Video Making

Poll
Due to a lot of debate and cross purposes, this has ground to a halt a bit. So we can figure out what we want could people please add there votes on the following.

Apparently polls are not active on out wiki, so please tally next to your answer.

What type of filming do you want to do?

 * Streaming
 * Quick project videos
 * Edited project videos
 * Non-hackspace videos (music etc)
 * Professional grade videos
 * other

What level of kit would you consider sufficient?

 * Webcam
 * Mobile phone
 * Analog handheld
 * Digital hanheld
 * Professional Grade
 * Commercial Grade

How much are you willing to contribute towards kit? (Dependent on kit, obviously)

 * £0
 * £0-20
 * £20-50
 * £50-100
 * £100-300
 * £300+

Introduction
This page is for discussing the ins and outs of making good quality videos about projects and the space. The aim is to cover all aspects from planning to deployment, and so make it easy to produce high quality videos and get them out to the world.

Shopping List
This is a list of things we 'need'. It's based of my personal opinion on the matter right now, so if people want to improve on it, I will take no offence. Also if anyone is willing to donate something similar, it would be gratefully received.

Cameras
Panasonic HDC-SD60 a 1080/50i camera with 25x zoom and built in stabilisation and LED lighting. About £100-150 on ebay.

Microscope Camera [http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Big-Promotion-500X-USB-Digital-Microscope-Endoscope-Magnifier-Camera-2-0MP-With-8-LED-USB-Microscpoe/720738465.html General Macro Stills USB camera. £17]

Inspection Camera/Endoscope 720x30fps, 2m length, usb, £15

Support
Tripod : Carboot, Fleabay, etc £5-10?

T-Bar Lighting Stand : Ebay Special £22.99

Lighting
Camera Mounted

Floodlighting: Build our own from 12V LED strips?

Microphones
Useful, but not initially required. (Depends on camera's sound quality)

A directional microphone £10

A couple of stick microphones £11 ea

A couple of tie microphones £20 ea

A couple of digital recorders £21

Computer
A Mac with relevant software.

SD card reader

External HDD storage/Backup

Monitor with good colour quality.

2x Can type headphones.

Equipment
Before we can start making videos, we need to sort out some kit. Right now people are using mobile phones and laptops as camera. This works but gives a low quality end result. What we need to do is put together a 'standard' kit of stuff to make videos at the space with. Preferably this should be semi-portable, allowing use around the space and remote projects etc.

To this end we need to sort out the following

Primary
Camera wise we need at least 1 good quality camera, capable of 1080p video. The camera should also have decent optics and a decent sized CCD. A good SLR camera would fit the bill nicely.

If we can get hold of a Canon camera, we can make use of the Canon Hack Development Kit. This allows a lot more in the way of advanced stuff on the camera, including the use of zebra markings etc, the running of custom scripts, and adjusting the compression settings on the camera.

Support
Beyond the main camera, we will want some specialist cameras.

A microscope camera, for showing Very small stuff.

A macro camera, for closeups of workpeices without having to constantly move the primary camera.

An Action camera, for dynamic shots (GoPro etc).

Mountings
As well as the obvious cameras, we need to sort proper mountings for them. Some of these are obvious, others are more spacialist.

The main thing we need are some tripods. A floor and a table type will be fine initially, though we will want to source a proper video on when we can (makes panning and tilting a lot smoother and neater).

Stablised mount
A SteadyCam type mount would also be VERY useful. They are not that hard to make, and while lacking some of the features of the more advanced versions, produce very good results.

Something like this would be a good start. The main points it needs are a good quality gimbal a decent handle, and counterweight.

For more details, see the project page at project/steadycam.

Lighting
In order to get good looking video, lighting is key. In order to get s good image, you need a lot of light from several directions. This increases the focal range available to the camera (reduces blurring due to depth), shortens the shutter speed (reducing blurring due to motion), and improves colour capture. Multiple light sources also reduce harsh shadows, making people and objects easier to see and look better.

Colour wise, we should try and keep our lighting colour consistent. This makes it a LOT neater when you cut between shots. 5500K is best if we want to work both indoor and out, though 3200K could also be used if we limit ourselves to indoor (5500K is daylight-like, 3200K is incandescent, indoor lighting). Cutting between both tends to require a lot more effort to make look good.

To this end we need preferable 3 good light sources with diffusers, preferably camera type lighting, rather than spotlights. If we can buy/source/build a system that can run of 12V, even better. We either need to get free standing lights, or build stands for them.

see also: 3 Point Lighting

Sound
This is that most often lets videos down. We need to get some high quality microphones, since this will massively improve the quality of the end video. It is also worth trying to source several different types of microphone.

Handheld Microphone (2x ?) - These give the best sound quality for interviews etc, though they can be distracting.

Tie Clip Microphone (3x ?) - These give good quality sound while being unobtrusive. They do require some practice to use properly though.

Boom Microphone (aka ferrets)(1x ?) - These are the best for use in a quiet area, and give the most human like capture of sound. They tend to be expensive though and dont work well with a lot of background noise.

Depending on the final setup we will also need some sound recording/mixing equipment. With a single mic, the camera will be able to do this, for several, or were we need good quality sound, a dedicated recorder will be required.

We may also need a clapper board. :) (if not for sound then at least for fun!).

Storage
Preferably we want to work with SD cards, unless we can source a camera with significantly better quality to justify the change. We also need to make sure we get fast enough cards, since this is often a bottle neck on quality. Beyond that, bigger is generally better, so long as the camera can handle it.

Work computer
Once we have the footage we need a system to edit and work on it from. In this area Macs still seem to excel, and I know several people have useful knowledge or software on this front. We hopefully want to roll this all into 1 permanent workstation in the space, though it might work out easier to have a workstation and a server.

On top of the hardware requirements, a good set of speakers and a couple of decent headphones will be required, as well as a monitor with good quality colour reproduction.

Technical Guide
As the kit comes together, this area will be used for a how-to on using the various bits of equipment to produce a good quality end product.

Editing Guide
This area will discuss how to edit your video to bring all the elements together. As well as how to use CGI type elements.

Uploading and Advertising
This section is for a guide to uploading, and how to maximise the exposure your video gets. (Preferably without annoying too many people! ;)

Structure Guide
This area is for a guide to creating a good video from a watchers perspective. There are far too many videos about where the technical stuff is great, but the compilation, or layout makes is painful to watch.