Making a travel documentary.

Submitted: Thursday, Jul 24, 2008 at 11:40
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Well, two more sleeps to go…….
I think we’ve got things under control now. Richard is no longer threatening to cancel the trip, so things are looking good! (this may change when we start to pack all the things I have organized into the camper trailer tomorrow though. )

I don’t know what Richard has mentioned in his posts but we are very excited about this trip as we are planning on making a travel documentary on it, using our new High definition video camera.
We’re aiming high, I know, being relatively new to the video world, but we are determined to try !
Would love to hear your thoughts anyway in regards to this.

The idea is, to make a travel documentary that is informative as well as showing the reality of families undertaking such a trip.
We want to include all of the normal family experiences while on the road – and out in remote places, (without making it too “home video” like ) as well as show other people the true beauty of the outback.
(There might be the opportunity also to sell some of the video we take as “stock footage” if we are clever enough.)

I remember the first time Richard announced that he was taking us all to the “desert” for a holiday.
There went my silly notion of sunbaking on some tropical island beach sipping a cocktail with a little umbrella in it!
The desert! What on earth FOR?” I had said to him.
I had thought it would be the most boring experience …..nothing to see but….”nothing”.
I had absolutely no idea of the beauty that is to be found out there, and that "the nothing" is amazing in itself!
How even the tiniest bit of colour attracts the eye and how BLUE the sky appears…and the gorges, and little desert oasis’s with palm trees….the bird life, wildlife….the quirky little towns and quirky outback characters!
Immediately I fell in love with the whole experience and have been hooked ever since. (Despite the flies!)

We would like to try and show people, through our filming, how fascinating it really is – that there can be so much more reward – (so many lasting memories) to family “holidays” than simply flying to Queensland and doing all the theme parks with your kids.

We have researched every place we are going to, in order to get a little background on the different places, but I think by actually speaking with the locals, and other travellers, will be where we truly find the most valuable and interesting information.

Anyway, I won’t blither on too much.
If anyone has attempted to do the same thing and has any tips or advice – or even if you haven’t but think of something that perhaps would be helpful, we’d gladly welcome any last minute information.

The filming will start tomorrow, as we begin to pack all the stuff in the camper trailer.
Oh fun. :)



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Reply By: Member -Signman - Thursday, Jul 24, 2008 at 11:52

Thursday, Jul 24, 2008 at 11:52
Can't help you with the filming (I'm still in the Brownie Box stage).
But hope you have a great trip and all goes well. Has Richard given you a run down on the HF radio yet ?? Last Sunday sched. I had a 6 yr old girl call in to log position. Obviously Dad was in the background- but she had no problems using the radio !!

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Follow Up By: Sir Kev & Darkie - Thursday, Jul 24, 2008 at 12:04

Thursday, Jul 24, 2008 at 12:04
It is great to see that parents are teaching the kids to use life saving equipment, it may just save someones life one day if she had to contact someone for assistance.
I have been trying to teach my eldest when and how to call 000 and it is slowly sinking in (she is 4).

Cheers Kev
Russell Coight:
He was presented with a difficult decision: push on into the stretching deserts, or return home to his wife.

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Follow Up By: Member - RFLundgren (WA) - Thursday, Jul 24, 2008 at 12:10

Thursday, Jul 24, 2008 at 12:10
Signman

Still fighting with the damn radio. it is working 95% of the time. Has been out of the car and on the workbench for the past week and a half, but has hardly faulted. Very hard to find the problem if it cant be reproduced.

Hoping to get it back in the car today or tomorrow morning. Also getting a new pack uploaded into it with all of the new Radtel frequencies (being sent over from Lake Macquarie Communications) to Allcom here in Perth so that it matches with their easy HF guide for the NGT.

This overall should make it far simpler for Tracy and the kids to be able to use the radio if that becomes necessary. They will of couse also be calling into the daily skeds for practice as well. Unfortunately due to the radio being on the workbench this has not been possible to date.

