new camcorder, now what?

[WayneBrown]

Went and bought a HDD camcorder, JVC GZ-MG21u.
20G HDD, 32x optical zoom.
So far it seems pretty cool, but I want to edit video I'll shoot this coming weekend at an event in Augusta, and I need HELP!
This will be two firsts in one, I've not used a camcorder other than Wills, and I can barely get the editor program opened (J/K).

This cam exports as MPEG 1 & 2, AVI, and the raw files are .MOD.
So far I know autofocus OFF, and let the cam determine the white balance and exposure rates what other short and dirty tips can you offer?
I know how to frame an object, most of what I'm looking for are the manual settings to be concerned the most with.
thanks guys.

[MLaBoyteaux]

Do you have a PC or a Mac? I use Canopus Edius and Adobe Premiere Pro 2.0 for video editing.

A lot of people also use Windows Movie Maker.

If you're shooting video "handheld", there's nothing wrong with leaving the autofocus on. Eventually, there'll be times you want to go manual, but for starting out, I'd leave it on. If this camera has some manual settings for color, tint, sharpness, etc, I'd go in and bump the color up a tad and maybe tweak the sharpness up a little.

Usually if I'm shooting helicopters flying, I'll set the exposure manually. I'll find a happy medium between pointing at the sky and camera level. The reason for this is to keep the auto-exposure from constantly trying to adjust for a bright sky and darker horizon. Usually, the camera will read the sky and the helicopter becomes a dark object, then when they drop below the treeline, the camera has to suddenly change the exposure. If you set it manually, it will prevent this. Your sky may be a little too bright (blown out) but overall it will look better than the exposure constantly shifting back and forth.

Another trick I use with my XL2 is to set a fast shutter speed (1/1500 or faster) when trying to video someone doing 3D. It really helps the autofocus track the helicopter because it reduces motion blur and there are enough sharp edges for the autofocus circuit to work. The problem with this is it will strobe the blades and make them appear to not be moving. A slower shutter speed will allow the blades to blur and create an appearance of a rotor disc, but for fast motion will cause the autofocus to have a harder time keeping the helicopter in focus.

When shooting someone flying, I find it works out better to back away from the flightline and zoom in to frame up the helicopter. This makes it easier to track the helicopter because you don't have to move the camera as much to keep up with the helicopter. If you stand next to the pilot, you're instinct will be to constantly zoom in and out and you'll be moving the camera nearly 180 degrees to track the heli from full right to left. If you back up some, then the arc you need to cover will be smaller.

Also, if there are some really good pilots, most likely they're going to make several flights. Try to focus on videoing the heli for a full flight, then the next time they fly, get close-up shots of them pitting the heli and starting it. Then get some close-ups of them flying (with their permission!). Neal down in front and get some shots of there facial expressions. Get behind them and get some shots of their hands on the transmitter. Stand behind them a few paces and get some footage of them standing and flying. Get a shot of them walking back with the heli.

Try to avoid constantly zooming in and out. There's nothing wrong with changing from a tight shot to a wider one while you're shooting, but when you're editing the clips, you'll use one of your close-up shots (say his face for example) to transition from a tight shot to a wide one.

When you get home, you can take these clips and put them together to tell a story. When done right, it'll look like you had a multiple camera shoot and that all the footage was from the same flight. The viewer doesn't have to know it was made up from shots of several flights :)

Another tip, ALWAYS leave yourself some lead-in and lead-out. What I mean is give yourself 5 seconds of footage at the beginning of a shot, and when you're done capturing the footage you want, ALWAYS keep the tape rolling for another 5 seconds or so. When you go to edit the clips together, you'll have plenty of footage for your transitions.

Another tip, say the pilot is walking back from the flightline with the heli after a flight. A good shot of this might be to frame him up from say 25' away and zoom in a little. Usually, you'll think you need to track him as he walks back to the pits. Try framing up the shot and holding it, let him walk towards you and then out of the frame. Give yourself 5 more seconds to hold that shot......

This will make a natural place to transition to another shot.

A lot of it is practice, practice, practice. Eventually you'll get to where everytime you watch a show on TV, you'll be looking at how they shot and edited the clips and how they did the lighting.

[WayneBrown]

That's great information, Thanks!
I'll be playing around with it over the next couple days to get a 'feel' for it, hopefully enough to have some good vid of the event.

[GGoodrum]

The only thing I would add to Mark's excellent suggestions is that I've found it is usually better to leave the AF off and manually set it to infinity, for any video of the helis actually flying. Once you are farther than about 30 feet away, it doesn't matter anyway. When it is 50-100 feet up, even zooming in so that the heli is full-frame, it will be fine.

I use Vegas Video (for PCs...), now from Sony, for editing. It is every bit as powerful as Premiere but a ton easier to use.

-- Gary

[WayneBrown]

the only 'mac' I get is at the drive thru.. :twisted:
Windows and Linux machines are what I have.

[MLaBoyteaux]

Yeah, for helis in action, manual focus would be better. If you loose track of the heli and are pointing at a clear blue sky, the autofocus will start going in and out and when you finally find the helicopter again, chances are the camera will be focused "near" and will take a few moments to re-focus on the heli. :oops:

At least you've got a couple of days to play with it and see what works for 'ya.

I've seen some really cool videos done in Vegas. There was an awesome promo someone did last year for Alan Szabo that looked like a movie trailer which I think was done with Vegas. I searched for it but it's not available anymore :(

[DebianDog]

Locking the exposure has hosed me in the past too.

Practice switching all the buttons without looking ;)