[samsamsam]

(08-26-2014 04:04 PM)DaveR Wrote:  

The lighting is much improved, but I see that your forehead is a bit over-exposed (too much light compared to other areas). A few ways to fix it:

- try to soften the light by putting a semi-transparent material between it and yourself.

Roosh, DaveR made some solid points. If you want to take the shine off you could use some diffusion. DIY selfers have used bed sheets or shower curtains to cut some light and make it less harsh. I am not sure where your light is coming from, is it from above? Or are you shining a light on yourself which is in front or to the side of you? It could be as simple as clipping some thin cloth around the light with some C47s (clothespins) and just make sure the material don't burn.

This thread covers inexpensive DIY light diffusion, seems like wax paper would work also.

http://www.dvinfo.net/forum/photon-manag...r-not.html

Quote:

Recently I was doing a shoot for a fellow who had NO budget. All he had for lighting were some Home Depot worklights, which were very bright and fairly even temperatured, but were prone to having hotspots at certain angles. In a rush in trying to make these lights work, I raided his kitchen and found good old fashioned cooking wax paper, which is probably what you're describing.

It did a tremendous job of diffusing the light, and is essentially heat resistant. There were occasions where the material made solid contact with the framing of the cheap lamps and started burning off the wax, but it definitely will not catch fire or do any actual damage to anything.

Best part is, it didn't reduce the brightness of the light too much. So would I use the wax paper again? Definitely. Will I ever shoot with Home Depot work lights? Heck no - but I had no choice in that shoot; the budget wasn't mine. But I learned something new about wax paper's uses, so it made the experience worthwhil

[Roosh]

Lighting is going to be the hardest problem to solve because I don't have space to travel with lighting equipment. I don't see how I can assemble a proper rig, and right now my best option to get proper light is to film in day light. Or use portable LEDs.

In the American Girls video, I used bright lighting from the ceiling, hence the forehead overexposure.

[DaveR]

Forgot to add: instead of using more lamps, you could also try using a reflector to brighten up the 'shadow' side of your face.

A reflector can be made by covering any flat object with aluminium foil. 2-3 feet wide should be enough, but a larger reflector will be easier to work with, because you won't need to be as accurate with the angle of reflection.

[DaveR]

(08-26-2014 05:39 PM)Roosh Wrote:  

Lighting is going to be the hardest problem to solve because I don't have space to travel with lighting equipment. I don't see how I can assemble a proper rig, and right now my best option to get proper light is to film in day light. Or use portable LEDs.

In that case, any household lights can be used in combination (bedside lights, floor-standing lights, permanent downlights in the ceiling, etc.). You may need to purchase some lamps to fit the task each time you relocate, but that shouldn't cost more than $5-10 in total. Chairs can be used as stands. Pro photographers have equipment made specifically for the task, but they need it mostly to save time. 90% of the result can be achieved using household lights.

If lighting turns out to be a hassle in the long-term you may be able to find some mechanic's work lamps, which are reasonably portable:

[Roosh]

(08-26-2014 05:51 PM)DaveR Wrote:  

Forgot to add: instead of using more lamps, you could also try using a reflector to brighten up the 'shadow' side of your face.

A reflector can be made by covering any flat object with aluminium foil. 2-3 feet wide should be enough, but a larger reflector will be easier to work with, because you won't need to be as accurate with the angle of reflection.

So if I'm using only ceiling lights, I would place the reflector underneath me on the floor in front, and angle it so the ceiling light bounces off it and up towards my face?

[kbell]

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controll...details&Q=

Reflectors might help with lighting too, you can bounce the available light and get a bit more fill in dark areas. You will probably need someone to hold it, but they would enjoy it. They would be easier to travel with.

[DaveR]

(08-26-2014 06:13 PM)Roosh Wrote:  

So if I'm using only ceiling lights, I would place the reflector underneath me on the floor in front, and angle it so the ceiling light bounces off it and up towards my face?

Exactly. So if the light is above and to the right of you, it will cast shadows on the lower left side of your face. You can use a reflector below and to the left of you to fill in those shadows. The following video demonstrates it pretty well. He's using a very soft light, which is why he has to get so close. With a normal household light it will be easier: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ov-CyVRIVCA

If you don't have someone to hold it, the reflector can be placed on a chair. I've found home-made reflectors are better to work with for that reason, because the ones from photography stores are usually round.

[Roosh]

Here's a great video I found which seems targeted for me:

Strong result off very little equipment.

[samsamsam]

You can also use China Balls - you just need something to hang them off of, but they are very cheap also and over diffused light. All sorts of stores sell china balls because of the lighting and decorative nature, so should be easy to find. These are very common items for lighting low budget projects.



This article covers interview lighting on the cheap. The pic above is form this article.

http://www.childrenofinternment.com/?p=42

You can also use reflector lights (or chicken warming lights).



I offer these ideas because I am not sure what stores are around you. But these items are common enough.

[Zep]

I was going to recommend the incredibly popular Zoom H4n earlier, but no Shotgun mic. I just visited their site, and now the H5 is coming out! ( which means aside from their great stereo mics, you can purchase a Shotgun mic on a capsule ) So, inside use a shotgun of course, outside, replace the capsule and go stereo to pickup environmental sound. The video is for the H6, but the technology is most probably identical for the H5 which is clearly designed for Video Bloggers who don't need the H6's amout of inputs.

