better.
If you're using a video camera:
Let me get this off my chest first: STOP zooming the hell out of everything. It amplifies small vibrations into intoxicating camera shake. It's a camera, not a telescope. Remember the final output will be on a bigger screen, not a little viewfinder. Leave some negative space around your subject. You'll see more detail in the final video than you can see in the viewfinder, se use zoom in moderation. Don't let the camera exceed its optical zoom capability with "digital zoom", it looks really bad, and you NEVER need to zoom in that far with a hand-held camera. Turn off digital zoom if possible. Your camera's zoom buttons may be progressive, allowing you to pull in or out slightly on the button for a slow zoom action. Try it and see. When you plug in your camera, you can use Windows Movie Maker's "capture" utility to grab clips of video from the camera.
If you're using a digital pocket camera:
Set the video to the highest size, highest frame rate, and best quality. Get a big high-speed memory chip for it. 2 GB will get you around 15-20 minutes. Almost every pocket camera will now shoot 640x480 video at 30 frames per second, which is TV-broadcast quality. When you initially press the shutter button halfway, it will likely fix the autofocus on whatever is in the viewfinder, so aim before you start shooting, otherwise you'll get blurry videos. Many cameras do not allow any optical zooming while shooting video. Don't allow it to use digital zoom, it sucks. Get closer to your subject to frame it better if possible. Boats will tend to look like ants with the wide angle. This is the limitation of the small cameras. Each time you hit the shutter button to stop, it will end the clip and save it as its own file. When you plug in your camera, use the "scanner/camera wizard" to copy the clips onto the computer's desktop. You can import them into video editing software later. Many cameras won't let you import the clips directly from the camera, so use the wizard to copy them to the computer first.
Every Windows XP machine has a program called Windows Movie Maker. It's fun and easy to use. You can import clips into the program, then split, trim and re-assemble clips, add captions or credits, change the sound, add transitions, etc. Try it, it's easy! Don't go crazy with the transitions. Just take a bunch of 2 to 5 second long action video clips and butt them together. Add some ending credits. Save the final output as "2.1mbps video for LAN"
A YouTube account is free. Get one. After making your edited video, you can upload it to youtube. Add some search word "tags" so people can find your video in searches, along with a good title and description.
I hope this helps some of you to share your boating experiences with the rest of the world. :D
-Chad