Cheers

Richard

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Follow Up By: Desertrose - Thursday, Jul 24, 2008 at 13:09

Thursday, Jul 24, 2008 at 13:09
I think kids, in general are sometimes much better at remaining calm in emergency situations, and much better at following instructions.
When my son was five he fell out of a tree and broke his arm. Not wanting to tell ME ( because that particular day he was in trouble and was supposed to be banned from going outside) he hid in the back yard for some time, where upon his sister - aged 8 fetched a piece of my pretty craft fabric, fashioned a PERFECT sling for his arm and then marched him in to tell me what had happened.
I was very surprised at the way they worked together and there weren't even any tears until the mention of "hospital" was announced.

Signman, as soon as we're on the road we'll be practising calling in.
I'm a little nervous, knowing that this radio problem is so ellusive and they can't "fix" it, but as it seems to be working the majority of the time....well.....there's not much they, or we can do.
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Follow Up By: Member -Signman - Thursday, Jul 24, 2008 at 13:14

Thursday, Jul 24, 2008 at 13:14
Have you got the EPIRB in yet ?? Do you and the kids know where it is and how it works?? There is a TEST button on it- that will test the unit, but not send out a signal !!

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Follow Up By: Member - RFLundgren (WA) - Thursday, Jul 24, 2008 at 13:24

Thursday, Jul 24, 2008 at 13:24
David

Epirb is in and has been tested. The first day of travel is quite a long one, but the second day from Sandstone to Wiluna is only a couple of hours.

The kids will be shown where all of the emergency gear is and how to use it when we are in Wiluna and have the luxury of time. This includes the Epirb, HF and the fire extinguisher.

Thanks again :)

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Richard

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Reply By: equinox - Thursday, Jul 24, 2008 at 12:11

Thursday, Jul 24, 2008 at 12:11
Hi Desertrose,

I have just come back from a desert trip of which I took a video camera with me.

Although not on the grand scale you are mentioning my plan was to make a small doco - which I will put on You-tube eventually.

My camera is only a cheapie a Sony DCR-SR62 which cost me about $700. I bought a wide angle and tele-photo lense off Ebay for it.

Get a remote mike if you can - the wind noise has spoiled a fair few of of my sequences.

I have come home with 265 takes, about 12 gig worth. I have bought Sony Vegas Movie Studio for $230 which I will use to produce the end product.

It takes a bit of time - walk over sand dune, place camera. Walk back to vehicle. Drive over sand dune. Get camera etc hehe. I have a few scenes the greenies are really gonna love.

There is hardly anything decent on You tube about the desert and I'm am going to try and set the standard. I want to make something that will appeal to not only the 4WD enthusist, but the geography and historian as well with the main emphasis on the promotion of Western Australia. I think I can make a 20-30 minute production with the material I have - though it will take me about 2 months to produce I think.

Goodluck with it all.

Alan

Looking for adventure.
In whatever comes our way.



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Follow Up By: Member - RFLundgren (WA) - Thursday, Jul 24, 2008 at 12:28

Thursday, Jul 24, 2008 at 12:28
Hi Alan

Tracy is pretty good with the editing side of the camera, and we both tend to fight over who is taking the footage. Luckily for me she doesnt drive, so guess who gets to walk the sand dunes etc to take footage of the car actually driving :)

As ours is a hard disk camera, we are taking enough spare disks to hold almost 200 hours of footage, so I am sure we should manage to get some pretty decent shots while out there.

Have bought a bit of equipment over recent weeks to assist in a more professional look. Filters, wide angle lens, zoom lens, steadycam for walking footage into gorges and the like as well as a motorised tripod head for nice smooth pans and tilts.

After all of that expense we had better get some damn goood foootage :)

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Richard

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Follow Up By: Desertrose - Thursday, Jul 24, 2008 at 12:47

Thursday, Jul 24, 2008 at 12:47
Thanks Alan.
Yeah, the wind noise will be a problem. Not sure what we are going to do about that. I don't think there's any more time left up our sleeve to buy any MORE camera accessories. As it is I don't know where we are going to put all this camera stuff as the kids also are taking our other camera and tripod to make their OWN documentary (Promised to their teachers who weren't happy at first about the 6 weeks we are taking them out of school for!)
I guess we will have to be aware of the problem of wind noise as we are filming - try different angles etc.
In editing, if the scenes are great but the wind noise is bad I will use music and narration to cover those spots, though a little wind noise - just like camera jiggle in the car when driving I think adds to the "realness" of the conditions if used minimally.