This product is amazing. I've used one. Quiet, portable, and packed with usable features. The kid in this video is right, plugging a mic into a camera can introduce a lot of hiss if the DSLR's amps suck. Since the amps in the Zoom H5 are designed for their capsules....low hiss. Also, a 'dead cat' is way better than a foam cover for wind noise, foam covers tend to catch a low frequency rumble. I see dead cats all over the place when people are shooting.

p.s. those China Balls rock. I used one as a keylight. Needed a 200 watt bulb at least though. But, you can video at night with them.

[RexImperator]

Wow. The H5 looks quite impressive for the price.

[Roosh]

Low budget youtubing:



With this setup I still have many shadow issues, but it's slightly improved. I'm going to keep experimenting.

[Roosh]

(08-28-2014 07:22 AM)Zep Wrote:  

I was going to recommend the incredibly popular Zoom H4n earlier, but no Shotgun mic. I just visited their site, and now the H5 is coming out! ( which means aside from their great stereo mics, you can purchase a Shotgun mic on a capsule ) So, inside use a shotgun of course, outside, replace the capsule and go stereo to pickup environmental sound. The video is for the H6, but the technology is most probably identical for the H5 which is clearly designed for Video Bloggers who don't need the H6's amout of inputs.

This product is amazing. I've used one. Quiet, portable, and packed with usable features. The kid in this video is right, plugging a mic into a camera can introduce a lot of hiss if the DSLR's amps suck. Since the amps in the Zoom H5 are designed for their capsules....low hiss. Also, a 'dead cat' is way better than a foam cover for wind noise, foam covers tend to catch a low frequency rumble. I see dead cats all over the place when people are shooting.

p.s. those China Balls rock. I used one as a keylight. Needed a 200 watt bulb at least though. But, you can video at night with them.

This kid is like 10 years old!! *Takes notes*

[kbell]

Aluminum foil for reflectors, very cool idea! Along with a second light and window lighting you get your basic 3 point lighting. That could work. The lights in that one video looks pretty strong for the size.

[Zep]

(09-03-2014 08:50 PM)Roosh Wrote:  

This kid is like 10 years old!! *Takes notes*

I know ... threw me off initially, took a couple of minutes to get used to his age, but unlike so many other Vbloggers he demonstrates concisely what is going on with the product. Too many youtubers really like hearing themselves talk, this kid gets straight to the point and demonstrates just how directional a shotgun mic is.

If there was one editing skill I'd focus on for your videos it would be cropping. You can control the position of your body in relation to the surroundings with cropping. I'd include more torso, you look like your drowning a bit. Then crop the sides off if there's too much scene either side of you.

[Big Country]

It would be a good investment in any case to get a shotgun mic and a boom. For your videos indoors the audio quality will be similar, or even better than the Sony clip-on you are using, and it removes the mic from the picture. I don't know if your new Nikon has mounting points on the top of the camera, but seeing as you already have the Tascam you can buy a relatively inexpensive Rode on-camera mic that can double as a boom mic.

http://www.rodemic.com/microphones/videomicpro You can get it for around $200. There are packages that come with the boom pole, dead cat and extension cord for about $270.

If you ever want to broaden your videos to include outdoor interactions with the public, maybe calling out girls to come chat with you (they love the camera game), so long as you have two guys who can stand still, you can make close-to-professional segments with the camera you have and the boom mic.

Lighting is always going to be the most difficult thing to get right, but your thought to get LED lights is the right one. The good ones are, for me, prohibitively expensive. I would suggest renting lights but that may not be an option for you.

You can still make use of the Sony clip-on if you ever do 1-on-1 interviews or, if you do the random girl(s) on the street video with crew it can be your personal mic. (I'm assuming the Tascam has multiple channels) As you said in your audio comparison video you can use the Olympus clip-on for undercover recording as it seems less sensitive than the Sony and has a smaller profile.

[samsamsam]

For the guys who do video and bought tripods, what do you recommend? I know about a lot of gear but tripods and fluid heads throw me off a little. Mainly, because it seems the good shit costs a lot of money.

I need it to support a DSLR and a lens and maybe some rails down the road. Any good value suggestions? I don't want it so cheap I put my gear at risk.

Do you think used would be the way to go?

Thanks.

[samsamsam]

A camera comparison but very creepy. Since Roosh got his camera already I didn't think this would do any harm. Compares a Canon 6D to a T5i.

[tonipepperoni]

By the way you can use images in your videos .. they just need to have creative commons license.
You can specifically search for Creative Commons in google image search using search tools.

There's probably a website out there which deals with creative commons video/music as well.

Also when it comes to copyright law you may use portions or clips for reviewing/commentary/parody or if there is significant transformative value.

[HD668B]

Amazing what you can do with a good dslr and a few shots =

[Sebastian]

I would get Panasonic GH3. GH4 is current one but not many people needs 4k.

It's a common gear for amateur video guys. (including sony a7)