Hey, I am new here and thought I'd summon up the courage to ask a question, though it is not exactly exclusive to ITM.
I have been requested many times over to start a youtube channel with some of my favorite tunes and some of my best friends also playing ITM. I have been wanting to buy a camcorder for a while and figured that I might as well get one that is good for recording audio. Do any of you have any suggestions? I want to get something that isn't a piece of junk, that I can make good recordings on. I have some tunes that I want to teach to people as well as techniques so i need the visual componant as well as the audio. I thought about getting a webcam but figured, if I get a camcorder I an lug it to sessions and stuff as well.
I play the flute and my twin sister plays the fiddle and when we use my dad's old cam it sounds screechy.
Can any of you help me out?
Thanks so much,
Chelsie
One thought (from someone who has three camcorders of different sizes) is that the smaller ones can be really great for filming in sessions as they don't intrude - but if you want to be doing videos of technique (presumably with good audio and good editing) then you're probably likely to want to spend quite a bit more, on a machine with manual audio level controls and external audio inputs (or record separately on another machine and sync together afterwards in the editing). The general rule for reasonably serious video is that the camcorder should be about 1/3 your budget, with the rest in lighting and a decent microphone. But it depends how far you want to go with this and how much you want to spend, so it's difficult to give you an answer.
Thanks Mark, I would like to spend a pretty small amount at the time being, I am a little short on funds. If I could stay at the $1000 or less range, it would be best. Thanks!
Well, a really good way of doing it - although a bit more work for you - would be to get a relatively small camcorder (Sonys are excellent, I think) for general use in sessions and use just the video and audio from that. For your lessons, you could also buy a digital audio recorder (there are plenty of suggestions elsewhere from people who've used the diffferent ones available) and then you could use the audio from the audio recorder as a potentially better way of recording the audio for your more serious job of doing lessons, where good audio really matters. This does mean more editing as you have to put the pictures and audio back together, but it's a cheaper way of doing it than buying an expensive camcorder (by a long way!) - all the camcorders with good audio are REALLY expensive.
My small Sony is excellent and cost (UK) about £190 on Ebay - my really excellent Canon with the good audio was £2200. Hence you might be better off buying a separate audio recorder for the audio - although it's a lot more hassle.
Other people may have different suggestions - which is the great thing about this board!
as mark suggests, this is a video question really, you would do well to look at the links he posted.
you need something that will take an external line/mic audio input. this way you can stick a mic anywhere and wire it to your camera.
on-camera mics are usually not great, and pick up noise from the cameras workings
if you want to shoot sessions/groups, you need to budget for a wide angle adapter-most camcorders are too narrow for indoor group shots.
if you have little money, are just producing web content, and will only be recording a few minutes at a time, i would suggest buying a digital stills camera that also records video.
digital stiils cameras usually have a wide lens (i would recommend a zeiss or leica lens) , and the quality these days is more than ample for the web.
with the money youve saved, you could record the audio with something like a zoom h2 (a high quality stereo field recorder), and sync the 2 together afterwards.
there are free software tools that allow you to do basic audio and video editing.
this is only viable if you have some method in your approach; otherwise you will end up spending alot of time working out which clips go with each other.
If you are on a tight budget, and don't want to get into a lot of technical stuff, you can make YouTube clips with just a digital snapshot camera. I have made a bunch of them (why not, it's free, and I'm too old be embarrassed anymore).
But as others have said, for better-quality sound and video, you need a camcorder and a decent microphone. If you check out some of my pub-gig clips (see my bio for the link) the limitations of the snapshot camera's internal microphone will be stunningly obvious--crowd noise predominates, in a big way.
Try the Flip Video Ultra - it takes YouTube quality videos with very good audio quality. After you take the video, all you need to do is plug the flip-out USB connector to your computer and download. Couldn't be simpler.
I'm afraid I only have a PC so don't know the answer. Have you tried an online search for the answer - as I'm sure others will have had similar issues - I never got round to using macs as I learnt too much about Windows from forever repairing my PC!
I forgot to say, Irishflutegirl, that some camcorders have an external mic input. It's worth checking but of those that do, almost none of them will have manual level control for the audio - hence suggesting you get a separate audio recorder. If it has built-in mics you will save that issue - also with memory card recording on the audio recorder, there will be no noisy tape drive getting onto the audio (unlike with the built-in mics on a camcorder).
I like the "Flip" suggestion - haven't seen one of those!
Ptarmigan - if the handycam has a firewire connector, you should be able to just plug it into the mac and import movies to iMovie for editing. iMovie then sends the results to iDVD for menu making and burning.
Camcorders and recording ITM
Camcorders and recording ITM
Hey, I am new here and thought I'd summon up the courage to ask a question, though it is not exactly exclusive to ITM.
I have been requested many times over to start a youtube channel with some of my favorite tunes and some of my best friends also playing ITM. I have been wanting to buy a camcorder for a while and figured that I might as well get one that is good for recording audio. Do any of you have any suggestions? I want to get something that isn't a piece of junk, that I can make good recordings on. I have some tunes that I want to teach to people as well as techniques so i need the visual componant as well as the audio. I thought about getting a webcam but figured, if I get a camcorder I an lug it to sessions and stuff as well.
I play the flute and my twin sister plays the fiddle and when we use my dad's old cam it sounds screechy.
Can any of you help me out?