I use Sony Vegas 8 and love it! The simplest editing program I have found.

May I recommend for your film that instead of youtube you try Vimeo?
Youtube compresses the heck out of your uploaded video, degrading the picture quality quite significantly and can cause problems with sync if you are editing to music or narration.
Vimeo is a much better site for uploading bigger files and though they too have to use some form of compression, the end results are FAR FAR better than youtube.
Not only that - and this might sound a bit snobby :) but Vimeo seems to attract a much more "serious", might I say a higher percentage of more professional video people, compared to youtube.

Well, good luck with all your editing. It's so time consuming isn't it, but personally the part I like the best! :)
Let us know when it is finished, we would LOVE to see it!

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Follow Up By: Desertrose - Thursday, Jul 24, 2008 at 12:54

Thursday, Jul 24, 2008 at 12:54
Also .... we have allowed an extra week - spare days at the moment, to make allowances for all that traipsing over dunes stuff... :)
I know we will end up spending a LOT of time just on the filming - and this is also the reason why the kids are being encouraged to make their OWN movie as it is incredibly boring for them when we are stopping every five minutes to film.
At least this way they will feel "part" of it all and hopefully be more interested in the scenery than on previous trips.
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Reply By: Member - Warfer (VIC) - Thursday, Jul 24, 2008 at 13:15

Thursday, Jul 24, 2008 at 13:15
*Get a remote mike if you can - the wind noise has spoiled a fair few of of my sequences.*



Hi Guys


Video and sound is usually separated when imported into the computer using good quality software...
So therefore background noise can be cancelled out or heavily reduced...

Although complex Adobe bring out great software

Adobe Premiere

Cheers

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Follow Up By: Desertrose - Thursday, Jul 24, 2008 at 15:23

Thursday, Jul 24, 2008 at 15:23
Yes, you are right.
There is the option of completely silencing the back ground noise, or cutting the audio clip so only certain sections can be heard.
I think a variation of having natural ambient on camera sounds (as long as the wind is not blowing a gale) and then having sections where suitable background music is playing will be how we will go with this.
In the past I have worked only to 3 or 4 minute sound tracks - making it more of a visual set to music thing, but this, being a documentary will obviously be done differently with a lot more space allowed for narration and natural sounds recorded.
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Reply By: robak (QLD) - Thursday, Jul 24, 2008 at 13:22

Thursday, Jul 24, 2008 at 13:22
A couple of notes on the filming.

Dont take all those disks where you can fit 200 hours of footage. If you were to watch this for eight hours a day you'd spend almost a month (and remember that when editing you'll watch it between 5 to 10 times.) The scale of the project will seem too immense and you'll never start editing it.

Only take about 7-10 hours worth of footage. So be ruthless. Definitely NO MORE than that. If you record something that's not absolutely spectacular or significant then delete it immediately.

Don't make your edited movie more than an hour long. Otherwise you'll never watch it.

Don't walk with your camera when recording and don't zoom with your camera. Have a look at some professional doco's and take notes on the techniques that they use

Frame the pictures well, think about lighting, foreground and background etc...

If you do it well, it will be a treasured memory for you and your family. If you only do the doco for the sake of playing with some technology it will become a dust collector very quickly.

All the best.

R
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Follow Up By: Member - RFLundgren (WA) - Thursday, Jul 24, 2008 at 13:28

Thursday, Jul 24, 2008 at 13:28
R

For walking we have the steadycam, which still needs some practice but will get there. We are not just looking at a family video situation. We are looking at a professionally produced documentary filmed in broadcast quality high definition.

Apart from the documentary aspects we are also looking at collecting lots of stock footage, either for use on other projects or for sale at some point to people who are looking for that kind of thing.

