How do you make uke videos?

Okay....so I'm technologically challenged.

I don't know how everyone is producing the videos I'm seeing on You Tube and UU. Are they done on laptops? Are they shot with video cameras, or web cams? Some seem to use separate mikes, and some don't. How are the graphics edited in (song titles, etc.)

I have no video equipment. No video camera, no web cam, no microphone, no nothin'....

What do I need? What hardware? What software? Is this stuff tough to learn? (if so I'm sunk)

Good question. I have this el cheapo $45 digital underwater video camera that records only in mono, you Ex-spurts think it'll do for now? Don't want the camera to make me look and sound any worse than I already am.
Here's a sample of underwater footage I took recently. I wonder if that camera noise will drown out my uke and voice?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qTJMq1A0tMs

I there a decent video editing freeware available?

Macbooks come with a webcam & iMovie.. no additional software or hardware required.

Windows has Windows Movie Maker already installed i think,
maybe you just need a webcam & a mic?

Ahnko Honu said:

Good question. I have this el cheapo $45 digital underwater video camera that records only in mono, you Ex-spurts think it'll do for now? Don't want the camera to make me look and sound any worse than I already am.
Here's a sample of underwater footage I took recently. I wonder if that camera noise will drown out my uke and voice?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qTJMq1A0tMs

I there a decent video editing freeware available?

Click to expand...

You reefer you

And i usually justuse the webcam that come with my macbook and iMovie

MACBOOK with my WEBCAM and MIC that is on my MACBOOK.. and then i use garage band and imovie that came with my MACBOOK... holler for MACBOOK!

I've a PC laptop. Bought a $50 Webcam new. Found an old Sony electret condenser mic in a thrift store for $4. (The Webcams don't seem to have very good mics.) Made a few vids with Windows Movie Maker (which comes with PCs), then bought Adobe's Premiere Elements. Both programs allow you to add titles and such.

I was able to put together a basic UT vid after a day or so's struggling.

You can also buy a digital camera and tripod, as the camera mic is usually good enough for making uke videos. It's what I use.

As for video editing, Windows Movie Maker is the only decent free editing software for PC (but on a Mac, look no further than iMovie). If you are looking to spend money on a good program, I would recommend Pinnacle Studio 12 or Cyberlink PowerDirector. DO NOT, under any circumstances, buy Sony Vegas. It is the single most confusing program known to mankind. I made that mistake...

my first videos are made with my mobile phone...
Now I have a digital camera and for recording a tascam dp004 portastudio or something... quality is a lot better.
Well the playing is still the same of course.

I've kind of hit the same wall, only I've got a modest bit of technological literacy... I don't know if this will help you, but here's what I do.

I don't have iMovie... my iBook is so old it's made of sticks and rocks, and when you buy Tiger separately it doesn't come with iMovie (much to my recent dismay).

I have Ubuntu installed on my wife's computer, and on it I use Adivemux which can be installed from Ubuntu's "Add/Remove Software" app.

I recently installed Cinelerra (which requires you to add repositories... spend some time researching before you try it if you don't know what I'm talking about), but as of now I have no idea how to use it... it's apparently professional-grade software, but it's open source.

Hopefully soon I'll work out recording multiple video tracks and switching between them so I can do overdub orchestra stuff the way I want to do it...

Is that easy in iMovie? Maybe I should start saving my pennies...

I'm in the wrong profession... they aren't paying me enough. :wallbash:

For recording, I have a Sony DSC-H3 that I usually put on a tiny tripod in my bathroom since it has good acoustics and a cool shower curtain

what you need is a best friend who will let you borrow his Sony HDD handcam with 60 gb harddrive (about 700 bucks) in exchange for the ocassional six pack of beer... thats what i use. As far as editing software i use something called power director...but imovie or things of that nature are just a good...the simple "home movie" style programs only take a few hours to get fully used to, not tough at all....the professional grade stuff is a different story.

Cool! Ten replies! I wonder why I didn't get any e-mail notifications on this thread like I have on others? Oh, well.

It looks like most of you use Macs for your uke videos....I have a PC. I'll have to check if it has any movie-oriented software on it. I have no web cam and no video camera. Now I just have to figure out which would be a better investment.

Hey! Wait a minute! How the heck am I going to reconcile this with my raging case of UAS?! Spend extra $$ on something other than more ukes? I don't know.....

I think the question some of us should be asking is "How can I stop making ukulele videos?"

mctrmt said:

I think the question some of us should be asking is "How can I stop making ukulele videos?"

Click to expand...

:biglaugh:

Yeah, if you think UAS is bad, wait until you come down with YTVUS (YouTube Video Uploading Syndrome)

JJ

mctrmt said:

I think the question some of us should be asking is "How can I stop making ukulele videos?"

Click to expand...

Thats easy, I switch to making banjo videos.

I have what I suppose is now an old Sony Cybershot DSC-W50 digital camera that together with a 4GB memorystick and a surprisingly good on board mic lets me do about 2.5 hours of video.

I also have a Snoball USB microphone that I plug into my laptop. I use Audacity(free open source) for audio, multitracking and what-not.

Microsoft movie maker is simple and basic. If all you want is to trim the video and add titles, it will get you there.

The company Goldwave makes a video program called "Multiquence" which I have used a lot in the past. Its a bit more complex, but allows you to do basic chromakey and split screen. Unless they have changed marketing, you can download the program, fully functional, for free. It puts a water mark on your video, but other than that, its complete. Purchase removes the mark. When I bought mine, the price was around $50. This was made with Multiquence and shows the watermark.

I save up my more complicated videos, ones I can't work out how to do on the cheap, and then I download the trial version of Adobe Premiere. Thirty day free trial, fully functional. Its the most professional program I have worked with. If I had $800 to part with, I would buy it.

Lately I have been using Sony Vegas. I got it on the cheap at one of the big box stores. Its somewhere in the middle. Upto four video tracks, a number of filters and effects, chromakey, but still fairly easy to work with.

How that for TMI? There is also a free program called Jashaka that sounds like it will do a lot of complex cool editing, but I have had limited success making it work, and it is the most unfriendly editor I have worked with.

i used to use a sony w50 but that broke on me because of too much clubbing stress on the camera. lol people kept dropping it. i then bought a w-55. the camera has pretty good recording capabilities and like yopparai stated, "supprisingly good onboard mic."