Teach me video

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Greg_L
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Teach me video

Post by Greg_L »

I might wanna try this now.

Okay, assume that I know nothing about video. And in reality, I don't, so the assumption is safe.

Start from the beginning. For example:

How do I shoot a video from my phone or camera, and sync it with recorded audio from mics?

Start there. Tell me what I need to do. Ok, go.
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Tadpui
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Re: Teach me video

Post by Tadpui »

Haha, I just left a comment in your pet peeve thread. I won't prattle on again about Magix Movie Studio. Reaper can actually handle video as well. There are just a few hoops to jump through to get the codecs sorted (codecs are almost like "drivers" for video). Doing anything remotely fancy in Reaper is cumbersome, but definitely possible. But simply syncing audio with video and chopping out the in-between bits is dead simple.

Really, your phone is gonna be more than capable of shooting worthy video. Just feed it enough light and it'll be fine. It might take a LOT of light, like WAY more than average comfortable living room lighting. But if you have a legit camera, all the better. Higher resolution, better contrast, more dynamic range, blah blah. Unless it's a shitty camera, it'll probably outperform a phone camera. It'll still need lots of light, though.

And I'm sure that your house is full of extremely capable microphones, preamps, and a DAW, so your audio is covered. Just pick your favorite mic and place it juuuuuust out of frame, as close as you can. Or maybe make it part of your frame so you can talk right into it. You can even record audio straight into most video editors if you want to narrate a pre-recorded video or something.

About the only thing to remember at first is to clap loudly once every time you start recording video and audio together. It'll come through on the camera/phone audio track AND on your microphone audio track. That makes a nice sharp transient that's easy to zoom in on with editing software, so you can tightly align the audio and video.
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Greg_L
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Re: Teach me video

Post by Greg_L »

Tadpui wrote: Wed Sep 27, 2017 10:39 pm Haha, I just left a comment in your pet peeve thread. I won't prattle on again about Magix Movie Studio. Reaper can actually handle video as well. There are just a few hoops to jump through to get the codecs sorted (codecs are almost like "drivers" for video). Doing anything remotely fancy in Reaper is cumbersome, but definitely possible. But simply syncing audio with video and chopping out the in-between bits is dead simple.

Really, your phone is gonna be more than capable of shooting worthy video. Just feed it enough light and it'll be fine. It might take a LOT of light, like WAY more than average comfortable living room lighting. But if you have a legit camera, all the better. Higher resolution, better contrast, more dynamic range, blah blah. Unless it's a shitty camera, it'll probably outperform a phone camera. It'll still need lots of light, though.

And I'm sure that your house is full of extremely capable microphones, preamps, and a DAW, so your audio is covered. Just pick your favorite mic and place it juuuuuust out of frame, as close as you can. Or maybe make it part of your frame so you can talk right into it. You can even record audio straight into most video editors if you want to narrate a pre-recorded video or something.

About the only thing to remember at first is to clap loudly once every time you start recording video and audio together. It'll come through on the camera/phone audio track AND on your microphone audio track. That makes a nice sharp transient that's easy to zoom in on with editing software, so you can tightly align the audio and video.
Okay thanks. So how do I find these "codecs" for Reaper and/or should I use some other software?
What format or resolution do I shoot video with?
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Re: Teach me video

Post by Tadpui »

If I remember correctly, all I had to do was download and install a video player called VLC. It's an age-old swiss-army-knife freeware media player that happens to include a bunch of codecs. Through what I can only imagine is black magic, VLC's codecs somehow become Reaper's codecs. I don't recall having to do anything special to get it to work.

But I seem to remember us getting to this same point a year or two ago and for some reason your camera's video wouldn't play in Reaper. I'm sure we can troubleshoot from there and get it rolling.

Oh, and as far as resolution, etc., I'd stick with 1920x1080 at 30 frames per second. Or 24fps if your camera offers it. Just out of curiosity, what kind of camera do you have available?
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Re: Teach me video

Post by Greg_L »

Tadpui wrote: Wed Sep 27, 2017 11:38 pm If I remember correctly, all I had to do was download and install a video player called VLC. It's an age-old swiss-army-knife freeware media player that happens to include a bunch of codecs. Through what I can only imagine is black magic, VLC's codecs somehow become Reaper's codecs. I don't recall having to do anything special to get it to work.

But I seem to remember us getting to this same point a year or two ago and for some reason your camera's video wouldn't play in Reaper. I'm sure we can troubleshoot from there and get it rolling.