I do know what you mean about being ruthless though. On our trip to York we filmed about 2 1/2 hours of footage, which was then condensed down to 4 minutes. I would rather have too much than not enough as the cost to go and recapture that 10 seconds that was missed and that we need for a certain section is far too immense.

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Richard

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Follow Up By: robak (QLD) - Thursday, Jul 24, 2008 at 13:34

Thursday, Jul 24, 2008 at 13:34
Richard,

Sound like you're on the right track. Let us know of the results.
Enjoy your trip.

R.
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Follow Up By: Desertrose - Thursday, Jul 24, 2008 at 13:41

Thursday, Jul 24, 2008 at 13:41
What we can also do - because yes, I understand where you are coming from Robak - an immense task sifting through all that film - is each night when we dump the footage from the camera onto the laptop we will be able to view what we have filmed (won't we Richard?) and therefore delete any footage that is of no use.
I'd rather do it that way than on the camera itself as there is always the chance you could delete the wrong footage!
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Follow Up By: Member - RFLundgren (WA) - Thursday, Jul 24, 2008 at 13:44

Thursday, Jul 24, 2008 at 13:44
My darling

That is indeed going to cut into some good campfire and nice Red drinking time, but of course I am happy to set you up to go through the footage if you so wish :)~~

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Richard

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Reply By: Member - Jan Z (QLD) - Thursday, Jul 24, 2008 at 13:39

Thursday, Jul 24, 2008 at 13:39
Hi Desertrose, I can relate exactly to what you are going through. The best thing I can pass on to you is that the software you purchase to produce your video is most important. The Sony Vegas is a great product, and you may want to look into Pinnacle Studio plus as I find that much easier to use and it is cheaper. You can insert still pictures from your camera files (like a copy of the map) and add music if wanted too. The quality seems excellent and it is great to be able to re-live the trip later, and also share it with family and friends. We also are setting off (in 5 more sleeps) for our trip along the Hay River to Innaminka where I will also take videos and shots. It's a great life out there, enjoy.
Jan
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Follow Up By: Desertrose - Thursday, Jul 24, 2008 at 13:52

Thursday, Jul 24, 2008 at 13:52
Thanks Jan. Yes, it's a great thing to be able to keep as a memory of our travels. I just wish we had of done this sooner!
All those CRAZY days with the FOUR kids. :)
Oh and there was this one time when we helped rescue this womans runaway camels in the middle of the desert.
Should of heard her cuss them out when we finally caught them - the poor things were hanging their heads looking like shamed puppy dogs, lol!
SO funny! If only the camera had of been rolling!

We have a number of editing programs - some of which to me seem SO complicated. Sony Vegas was the first one I tried, after Windows movie maker :) that seems to offer what I need without causing me to tear my hair out in frustration!
Our main concern when we have eventually edited all the video is actually converting it to DVD.
So far, with our experimentation, it seems that the colour changes when we do this - not sure where we are going wrong, but it's obviously an area we need to research when we get back and get to THAT stage with it.

Again, would love to see footage of YOUR trip once you have returned and edited it all.
Have a fantastic time.Innamincka is one of our favourite spots!
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Follow Up By: Member - RFLundgren (WA) - Thursday, Jul 24, 2008 at 14:00

Thursday, Jul 24, 2008 at 14:00
Jan

Definitely see where you are coming from. The problem is once you go down the high definition path, you have to find an editor that will import the raw high def files, which luckily for us Vegas 8 does. We have looked at some others, and so many of them seem so over complicated (for me in any case).

Tracy seems happy using Vegas so we will probably stick with that. As she mentioned though the trick is going to be in the colour correction, which from what I have read is essential when rendering from the High definition footage down to DVD which is only standard definition.

Ah such are the joys of modern technology I guess.

Cheers

Richard

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Reply By: Member - RFLundgren (WA) - Thursday, Jul 24, 2008 at 13:56

Thursday, Jul 24, 2008 at 13:56
Thought I would put an image up of the route we are taking. Gunbarrel to the centre, Tanami to the Bungle Bungles, Great Horthern Highway to Brooome, down to Karajini then My Augustus and finally home.