Thanks so much,
Chelsie
# Posted on August 26th 2008 by irishflutegirl
Re: Camcorders and recording ITM
One thought (from someone who has three camcorders of different sizes) is that the smaller ones can be really great for filming in sessions as they don't intrude - but if you want to be doing videos of technique (presumably with good audio and good editing) then you're probably likely to want to spend quite a bit more, on a machine with manual audio level controls and external audio inputs (or record separately on another machine and sync together afterwards in the editing). The general rule for reasonably serious video is that the camcorder should be about 1/3 your budget, with the rest in lighting and a decent microphone. But it depends how far you want to go with this and how much you want to spend, so it's difficult to give you an answer.
# Posted on August 26th 2008 by Mark Harmer
Re: Camcorders and recording ITM
Also try http://www.dvinfo.net and their forums at http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/ - a really good source of advice. And welcome to the yellow board!
# Posted on August 26th 2008 by Mark Harmer
Re: Camcorders and recording ITM
Thanks Mark, I would like to spend a pretty small amount at the time being, I am a little short on funds. If I could stay at the $1000 or less range, it would be best. Thanks!
# Posted on August 27th 2008 by irishflutegirl
Re: Camcorders and recording ITM
Well, a really good way of doing it - although a bit more work for you - would be to get a relatively small camcorder (Sonys are excellent, I think) for general use in sessions and use just the video and audio from that. For your lessons, you could also buy a digital audio recorder (there are plenty of suggestions elsewhere from people who've used the diffferent ones available) and then you could use the audio from the audio recorder as a potentially better way of recording the audio for your more serious job of doing lessons, where good audio really matters. This does mean more editing as you have to put the pictures and audio back together, but it's a cheaper way of doing it than buying an expensive camcorder (by a long way!) - all the camcorders with good audio are REALLY expensive.
My small Sony is excellent and cost (UK) about £190 on Ebay - my really excellent Canon with the good audio was £2200. Hence you might be better off buying a separate audio recorder for the audio - although it's a lot more hassle.
Other people may have different suggestions - which is the great thing about this board!
PS I used my ebay cheapie and a separate, very old DAT recorder to do this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LvgtAHV4mzw - the equipment really didn't cost much!
# Posted on August 27th 2008 by Mark Harmer
Re: Camcorders and recording ITM
as mark suggests, this is a video question really, you would do well to look at the links he posted.
you need something that will take an external line/mic audio input. this way you can stick a mic anywhere and wire it to your camera.
on-camera mics are usually not great, and pick up noise from the cameras workings
if you want to shoot sessions/groups, you need to budget for a wide angle adapter-most camcorders are too narrow for indoor group shots.
if you have little money, are just producing web content, and will only be recording a few minutes at a time, i would suggest buying a digital stills camera that also records video.
digital stiils cameras usually have a wide lens (i would recommend a zeiss or leica lens) , and the quality these days is more than ample for the web.
with the money youve saved, you could record the audio with something like a zoom h2 (a high quality stereo field recorder), and sync the 2 together afterwards.
there are free software tools that allow you to do basic audio and video editing.
this is only viable if you have some method in your approach; otherwise you will end up spending alot of time working out which clips go with each other.
clap your hands
# Posted on August 27th 2008 by knucklehead
Re: Camcorders and recording ITM
that should be...
clap your hands at the start of a recording to sync the 2 recordings together
# Posted on August 27th 2008 by knucklehead
Re: Camcorders and recording ITM
If you are on a tight budget, and don't want to get into a lot of technical stuff, you can make YouTube clips with just a digital snapshot camera. I have made a bunch of them (why not, it's free, and I'm too old be embarrassed anymore).
But as others have said, for better-quality sound and video, you need a camcorder and a decent microphone. If you check out some of my pub-gig clips (see my bio for the link) the limitations of the snapshot camera's internal microphone will be stunningly obvious--crowd noise predominates, in a big way.
# Posted on August 27th 2008 by John Galt
Re: Camcorders and recording ITM
Try the Flip Video Ultra - it takes YouTube quality videos with very good audio quality. After you take the video, all you need to do is plug the flip-out USB connector to your computer and download. Couldn't be simpler.
# Posted on August 27th 2008 by plunk111
Re: Camcorders and recording ITM
Mark, I bought a Sony 'Handycam' recently, but the software that came with it is for PC only!
So I have only been able to watch my DVDs on my Mac.
As far as I can see, I am unable to download them onto the Mac, into iDVD.
Am I correct, or is it possible to download them?
Cheers
# Posted on August 27th 2008 by Ptarmigan
Re: Camcorders and recording ITM
Hi Ptarmigan,
I'm afraid I only have a PC so don't know the answer. Have you tried an online search for the answer - as I'm sure others will have had similar issues - I never got round to using macs as I learnt too much about Windows from forever repairing my PC!
I forgot to say, Irishflutegirl, that some camcorders have an external mic input. It's worth checking but of those that do, almost none of them will have manual level control for the audio - hence suggesting you get a separate audio recorder. If it has built-in mics you will save that issue - also with memory card recording on the audio recorder, there will be no noisy tape drive getting onto the audio (unlike with the built-in mics on a camcorder).
I like the "Flip" suggestion - haven't seen one of those!
# Posted on August 27th 2008 by Mark Harmer
Re: Camcorders and recording ITM
Ptarmigan - if the handycam has a firewire connector, you should be able to just plug it into the mac and import movies to iMovie for editing. iMovie then sends the results to iDVD for menu making and burning.
# Posted on September 9th 2008 by Wurzel