Tutorials & Tips for a Newbie?

[Shawn Storm]

Hi Folks,

I just got my GH1 this past week and I am still getting used to it. I am currently focusing on the photography side of things, but sometime soon would like to start exploring Video more. I have always wanted to make films and I am excited to get started in that direction with the GH1. I have used basic DV Cams in the past, but never seriously and I am definitely a novice.

So anyways, I obviously will have lots of questions in my learning process and I would prefer to not bore the people in this forum with simple questions. Can anyone direct me to some links where I can learn basic->intermediate information that is specific to the GH1 or that would be helpful in learning to do video with the GH1? I have seen tons of tips and info in various forums, but it sure would be nice if someone compiled all that info into a tutorial that a novice could understand and learn from. I am definitely planning on getting some intro to Digital Video books, etc.

Thanks much,
-shawn-

 

[Brasilian]

Thanks for asking that for all of us who are "new to the game." I asked a simple question a couple of days ago without a reply. It may have been so simple that it was annoying to those who are way ahead of us. I think you may have to dig in and "pay your dues" reading and learning as you go. Definately alot of great knowledge to sort through.

 

[Ozpeter]

The "Temp FAQ" sticky at the top of the forum is probably the best that there is for now. Other than that, you simply have to look for useful-looking threads, avoiding those about where to find the GH1 in the shops, 'cos on the whole they won't help!

Google for "film look" and you'll find loads of advice on making video look more like film.

There are some post-production hints and tips in the "GH1 workflow" forum here.

Read the manual about ten times. Really. You'll glean something new each time.

Read the reviews online - some contain excellent advice as well as comment - search the forum for "review" to find them.

And of course there's a million books on film-making that Amazon would list.

I guess the absolute key thing to grasp at the outset is that in all modes other than Creative Motion Picture mode, the camera is on full or semi auto, and if you want to get beyond point-and-shoot, CMP mode is the one you must use.

 

[ustein]

What I learned during my first 5 weeks shooting video

What I learned during my first 5 weeks shooting video

You asked

What I learned during my first 5 weeks shooting video


Perspective

I approach video from a photographer’s perspective. This means I use the camera as a Combo Cam (here mainly the GH1) for both stills and video. Also I want to keep the equipment minimal in terms of weight and size.





Shooting

• Manual control (shutter, f-stop, ISO)
• Use a tripod. I shot a lot freehand in still photography but video requires most often a very steady shooting position (let the objects/subjects move and not so much the camera)
• You need a fluid head (still looking for the optimal in terms of smoothness, price, size and weight). You can shoot stills from a video head but no video from a ball head. I am still learning to get good pans and to know when I should not move the camera at all. If something moves in the frame the camera can stay still.
• Use a leveling base (video heads work only in pan and tilt)
• Get an ND filter to get shutter speeds down in bright light
• Settle for 720p or 1808p. I use 1080p because I love the detail.
• You need lenses with lower f-stops to shoot indoors. There are many adapters to use many different lenses in manual mode
• The GH1 is not always clean to follow focus with AF. This means manual focus is the best choice most of the time.

Story Telling

• Movies tell stories
• There are many ways to find your story.
• We (I work with my wife) approach scene we love (e.g. Monterey, Point Lobos, Oak Hills) and find material be walking the places and then combine our impressions into a short story (documentary)
• Different from stills also minor scenes can get integrated into a video. Also out of focus garbage is not always a problem (e.g. blurred grass in the foreground).
• You can find our beginner movies here: http://vimeo.com/6438725
• As said we are photographers and have higher artistic ambitions with our photographs than with video. We always learn as we go.


Computers

• If you don’t like computers video editing is likely not for you
• I use Macs and find this an excellent choice for video
• Video taxes even the fastest machine
• I have a 2 year old Mac Pro 8GB and 4 cores. Still not fast enough in some cases
• Your graphics card is important because some tools use the GPU for rendering. This means get the best if you can.


Codecs

• Learn about Codecs. Often the codec the camera uses is not the best for editing (e.g. GH1 AVCHD)

Preparing the footage from camera

• We copy the AVCHD as is from the SDHC card to our machine
• Transcode the AVCHD MTS files to a file format (codec) that is easier to edit (we use Neoscene for this)
• Preview the converted clips in Quicktime
• We already trim the clips we like to the rough content that we may use (in Quicktime Pro)

Editing your video (Mac only here)

• iMovie is a very nice tool. But if you are into movie making for the long run it is too limiting
• Adobe Premiere Pro can likely do all you need
• Still we settled with Final Cut Studio (includes Final Cut 7). Daunting at first but we feel that the learning investment will pay off in the long run. Right now we are still an early beginner in FCP but we are at a level that it is fun to use.

Presentation

• Show your work at Vimeo, YouTube of SmugMug


Data Organization

• Here is a lot to learn and we may cover this later

Uwe Steinmueller

http://www.outbackphoto.com/