Image Could Not Be Found

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Richard

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Follow Up By: Member - Jan Z (QLD) - Thursday, Jul 24, 2008 at 15:03

Thursday, Jul 24, 2008 at 15:03
Hi Richard,
that's a great picture of the route. Where did you download the blank map from? I've had trouble finding one to do the same with and have only come up with this one which I have overlaid with our 2006, 2007. and soon to be 2008 trips. Jan Image Could Not Be Found
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Follow Up By: Member - RFLundgren (WA) - Friday, Jul 25, 2008 at 00:44

Friday, Jul 25, 2008 at 00:44
Jan

Thats a screen shot straight from Oziexplorer. No real details but at least it shows the kids teachers just why we are pulling them out of school for 6 weeks :)

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Richard

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Reply By: Willem - Thursday, Jul 24, 2008 at 14:10

Thursday, Jul 24, 2008 at 14:10
Hi Desertrose

I can only add two things re filming

Don't pan your shots ie swing the camera from one side to the next and back

Don't talk while filming but do a voice-over later when you get back home

Enjoy your trip and your filming. You will be busy


Cheers
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Follow Up By: Member - RFLundgren (WA) - Thursday, Jul 24, 2008 at 14:53

Thursday, Jul 24, 2008 at 14:53
Willem

Great advice. Some of the 4 x 4 docos we have watched have been terrible due to that and also some of the awful wipes across screen they use.

This is why we also have the motorised head so that we can pan, nice and slow and totally smooth, without making people feel sick.

The only talk while filming will be memory jogger type stuff, and then Tracy will overlay voice overs and music in post production once we are back home.

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Richard

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Follow Up By: Desertrose - Thursday, Jul 24, 2008 at 15:14

Thursday, Jul 24, 2008 at 15:14
Yes Willem, there is nothing worse than dizzying panning and lots of zooms IN to things in the distance.
Zooming "out" - sparingly, works well to show space (Like a lone dead tree in the middle of a flat plain - zooming out to show the perspective of how "empty" the landscape really is...etc) so I might do that occasionally but most of what we film will be as still as possible.
I might incorporate some ad lib type on camera conversation, if it will be relevant, but I, nor Richard will be going to be on camera speaking like "presenters". :)
I've also threatened my children with great torture if they dare "ham it up" to the camera. (My twelve year old has a habit of that - being the "actress" of the family!)
We want it to be as natural as possible.
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Reply By: Member - Oldplodder (QLD) - Thursday, Jul 24, 2008 at 14:11

Thursday, Jul 24, 2008 at 14:11
Leyland brothers 2008 style. :o)
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Follow Up By: Member - RFLundgren (WA) - Thursday, Jul 24, 2008 at 14:23

Thursday, Jul 24, 2008 at 14:23
John

Dont know about the Leyland brothers. If you can recall a post of Tracy's some time ago in regards to "which way should the camper trailer face" (thread 50631) it is more like Laurel and Hardy, or add the kids into the mix and you have the 4 Stooges :)

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Richard

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Follow Up By: Member - Oldplodder (QLD) - Thursday, Jul 24, 2008 at 14:46

Thursday, Jul 24, 2008 at 14:46
Always found t interesting watching the Leyland brothers as they learnt their trade.
Some good lessons on both what not what to do, but some good filming too.
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Reply By: brushmarx - Thursday, Jul 24, 2008 at 14:18

Thursday, Jul 24, 2008 at 14:18
Hi desertrose
It sound like a great idea to me, but if you want to spice it up a bit, you will need a couple of busty wenches and some inflatable crocodiles to catch up with Alby Mangels' heroic tales.
Have a great trip
Cheers
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Reply By: The Landy - Thursday, Jul 24, 2008 at 14:19

Thursday, Jul 24, 2008 at 14:19
I've been planning to do something similar, but foscussed on a particular topic...we've taken videos in the past, but nothing on a grand scale.

Are you using 3-chip colour as I would think that would be a minimum for documentary quality, especially if on selling stock footage.

It is amazing what you can do with a small camera these days.

