Smartphone editing software + budget equipment advice

Regnis

Regnis

Active member
Hi guys,

I have a friend who runs a gym (crossfit) and is wanting to make videos of people working out, testimonials, nutritional advice. Issue is that he is on a relatively tight budget and has little computer knowledge (using or buying).

With a budget of $600 and little computer knowledge I have suggested that he makes the videos on his phone (shoot and edit) and invest in a phone stabiliser and decent microphone.

Videos will be uploaded to instagram and facebook

Therefore I need advice on:
- phone stabiliser sub $300
- decent microphone that works with android phone
- in phone android editing software (relatively user friendly)

Any help would be massively appreciated.
 
So you advice someone to promote his business using video to do it all by himself while he does not know diddly-squat about it?

I would suggest getting someone to do it who knows what he is doing to budget out a plan for $600.
 
Thanks Greg.

Cheers for your assistance Cary. Not.
As part of the new gym age there is a need for constant content uploads. He will be doing a couple of videos a week. It is impossible for anyone to conduct this work for $600 total, hence the reason I've asked for some advice here. I've done a number of videos for him in return for personal training but cannot keep up with the amount that he is after.
 
Regnis said:
It is impossible for anyone to conduct this work for $600 total, hence the reason I've asked for some advice here. I've done a number of videos for him in return for personal training but cannot keep up with the amount that he is after.
Click to expand...
I suppose we have to agree to disagree about the advice to promote a professional business by making do-it-yourself knowing diddly-squat cell phone video productions.
 
Regnis said:
Hi guys,

I have a friend who runs a gym (crossfit) and is wanting to make videos of people working out, testimonials, nutritional advice. Issue is that he is on a relatively tight budget and has little computer knowledge (using or buying).

With a budget of $600 and little computer knowledge I have suggested that he makes the videos on his phone (shoot and edit) and invest in a phone stabiliser and decent microphone.

Videos will be uploaded to instagram and facebook

Therefore I need advice on:
- phone stabiliser sub $300
- decent microphone that works with android phone
- in phone android editing software (relatively user friendly)

Any help would be massively appreciated.
Click to expand...

- Here is a link to most phone gimbals made on the planet for less than $300 (the link is already configured for you):

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/sear...ci=28767&srtclk=sort&N=3717223530+3738443539&

In this case with such a lightweight device, you can easily find an amazing one for less than $100 like the Feiyu G4 Pro (used to be more expensive), which I have personally used:

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1274377-REG/feiyu_fyg4pro_g4_pro_3axis_handheld.html

There are better ones on that list though.

- Popular mic for phones:

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1186598-REG/rode_videomic_me_directional_mic.html

Also consider a lav for better audio (tutorials): https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1059342-REG/rode_smartlav_smart_lav_lav_mic_for.html

Both can be used with an app.

- Really can't recommend editing on a phone or iPad so I don't have any thoughts on this one...but a used, cheap Mac with iMovie would be my choice, which can be found for a few hundred these days. The investment will be worth it. If Windows is a must, I'd probably go with Movie Maker as mentioned above.

---

Cary Knoop said:
I suppose we have to agree to disagree about the advice to promote a professional business by making do-it-yourself knowing diddly-squat cell phone video productions.
Click to expand...

It's a different world...many body builders and fitness personalities on YouTube film their content (v-logs, exercises, skits, etc) on phones and have millions of subscribers.

The target audience doesn't care about the quality; they just want information and/or entertainment.
 
NorBro said:
It's a different world...many body builders and fitness personalities on YouTube film their content (v-logs, exercises, skits, etc) on phones and have millions of subscribers.

The target audience doesn't care about the quality; they just want information and/or entertainment.
Click to expand...

This is our new reality. How does a video shot vertically in crappy light with no sound support get a million hits while one that is professionally-produced get a couple hundred? Relevance.

There are still plenty of reasons to have something done by a professional, but vlog-style content is not one of them. Coaching a business to improve their vlog content is actually a great thing to do... makes the content a little more watchable for the audience. They’re going to do it on their own anyway, so why not help them do it better?
 
ha, yea...famous YouTube personalities are already offering programs/courses on how to become a YouTube star (aka how to make professional vlogs/YT videos):

Ironically, I'm pretty sure his intro video was shot with a RED (they use that company a lot for other productions):

https://www2.edfluence.com/vip/roadmap/
 
Editing on a tablet is much nicer than on a phone, but harder to shoot with the tablet.

A phone that can record to an SD card is nice, then you can move to a computer more easily. I also suggest eventually moving to something like filmic pro for the recording app, gives you better control over the camera functions and is still pretty cheap.

A wireless would be nice, not sure how well the cheap ones work.
 
Once we start thinking about shooting to a micro SD card on a cellphone to then edit later on a PC.....

Might as well then use a Sony RX100 or a Panasonic FZ1000 or similar to shoot with instead of a cellphone?!

Actually a Panasonic FZ1000 would be pretty nifty, has a fairly "large" 1 inch sensor, a massive zoom range with the lens it comes built in with (25 to 400mm), 4K capable, and can be picked up secondhand for only a little over US$400
 
Not sure how it is with Androids, but with iPhones you'd AirDrop all of the files from the phone to the computer, or at least plug in the USB/charger and drag and drop them onto your desktop.

One thing I forgot to mention before is that I think one other major reason a phone is preferred in this case is because of Instagram. The last I checked (a month ago), you still weren't able to upload videos from your computer on IG (at least from a Mac).

[Not sure if any third-party software is available to assist with this.]
 