Oh, and as far as resolution, etc., I'd stick with 1920x1080 at 30 frames per second. Or 24fps if your camera offers it. Just out of curiosity, what kind of camera do you have available?
I have a Sony HDR-CX130 and my phone, a Galaxy S7. Oh, and a Panasonic GoPro type thing.

I just installed VLC.

That allowed me to bring in an old video of my dog (RIP). I then drug in a tone thread clip. I opened the video window in Reaper and lined them up. I somehow managed to render out a video with sound, but the video is choppy.
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Re: Teach me video

Post by WhiskeyJack »

I'm interested to see where this is going. :happytrees:
:happytrees:
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Re: Teach me video

Post by Greg_L »

WhiskeyJack wrote: Thu Sep 28, 2017 12:24 am I'm interested to see where this is going. :happytrees:
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Re: Teach me video

Post by WhiskeyJack »

Again, I am interested to see where this is going AHAHA!!!!
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Re: Teach me video

Post by Tadpui »

LOL it'll be ok man :D

That's good news that it's actually playing and rendering the video! So, is it choppy when you watch the rendered video, or just when you're trying to play it back within Reaper?
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Re: Teach me video

Post by Greg_L »

Tadpui wrote: Thu Sep 28, 2017 3:04 am LOL it'll be ok man :D

That's good news that it's actually playing and rendering the video! So, is it choppy when you watch the rendered video, or just when you're trying to play it back within Reaper?
It was choppy when I watched the finished version after it had been rendered out of Reaper.
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Re: Teach me video

Post by JD01 »

That doesn't look too bad for a festival toilet.
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Re: Teach me video

Post by JD01 »

If Greg can manage this video stuff and get something uploaded I might try one too.
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Re: Teach me video

Post by Greg_L »

JD01 wrote: Thu Sep 28, 2017 7:49 am If Greg can manage this video stuff and get something uploaded I might try one too.
You've done videos haven't you?
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Re: Teach me video

Post by JD01 »

Greg_L wrote: Thu Sep 28, 2017 7:52 am
JD01 wrote: Thu Sep 28, 2017 7:49 am If Greg can manage this video stuff and get something uploaded I might try one too.
You've done videos haven't you?
No, my mrs did it for me. She filmed it on one of her DSLRs and synched it up with audio for me using her fancy software.

I just want a way of sticking together a simple video, with decent audio, to teach you the Phrygian Dominant mode.
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Re: Teach me video

Post by Greg_L »

JD01 wrote: Thu Sep 28, 2017 7:55 am
No, my mrs did it for me. She filmed it on one of her DSLRs and synched it up with audio for me using her fancy software.

I just want a way of sticking together a simple video, with decent audio, to teach you the Phrygian Dominant mode.
I can't wait to not watch that!
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Re: Teach me video

Post by JD01 »

I'm actually just curious to see how to do it and see what I can put together - everyone seems to stick up videos with proper audio these days - it can't be that fucking hard!

What are you planning on doing?
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Re: Teach me video

Post by Greg_L »

JD01 wrote: Thu Sep 28, 2017 8:10 am

What are you planning on doing?
Nothing. Not planning anything. I don't foresee myself becoming "video guy". But like you said, seems like any ol dummy can figure it out these days, so maybe this dummy finally can too.

I've never given it a real try. Like just about everything else I try to do, I get stumped right at the beginning and just quit.
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Re: Teach me video

Post by JD01 »

Yeah, I tried sticking video into Reaper before and it just didn't work so I just gave up and asked my mrs to do it for me.

I might try a video about how to drag a decent tone out of a Blackstar HT20 as it seems that pretty much every one is stuck with "amp in a sleeping bag" tone - so people might find it useful. I agree though - I don't want to become a video guy, I just think that could be a genuinely helpful video.

A video about my guitar could be interesting too as I can't find any other reviews of Crimson guitars aside from ones made by Crimson.
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Re: Teach me video

Post by vomitHatSteve »

You running windows? You can install Windows Movie Maker using the Add/Remove Programs or Turn Windows Features On or Off menu. (I'm sure Mac has some equivalent too)

It's less powerful and intuitive than Reaper is gonna be, but it's a bit more compatible. That'll probably get rid of the choppiness.
I've never had any luck editing video with Reaper. :(

The magic VLC did with the codecs was to install them into a standard, centralized location that all software should know to check.
Oh, also probably ignoring patent law. The thing that makes codecs dumb and complicated is that half of them are patented, so software manufacturers have to pay a license fee, break the law, or instruct users on how to install their own codecs. (See also Audacity+LAME)
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Re: Teach me video

Post by jonny deep »

Here's an article discussing why VLC can play DVDs for free.

http://www.zdnet.com/article/if-vlc-can ... microsoft/
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