Good luck.
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Follow Up By: Member - RFLundgren (WA) - Thursday, Jul 24, 2008 at 14:26

Thursday, Jul 24, 2008 at 14:26
Landy

Yes it is a 3 CCD camera and films in 1080 full high definition. Full manual controls on the camera as well which helps. We have shot very little footage in auto mode as it just doesnt cut it.

You are right though, it is amazing what you can do with a small camera. The quality of this one is better than some of the Pro Betacam stuff around, so we definitely arent complaining :)

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Richard

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Follow Up By: Desertrose - Thursday, Jul 24, 2008 at 14:53

Thursday, Jul 24, 2008 at 14:53
If anyone is interested we've got some test footage of this camera up on Vimeo.

http://www.vimeo.com/1186127

All just experiments thus far....practise for when we head off to the outback, but the conditions will be vastly different out there so it will be a continued learning experience as we go!
Neither Richard nor myself have had ANY experience with handling any sort of manual based cameras so it was a HUGE challenge just learning the basics with this one.

As Richard said though, it's a darn good camera.
Prices may have even dropped further now, but we bought it for about $1800 and couldn't be happier!

There is a JVC Everio HD 7 group on vimeo. It's worth checking out their work too.
Only thing is, if your connections are slow your computers might not handle the HD video well - it takes quite a while to buffer and can sometimes stutter a little if your computer is not equipped to handle it.
Having said that though, I believe high definition is going to eventually become the standard way to go with video.


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Reply By: Member - Jan Z (QLD) - Thursday, Jul 24, 2008 at 14:32

Thursday, Jul 24, 2008 at 14:32
Hi Desertrose again, The Pinnacle pro actually writes it to a dvd so is more than just editing if that will help also. By the way where are you off to? I had one occasion which made unusual footage where my friend was waiting on top of Big Red for me to drive up it, but put the lens cover back on, but the sound kept recording. It was quite interesting hearing the comments. Don't forget to take some night shots too, they are great with the fire etc. Have a wonderful trip. Jan
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Follow Up By: Member - RFLundgren (WA) - Thursday, Jul 24, 2008 at 14:48

Thursday, Jul 24, 2008 at 14:48
Jan

See map above :)

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Richard

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Follow Up By: Desertrose - Thursday, Jul 24, 2008 at 14:56

Thursday, Jul 24, 2008 at 14:56
Definitely will get the campfire shots in!
And it goes without saying those beautiful outback sunrises and sunsets!
And of course.......the flies.
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Follow Up By: JJ - Thursday, Jul 24, 2008 at 23:32

Thursday, Jul 24, 2008 at 23:32
Stuff we like to see in docos is:
footage of sign posts with place names, NPs etc; of re fueling; various camp sites/cooking meals etc; restocking pantry and general everyday events (mishaps as well as everything being spot-on) to fit in with all the wonderful scenery and wonders of this land. Not forgetting the fauna & flora... including stuff like little lizards, vegitation etc.
Look forward to viewing the end results.
Have a wonderful time.
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Follow Up By: Desertrose - Thursday, Jul 24, 2008 at 23:56

Thursday, Jul 24, 2008 at 23:56
Thanks JJ. Yeah...those signposts are something we always have trouble with.
By the time I've pointed out to Richard that we should film a certain sign he's gone waaaaay past it!
And the cooking thing too, for some reason, I guess because it's such a busy time, we forget to film THAT. Must do that because after all eating is such a nice part of camping :)
I thought I'd also try some inside the tent stuff....we're taking along some extra lighting. Worth a try anyway.

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Reply By: Member - Alan H (QLD) - Thursday, Jul 24, 2008 at 15:18

Thursday, Jul 24, 2008 at 15:18
While a separate mike is great for recording sound, the wind noise can be easily blocked in total by a 3.5mm stereo jack from dick smith stuck into the external mike socket on the camera.

Once a plug is put in there the camera mike is switched off.
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Follow Up By: Desertrose - Thursday, Jul 24, 2008 at 15:25

Thursday, Jul 24, 2008 at 15:25
Or the audio track, as you suggested before, can just be muted during editing. :)
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Reply By: HGMonaro - Friday, Jul 25, 2008 at 12:05

Friday, Jul 25, 2008 at 12:05
I was going to suggest a tripod... but you've got that covered!