Having it record to a card is still a good thing, how much does a phone with 128GB of storage cost? The last time I bought a decent U3 class (v30 rated?) micro 128GB card it was around $50-$60. In a phone I would expect going from 64GB to 128GB would run you more than $100, and the span from a 32GB or 16GB phone is much larger. Wish Google phones came with an SD card slot, they run a very vanilla Android which is nice, things like Samsung put a lot of custom stuff in the OS that I don't like.
 
Cary Knoop said:
I suppose we have to agree to disagree about the advice to promote a professional business by making do-it-yourself knowing diddly-squat cell phone video productions.
Click to expand...

Its not about that at all. Professional fitness videos on a daily basis would require a full-time person on staff and thats just not going to happen. social media marketing is pretty hot right now and I have known fitness personalities that have gone from bankrupt eating ramen noodles to earning 1/2 million a year strictly on Youtube videos they have created themselves. Marketing in these situations is all about personality and technique and if the content jives with users they will eat it up even if it looks horrible. Eventually he will earn enough revenue to consider stepping up his game quality wise and either hire his friend more often for more paid content or hiring somebody full-time in house. This is how viral marketing works today and in no reality is a struggling fitness coach going to spend any money of video at this stage and realistically they shouldn't until they know they have a brand worth investing in. Everybody and their brother now wants to be a fitness personality and the field is getting crowded.

As for the OP being a good friend and helping him establish a brand and successful business might eventually lead to future video work for TV spots and more professional promos and/or paid content like a fitness program. Eventually he will want to step up his game and guess who he is going to think about calling. Sometimes you have to prime the pump.
 
On the one hand I see people on this forum complain about less work due to the do-it-yourself cutting corners attitude of businesses, and then I turn around and see people advising businesses on how to do-it-yourself and cut corners. And on top you get down votes for calling it out! Go figure!

And no I do not believe in the do it for free now or recommend cutting corners now with the idea of doing good work later.
 
Cary Knoop said:
On the one hand I see people on this forum complain about less work due to the do-it-yourself cutting corners attitude of businesses, and then I turn around and see people advising businesses on how to do-it-yourself and cut corners. And on top you get down votes for calling it out! Go figure!

And no I do not believe in the do it for free now or recommend cutting corners now with the idea of doing good work later.
Click to expand...

I think this is one of those situations where the friend wouldn't pay money for the work no matter what. He just doesn't have the budget. He could either be a jerk to his friend and withhold help to see if he can earn a few more bucks and potential lose a friend or he can help him out with the type of video that frankly most of us wouldn't want to do anyway. You hire a pro for vlogging type stuff and it will no longer seem personal or intimate like a vlog. Thats kind of the entire point of vlogging and I honestly wouldn't want to do that work every week even if I was getting paid. This type of work becomes a massive snooze fest time suck and it gets harder to take on more serious work.

As a software and web developer its the same concept as setting up clients with a CMS like Wordpress for their website. Sure on one hand I could earn $50 here and there to fix a type on a website but honestly my time is too important for that type of mindless content updating. I would rather save my hours during the week for more serious work vs babysitting the small stuff. Clients also don't have the budget to keep paying for this small stuff.

I doubt the OP friend plans on creating his own TV spots or paid content with his Android phone. He is likely looking at this as more of a Youtube, Facebook, and Instagram kind of marketing. I have a friend that did that type of work for a fitness personality for over a year and it burned him out and he got to the point where thats all he was doing. It became so mundane and he was happy when the relationship ended and he could move on to more creative work.
 
A vlog should be a vlog and any attempt to bring in a production crew for a vlog no longer makes it a vlog.

If anything I might suggest eventually telling the friend to upgrade to a real camera to increase the quality. Perhaps he can also do a few training sessions and get paid for it to try to teach his friend a little bit about video techniques that could help him. Other ways to earn money if thats even the aim from a friend. I have a friend that used to develop and produce live streaming events that is now a real-estate agent. He needed help to produce his own realists tae videos and I gave him the same type of advice so he could do the work himself. Sure I could have been an A hole and only helped him by paying me to do the videos but as much as I like to make money I also like to make friends. I would never in a million years touch what he wants to do with a ten foot pole so I was more than happy to help him with advice for gear and give him feedback on what he was creating. It took minutes of my time and I helped a friend in need. If I didn't help him he would have just went ahead and did the videos himself anyway and they would likely not look as good.

While he may not understand all the nuances of video and he keeps making mistakes he also applies a unique amount of creativity I would no longer apply if I was doing the videos for him. He developed his own persona and style that makes him stand out in a crowded market. If I did the videos they would look like every other real-estate video out there. Now he stands out and his clients love the brand he created.
 
I’ve been coaching a local non-profit in making their own regular vlogs for several months now. They still hire me to create short films for their larger image pieces. The vlog is going to be what it is, but they know the difference in quality and when it matters most.

But we’ve gone way off topic here.

Regnis, I do hope you’ll check back in and let us know which solutions you chose. I’m not much help when it comes to video editing on Android (lots of experience with iOS, though). Audio solutions really depend on how much cable they want running, and where. The RØDE SmartLav+ is fine, and has an available 20’ extension, but that means the person on camera is wired to the camera... not so great for gimbal use but fine for a locked shot.

As for gimbals, I’ve tried a few of the low-cost models for mobile devices. I ended up going with the Zhiyun Smooth-Q. It’s affordable, auto-balancing, and smooth.
 
I'll second the Smooth Q recommendation. No finicky operation. Put the camera on, quick balance, turn on power, and go.
 
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