Instruction manual
How to record better video
One reason why professional video looks better than amateur footage is that the
experts prepare before they press the record button. Try to plan a shot first rather
than simply hitting‘record’ and hoping for the best
CONSIDER COMPOSITION
Try to keep your subject away from the
edges of your frame — in other words,
away from the edges of your view on the
LCD screen or through the viewfinder.
On the other hand, a subject in the
centre of the frame can be uninteresting. A
little to the left or right of centre usually
makes for the best composition. Also, if
you’re filming a person, it looks nicer if
they are looking inwards (ie towards the
centre of the frame), especially when
they’re walking.
DON’T ZOOM TOO MUCH
Zooming in and out excessively can annoy
viewers or even make them dizzy. It also
looks unprofessional: in films and TV
programmes, you’ll notice that there’s
normally very little or no zooming. Before
you start recording, consider where you
will stand, set the lens at the appropriate
zoom position, and then hit record.
PANNING TECHNIQUES
Try not to pan too much, as it’s not easy
on the eye. Even worse, panning from
left to right and then immediately from
right to left will make your viewers
seasick. Smooth, infrequent panning
works best.
FILMING MOVING SUBJECTS
When filming moving subjects, try to end
each scene on a still shot. In other words,
record a little bit of footage where there’s
no movement at all. If your film repeatedly
cuts from moving subject to another
moving subject without a break, your
viewers will get dizzy.
For example, if you pan the camcorder
to follow a fast-moving car, ideally finish
the scene by filming the empty road that
the car has left behind, just for a moment
or two, before recording your next fast-
moving car in the next scene.
SOUND
If it’s important to pick up someone’s
voice, stand as close to them as possible.
This is especially important where there
might be lots of background noise, like a
busy street.
There are added dangers in recording
the wrong thing. At a wedding, you might
be filming the best man’s speech with
zoom from 15 metres away and end up
recording the voice of someone one
metre away from you criticising the
bride’s outfit.
Many built-in microphones can be set
so that they operate in conjunction with
the optical zoom. The more you zoom in,
the more the microphone zooms in to pick
up more distant sound.
FILMING IN LOW LIGHT
A dimly-lit room filled with candles, fairy
lights or soft electric lighting can be a
strain for many camcorders. If increasing
the light in the room isn’t an option, try
using manual exposure to increase
brightness. Or experiment with the night
mode, video lamp or gain features (see
‘What you should look for’, p19).
SCENE MODES
Many new camcorders have scene modes
which, when selected, automatically adjust
the camcorder’s settings to get the best
results from certain conditions. On some
models these include, for example, settings
for fireworks and candlelight — especially
handy around Diwali, for example.
Zooming
in and
out too
much can
annoy
viewers
CAMCORDERS
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Editing your videos
Step-by-step guides to help you make the best of your recordings
A camcorder is great for capturing
precious memories, whether it’s a party,
festival or sports event.
Sometimes, however, your footage
may be too long, or include sections you’d
rather cut. You might also like to add
special effects to your videos, like
transitions between scenes, titles and text,
soundtracks and narratives, and alter
colours and brightness.
You can also burn your footage to a
DVD, complete with a menu, for viewing
on TV and long-term storage, or for
sending to friends and family.
Editing video really is versatile.
Basic video-editing software is often
pre-installed on a new computer, or
is supplied with your camera or
camcorder.
Windows Vista comes with Windows
Movie Maker, for example. This offers
most of the common functions but, if you
want something with more features, you
can buy a more advanced software
package — Adobe Premiere Elements
(Rs7,000) is one good option.
To edit your video, you’ll need to transfer your footage to your
computer. Here we show you how to do this using Windows
Movie Maker on Windows Vista — a free but powerful package.
In some cases you may be required to use the software
provided with your camcorder, but the instructions will be
similar.
Make sure that your video-editing software can accept the
file format that your camcorder records (eg Mpeg-2, AVCHD).
Also, make sure that your computer is powerful enough to
run video-editing software, especially when dealing with HD
video. Check the specifications and system requirements of the
software. Most camcorders come with a CD of video-editing
software — this will be compatible with your footage.
Tip With every major change that you make, save a copy of
your project so you don’t lose it. (See p29)
Connect your camcorder to your computer with a USB or
FireWire cable.
Turn on your camcorder and set it to playback mode.
A box titled Autoplay will appear. Click Import video.
Choose where you want to save your video file from the
Import to list.
In the Format list, choose which video file format you want
your video to be saved as. If you want to create one file
from your video, select Windows Media File (single file).
Click Next.
Click Import the entire videotape to my computer.
Click Next.
If you want to stop importing video before the end of the
tape, click Stop and then Yes.
Click Finish. Your video has now been converted into a
video file that you can edit.
HOW TO UPLOAD VIDEO