For the effort you're going to put in, sharing it via youtube would be criminal! Haven't had a look at your sample on that other site, will do when get home tonight, but hopefully it's better quailty! Once completed, maybe make it available via a DVD for a few bucks to cover costs & postage.

Nige.
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Follow Up By: Desertrose - Friday, Jul 25, 2008 at 12:33

Friday, Jul 25, 2008 at 12:33
Yeah, wouldn't go anywhere without the tripod! :)
That's the only downfall with this camera - the internal stabiliser sucks. You really can't hand hold it and expect to get "smooth" shots - hence why we bought the fly cam thingy.
What is on my vimeo page is a real mixed bunch of video.
The stuff filmed on the JVC HD7 will be obvious as it is wide screen and says HD :)
The HD feature can be turned off and watched in standard definition though.
That's what I like about Vimeo. It caters to all kinds of videographers. Not many sites allow you to upload and watch the high definition stuff.
You're allowed to upload 500 mb of video a week, which is great!
Those huge files though DO make the average computer work hard to stream them.
We will see how our footage turns out.
If it's fantastic and I am able to put it all together in a way that is of a good enough quality for people to want to purchase it, then we'll see about who and where to market it.
If not....well, it will be a great keepsake. :)
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Reply By: neil&brenda - Friday, Jul 25, 2008 at 21:47

Friday, Jul 25, 2008 at 21:47
We both hope you have a an enjoyable journey.Even though the Leyland Brothers brought this to our t.v. screens some 20 odd years ago. If you can give a "Beyond 2000" feel to the same experiences, we are with you all the way. Keep in mind that you are not breaking new ground here!
All very well and good to have the grandious idea of perhaps selling to a network. However, it seems to have been done and dusted in this regard. Please take care if you are considering this course!
Good luck!
AnswerID: 317251

Follow Up By: Desertrose - Friday, Jul 25, 2008 at 22:01

Friday, Jul 25, 2008 at 22:01
Thanks. No, nothing too grandious... certainly not considering approaching National Geographic or anything like that :)
At the rate we're going we might film it from the perspective of "how NOT to try and film a documentary."
It's raining cats and dogs at the moment.The trailer remains unpacked! Richard is still running behind schedule with things and by the looks of it we will not be leaving tomorrow as planned.
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FollowupID: 583550

Follow Up By: Desertrose - Friday, Jul 25, 2008 at 22:38

Friday, Jul 25, 2008 at 22:38
Actually, the more I think about it, as I sit here with my glass of wine trying to de- stress....
Well, we all know, those of us with families, just how hectic the whole co ordination of these kinds of trips are don't we? (And during the trip as well!)
Maybe I "should" film it from an even more intimate perspective.
As much as I hate reality TV - well, I'd watch a documentary on the typical family going bush.
Would you?
I should of had the camera rolling today with Richard and I arguing over "leaving things to the last minute!"
Aggghh. He always does this! Drives me INSANE!
Should have filmed some of the disasters....blocked toilets....front doors that suddenly won't close....the flooding rain....
Tomorrow will be good - in the light....the epic "packing of the camper trailer".
Richards anal retentive -ness - versus my "Oh come on.... it doesn't have to look PRETTY!"

I'll mull it over anyway.




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FollowupID: 583561

Follow Up By: neil&brenda - Friday, Jul 25, 2008 at 23:13

Friday, Jul 25, 2008 at 23:13
Been there, done that. Do not be too harsh on Richard. He is trying his best! Retentive maybe! however, he is attempting to reach a goal. Getting you both off!! As to speak! frustrating, yes, but the intention is there.
Be patient. All will be well?
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FollowupID: 583566

Follow Up By: Desertrose - Friday, Jul 25, 2008 at 23:44

Friday, Jul 25, 2008 at 23:44
I'm staying out of his way. He's busy calling the computer names as he tries to figure out why the external hard drives(that we need to transfer the footage onto) aren't connecting......or something like that.
I have faith in him...All will be well....eventually, lol!
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FollowupID: 583568

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